Defense leads the way as Eagles dominate Olmsted Falls, 49-0

Since opening the season with a 1-2 record—an unprecedented stretch in coach Mike Elder’s tenure—Elder has been telling anyone who would listen that his team would get better week-to-week and that the Eagles would be playing their best football in the postseason.

But those were just words. Now, after Friday’s 49-0 dismantling of host Olmsted Falls in a Division II regional semifinal, Elder has proof. Cold, hard facts that can’t be denied.

It was seven weeks ago that the teams met on this same field with the Eagles taking a 58-33 victory. The teams combined for more than 90 points and more than 1,000 yards, with Falls quarterback Cameron Pesch passing for more than 300 yards and rushing for more than 100. Pesch was later named the Southwestern Conference player of the year and the offensive player of the year in the district.

“We were not pleased with the way we played in the regular season game defensively,” Elder said. “It’s a prideful group. They’re well-coached. (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Jared) Cecchetti and his staff do a great job. The defense was dominant (tonight). They scored zero points, and they have the player of the year with great receivers. They scored buckets of points throughout the year. But we tackled well, and I felt like we contained their quarterback, which is hard to do because he’s a great player who earned every award he got.”

Cecchetti said, “You look at our last game against them, and we played really well for the first couple series, but then they were moving the ball. We got lucky with some fumbles, and then the second half was a track meet. But in watching that film we saw that a lot of our mistakes we can correct. They were things that we have fixed and worked on really hard. So, kudos to our guys. They made a lot of adjustments, and they’ve worked really hard on their techniques and now they understand the defense like they needed to.

“It’s been four weeks since we’ve really been tested, so we definitely were looking forward to this game because we wanted to see how far we’ve come. They’ve come to work every day. We spend a lot of time with film every day. Before practice we go out and do walk-throughs. We practice for an hour and 45 minutes, but mentally we’re there for almost three hours a day, locked in. So, it was awesome to see how much these guys have grown and improved.”

The much-improved defense kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone for the only time this season, and Pesch completed 10 of 22 passes for 100 yards and he gained 11 yards rushing on 10 carries.

“Olmsted Falls is a great team,” said senior lineman Nolan Robke. “They run the ball really well and their quarterback is really dynamic. But so far from when I’ve been on this team, this week of practice was the best I’ve ever seen. We were locked in, energy was high. It was just great. I feel like we executed our assignments really well, and that’s what led us to this win. We also struggled at the beginning of the season with finishing all four quarters, and this game we finished all four quarters.”

It took very little time for the Eagles to establish how the game was going to go. Olmsted Falls received the opening kickoff, and on first down Pesch was sacked for a 6-yard loss. Two plays later, the Bulldogs were forced to punt, with Avon taking over on its 37-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, running back Michael Colburn ran off right tackle and burst through a huge hole with nothing but green turf in front of him. Less than 3 minutes into the game, the Eagles had a 7-0 lead.

Colburn was the offensive star of the game, gaining 246 yards on just eight carries and scoring three touchdowns. A sprinter on Avon’s track team, the senior had several huge runs in which he outsprinted the Falls defense.

“We’ve got a guy in our backfield who can run away from other people,” Elder said. “He’s fast. If he gets a seam, no one’s catching him. We’ve had a lot of great backs here, but he’s the first one where he hasn’t been caught from behind yet.”

Colburn’s scoring runs covered 63, 80 and 72 yards. In the regular season matchup, he had TD runs that went for 44 and 87 yards, meaning he had five TD runs against the Bulldogs this season that covered a total of 346 yards, an average of 69.2 yards per carry.

“My teammates say this every game, but they all were all telling me I’m going to have three, four touchdowns,” Colburn said. “But I don’t really go into a game wanting anything. You know, high school football is going to be done soon. I just want to enjoy the game and have fun. I feel like when I go out with that mindset, I play better.”

Also scoring for the Eagles were Fin Jerdonek with touchdown receptions from quarterback Trevor Sykora that went for 58 and 51 yards, and Jairel Fenton and Luke Pavey, each on runs that covered 3 yards.

With such a large margin of victory, it’s easy to think the Eagles had it easy the entire way. In fact, there was one stretch in which Avon scored on four consecutive offensive plays. But there also was a crucial stretch in the second quarter with the Eagles sitting on a 14-0 lead. Olmsted Falls put together its only sustained drive of the game, moving from its own 21 to the Avon 12. But with Pesch unable to connect with a receiver on both third and fourth downs, the Eagles took possession with just under 5 minutes remaining in the half.

Three Avon played netted 8 yards, and on fourth-and-2 from his own 20-yard line, Elder decided to take a huge gamble. At first the Eagles sent out their punting unit, but after an Olmsted Falls timeout, Elder chose to go for the first down. This time, Colburn ran off left tackle, and he was untouched all the way to the end zone.

““On all my touchdown runs, I was being real patient,” Colburn said. “This whole week of film, I was watching the game that we played against them earlier in the season, and on most of my runs, I was being way too fast, and I missed a big cutback lane. So, I knew that I had to slow down. The line was creating massive holes, and I just took it with my speed.”

When asked about the decision to go for it, Elder said it came down to one thing—trust.

“I just trust our guys,” he said. “Our guys are like, ‘You have a lot of guts, coach.’ I said, ‘No, I trust you.’ In that situation, you have the player of the year in the conference, the quarterback for them. They had just driven down the field and stalled out. If we punt there, maybe at the most you’re giving them the ball at the 50, which is four-down territory. So, it was a calculated risk, and thankfully it paid off, or else it’s 14-7 and you guys are asking me different questions. But I’m willing to take those risks because I trust our guys.”

So, now it’s on to another familiar gathering, a regional final against Toledo Central Catholic. The game will be played Friday at a site yet to be named. Central Catholic defeated Oregon Clay in their regional semifinal, 61-27. Avon will be making its 10th consecutive appearance in a regional final, and the Eagles have only lost one, a 28-20 decision to Central Catholic in 2022. This will be the sixth regional final between the two teams, with Avon holding a 3-2 edge.