On a cold and rainy Homecoming night the Shoremen heated things up early and often, scorching the Bay Rockets 46-7. In what was probably the last meeting ever with our oldest rival, Avon Lake ended any upset hopes Bay may have been harboring within the first five minutes. On the game's opening possession, Lee Simmons intercepted a pass by Bay QB Derek Reidel at the Rockets 32. On the first play after the turnover, Bobby Doyle took a pitch from Mike Tift and raced down the left sideline for the score. Then, following a Bay punt, Tift threw to Simmons in the left flat. Lee pulled up and threw a strike to Andrew Means for a 43 yard gain. Two plays later, Sean Murello burst into the end zone on a fullback counter and the Shoremen led 14-0. Chris Rau returned the Rockets next punt 34 yards to the 24, but a fumbled snap was recovered by Bay at its own 12 and the first quarter ended with no further scoring.

On the first play of the second quarter, Tift found Trey Stross with a 26 yard TD bomb to stretch the lead to 21. Then Rau set up the offense in good field position once again as the junior cornerback intercepted Reidel at the Rockets 41 yard line. Doyle then took a handoff over the left side, broke a tackle at the line, and outran the rest of the defenders for a 41 yard touchdown. The defense quickly forced another punt, and when A.L. decided to go for it on fourth & one, Mike Urbin burst right over the center and raced 43 yards to the Bay six with a minute left in the half. Doyle scored on the next play and the Shoremen led 34-0 at intermission.

Meanwhile, the defense was making life miserable for Reidel. Besides the picks by Rau & Simmons, the Shoremen sacked the Bay QB repeatedly. Tony Smerk & Peter Storer each dropped him once, to go with two sacks by Stephen Zywotek. The secondary blanketed Bay's receivers so well that Reidel just couldn't find an open target.

The Shoremen struck even more quickly in the third quarter than they had to start the game. Bobby Doyle returned the second half kickoff 79 yards to stretch the lead to 40-0. Bobby added a 30 yard scoring dash on the next possession before Coach Dave Dlugosz decided to rest his starters for the night. Doyle finished the night with 223 rushing yards, bringing his eight-game total to 1,588. Bay scored a TD late in the third period after recovering a fumble deep in Avon Lake's end of the field. Reidel scored on a 24 yard keeper, breaking a number of tackles on his way to the end zone.

 Notes:

  • The victory extends the Shoremen's school record and state best winning streak to 23 games.
  • Avon Lake played Bay more than any other opponent - 46 times. The all-time series ends (for now) with the Shoremen holding a 27-19 advantage. Bay's 19 wins are the most by any opponent.
  • Mike Tift now has 18 TD passes this year, breaking the regular season school record of 17 set last year by Tyler Booher.
  • Johnny Lyons amazing extra point streak ended at 54 when his fifth try of the night sailed a little right. He made his first 50 tries this year plus the last four in 2003. Congratulations to John for this remarkable feat!

(Home)

(Photos)

 

Avon Lake

14

20

12

0

46

Bay

0

0

7

0

7

 

 

 

Bay

 

Avon Lake

First downs

 

5

 

11

Rush Yds

 

87

 

263

Pass Yds

 

46

 

67

Passes att-comp-int

 

17-6-2

 

5-2-0

Fumbles-lost

 

0-0

 

8-4

Penalties

 

2-5

 

6-45

 

 

 

 

 

AL -- Doyle 32 run (Lyons kick)
AL -- Murello 7 run (Lyons kick)
AL -- Stross 26 pass from Tift (Lyons kick)
AL -- Doyle 41 run (Lyons kick)
AL -- Doyle 7 run (Kick failed)
AL -- Doyle 79 kickoff return (Pass failed)
AL -- Doyle 30 run (Run failed)
B -- Reidel 21 run (Reidel Kick