The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
EAGLES SOAR
Avon’s running back scores twice while running for 245 yards in win
Avon senior running back Mark Steinmetz leads the Eagles on to the field to face Southwestern Conference opponent Olmsted Falls on Aug. 31. Avon upped its record to 2-0 with a convincing 52-14 victory. More on this game and other area high school football action is in Sports,
Nick Perusek came into Week 2 simply not wanting to fumble the ball, but the Avon running back did so much more.
After two disappointing turnovers last week, Perusek came back and dominated against Olmsted Falls, rushing for 245 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles powered their way to a 52-14 win Aug. 31, downing their Southwestern Conference rival to start the season 2-0.
The junior credited much of his success to the offensive line, and while Avon certainly dominated up front, even the line couldn’t take full credit for some of the plays Perusek put together with his explosive speed.
“I was really, this game, trying to hold onto the ball,” Perusek said. “I had two fumbles last game so I wasn’t really expecting to break anything but I think our line just did a great job.
“They really opened up the holes...they got off their blocks and made it to their linebackers and really opened it up for me.”
Despite being teammates with Perusek for some time, quarterback Ryan Maloy was impressed by the career night the 5-foot11, 167 pound junior had against the Bulldogs, notably on a 77-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the first quarter.
“Nick’s a stud,” Maloy said. “He’s probably the fastest kid I’ve ever seen. That run he had down the sideline. I didn’t even know he was still running I just knew because the crowd never stopped cheering.”
Maloy put up impressive numbers against Olmsted Falls, too.
The senior was 11-of15 with 189 yards and a touchdown and added 40 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to compliment Perusek and the rest of the Avon offense, and six players found the end zone including Mark Steinmetz, Devon Hunter, Mike Matlak and Ryan Jones.
It was a stark difference from Week 1 against Akron Buchtel in which the Eagles managed a mere 19 points in a game Maloy said the offense left a lot of points on the field.
“Offensively, we just had a stronger focus during this week of practice and knew the performance we had last week wasn’t good enough and we can’t settle for that,” Maloy said.
The constant from week to week, however, has been the Eagles’ play up front.
Where the offensive line opened up holes and gave Maloy all day to throw, the defense kept an Olmsted Falls offense, which scored 55 points in Week 1, in check for 148 total yards on the night and held the Bulldogs scoreless the second half.
“I feel like they dominated us up front. That’s the bottom line,” Olmsted Falls coach Tom DeLuca said. “Perusek’s a really good running back and they kicked our butt up front. That was the bottom line.
I told our team right now that Avon’s an elite football team, we’re not. We’re not elite right now. Whether we can get there in eight weeks I don’t know but we’re gonna try.”
Michael Howard led the Bulldogs’ offense with 50 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and added a 90-yard kickoff return near the end of the first half to cut the Avon lead to 24-14.
Jack Spellacy added 57 yards on nine carries and quarterback Teddy Grendzynski was 1-of-6 for 12 yards and an interception.
“You make mistakes, you don’t beat Avon. That’s the bottom line,” DeLuca said. “You make multiple mistakes and they’re gonna put it on you.”
“You make mistakes, you don’t beat Avon. That’s the bottom line. You make multiple mistakes and they’re gonna put it on you.”
— Coach Tom DeLuca