by ATTENTION FANS OF AVON LAKE FOOTBALL. NEXT WEEK VINCE MCKEE AND COLE MCDANIEL WILL BE BACK IN THE HOUSE AT AVON LAKE TO CALL YOUR GAME AGAINST MIDVIEW. A LINK WILL BE POSTED LATER THIS WEEK FOR THE LIVE STREAM
Game recap written by Mark Theis
Going into week two of high school football in Northeast Ohio, two teams matching up this week were the Berea-Midpark Titans, and the Avon Lake Shoremen. Both lost very tough close games in week one.
It would be a home game for Berea at the famous George Finnie Stadium on a cool, crisp, first Friday Night of September. One team would get their first win while one team would unfortunately start the season winless.
In the first quarter the Shoreman kicked off to the Titans. After a couple initial decent plays from Juniors QB Luke Devins and WR Devin Johnson, Devin’s threw an interception. The pass was picked off by #83 Kadyn Viancourt. So less than 2 minutes into the game the Shoreman were already leading 7 to 0.
Later in the quarter after a couple stalled drives from each team, Shoreman RB #5 Gauge Duesler, started to exert himself. He had a 20-yard run and then a 2-yard plunge into the end zone which made the score 14 to 0 at that point.
The Titan’s punter is injured which led to their quarterback having to take on punting duties. In a quick kick situation after another three and out a short punt gave Avon Lake the ball with not far to go for the touchdown. Standout QB #2 Senior Mike Corbo passed to #10 Nate Cikalo for a 28-yard touchdown, and the score was now 21 to 0 with just 1:04 seconds left in the first quarter.
In the next drive the Titans benefited from a couple costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. This led to a short field for the Titan Junior QB #6 Devins who made two nice passes to receivers Devin Johnson and #13 DeAngelo Borders. Then another Junior, RB # 26 Aquan Bell punched it in for a 2 yard TD. The Titans now trailed the Shoreman by 14 points.
A couple more possession changes and Avon Lake’s Duesler had another big run on a 13 yard draw play that resulted in a Shoreman TD. Another 17 yard scramble led Corbo to scamper into the end zone and made the score 35 to 7 at halftime.
The Titans had some costly penalties and turnovers including a fumble on a punt and two interceptions in the first half. The Shoremen team was just too much for Berea-Midpark to overcome these costly errors in the first half. Even though Avon Lake had a big lead last week against the Avon Eagles team, one just didn’t get the impression that the Titans could pull off a big comeback in the second half the way Avon did in the previous week.
In the second half Avon Lake never took their foot off off the gas pedal taking a 42-7 lead in the opening drive with big plays from Corbo, and Duesler, and #15 FB Griffin Lidyard. Duesler ran for another TD.
The Titans made their last attempt to make it a game late in the third quarter. On a fourth down and four yards to go, Devins hit #3 Junior WR Jack Arnold in the end zone for 7 yards and 42-14 was as close as the Titans could get to Avon Lake.
Avon Lake is a darn good team and well coached and prepared by Head Coach Matt Kostelnik. The Berea Midpark Titans are a well coached team as well, but Coach Jon Hunek has a young team this year. Almost every skilled position player is a Junior, and even some Sophomores at the top of the depth chart.
On a historic note, female kicker #90 Julia Hurd became the first female in Avon Lake Football history to score points in a game when she converted an extra point in the fourth quarter.
Congratulations to her and the Avon Lake team on a 63-14 final score. The Titans start the season 0-2, While the Shoreman even their record at 1-1!
Shoreman Player of the game: QB Mike Corbo
Honorable Mention: RB Gauge Duesler
Titans Player of the game: QB Luke Devins
Honorable Mention: WR Devin Johnson
