Olmsted Falls (7-2, 5-1 SWC) senior running back Rocco Conti ran for 237 yards and had 6 total touchdowns and the Bulldogs offensive line, led by Rutgers commit Dominic Rivera, dominated as the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs demolished the Avon Lake Shoremen (7-2, 4-2 SWC) 56-31 on Friday night at Avon Lake Memorial Stadium.
First Half
The game started with each team leading touchdown drives. Olmsted Falls started with a 4-yard touchdown run from Derek Neckar, who finished with 69 yards rushing on 12 attempts as the secondary running back for the Bulldogs. Not to be dismayed, Avon Lake answered with an 11-play scoring drive of their own, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jason Krukowski to bring the score to 7-7.
However, from there, Rocco Conti started to take over the game. In the last two minutes of the first quarter and second quarter combined, Conti scored four touchdowns, two via rush, one from pass, and a 90-yard kickoff return TD. The first was a 64-yard rush along the right sideline, in a one-play drive to put Olmsted Falls up 14-7. On the next Olmsted Falls drive, Conti caught a pass from sophomore quarterback James Rosol, and with literally 7 Avon Lake defenders around him, made two men miss and dove into the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 21-7.
Avon Lake would answer though, with junior quarterback Jeremy Dzik finding senior wideout Keegan Rudduck for a 68-yard touchdown deep over the middle of the field to make it 21-14. Dzik had a strong game, throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns. The confounding part of the game was that despite averaging over 10 yards per play through the air versus 3 yards per play on the ground, Avon Lake ran 33 times and passed the ball only 19 times. Adding the fact that Avon Lake was behind most of the game, the run/pass split did not make much sense from the Shoremen.
But just when Avon Lake was climbing back, Conti took the ensuing kickoff and ran it 90-yards along the near sideline and stumbled into the endzone after making the last man miss to put Olmsted Falls up 28-14. And on the next Olmsted Falls drive, to cap off his first half performance, Conti took a handoff and ran over multiple Avon Lake defenders for a 10-yard touchdown, his 4th of the half. Conti finished the first half with 151 yards rushing.
Still fighting back, the Shoremen found the endzone on their final drive of the first half. Dzik completed a pass to senior wideout Issac Richardson for a 10-yard touchdown on a drive that also featured 36 yards receiving from senior wideout Matthew Stuewe. This aerial attack was what worked for the Shoremen on Friday night, but Dzik was found throwing the ball too few times.
Before ending the half, Olmsted Falls took 27 seconds to move the ball all the way to the Avon Lake 15, where Avon Lake senior linebacker Jeremy Brausch blocked the Bulldogs kick to make the game a 35-21 affair going into halftime.
Photo by Hannah Hrusovsky
Second Half
Getting the ball to start the second half, the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas pedal, completing a 11-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a rare passing attempt, with Rosol finding junior tight end Dillon Folks for a 6-yard touchdown after rolling out to his right on a play-action pass. Rosol was responsible for two passing touchdowns despite only throwing 5 times, compared to the 50 rushing attempts by the Bulldogs offense.
The Bulldogs forced a punt on the ensuing Avon Lake possession, and it looked like the game might be over early in the third quarter with the Bulldogs up 21 with the ball. However, backed in their own end, Olmsted Falls attempted a play action pass, with Rosol throwing a deep bomb straight into the arms of Avon Lake junior defensive back Hayden Blosser. With that momentum, Avon Lake struck with a 45-yard touchdown connection from Dzik to Richardson again in one play, cutting the Bulldog lead to 14.
However, that is as close as the Shoremen would get. Olmsted Falls would run the ball 10 straight times for 70 yards, culminating in Rocco Conti’s 5th touchdown of the game. The Shoremen just had no answer for the rushing attack of the Bulldogs – they knew what was coming and could not stop it. For good measure, after forcing an Avon Lake three and out, the Bulldogs did the same thing again, rushing 9 straight times for 65 yards and Conti’s 6th touchdown to put them up 56-28 and put the game out of reach.
Overall, the Bulldogs rush defense was stout. Shoremen junior running back Wade Nelson ran the ball 17 times for only 35 yards, and Avon Lake never got the running game going, leading to many predictable third and longs. On the flip side, Olmsted Falls ran for 437 yards on 50 attempts, averaging 8.7 yards per rush on massive volume.
The second half of the 4th quarter saw action from both team’s backup/JV teams. Impressing for Avon Lake was sophomore running back Anthony Benedict, who carried 3 times for 55 yards in garbage time for the Shoremen. Definitely look for Benedict to be a part of the running back rotation next season for Avon Lake.
Photo by Hannah Hrusovsky
What’s Next
Next week, Avon Lake travels to North Ridgeville, while Olmsted Falls hosts Berea-Midpark.
Notable Stats
Rocco Conti (Olmsted Falls): 21 rushes, 237 yards, 1 catch, 16 yards, 6 total TD
Jack Pinchek (Olmsted Falls): 9 rushes, 91 yards
Derek Neckar (Olmsted Falls): 12 rushes, 69 yards, TD
James Rosol (Olmsted Falls): 3-5, 42 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 6 rushes, 32 yards
Jeremy Dzik (Avon Lake): 10-18, 200 yards, 3 TD
Keegan Rudduck (Avon Lake): 2 catches, 81 yards, TD
Issac Richardson (Avon Lake): 3 catches, 65 yards, 2 TD
Wade Nelson (Avon Lake): 17 rushes, 35 yards
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Olmsted Falls: Derek Neckar, 4 run (kick good, 6:19)
Avon Lake: Jason Krukowski, 1 run (kick good, 2:17)
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti, 64 run (kick good, 1:58)
2nd Quarter
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti from James Rosel, 16 pass (kick good, 10:56)
Avon Lake: Keegan Rudduck from Jeremy Dzik, 68 pass (kick good, 9:20)
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti, 90 kickoff return (kick good, 9:04)
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti, 10 run (kick good, 4:47)
Avon Lake: Issac Richardson from Jeremy Dzik, 10 pass (kick good, 0:27)
3rd Quarter
Olmsted Falls: Dillon Folks from James Rosol, 6 pass (kick good, 7:58)
Avon Lake: Issac Richardson from Jeremy Dzik, 45 pass (kick good, 6:36)
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti, 1 run (kick good, 1:50)
4th Quarter
Olmsted Falls: Rocco Conti, 6 run (kick good, 7:17)
Avon Lake: Ian Walsh FG, 20 (4:15)
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