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Olmsted Falls executed a conservative game plan to perfection while the Shoremen were back in self-destruct mode, as the Bulldogs won the SWC opener by 20-14 count. Falls had no turnovers, only one penalty for five yards, and only threw three passes. Their single completion of the game was a 13 yard TD strike in the first quarter. The Shoremen offense had plenty of opportunities, but some poor execution and a sure tackling Falls defense kept them in check. Meanwhile, they allowed three huge plays to give the Bulldogs their touchdowns The offense yielded a long interception return, the defense gave up an 88 yard touchdown run, and special teams surrendered a 74 yard kickoff return.

The game started well enough as the Shoremen kickoff unit pinned Falls at their 21. The defense forced a three and out, and the punt was run back to the Bulldog 40. Mike Mansnerus picked up six on a toss sweep, but on second down Ronnie Willoughby fell down and the pass intended for him was picked off. The return took the ball all the way to A.L.’s 25. Two runs produced a first down at the 14, and then on third & nine Brennan Laird hit Brett Emerine on a slant route for six. The PAT kick sailed wide right leaving the score 6-0. An exchange of punts gave the Shoremen possession at their 38, and they tallied a couple of first downs on a third down pass to Willoughby and a bubble screen to Kevin Morissette. But the drive stalled at the 36 when two straight passes were incomplete and the punt went into the end zone for a touchback. Falls came back with three first downs on the ground but then they too punted for a touchback. Mansnerus gained six on a sweep and Marinkov ran a counter for 23 yards to the Falls 49. Mansnerus picked up two more first downs on runs of 14 and 4 yards to move the ball down to the 24. Willoughby was open at the goal line on a post pattern but couldn’t pull in the toss from Toy. Three straight runs came up short and the ball went back to the Bulldogs, who ran out the clock to end the half.

Craig Shaffer took the second half kickoff on the dead run and brought it out to the A.L. 37. Mansnerus picked up 29 on a toss sweep right, and then on fourth down from the 27 Marinkov powered over left tackle for 19 yards and a first down at the eight. A pass to Dan Schneider put the ball on the two, and Mansnerus powered in from there. The extra point was good and the Shoremen had the lead at 7-6 just three minutes into the second half. They had a ton of momentum, too, but lost it all on the next play when David Venezuela took the kickoff at the three, went straight up the middle, and ran all the way to the Shoremen 21 before Kevin Morissette made a touchdown saving tackle. A pass interference penalty made it first and goal from the nine. The defense put on a tough goal line stand but on fourth down from the one-foot line, Eddie Gerus just inched across the goal line. Laird ran for the two point conversion and a 14-7 lead. Starting from their 35, the Shoremen gained a couple of first downs into Bulldogs territory. Mansnerus swept left end for 15 yards, but was called for a face mask penalty that negated the gain. A few plays later Jake Janicek’s punt rolled out of bounds at the 12, and the Shoremen had Falls pinned deep again. On first down Jeremy Ortiz started over the right side, ran though a couple of arm tackles, and sprinted 88 yards for the score. The PAT was wide again and it was 20-7 late in the third period. Craig Shaffer had a huge return on the kickoff, catching it on the left hash and angling across to the right sideline all the way to the Falls 33. But on 4^th & 3, Toy overthrew a wide open Kevin Morissette and the ball went back to the Bulldogs. The teams exchanged punts and things were looking pretty bleak when an illegal block penalty on the return left the Shoremen their own 23 with six minutes to play. But Marinkov gained 14 yards to the 37, and then Toy found Willoughby wide open down the middle for 32 yards. Trent hit Jordan Market on a slick play action pass to the fifteen, and five running plays later, Marinkov crashed in from the three and Brill’s PAT made it 20-14 with 2:55 left in the game. Olmsted Falls covered the onside kick, but with all three timeouts left, the Shoremen still had a chance. But on third down with 2:40 still left on the clock, a defender jumped offsides to give Falls the first down. They punted three plays later, but the Shoremen were out of timeouts and a sack on third down sealed the game for the home team.

Notes:

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Avon Lake	0	0	7	7	14
Olmsted Falls	6	0	13	0	20

	OF	A.L.
First downs	8	15
Rush Yds	196	181
Pass Yds	13	93
Passes att-comp-int	3-1-0	19-10-2
Fumbles-lost	1-0	1-0
Penalties	6-54	1-5

OF – Emerine 13 pass from Laird (kick failed)
AL – Mansnerus 2 run (Brill kick)
OF – Gerus 1 run (Laird run)
OF – Ortiz 88 run (kick failed)
AL – Marinkov 3 run (Brill kick)