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On a muddy mess of a night that was perfect for power football, the Shoremen put an early end to Westlake’s upset hopes and cruised to a 34-0 win over the Demons. Mike Mansnerus had a big night in the mud with 171 yards rushing and four TD’s. Trent Toy had his best night yet passing, hitting all five of his passes for 123 yards to make Westlake pay for stacking the box. The defense was dominant, yielding less than 50 yards of offense in the first half. Westlake mounted a mild threat on their first drive of the second half, but the Shoremen stopped them on downs at the twenty and that was pretty much it for the Demons offense on the night.

Westlake kicked off and the ball rolled out of bounds, so the Shoremen started from their 35. They were in Westlake territory quickly as Mansnerus ripped off runs of 21 and nine yards on the first two plays from scrimmage. A false start slowed them down but on 4^th & 7 Mansnerus carried for 10 yards. The Shoremen converted two more fourth downs on the drive, the last one when Mansnerus hurdled into the end zone from the one. The 15 play drive took 7:17 off the clock. Brad Brill’s extra point kick made it 7-0 Avon Lake. Westlake’s kick returner found a seam in the coverage and broke free, but kicker Logan Crist made a touchdown saving tackle. The Demons went three and out, punting to the Shoremen 42. On first down, Toy tossed a perfect rainbow to Ronnie Willoughby on a post route. Ronnie made a great catch in tight coverage and fought down to the Westlake 15. Four plays later Mansnerus ran in through a big hole to make it 13-0. Brill slipped in the ankle deep muck on the PAT attempt and the kick was no good. Again Westlake failed to pick up a first down and punted to the A.L. 43 as the quarter ended. After a holding call pushed the Shoremen back, Mansnerus took a pitch to the left and tried a halfback pass. The ball slipped as he tried to throw and fluttered down to a Demon safety who returned it to midfield. On 4^th & 9 Westlake completed a pass on a fake punt, but came up a half yard short and the Shoremen took over at their own 40. Two runs netted a first down but again a holding call put them in a 1^st & 20 situation. Mansnerus runs of 13 and three yards sandwiched around a four yard carry by Marinkov left the Shoremen facing 4^th & 1. Mansnerus started off left tackle, cut back to his right, and sprinted 40 yards for his third score of the game. Toy threw to Marinkov for two points and it was 21-0. After one first down Westlake punted again, and a nice return by Kevin Morissette moved the ball out to the A.L. 45. Three plays later from the Demon 40 Toy found Brian Mihalik wide open for a 32 yard gain to the eight. Three plays later the Shoremen made it five for five on fourth down conversions as Mansnerus powered in from the three. An errant snap ruined the extra point attempt to leave the halftime score 27-0.

Westlake started the third quarter with the ball at their 27 and started on their best drive of the night. Three runs led to a first down, then a nifty middle screen gained 10 yards for another. Three runs produced another first down at the Shoremen 40, and a facemask penalty moved the ball to the 25. But the Demons couldn’t convert on 4th & 7 so Avon Lake took over at the 20. A three and out led to the first Shoremen punt of the game, to the Westlake 46. After QB Mike Massad scrambled for a first down, the Shoremen recovered a Westlake fumble and took over at their own 40. Toy hit Willoughby with another bomb down the middle of the field to the 25. After three Mansnerus carries for a first down at the 11, Jordan Market pulled in a Toy pass and fought his way in for the touchdown Brill’s PAT made it 34-0 as third period ended. For the second week in a row, the Shoremen backups got a full quarter of playing time. While the reserves had limited success on offense, they fought off Westlake’s first team offense for most of the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout.

Notes:

· The shutout was the first for the Shoremen since a 36-0 whitewashing of North Olmsted in week seven of the 2006 season.

· Market’s touchdown was the first of his varsity career.

· Mansnerus is now sixth on the Shoremen’s all-time scoring list with 234 points on 39 touchdowns.

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Avon Lake	13	14	7	0	34
Westlake	0	0	0	0	0

	W	A.L.
First downs	8	16
Rush Yds	96	255
Pass Yds	16	123
Passes att-comp-int	11-2-0	8-5-1
Fumbles-lost	3-2	3-0
Penalties	5-30	6-40

AL – Mansnerus 1 run (Brill kick)
AL – Mansnerus 3 run (kick failed)
AL – Mansnerus 40 run (Marinkov pass from Toy)
AL – Mansnerus 4 run (run failed)
AL – Market 11 pass from Toy (Brill kick)