The Avon Lake Shoremen are going to look back on their game with the Chardon Hilltoppers Sept. 1 as a night of missed opportunities.
The Shoremen ventured deep into Chardon territory time and time again, but mistakes and penalties at crucial times, and the way the Chardon defense stepped up when it had to be at its best, was the difference in a hard-fought game won by the Hilltoppers, 28-10.
Avon Lake put up a fight to the very end. It was the first loss of the season for the Shoremen after starting the season 2-0.
Both defenses were stout in the first quarter. The Shoremen managed 45 yards of offense in the first 12 minutes. The Hilltoppers moved the ball just 19 yards.
The Hilltoppers stitched together a drive early in the second quarter and finished it off on a touchdown run to the right side of the end zone by senior quarterback Will Francis from the Avon Lake 7.
Avon Lake, a 37-15 winner over Benedictine last week, answered when 5-foot-11 junior quarterback Alex Affolter rifled a pass to speedy wide receiver Carter Birk. The Hilltoppers tried to close in on him, but Birk turned on the afterburners and sprinted down the sideline for an 86-yard catch and run to tie the score 7-7 after Ian Walsh added the extra point.
The first half ended with some drama and Chardon on top, 14-7. The Hilltoppers had the ball on the Shoremen 22. Francis tucked the ball under his arm and scrambled to the 4. Officials held a lengthy debate to determine whether Francis got out of bounds to stop the clock. They originally ruled he did not. Chardon called timeout with one second on the clock, and then Hilltoppers coach Mitch Hewitt had a debate of his own — have Sam Sacerich attempt a 22-yard field goal or try for the touchdown.
In the end, the officials decided eight seconds were left in the half. Fullback Vinny Colombi dove and stretched the ball over the goal line for a touchdown. Sacerich added his second PAT for a seven-point Chardon lead at intermission.
The Shoremen had a chance to tie the game on their first possession of the third quarter. Affolter threw a strike to Luke Stuewe from the Avon Lake 46 to the Chardon 9, but the Hilltoppers defense wouldn’t budge. The Shoremen were driven backward and had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Walsh.
The Hilltoppers did what they did best after Shoremen cut the gap to four points. They stayed on the ground and Colombi punched it in from the 3 and a 21-10 Chardon lead.
The Shoremen would not quit. They forced the Hilltoppers to punt from inside the 5 and used the short field to drive inside the Chardon 5 on their first possession of the fourth quarter., Penalties on the offense and the tenacious Chardon defense drove the Shoremen backward again. The drive ended in a missed field goal.
Francis dashed 70 yards to the end zone early in the fourth quarter to expand Chardon’s lead to 28-10.
