AVON LAKE, Ohio – For the second straight week, both Avon Lake and Midview were in a game that came down to the final moments.
And, for the second straight week, the outcome was the same for both teams.
A 6-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Anthony Benedict with 1:48 left capped a 21-unanswered-point second half for the Shoremen. And, just like last weekend against Amherst, a fourth-down play into the end zone with time running out came up empty for the visiting Middies.
The result was a thrilling come-from-behind 24-17 Southwestern Conference win for Avon Lake Friday night at Avon Lake Memorial Stadium.
Avon Lake improves to 3-2 (2-0 SWC) and will travel to face unbeaten Amherst next week. Midview falls to 3-2 (0-2 SWC) and will host Berea-Midpark next week.
“Our kids played hard and I thought we played really physical football,” Avon Lake coach Matt Kostelnik said. “In the second half, we came out swinging. We made it a little interesting at the end, but it was fantastic.
“Anytime that you can continue to move the ball throughout the game, you want that momentum in the third and fourth quarter. If we continued to run the ball effectively, I knew we could get those late touchdowns. We were able to do that last week against Berea-Midpark with late rushing touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter that allowed us to come back, and we did again tonight. We turned out good runs and we were being consistent with our blocking.”
On the first play, an attempted screen pass from quarterback Shay Williams was picked off by senior defensive lineman Jack O’Toole.
O’Toole rumbled from the 21 down to the 6 with 1:51 left in the game.
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches,” said O’Toole, who also had a big fumble recovery on the final play of the first half and almost had an interception on a similar screen play earlier in the game. “All week, we worked on defending their screen, and my teammates set me up to be in the right spot at the right time.
“Our coaches kept saying, ‘retrace your steps’ all game long. We knew they loved that wall screen. Their tackle didn’t touch me, and I saw the ball coming right to me. It was just instinct. I never thought it would be like that. We cannot do it without all three phases working as one. Our offense had a lot of long sustained drives and that kept us fresh for the end when it mattered.”
On the ensuing play, Benedict took a simple handoff up the middle and ran in for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. Reece Polomsky’s extra point made it 24-17, Shoremen.
“Even though we were down, we knew we were beating them in every aspect but the scoreboard,” said Benedict, who finished with a game-high 109 yards on 24 carries and added one catch for 10 more yards. “We were beating them off the line and our defense was doing a great job. We knew we were kicking them in the (expletive) and it was just a matter of time before things were going to go our way.
“We knew we were getting that touchdown. The line blocked great, opened up a big hole, and I was able to get the job done. Our line did a tremendous job all game long. As long as we got 5 yards a carry, we knew we would be OK.”
Midview wasn’t done, though. After two kickoffs went out of bounds, the Middies regained possession on its own 29 and one time out. Williams converted a fourth-and-8 with a 10-yard scramble to the 41, and that seemed to get things going for the offense.
On third-and-10, Williams found Dior Jones for a 13-yard pass and a first down to the Avon Lake 46, and then a 24-yard pass to Cross Wervey put the ball on the 22 for another first down.
But the Shoremen defense toughened up. Williams took a 4-yard sack, then fired three straight incomplete passes. The final one was intended for Camden Scott on a corner route to the end zone, but was broken up.
“It’s a punch in the gut, for sure,” Midview coach Jack Armstrong said. “The most important thing is these kids continue to believe in one another and they kept fighting and I’m super proud of them. We’ve got to learn from this because we’re a good football team and we’ve competed with two good football teams in a row. You guys can see that we’re back, it’s just a matter of getting the result we need at the end of the game, and we’re gonna work on that.”
Avon Lake trailed 17-3 at the half, but that was despite having more first downs (8-3), rushing yards (85-21) and total offensive yards (125-87) than Midview in the first half. And, it wasted little time showing that those stats were real by scoring on back-to-back drives to start the second half.
First, after forcing a 3-and-out, the Shoremen quickly drove 65 yards on 5 plays, capped by a 54-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Owen Fach to junior Mike Summerfield. It was Summerfield’s only catch of the game, but it proved to be tremendous.
The extra point cut the deficit to 17-10. But the Shoremen stunned everyone by trying an onside kick and recovering it at the Midview 48. Sophomore Jacob Perry recovered the ball.
Eight plays and 48 yards later, Benedict found the end zone from 2 yards out on third-and-goal with 3:38 left in the quarter, and the extra point tied the game at 17.
“That whole sequence was huge,” Kostelnik said. “My special teams coordinator does a great job, even though we had a hiccup in the first half, he sees things that other people don’t. He gave me the green light and said, ‘I think we got something here,’ and I said let’s do it.
“I put a lot of faith into my coaches and my kicker. Reese kicked a hell of a ball, our kids played it really, really well, and we did a great job.”
Avon Lake took the opening kick and methodically marched down the field, converting one third down and one fourth down en route to a 15-play, 62-yard drive. The marathon march stalled at the Midview 18, and on fourth-and-5, senior kicker Reese Polomsky drilled a 35-yard field goal, putting the hosts ahead, 3-0, with 4:44 left in the first.
It didn’t take long for the Middies to respond – all of eight seconds to be exact.
Junior Mike Passerrello Jr. caught the ensuing kickoff on his own 12 and followed a cadre of blockers all the way for a stunning 88-yard touchdown. Passerrello wasn’t touched until his teammates hugged him in the end zone. Ethan Morris’ extra point put the visitors ahead, 7-3, with 4:36 left in the quarter.
The Middles led despite not getting a first down until there was eight minutes left in the first half, on their second offensive possession.
But that first down – on a 10-yard screen pass from Williams to Passerrello on the first play of the drive – kickstarted a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive. A 42-yard completion from Williams to Scott put the ball on the Shoremen 3, and senior Dior Jones did the honors himself from the Wildcat position. With 6:20 left in the half, the Middies led, 14-3.
Fach – who was extremely efficient in the first quarter by going 4 of 6 for 27 yards – made his first mistake a costly one on his next possession. On third-and-10 from his own 25, Fach’s pass went right to Middie defender Zack Wallace. Wallace picked off the pass on the Avon Lake 44 and returned it all the way to the 14. The offense couldn’t get much going, so Morris kicked a 25-yard field goal with 3:00 remaining with plenty to spare. Morris’ kick increased the Middie lead to 17-3.
Disaster almost struck the Middies while trying to run the clock.
First, Williams had to run backward to retrieve an errant snap and was able to get off an incomplete pass, but not before taking a hard hit and knocking him from the game for one play. Backup Cody Martin completed a pass for 8 yards, but offensive pass interference moved the ball back to the Middie 23. Two plays later, just before the clock expired, Williams bobbled another snap, and O’Toole scooped up the ball for Avon Lake and rumbled 10 yards before being tackled at the 15. However, time had expired just before O’Toole was tackled, ending the half with Midview ahead, 17-3.
“I thought, other than stupid penalties and the kickoff return, we played a very strong first half,” Kostelnik said. “I’m looking up at the scoreboard wondering how the hell are we down 17-3? It was just little mistakes that cost us. Hats off to Midview and coach Armstrong – those kids are physical and they don’t quit and they play tough. It just goes to show the toughness of our conference and what people can do. We’ve got to continue to improve and we’ve got to clean up those penalties.”
Dan Gilles is a freelancer from Lorain.
