Avon Lake Defeats Benedictine 37-15 to improve to 2-0

Photo by Jayson Richardson

Euclid, OH – The Avon Lake Shoremen have started this season with a bang. Coming off an impressive Week One win over Strongsville, the Shoremen came out and flexed their muscle on a young Benedictine squad, as they won 37-15.  Benedictine (0-2) came into the game with high expectations. The Bengals, despite being young, were hungry and full of energy to start the game.

The first quarter was a feel out quarter as the Shoremen drove down the field on the opening drive but missed the FG.  The Bengals moved the ball but eventually had to punt and the Shoremen drove down the field again using a mixture of running plays from RB’s Wade Nelson, and Anthony Benedict. But at the beginning of the second quarter, the Shoremen mustered up 3 points as Benedictine’s defense was holding up.

And that’s when it started to unravel. After Avon Lake went up 3-0, on Ian Walsh’s FG, the Bengals got the ball and on their first play, Sophomore QB, Mathew Furst fumbled but the ball but recovered, and Benedictine kept the ball and the drive alive. On the next play Furst fumbled the snap and this time Avon Lake recovered at the 7-yard line. Avon Lake took the first play into the end zone for the game’s first touchdown, a 7-yard run from Wade Nelson. After Avon Lake made a mistake and kicked the ball out of bounds, Benedictine got the ball at the 35. But the Bengals fumbled again and the Shoremen recovered. On the very first play, Benedict scored a rushing touchdown and the Shoremen were up 17-0.

On the kickoff, the Shoremen made a mistake and kicked it out of bounds, so the Bengals got the ball at the 35. A 20-yard run by Luke Reed got the Tigers moving. A facemask got the Bengals into the Red Zone, but an interception stopped the drive, and stopped momentum going into the half.

The Bengals came out in the second half and immediately threw another interception. The Shoremen, as they did with the previous turnovers, scored on the first play, a 35-yard pass from QB Alex Affolter to Luke Stuewe. After back and forth, in the 4^th quarter, Benedictine put together a nice drive with big runs from Reed, and Jamere Church. Reed scored on a tough 6 yard run and got Benedictine on the board. The 2pt conversion was successful from Furst and the Bengals kept fighting. But Avon Lake answered with a touchdown of their own, this time from Jake Bova. While it looked like the game was over, Benedictine scored again as Reed scored on a 33-yard run to bring the Bengals within 30-15. But the running game which worked all night for the Shoremen was too much as Bova scored again for a final score 37-15.

The Shoremen looked dominant and were able to control the game. But the young Bengals didn’t give up and kept fighting. In the end, the Bengals defense was on the field too long. They just could not get the stops they needed.

Up next 

The Bengals will travel to Hamburg, NY to face St. Francis, while the Shoremen will head to Chardon.