Defense shuts out Olmsted Falls as Eagles take control of conference

Pregame chatter leading up to Friday’s Southwestern Conference football showdown between host Avon and Olmsted Falls was filled with speculation that perhaps the Bulldogs had what it takes not only to stay with the Eagles, but maybe even to pull off an upset. They had a veteran team with a solid offensive line that was clearing the way for the vaunted Olmsted Falls triple option running game. Running back Owen Singleton averaged 134 yards per game and 8 yards per carry in his team’s first four contests. In those four games the Bulldogs went 3-1 against Division I teams, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Mentor, one of the top Division I squads in the state. But when the game moved from being played on paper to being played on turf, Avon exploded for 21 points in the first quarter and eventually took a 28-0 decision, handing Olmsted Falls its first shutout since 2013. The Eagles, who were ranked No. 3 in this week’s state poll, are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in SWC play, while the Bulldogs drop to 3-2 and 1-1. While scoring 21 points while your team has run only 13 plays certainly is noteworthy, the story of this game was the Avon defense. The Bulldogs rushed for 160 yards and totaled 253 yards of offense, but much of that came in the second half while facing a 28-point deficit. In the first half, Olmsted Falls had only 98 yards of offense. In addition, the Bulldogs reached the red zone three times, but each time the Avon defense stiffened. “We’ve seen that offense a billion times, and I think they have really good players on that offense,” said Avon coach Mike Elder. “Olmsted Falls is a really, really good football team who we will probably see again. They’re not just SWC good, they’re one of the best teams in Ohio.” In the team huddle after the game, defensive coordinator Jared Cecchetti went out of his way to thank the scout team for the job it did all week in giving the Avon defense a chance to practice against the unusual offense. Elder echoed that sentiment. “Our challenge team all week has consisted of sophomores and some junior who don’t play yet, even seniors who are program players, and they gave us a really good look all week,” said Elder. “Kudos to them. Sometimes, the people helping to win games, you don’t see them on Friday nights, and we certainly had a bunch of guys do that this week.” Linebacker Ryan Stolarski, who spent much of the night in the Olmsted Falls backfield, said that the success of the defense came down to two things—having faced it before and getting quality work against the scout team. “Their offense is not new to us at all,” he said. “It definitely helps having experience. You really just have to trust your reads. We have all those films to go back and watch, and our coaches take the time to make the right adjustments every time we play them. Our scout team definitely helped. They gave us a great look all week. I think we had a great week of practice and then we came out and showed it.” The Eagles took the opening kickoff and drove right down the field, scoring on a 9-yard run by Cam Wendell, who was forced out of the game in the second quarter and is expected to miss substantial time with an injury. It appeared the Bulldogs were going to answer with a long drive of their own, getting as far as the Avon 15-yard line. However, a holding penalty and a sack by Stolarski and Ben Strichek forced Falls to line up for a 42-yard field goal. However, Avon’s Jakob Weatherspoon got a hand on the kick, with teammate Dane Sexton picking it up at the 40-yard line and taking it into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 3:00 left in the opening period. “Every Thursday we do a game script, and when we get to the field goal block, we spend a lot of time on that,” said Elder. “I’m like, ‘We’ve got to get off the field.’ I used to say, ‘Why do we spend all this time? We’ve never blocked any kicks.’ And ironically, we blocked an extra point in the state championship game last year and we blocked this field goal that we scooped and scored. So, we’ll keep spending time on that. I’m certainly going to endorse that.” Sexton, a senior linebacker, downplayed his role in the play, saying he is just one of the members of the special teams unit. Later in the game, Sexton also recovered an onside kick, and the Eagles also recovered a muffed punt by Olmsted Falls. “All glory goes to the team,” said Sexton. “It takes all 11 of us. Honestly, I was just there at the right time, and I was able to take it back, fortunately. At Avon, special teams is a focus for us. We make that a focus for our team, and that’s where some other teams sometimes lose games. Those are the hidden yards in a game, and that’s what matters to us. We want to win those plays.” The Bulldogs were forced to punt on the ensuing possession, and it only took Avon three plays to find the end zone—a 32-yard swing pass to Weatherspoon that allowed him to showcase his exceptional speed, a 10-yard pass to Grant Barr, and a 38-yard run by Quiante’ Smith in which he spun out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then sprinted his way into the end zone, putting the score at 21-0 with 28 second left in the first quarter. “That was big,” said Elder of his team’s huge opening quarter. “That made the difference in the game. We only scored seven after that. We knew coming in that Olmsted Falls’ defense was as good as we’ve seen. They’re a much better defense than we’ve seen in the past, and that’s not a knock on anybody. It’s just that they’re playing at a high level defensively.” The final points of the game came when the Eagles put together an impressive drive late in the second quarter. Olmsted Falls achieved a few first downs to cross midfield, but eventually Avon forced a punt when Stolarski sacked quarterback Cameron Pesch on third-and-five, with the Eagles taking over on their six-yard line. Wendell opened the drive with a 5-yard run, his last play of the game. Following an incomplete pass, Michael Colburn ran for 4 yards, putting Avon into a fourth-and-one from the 15. At first Elder called for the punt team, but after Olmsted Falls called a timeout, he changed his mind and chose to go for the first down. Blake Elder ran an option keeper to the right side and gained the needed yard, extending the drive. “I kind of wanted to go for it to begin with, but we were down a few backs, and we were concerned,” said Mike Elder. “But when they called time out, it just gave me more time to muster up the courage to do what I normally would do, and that’s just line up and go for it on fourth-and-one. I’ve been in the biggest games and done that, and at the end of the day, I’m glad we did because we ate the rest of the clock and that was a big scoring drive that in essence ended the game.” The first down seemed to ignite the Eagles, as they systematically worked their way down the field. Blake Elder, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 160 yards, completed seven consecutive passes for the remainder of the drive, with most of them being either swing passes or screen passes to a wide receiver. Eventually, Colburn found the end zone on a 2-yard run, making it 28-0 with 30 seconds left in the half, completing a 15-play drive that covered 94 yards. Next week, the Eagles will hit the road to face Berea-Midpark at Baldwin-Wallace’s Finnie Stadium.