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The Shoremen overcame 4 turnovers and a tough Olentangy defense geared to stop the run to post a 21-7 win in the first round of the playoffs.  Brian Pettys hit two touchdown bombs early in the fourth quarter to break the game open, then the defense took over to shut down the Braves and lead Avon Lake into the regional semifinals for the sixth year in a row.  The Shoremen recorded six sacks in the game and allowed just 13 yards on the ground.  Chris Rau had 67 yards rushing followed closely by Maxx Schmidt with 59.

Avon Lake kicked off to open the game.  Olentangy started on their own 25 and opened the game with a handoff to Aaron Hummel out of the shotgun.  Hummel took a hard hit as he reached the line and fumbled.  Drew Becker  recovered for the Shoremen at the 30.  Six plays later, Pettys snuck in from the one and John Lyons added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.  Lyons then boomed the kickoff into the end zone for a touchback.  The Braves managed a first down but had to punt the ball back to the Shoremen at the A.L. 39.   The Shoremen looked to be in control as a nice mix of runs & passes moved the ball to the Olentangy one, where it was second and goal.  But a one yard loss on a fumbled snap followed by a false start penalty and a sack gave the ball back to the Braves at their own 11.  A completion from Braves QB Mike Bull on a slant to Ray Welch moved the ball out to the 28 as the quarter ended.   Again the Shoremen defense stiffened and Maxx Schmidt returned the punt to the 50.   A third down pass to Kyle Maurer gave the Shoremen a first down,  but three plays later a fumble on third and one gave the ball back to the Braves at their thirty.  Two plays later, on third and four, Bull faked play action and hit Anthony Korpieski for a 64 yard TD.  The PAT tied the score at 7-7.  The Braves threatened one more time after the Shoremen went three and out, but Chris Rau picked off a pass from Bull with about a minute to go in the half.  The score remained tied 7-7 at intermission.

The third quarter was scoreless although Avon Lake threatened a couple of times.  One drive ended on a fourth down interception at Olentangy’s 30, and another when Lyons was wide left on a 50 yard field goal attempt.  On the next Braves possession, Peter Storer wrapped up Daniel Johnson who was looking to throw a halfback pass.  Johnson threw the ball away as he went down, but was called for intentional grounding, pushing the Braves back to their nine.  On fourth and 21 a  shanked punt gave the ball to the Shoremen at the Braves’ 30 as the quarter ended.  Pettys wasted no time taking advantage of the short field as he hit Scott Nealon for a 30 yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 14-7.   The Braves went three and out and punted the ball away.  Starting from their own 45, Kyle Maurer ran a stop & go pattern and Pettys found him wide open behind the defense for a 55 yard TD.   The Shoremen threatened a couple more times, but a 37 yard TD pass to Jordan Frank was negated by a holding call, and an interception in the end zone ended another possession with two minutes to play.  After  a couple of Olentangy first downs, Rau made his second interception of the game and Pettys took a knee twice to end the game.

 

Notes: 

·       The Shoremen have now won a first round home playoff game six years in a row.

·       Pettys hit seven different receivers as he recorded his second 200 yard game of  the season.  Brian has passed for 1,257 yards with 19 TD’s so far in 2005.

·       Johnny Lyons set a new school record as he extended his PAT streak to 56, including all 50 this year.  He broke his own record of 54 straight, set over the 2003 & 2004 seasons.

·       OHSAA has announced the location of next Friday’s game.  It will be at the Shoremen’s playoff “Home away from Home”, Fremont Ross Harmon Stadium.  This will be Avon Lake’s fourth post season contest there in the past three years.  Harmon Stadium has a brand new Field Turf artificial surface.  This isn’t the old style carpet on concrete like Lakewood and Massillon have.  It looks like grass and is soft like a real grass field.

 

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Avon Lake

 7

 0

0

14

 21

Olentangy

0

7

0

0

7

 

 

 

Olentangy

 

A.L.

First downs

 

8

 

14

Rush Yds

 

13

 

137

Pass Yds

 

179

 

208

Passes att-comp-int

 

32-13-2

 

25-17-3

Fumbles-lost

 

1-1

 

2-1

Penalties

 

6-47

 

9-75

 

 

 

 

 

AL – Pettys 1 run (Lyons Kick)
O – Korpieski 64 pass from Bull (Wilcheck Kick)
AL – Nealon 30 pass from Pettys (Lyons Kick)
AL – Maurer 55 pass from Pettys (Lyons Kick)