ELYRIA, Ohio — Only four times all season did an opponent of Highland’s score 14 or more points, causing many people to crown the Hornets as the top defense in the state.
The Avon offensive line took that personally.
In Friday’s Division II, Region 6 final, the Eagles became the fifth team to score 14 or more on the Hornets, and they did so in the first four minutes of the game, on their way a 28-20 win and a seventh regional championship in the last eight years.
The Eagles (14-0) advance to face Archbishop Hoban (12-2) in the state semifinals next Friday at a site yet to be announced. The Eagles have lost five times to Hoban in the state semifinals over the last decade.
Friday was the second straight regional final between the Eagles and Hornets (13-1). A wintery slush fell from the skies above Ely Stadium with both sides looking to assert dominance in the running game.
One key difference from last year was a healthy Nolan Good at quarterback for the Eagles. Good missed the game last year, a 28-14 win for the Eagles, which paved the way for offensive weapon Matt Maxey to have a big game a as a wildcat quarterback.
On the first snap Friday, Maxey was once again lined up at quarterback, with Good lined up next to him at running back. The last thing anyone thought Maxey was going to do was hand the ball off, but that was exactly what the senior did, and on the first play from scrimmage, Good hit the edge hard then sprinted 65 yards for the score.
“We took advantage of last season’s game with me being out and Matt (Maxey) playing a lot of wildcat quarterback last year,” Good said. “First play we lined him up at QB and who wouldn’t think with him back there that he’s going to take it? I think we caught them off guard, kudos to our coaches for such a great call and I’m just glad it worked out. Couldn’t have worked better for the first play of the regional finals game.”
As it turned out, Maxey and his offensive line had some extra motivation to start out hard and fast against the potent defensive line of the Hornets.
“We know they set the box, they’ve got two great players on the interior, so we were going to stretch them out and then when they widen out, we were going to run it up the gut,” Maxey said. “To be honest, the reason we started off is because we heard they were calling our O-line and D-line average. So we knew we had to come out and pop them in the mouth and that was the key to winning the game.”
You couldn’t have scripted a sweeter start for the Eagles on a night where Avon head coach Mike Elder collected his 200th win at the school, 250th overall as a head coach and another region trophy to the collection.
Despite all the accolades and accomplishments, Elder gave all the credit to his staff for having his guys ready to go from the start.
“Highland does so many things well that we worked hard all week long to find things they don’t do well and try and use that against them,” Elder said. “I give my coaches a lot of credit, they schemed up some things that gave us a good chance against a wonderful defense.
“It’s a big time win, I don’t think people recognize this. We recognize this, we saw how good Highland is and I said whoever won this game has a chance to win it all and I still believe that.”
A howling wind mixed with driving rains early on helped the Eagles moments after the quick score by Good. The ensuing kickoff hung in the air like a hovering seagull above the shores of Lake Erie before falling to the ground, then eventually bobbling into the waiting hands of the Eagles.
Before the Hornets could even get set they were trailing 7-0, and the Eagles once again had the football with what felt like as much wind in their sails as around the stadium.
A couple of plays after the recovery the Eagles were right back celebrating in the end zone after a score from Tyler Kaufmann.
“We had a 14-0 lead pretty quick, but we knew we had to play the entire time like it was 0-0,” Good said. “At the start it looked like it could potentially be a blow out, but we knew when we went up 14-0 that they were not going to lay down. All these teams left are super, super talented, so why put that talent to waste? We knew that we had to keep fighting, keep battling and keep going.”
Things finally started to slow down for both sides after the Kaufmann score, which allowed the Hornets to get back into the game. But the Eagles weren’t done trying to prove a point, despite the Hornets moving the ball well.
Taking a play from last year’s book, Elder got the school’s most prolific wide receiver involved in the backfield for a curveball the Hornets weren’t ready for. Lining Maxey up at running back a handful of times, he broke through the Hornets’ defensive front for the game’s longest score, a 58-yard run that put the Eagles on top 21-0 at the start of the second quarter.
“I actually play running back a lot in practice, we don’t really use it that much, but it was raining conditions tonight, so why not?” Maxey said. “All credit to the O-line. The O-line is the reason we won the game. There’s no other (group) on this team that won the game, besides the O-line.”
Despite the three-score lead, Elder and the Eagles never felt comfortable and for good reason. The Hornets have one of the best weapons in the state in junior running back Casey Myser, who can break a play at any given moment.
Myser scored all three of the Hornets’ touchdowns, with the first coming with just over two and a half minutes left in the first half, cutting the lead to 21-7.
Then things got very interesting. The Hornets marched down the field to start the second half and came up with a couple of big third-down conversions to and Myser scored on an 18-yard run to make it 21-14, Eagles. The drive ate up nearly 6 minutes off the clock.
The Eagles’ next drive ate up the clock, too. It lasted until the first play of the fourth quarter, when Good ran behind his tackle for a score to regain a two-score lead.
Enough time had ticked off the clock that Highland coach Mike Gibbons knew they couldn’t risk giving the ball back to the Eagles again, down 28-14. So it was four-down territory for the rest of the game.
The Hornets mustered everything they had on the next drive and converted two crucial fourth downs before Myser’s third scored again, with just under 6 minutes to play, making it 28-20. The point after was blocked.
The Hornets defense the Eagles had been hearing so much about all week finally stepped up with the season on the line and forced a punt with 3:50 remaining.
As seconds ticked off the clock, the Hornets got a couple of first downs and things looked tight for the Eagles before a personal foul backed the Hornets into a first-and-25 they wouldn’t recover from.
Four-star junior defensive back Jakob Weatherspoon, who has an Ohio State offer, made perhaps the play of the season on fourth-and-14 to essentially end the Hornets’ season with an interception. The Eagles ran the clock out from there.
Highland’s defense gave one last glimmer of hope in the waning seconds of the game by forcing a fumble, but it rolled past the first down marker and was recovered by the Eagles. That left one final kneel down by Good before the celebration began.
Elder spoke with his team and told them to cherish the moment, but the next battle for the Eagles is one that has plagued the program for years, with a very familiar Hoban team standing in the way once again.
“We work hard to get back to this moment. Our kids work tirelessly, our coaches work tirelessly and we’re not going to take this opportunity lightly and certainly we’re going to enjoy every step of the way together,” Elder said. “We’re going to try and find a way to slay the giant that we’ve not been able to do yet. But, we’re excited to get to work and try to do that.”