Avon's football family wins second consecutive state championship

CANTON, Ohio—Mike Elder sat at the middle of the table like a proud father surrounded by his family. Sitting on his immediate right was part of his actual family, his son, Blake, who had just been named the Most Valuable Player in Avon’s 37-20 dismantling of Cincinnati Anderson in the Division II state championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Also on the dais in the media room were seniors Max Hauck, Caden Clapham, Ryan Stolarski and Grant Barr, key players in Avon’s repeat victory over the Raptors. “They said we can only bring three (players), and we got five,” said Elder. “I’d like to bring the whole team, if I’m being honest.” After a 15-minute question-and-answer period with the assembled media, Elder finally got to what he has always said was the most important factor in his team’s second consecutive state title run: relationships. “The rallying cry of this team was never to beat Anderson, it was never to beat Walsh, it was never to beat Wadsworth, it was never to beat Highland,” he said. “It was always to play for each other and to get another week together. I think that we have such a strong brotherhood. “This is a family affair, man. These dudes have been to my house, some of them spent the night in my house. They’ve been little dudes in our locker room since they were little. They’ve been a part of my life. I know I have a son up here, but I feel like I’ve got a bunch of other ones in that locker room and up here with me, and it’s just a special, awesome deal.” Elder then went into detail of his history with the five players who joined him in the media room. “I look at every one of these guys—I was telling Max, I coached him in baseball when he was a little dude. He and his brother (Mason) used to fight and throw their gloves up on top of the dugout. Caden’s dad was such a good baseball player that I got him to coach with me so I could have Caden on my team. Blake, obviously, had no choice but to play for me. This guy over here (Stolarski), I coached him in football and his whole life I’ve been around him and his dad. Grant’s dad was one of my rival coaches. Grant always wanted to kick my butt.” From those family roots grew an group that became one of the top football teams in the state regardless of division. Certainly, after consecutive state titles, the Eagles are the cream of the crop in Division II. But Elder doesn’t view the two titles as a package deal. Instead, each has its own identity, its own journey. “This is a unique season,” he said. “It’s a different year from last year. Those guys were the first-ever, and that will never be taken away from them. And this group now, these seniors, are the winningest group in the history of Avon football, and there’s been some really talented kids come through there. So, it’s a special honor for all of them.” One of the cliches of athletics is that adversity makes you stronger. That certainly was the case with this Avon football team, which took a trip to Florida in late August and lost to Spruce Creek, 25-22. The loss ended a long winning streak for the Eagles, who then had to face a very talented Glenville team in their next game. “You know, we weren’t sure how the season was going to go,” Elder said. “We had Glenville looking us in the face when we got back home, but I knew in that week of practice how these guys responded that this was going to be a special year and it was a special group. Nobody pointed fingers. Not one person, no coaches, no players, nobody pointed fingers. They all pointed thumbs, took extreme ownership, and said, ‘Here’s what we’ve got to do to get better.’ And then they just went to work every single day, and as a result of that, we’re sitting here as state champions.” As has been the case throughout this playoff run, which has seen them win five games by an average margin of 23.8 points, the Eagles took control of the game early on and never let go. Avon opened the game on offense but was forced to punt after gaining one first down. Anderson also had to punt after an initial first down, but the snap soared over the head of punter Nick Rosiello, giving the Eagles the ball on the Anderson 16-yard line. Two plays later, Blake Elder hit Fin Jerdonek on a 14-yard scoring toss, and Avon had an early lead. “Avon is an incredible team,” said Anderson coach Evan Dreyer. “They took advantage of their opportunities. We had a botched snap and gave them a short field, and you can’t give them opportunities like that. They seized the momentum, and we couldn’t change that.” The momentum continued to build for Avon, often on the right arm of Blake Elder, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 216 yards and four touchdowns. The four scoring passes all came in the first half and tied a Division II championship game record. The other TD passes went to Clapham for 22 yards, Caden Bennet for 7 yards and Barr for 37 yards. “The pass (protection) was amazing all night,” said Blake Elder. “I can’t credit my teammates enough. They put me in positions to succeed. I just took the opportunities and gave it to our playmakers. It’s so special, but I couldn’t do any of this without the people beside me. I just can’t believe it yet. I’m just so proud of everyone. It’s insane.” The Eagles held a 27-7 halftime lead and never allowed the Raptors to get any closer than 14 points for the rest of the game. A big part of that was maintaining possession of the ball—the Eagles had more than a 10-minute advantage in time of possession—which was due in part to running back Quiante Smith and the offensive line. Smith rushed for 180 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries, with 119 of the yards coming in the second half. “Quiante certainly had a great game,” said Mike Elder. “What a great player. Both our running backs, Cam (Wendell) and Quiante, were out in week five and we didn’t have them until the playoff run. Thank goodness we got both of them back, because they made a big difference in this playoff run." And then there was the Avon defense. For the fifth consecutive playoff game, the Eagles held their opponent well under their scoring average. Anderson passes on almost every down, spreading the field with five receivers and forcing the opponent to defend its entire width. The Raptors averaged better than 44 points per game this season and never scored fewer than 29. “Cincinnati Anderson is a unique offense,” said Mike Elder. “They’re really talented. They score points in buckets, and they can score them fast. We have the best defensive coordinator in Ohio, Jared Cecchetti, and he’s also our strength coach. He’s a big reason that we have an opportunity to win state championships. To hold that team to 20 points is a monumental, monumental effort.” Anderson also goes no-huddle on offense, which means the game can sometimes get chaotic. The goal is to wear the opponent down with pass after pass with very little break. The Raptors ran an incredible 40 plays in the first half, but because of Avon’s ball possession in the second half, they totaled 67 for the game, just six more than Avon. Part of defending that spread offense is keeping fresh bodies on the field. Mike Elder has always had a philosophy of developing players throughout the season, which, in turn, develops depth. That depth was needed against Anderson. At one point, Avon made a complete change of 11 defensive players like a line change in hockey. Eleven defenders ran off the field and 11 ran on. ““Our coaches do a great job of subbing people out throughout the year,” said Hauck. “When it comes to moments like these when Anderson runs a really good offense, high-tempo, we need to play a bunch of our guys to get them experience throughout the season so they can ball out.” Another of Anderson’s offensive philosophies is to almost always go for it on fourth down. Dreyer said the Raptors have punted only “six or seven times” this season, and they only punted once again Avon. Anderson went for it on fourth down six times and was only successful once, certainly a key factor in Avon’s victory. The Raptors also were only successful on three of 10 third-down opportunities.