Despite a ton of penalties and a couple of turnovers, the Shoremen played well enough to overcome a tough Clay Eagles team, 28-9. The Shoremen started quickly after Clay squibbed the opening kickoff to the Avon Lake 40. On the first play from scrimmage, Bobby Doyle took a pitch from Tift, turned the left corner, and raced 40 yards before he was stopped. Sean Murello ran to the six on a fullback counter, and Doyle took it in from there. Less than two minutes into the game, the Shoremen led 7-0. Clay managed a first down, but the Shoremen "D" stiffened and forced a punt. After false start penalty made it first and fifteen from their own 24, Avon Lake again took just three plays to score: a nine yard run by Doyle, a 38 yard Tift to Stross bomb, and then a 28 yard TD pass to tight end Lee Simmons. The first quarter ended with the Shoremen driving again, and it looked like the rout was on.

But the Eagles seemed to be over their playoff jitters, and on the first play of the second period they intercepted a Tift pass and went to work on offense. Clay started moving the ball better, with Nick Sondergeld running hard behind a quick, physical offensive line. Quarterback Brent Graham mixed in some timely passing and the soon the Eagles had a first down on the Shoremen 13. But on third and six from the nine, Scott Bennett sacked Graham and Clay settled for a 27 yard field goal. The Shoremen offense spent the rest of the second quarter stopping themselves with a seemingly unending stream of penalties. Andrew Means had an incredible diving interception to end one Clay threat, and Stross picked one off on the last play of the half deep in Avon Lake territory. The half ended with the score 14-3 in favor of the good guys.

The third quarter started much like the first, with the Shoremen striking quickly. After receiving the kickoff, Clay fumbled on their second play and the Shoremen recovered on the Eagles 13. Doyle ran to the one and Murello took it in from there. Clay manage to drive across midfield, but stalled at the Avon Lake 40 and punted to the ten. The Shoremen burnt up about six minutes, overcame 25 yards in penalties, and finally scored on a Tift to Stross pass from nine yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter. The rest of the quarter was pretty sloppy, as each team lost a fumble, the Shoremen continued to pile up the penalties, and Clay threw another interception on a double pass. The Eagles scored their only TD of the night on a screen pass to Sondergeld, who broke a couple of tackles and stretched into the end zone.

The Shoremen onslaught was held in check only by the hailstorm of yellow flags on the offense. The Eagles had no luck at all stopping the run, as Bobby Doyle finished the night with 26 carries for 218 yards. Trey Stross caught 5 passes for 69 yards and a TD as the short passing game clicked pretty well, with the lone exception being the interception to start the second quarter. On that play, it looked like the receiver ran a different route than Tift expected. It was only the fourth pick Mike has thrown all year.

Notes:

  • The victory extends the Shoremen's school record and state best winning streak to 26 games.
  • The Shoremen will meet Amherst again next Friday at 7:30, as the Comets downed Southview 14-7 for their first playoff win since 2000. The game will be played at Lakewood Stadium, 141 Franklin Avenue, Lakewood. Lakewood has a turf field which should work out nicely for our maroon & gold speed demons.
  • Lee Simmons TD catch was the first of the year for the Shoremen tight end. It was a nice reward for this hard working player whose blocking is responsible for all those big gains Bobby Doyle gets on the toss sweep.
  • Avon Lake has now won a first round home playoff game for five straight years.

(Home)

(Photos)

 

Avon Lake

14

0

7

7

28

Clay

0

3

0

6

9

 

 

 

Clay

 

Avon Lake

First downs

 

14

 

17

Rush Yds

 

82

 

264

Pass Yds

 

129

 

127

Passes att-comp-int

 

25-14-3

 

17-11-1

Fumbles-lost

 

3-2

 

1-1

Penalties

 

3-26

 

14-135

 

 

 

 

 

AL -- Doyle 6 run (Lyons kick)
AL -- Simmons 28 pass from Tift (Lyons kick)
C -- Guy 27 field goal
AL -- Murello 1 run (Lyons kick)
AL -- Stross 9 pass from Tift (Lyons kick)
C -- Sondergeld 11 pass from Graham (pass failed)