AVON, Ohio – No. 1 Avon avoided an early scare, beating No. 8 Olmsted Falls 52-35 in Friday night’s OHSAA Division II, Region 6 quarterfinal.
Avon will advance to play No. 5 Wadsworth, which defeated No. 4 North Ridgeville 21-10 on Friday.
The story of the game was the Eagles' ability to dig themselves out of an early hole, as Olmsted Falls came out of the gates on fire, leading 21-7 after the first quarter.
It was reminiscent of last year’s playoff game between these two teams, where the Bulldogs led the Eagles at halftime, only to fall 10 points short at the end.
However, in this game, Avon’s offense, led by quarterback Nolan Good, was able to find its rhythm in the second quarter, and scored five straight touchdowns to advance the Eagles.
“I told my guys before the game, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable in games,” Avon head coach Mike Elder said after the game. “You’re down 21-7 in a playoff game, in a game that everybody expects you to win. The weight of the world is on this team all the time.
“People just think you simply show up and win. You don’t, not against great teams like that. Coach Deluca does a great job. This game was everything I expected it to be.”
The two crucial pieces to the Eagles’ comeback was Good’s stellar connection with receiver Matt Maxey and their two-headed backfield.
Good struggled early to find anyone at all, but quickly started hyper-targeting Maxey, who has been his go-to receiver all season long. Maxey finished with nine catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, Quiante’ Smith and Cam Wendell quite literally carried the team to victory. Smith had 119 yards on the ground with a score, and Wendell added 88 yards and two scores. Both backs ran hard throughout the game, spinning out of tackles and powering through defenders for long gains. Once they got going, the Bulldogs could do little to stop them. Good also contributed 69 yards and a score on the ground.
Good said that this was not his best passing game, and stressed the importance of a good running backfield when the passing game isn’t clicking.
“We won the game because we were able to run the ball,” Good said. “I’m so proud of the front five linemen and running backs … it really held us to an advantage.”
The game could not have gotten off to a more electric start, as Olmsted Falls back Owen Singleton took the opening handoff from quarterback Jimmy Rosol Jr., made a cutback to his right, and outran the entire Eagles defense for a 66-yard touchdown on the first play of the game.
The Eagles didn’t wait long to respond, running a trick play on their first offensive play, in which Good caught a pass from Maxey for 42 yards. Then, on a fourth-and-2, Good kept it himself for a 26-yard touchdown that tied it up 7-7.
Avon got the ball back after a Bulldogs fourth-and-3 attempt resulted in a recovered fumble by the Eagles, the result of a devastating hit by Andrew Falasco on Rosol to knock the ball loose.
After two crucial drops by Avon gave Olmsted Falls the ball in Eagles territory, the Bulldogs were able to take the lead on a 20-yard touchdown strike from Rosol to receiver Jaiden Beyer. Then the Bulldogs scored on the last play of the first quarter on a dive into the end zone by Rosol for a 21-7 lead.
The Bulldogs rushed for 145 yards in the first quarter, more rushing yards than they had in the entirety of their first matchup versus the Eagles earlier this season. However, the Eagles defense stepped it up for the rest of the game, as the Bulldogs would only muster 55 rushing yards over the last three quarters.
In the second quarter, Avon flipped a switch, scoring in quick fashion on their next four drives. An 18-yard touchdown run by Smith, a 28-yard catch and run by Maxey, a 1-yard run by Tyler Kaufmann, and a 10-yard snag by Maxey again put the Eagles up 35-21 with 0:35 left in the half. In the first half, Maxey had eight catches (accounting for all of Good’s completions) for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
The second half was dominated by the Eagles. The Bulldogs were able to score once in the third quarter on a 37-yard heave from Rosol to Logan Connolly, but the Eagles scored twice, on a 32-yard yard run and an 18-yard run, both by Wendell.
A 42-yard field goal by the Eagles and a 12-yard touchdown run by Singleton set the final score at 52-35, and Avon ran out the clock after that.
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Heading into next week against Wadsworth, Good said they are going to learn a lot from this game.
“You can’t underestimate any opponent,” Good said. “I think a lot of people out here tonight thought, oh, they’re going to blow them out because we beat them in the regular season.
“With the SWC and with Ohio high school playoffs, every single game is going to be tough, you got to come ready for every single game. We’re going to take this and learn from it.”