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Avon Lake staged a furious third quarter rally but came up a point short, dropping a heartbreaker to Brecksville-Broadview Heights.  The throwing and running of  Bees’ quarterback Steve Wirkus led  to three touchdowns and a 21-7 halftime lead.  The Shoremen defense contained Wirkus and the BBH offense in the second half, but the offense couldn’t overcome the Bees’ defense and a few too many self-inflicted wounds.

A.L. kicked off  to start the game and  stopped the Bees’ return at the 23.  After a dive into the line gained one yard, Wirkus dropped to pass, avoided the rush, and scrambled to the 40 for a first down – a pattern that was repeated time & again in the first half.  Another inside run gained a couple yards, and then on 2nd & eight Wirkus optioned to his left.  The Shoremen “D” bit hard on the fake to the fullback and Wirkus turned upfield, got a key block from his left tackle, and sprinted 58 yards untouched for the score.  

The Shoremen got a nice kick return by Scott Shaffer and set up shop at their own 31.  Three Kevin Mansnerus runs produced a first down, and a Harris to MacGeorge pass gained 15 yards to the BBH 39.  Alex Berry carried for a first down and a 15 yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the 13.  But Harris was stopped a couple yards short on fourth down and  the Bees took over at their five yard line.  On 3rd & five Drew Becker picked off a Wirkus pass around the twenty and ran it back to the five.  Kevin Mansnerus took a pitchout to the right on the next play, cut back inside, and raced in for the score.  Becker’s kick tied the score at 7.

The next Bees’ possession featured a few more nice scrambles by Wirkus as he evaded the pass rush time after time.  He also connect with wideout Brad Pollock for four passes on the drive,  the last one for a five yard touchdown.  The Shoremen started from their 27, gaining just three yards on two run attempts.  A 15 yard unsportsmanlike foul backed the Shoremen up to their 15.  After a botched option pitch lost another ten yards, a shanked punt put BBH right back in business at the A.L. 20.  Yet another Wirkus scramble and a facemask penalty moved the ball inside the three.  Two plays later Bryan Pollock scored from the one and the Bees led 21-7 at the half. 

Steve Mares gave the Shoremen good field position to start the second half with a kickoff return to the A.L. 44.  After Harris hit MacGeorge for 18 yards on third down, Mansnerus swept left end for 16  yards to the 25.  On 3rd & seven from the 22,  Harris arched a beautiful bomb to Scott Davey for a TD, and the PAT cut the deficit to 21-14.  On Brecksville’s next possession, the defense finally sacked Wirkus on third down, forcing a punt.  The snap sailed over the punter’s head and the Shoremen took over at the nine.  Kevin Mansnerus found a huge hole over the left side, ran through a tackler at the five, and scored his second touchdown of the game.  The conversion attempt was too low, however, leaving the score at 21-20.  The rest of the game was a defensive struggle as neither team was able to mount any real scoring threat.  The final Shoremen possession ended when Mansnerus  caught a swing pass on 4th and 20, broke a couple of tackles, but came up three yards short.

 

Notes: 

·       Kevin Mansnerus scored his first two touchdowns of the year as he looked much more like his old self this week.

·       This was the first Southwestern Conference loss for the Shoremen in over four years.  The last SWC defeat came at Olmsted Falls in week four of the 2002 season.

·       It was great to see defensive end Justin Malloy playing the better part of three quarters after battling a back injury since early last year.

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Avon Lake

7

0

13

0

20

Brecksville

7

14

0

0

21

 

 

 

BBH

 

A.L.

First downs

 

13

 

10

Rush Yds

 

185

 

61

Pass Yds

 

40

 

72

Passes att-comp-int

 

11-5-1

 

13-6-0

Fumbles-lost

 

1-0

 

2-0

Penalties

 

4-40

 

6-43

 

 

 

 

 

BBH -- Wirkus 58 run (Brad Pollock kick)
AL – Mansnerus 5 run (Becker kick)
BBH – Brad Pollock 5 pass from Wirkus (Brad Pollock kick)
BBH – Byan Pollock 1 run (Brad Pollock kick)
AL – Davey 22 pass from Harris (Becker kick)
AL – Mansnerus 9 run (kick failed)