AVON LAKE, Ohio — Avon looks to sew up its ninth straight Southwestern Conference title and keep the Silver Rail Trophy on Friday night with a trip to rival Avon Lake.
The Eagles (9-0, 6-0 SWC), who are the No. 1-ranked team in the cleveland.com high school football Top 25, have won two straight in this series and six of the last seven. That includes a 45-0 win last year.
Avon’s defense has been even stronger this year, led by Cincinnati-bound tackle Jeremiah Kelly, junior linebacker Ryan Stolarski and junior safety Jakob Weatherspoon. They have only one shutout this year, but won their six SWC games by at least 21 points.
No. 20 Avon Lake (6-3, 5-1) — with just one SWC loss in double overtime two weeks ago to Olmsted Falls — bounced back Friday last week with a 12-10 win at North Ridgeville in which senior kicker Reece Polomsky booted field goals of 22, 36, 35 and 42 yards, which won the game. The 42-yarder is a season best.
“To lose a double-overtime game last week and come in to hold a team that’s been scoring 30 plus points a game to 10 points, I mean it feels good,” senior lineman Jack O’Toole said after the game.
The Shoremen offense has been sparked by junior receiver Aidan Stewart (656 yards, 10 TDs on 41 receptions), who has caught footballs from Alex Affolter (980 yards, nine TDs) and Owen Fach (301 yards, four TDs). O’Toole (four sacks, eight TFL), junior end Erik Van Euwen (three sacks), and senior linebacker Landon Lidyard (four TFL, two sacks) have led the Shoremen defense.
Avon Lake will need their pressure against Avon senior quarterback Nolan Good (2,055 yards, 19 TDs to seven interceptions) for a chance to disrupt his timing with receivers Matt Maxey (767 yards, five TDs, 56 receptions), Grant Barr (388 yards, five TDs, 24 receptions) and Cole Kepner (553 yards, six TDs, 25 receptions).
Both teams could meet again in the Division II, Region 6 playoffs. While Avon stands atop the region, Avon Lake is fifth and has a 96 percent chance at a home game next week in the first round, according to Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50 projections.
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RELATED: Full Week 10 schedule.
A look at more top games to watch this week will follow on Thursday.
No. 1 Avon (9-0) at No. 20 Avon Lake (6-3)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Avon Lake Memorial Stadium at Avon Lake High School
Broadcast: WEOL AM-930, WDLW AM-1380
Playoff positioning: Avon is the top seed in Division II, Region 6 and would play host to Fremont Ross (4-5) if the playoffs began this week; Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50 projects the Eagles to remain in that spot against Toledo Start (6-3). Avon Lake is fifth in Division II, Region 6 and would play host to Rhodes (4-4) if the playoffs began this week. Fantastic 50 projects the Shoremen will drop to seventh and play Sandusky (5-4).
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on X (@mgoul), Threads (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]).