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ELYRIA, OH- On a chilly Friday night, the Avon Lake Shoremen walked into Elyria and won a wild defensive showdown 14-13.
To start the game, the Shoremen defense came out with a bang. Junior defensive back Hayden Blosser stepped up to pick off Elyria QB Ryan Klotz not even 2 minutes into the game.
Following the pick, the Elyria defense held the Shoremen offense. In response to the Pioneer defense’s stop, the Avon Lake defense continued to answer right back.
It seemed as if the Elyria offense came prepared for Wade Nelson early, but his backup Jason Krukowski stepped up to the plate.
Following a couple of nice runs from Krukowski, ALHS drove down the field. Faced with a tough fourth down, Senior QB Jeremy Dzik hit tight end Derek McCrum for a huge conversion.
Getting down to the 3-yard line, the Pio defense couldn’t hold Wade Nelson any longer, as he barged into the endzone with 3:44 remaining in the first quarter.
After multiple defensive stops, the second quarter started.
After a couple of false starts kept pushing Avon Lake back, Derek McCrum’s nice first half ensued. On 3rd and 22, Dzik hit his tight end over the middle for a big gain of 30.
Although ALHS had momentum after the big play, the Elyria defense did not budge. On a big third down, Senior Isaiah Johnson sacked Dzik, forcing the Shoremen out of striking defense.
Later, the Shoremen offense still couldn’t get too much going but decided to go for a risky 4th and 12. Senior cornerback Anthony Hagler made a tremendous play, swatting down a pass from Dzik intended for Matthew Stuewe.
Later in the quarter, Dzik attempted a deep ball and left it a little long. Senior safety Daelyn Beckett picked off the QB getting the ball back for Elyria.
Following the interception, Avery Viancourt put his name on the stat sheet. The senior D-Lineman came up with a massive strip sack as the Shoremen recovered.
Nothing changed about the slow half, that is until less than a minute remaining in the half. With tremendous field position, the Shoremen were poised to score again.
As Wade Nelson marched down to the 1-yard line, the Pioneer defense stood tall. The ball was punched out right on the one and recovered by Elyria in the endzone.
To start the second half, the Shoremen offense came out in a groove. Quickly, that groove was shattered by an 8-yard sack via Darrius Atley. Dzik seemed a little shaken up after the hit, and he soon was picked off by Cameron Edwards at the Elyria 12.
Elyria star running back Lance Glover came out swinging immediately in the third quarter.
The Shoremen defense couldn’t contain him all night, and a couple of big runs pushed the Pioneers down the field quickly. As the Elyria offense marched, the Shoremen defense started to pick up the Pio play calling.
Jason Krukowski made another big play, this time on defense, hitting Klotz from the blindside for a loss of 6. The next play, Avery Viancourt got to Klotz again, forcing a bad pass and a stop.
As Avon Lake got the ball back, another penalty seemed to plague their field positioning. On third and long from their own 11, Dzik hit younger Stuewe Luke for a big gain of 25.
Led by Nelson and Dzik, the offense continued to grind. A nice 25 yard run from Nelson set up the Shoremen at the Elyria 2. After 2 goal line stops, Dzik finally returned Avon Lake into the endzone with 10 minutes remaining.
As the clock drained, Viancourt came up big again. Another massive strip sack, this time recovered by McCrum, got the ball back for ALHS as 5 remained in the game.
As Nelson drove the Shoremen down the field, his rough night holding onto the ball continued. A fumble with 3 minutes left gave the ball back to Elyria with hope to make something happen.
As Klotz pushed the Pioneers down the field, Elyria was finally able to get on the board. A big drive behind Jasir Lucky and BJ Todd quickly got the Pios on the board with 1:27 left.
After the TD, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Avon Lake pushed the kickoff up. Expecting an onside kick, the long kickoff and crazy bounce surprised ALHS and the Pioneers recovered on the Shoremen 16.
On third and 10, an end around carried by Jaden Gilbert went for 9 yards. The next play was 4th and 1 and the game was on the line. Lance Glover picked up 5, setting up first and goal with 25 seconds remaining.
Lance Glover walked into the endzone untouched, making the game 14-13 Shoremen. Coach Culliver of Elyria then made the extremely gutsy call to go for it after the score. Again, Glover walked in untouched. The game was 15-14 Elyria… but wait! The 23rd flag of the game took the points off the board and pushed the extra point back.
After icing the kicker, Elyria again decided to go for it. In an absolutely wild sequence of events, Derek McCrum knocked down the pass to end the game… but wait again! The 24th flag of the game was a rouching the passer gave Elyria another chance.
As Elyria went to snap the ball again, the 25th flag was thrown on a false start moving the Pios back again! The game then ended the way it started; a massive Hayden Blosser play. He knocked down the attempt ending one of the wildest games ever.
Avon Lake comes away with the win 14-13, with the player of the game being Hayden Blosser.
Elyria gave the Sherman all they wanted we barely escaped with a victory!