The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon boosts playoff hopes, hurt Amherst’s
Both Avon (8-1, 6-1) and Amherst (5-4, 4-4) entered Week 9 with playoff implications on the line.
However, it is now the Comets whose postseason hopes look bleak, falling at home on senior night, 47-27.
As for Avon, its rushing attack was clicking on all cylinders, recording a total of 442 yards on the ground, while senior running back Nick Perusek led the way with 188 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.
“You want to be playing your best football at Week 10,” Avon coach Mike Elder said.
“I just found out tonight that we are playing for a conference championship in Week 10 because we got some help from Olmsted Falls and we’re playing for a home playoff game. All of our goals are in place so that’s really exciting and it’s a great day to be an Eagle because we’re playing for all that stuff and we’re playing our best football.”
Avon Lake, who beat Avon earlier in the season, 31-28, fell to Olmsted Falls, 34-31, on Oct. 19, setting up Avon’s chances of at least sharing the Southwestern Conference with a Week 10 win over Berea-Midpark.
Amherst, who’s now lost four straight after starting the season off with five wins, still has an outside chance of making the playoffs but will have to beat Westlake on the road in Week 10 and rely on other schools to control their destiny.
“The will of this team, they kept fighting,” Amherst coach Mike Passerello said. “They kept competing and there’s no stop in them and that’s a testament to this senior class of not stopping.”
Amherst’s first play of the game on offense was a historic one, as senior running back Khennedy Scagliozzo shot up the field for a 30-yard run, making him the all-time rushing leader in school history, breaking Alex Knipp’s record of 4,345 yards that was set in 2005.
“It really feels great for me, but also my teammates and my family,” Scagliozzo said. “They all got me on the right track and I’m just gonna cherish this moment for a little bit and then get ready for Westlake.”
Scagliozzo’s opening run set the tone for the Comets on offense, as he scored 11 plays later, on a six-yard carry with 2:47 left in the first quarter and a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles’ offense responded on their next series, as senior quarterback Ryan Maloy found junior receiver Joey Lance in the end zone for a 10-yard pass, tying the game at 7-7 with 1:07 left in the first quarter.
Avon added to their lead in the second quarter scoring on five plays as senior running back Mark Steinmentz found the end zone on a sevenyard run, making it 14-7 with 10:04 left in the half.
Despite a sluggish first half, the Eagles came out in the second half more focused, scoring a total of 33 points.
Avon’s defense also limited the Comets from making much noise, especially in the third quarter, as they allowed just six points, despite Scagliozzo picking up 186 yards on the ground and finding the end zone three times.
“I just felt like the second half we played a lot cleaner of a game,” Elder said. “We really should have been up 28-7 at halftime. They didn’t stop us in the first half we stopped ourselves. We felt like we left 21 points on the field, and as you know it was 14-7 at half we got a little nervous about that at that point because they have an explosive player and they’re a good team.”