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On a night the Shoremen offense struggled to overcome a couple of lost fumbles, a tough North Olmsted defense, and a hailstorm of yellow flags, the once shaky defense turned in a dominant performance to lead Avon Lake to a 12-6 win over the Eagles. Despite playing without two starting DB’s and losing DE Zach Murray in the first quarter, the Maroon & Gold “D” was dominant. After giving up 86 points in the first three games of the year, Avon Lake has yielded just one touchdown in each of the last three. The patched up secondary was flying to the ball & batting away passes in their best performance of the year. Meanwhile Mike Mansnerus ran for 186 yards and a TD, while Cody Bennington had 70 yards on just 9 carries and Nick Marinkov contributed some tough inside runs.

The game started on a sour note when Kevin Morissette caught the opening kickoff at the three and his momentum carried him out of bounds. Mansnerus carried for 16, 2, and 29 yards to get the Shoremen out of the hole and put the ball at midfield. The drive stalled there, forcing a punt. Three North Olmsted runs netted just 7 yards and the Eagles punted the ball to the A.L. 33. The running game continued to gouge the Eagle defense for double digit gains, but a fumble at the 15 gave the ball back to North Olmsted. This time the Eagles managed a first down before punting again. Another fumble on the first play after the punt put the Eagles at their own 48, but again the Eagles went three and out. Avon Lake moved the ball to midfield before punting. Once more the defense held after one first down, and a short punt put the ball at the Shoremen 46. The Shoremen started their drive with a slick pass from Mansnerus to QB Pete Hart for eight yards. After a first down, a holding call left the Shoremen with 2^nd and 16 at the Eagle 44. Bennington ran up the middle to 25, and three more runs moved the ball to the one. Pete Hart took it in on a sneak, but the PAT kick was blocked to make the halftime score 6-0 Shoremen.

North Olmsted returned the second half kickoff to their own 32, and promptly went on a 13 play, 68 yard scoring drive. Damion Kirks carried three yards for the TD. A low snap on the conversion attempt forced the holder to scramble and throw incomplete, leaving the score tied at 6. The Eagle defense toughened up, forcing a three and out to give their offense their ball at the Shoremen 38. When the Shoremen “D” stiffened, the home team tried fake punt on 4^th and 13. The pass was incomplete and the Shoremen took over. They overcame two penalties to make two first downs, but came up short on 4^th and 2. North Olmsted got the ball back on their own 12 but again they were unable to move, punting to the 50. The Shoremen overcame two more holding calls and had a third and 2 at the 31 when Mansnerus raced over the left side and sprinted 31 yards for the score. Again the PAT failed, this time due to a low snap. The Eagles got the ball two more times but couldn’t mount any kind of threat, as a couple sacks and some nice pass breakups by the DB’s sealed the win.

Notes:

· The Shoremen passing attack was conservative but efficient. Hart hit five of his seven passes, using five different receivers.

· When Mansnerus completed a throwback toss to QB Hart in the second quarter, it made the Shoremen three for three (100%) on halfback passes this year.

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Avon Lake	0	6	0	6	12
North Olmsted	0	0	6	0	6

	NO	A.L.
First downs	9	16
Rush Yds	99	286
Pass Yds	54	41
Passes att-comp-int	22-5-0	8-6-0
Fumbles-lost	1-0	3-2
Penalties	6-60	11-95

AL – Hart 1 run (kick failed)
NO – Kirks 3 run (pass failed)
AL – Mansnerus 31 run (pass failed)