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The Shoremen and the North Olmsted Eagles provided a standing room only Homecoming crowd with one of the most exciting games in years, with Avon Lake finally prevailing 28-21. Both teams hurt themselves with penalties, and three turnovers kept North Olmsted in the game each time it looked like the Shoremen were about to take control. Avon Lake’s lines controlled the play in the trenches on both sides of the ball as they outrushed the Eagles 224 yards to 22. Chris Rau had 22 carries for 95 yards with Maxx Schmidt and Sean Murello contributing a lot of good tough runs. The Shoremen’s ball control passing game was clicking, as Brian Pettys completed six of his nine attempts, all for third or fourth down conversions. But the real aerial display came from North Olmsted, as Pete Taylor passed for 256 yards and Steve Price caught five balls for 184 yards and two TD’s.

North Olmsted received the opening kickoff , and after one first down the Eagles were forced to punt. The Shoremen took over in good position on their 36. After a couple of runs for short gains, Brian Pettys was hit as he was trying to pass. James Foley plucked the ball out of the air for N.O. and returned it to the eight. Avon Lake’s defense held, so on fourth and eight, the Eagles lined up for a field goal. After an offsides call moved the ball halfway to the goal, North Olmsted faked the field goal and Jeff Brown scored on a four yard run. The extra point made it 7-0. A nice kick return by Chris Rau was negated by a penalty that moved the ball back from the 37 to the 17. The Shoremen started cranking out a series of first downs, as Rau carried eight times for 41 yards and Pettys hit Kyle Maurer for 17 on a key third and 5. A 21 yard TD pass from Pettys to Jordan Frank capped the 83 yard 11 play drive, and Johnny Lyons’ PAT tied the game at seven apiece.

The Avon Lake defense forced the Eagles to go three and out on their next series, with the punt coming from their own end zone. Maxx Schmidt returned the kick to the N.O. 26, and it looked like the Shoremen would take control of the game. But a fumbled snap exchange was recovered by North Olmsted, who went on offense at their own 24. Again, the Eagles punted without making a first down, with Rau returning this one to the A.L. 43. This time it took 12 plays to reach the end zone, as Schmidt crashed in from the three. The “D” forced yet another three and out, and the Shoremen took over at the 50 after another nice return by Rau. After another fumbled snap on first down put the Shoremen in second and 11, they failed to get the first down and punted to the Eagle 15 with about 1:25 left in the half. A 51 yard completion moved the Eagles to the A.L. 34. Eventually Pete Taylor hit T.J Murphy for an apparent touchdown, but this time it was the Eagles shooting themselves in the foot as a holding penalty negated the score and the half ended with no further scoring.

Rau returned the second half kickoff to his own 34, and after a couple of runs Pettys hit Maurer for 11 yards on third and six. Then Sean Murello broke through a huge gap in the Eagles’ defense and raced 37 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the 14. Three plays later Schmidt had his second TD of the night on a five yard run and the Shoremen led 21-7. There wasn’t much time to feel comfortable with the lead, though, as Taylor hit Steve Price with a 73 yard TD strike on the second play after the kickoff to pull North Olmsted within seven at 21-14. After a Scott Nealon punt gave the ball to the Eagles at their 48, Nick Stulock bulled his way for eight yards, setting up second and two at the A.L. 44. Taylor tried three long passes in a row but missed connections on all of them and turned the ball over on downs. 14 plays and 56 yards later, Sean Murello ran it in from the four for a 28-14 lead with 10:48 to play. Now the Eagles went exclusively to the spread and moved down the field quickly, gaining big chunks of yardage through the air. The second Taylor to Price TD pass of the night made it 28-21 with under eight minutes to play. Rau had a great return out to the Shoremen 44, and two running plays later it was third & one at the Eagles 47. Murello appeared to have the first down, but lost the ball and North Olmsted recovered. The Eagles converted fourth and two at the 47, with Taylor gaining four to the 43. Three plays later on fourth and one, a false start set them back five yards, and the fourth down pass fell incomplete. The Shoremen offense ran out the clock, but the victory wasn’t sealed until Pettys hit one last clutch pass to Scott Nealon on third and 8.

Notes:

· The Shoremen have now won 33 consecutive regular season games, including 24 straight SWC contests.

· Four of Avon Lake’s last five wins over North Olmsted have been settled by margins of seven points or less. No one has consistently played the Shoremen tougher than the Eagles over the past five years.

· Johnny Lyons extended his PAT streak to 39, including all 33 this year.

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Avon Lake	7	7	7	7	28
N. Olmsted	7	0	7	7	21

	N.O.	A.L.
First downs	7	15
Rush Yds	22	224
Pass Yds	256	93
Passes att-comp-int	27-13-0	9-6-1
Fumbles-lost	0-0	4-2
Penalties	6-48	6-54

NO – Brown 4 run (Prusha Kick)
AL -- Frank 21 pass from Pettys ( Lyons Kick)
AL -- Schmidt 3 run (Lyons Kick)
AL -- Schmidt 5 run (Lyons Kick)
NO – Price 73 pass from Taylor
AL – Murello 4 run (Lyons Kick)
NO – Price 34 pass from Taylor