The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Defense helps Eagles notch win
Key sack late in the fourth quarter secures Avon victory in season opener
Avon didn’t put on the performance Coach Mike Elder was expecting, but when the end result is a win he’s not letting his team take it for granted.
The Eagles held on in the fourth quarter to stave off an explosive Akron Buchtel, 19-11, in the season opener at home Aug. 23 to start the season on a winning, albeit frustrating, note.
Heading into the game, Elder suspected his offense would carry the load while the defense worked out some growing pains, but in fact it was the defense that kept the game in reach.
Avon turned the ball over three times, including twice in the red zone on its only two possessions of the third quarter, and was held scoreless in the second half despite plenty of opportunities to move the ball.
“Offensively I just thought we left a lot of points out on the field tonight,” quarterback Ryan Maloy said.
“Offensively I just throught we left a lot of points out on the field tonight.” – Avon quarterback Ryan Maloy.
It was especially frustrating for Maloy and his teammates considering the offensive line gave him plenty of time to make play after play.
“They picked up a lot of blocks, picked up a lot of blitzes as well, and they gave me time and gave the running backs some holes to run through,” Maloy said.
The senior threw an interception in the Eagles’ opening series before settling in a bit as the first half progressed.
An eight-yard toss to Nick Perusek put Avon up, 6-0, with 30 seconds to play in the first quarter and the pair connected again near the sevenminute mark of the second quarter for a 36-yard score.
Maloy finished 9-of-19 with 107 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while Perusek’s two touchdown catches were his only receptions of the night, but the junior added 91 yards on 19 carries.
Mark Steinmetz’s fouryard run put the Eagles up, 19-2 — a lead they held through halftime — but it was his huge defensive stop that essentially sealed the win.
With a little over two minutes left in regulation, Buchtel quarterback Mychael Leno, who had eluded Avon much of the second half, dropped back with the ball when Steinmetz and the defense converged for the sack and a six-yard loss, effectively ending the Griffins’ comeback.
“Coach Elder always says we need to be heatseeking missiles when the ball comes so I really thought about that and I just wanted to fly around and make tackles,” Steinmetz said. “I knew our offense was struggling a little bit so I knew we had to step it up as a defense to help them out.
“He was escaping all of us all night long and it was nice to see we could finally take him down. I think seeing a quarterback like that, if we see another mobile quarterback like that then it gives us confidence that we know how to handle him a little bit better now.”
That confidence will be crucial as the Eagles take on conference rival Olmsted Falls Aug. 31 and look to clean up what will likely be one of the more dynamic offenses in the area.
“Coming into this game I would’ve told you our offense would’ve been light years ahead of our defense,” Elder said. “This game didn’t go quite the way I thought. If anything I thought it would go the opposite. Kudos to our defensive staff and our defensive players and our special teams for winning this game for us tonight.”