The Amherst football players were pumping their fists as they began to run back to their sideline, excited that they had just tied the game and were going to force overtime against Southwestern Conference powerhouse Olmsted Falls.
But as Comets coach Kevin Fell and his players looked under the goalposts, they didn’t see the referees standing there with their arms raised to the sky. The officials instead were waving their arms back and forth, signaling the Amherst extra-point attempt had sailed right — effectively giving the Bulldogs a 21-20 victory.
“That was pretty rough,” Amherst wide receiver Josh Gonzalez said of last year’s defeat. “I know it’s been stuck in our coach’s mind. We haven’t beaten them since 2004, when we last made the playoffs. Our senior class has never beaten Olmsted Falls on the varsity level.
“That loss left a really bad taste in our mouths, and we’re ready to get after it (tonight).”
The Comets will be bringing the area’s top offense to Olmsted Falls for tonight’s SWC opener. Amherst has scored 121 points (40.3) in their first three games — a 52-34 win over Elyria, a 41-12 win over Midview and a 28-7 win over Vermilion.
Like most high school programs, the Comets have been doing the bulk of the damage on the ground. They have rolled up 834 rushing yards (278 per game) and 10 rushing touchdowns during their non-conference schedule, led by seniors Brandon Kish, Brandon Morgan and Shane Bockey.
“Our line has been really good, and when you have two other backs that can run the ball consistently it makes it a lot easier and puts a lot of pressure on the defense because they don’t know who to key on,” Kish said. “I kind of do a little bit of everything, Shane runs north and south and just lowers his shoulder and Morgan has become like a shifty little guy that just runs all over the place. It’s kind of fun to watch him run.”
Fell and the Comets fans love watching all of them run, especially since they rip off big chunks of yardage every time they touch the football. Morgan has rushed 31 times for 281 yards (9.1 per carry) and four touchdowns, Kish has rushed 67 times for 290 yards (4.3) and four scores and Bockey has rushed 28 times for 169 yards (6.0) and a touchdown. Senior quarterback Andrew Eliopoulos has the other rushing touchdown.
“We’re a different kind of offense because we’re so old, we’re kind of new,” Fell said. “The way we attack you, nobody does anymore. We’re kind of a misdirection team. We’re not a spread team like everyone is now.
“I think it’s given people trouble because they’re not used to seeing it as much as they were a while back.”
The Comets are also a different kind of running team from last season, simply because all their running backs are still suiting up for games.
“Last year we had the nucleus of these guys and they all got hurt,” Fell said. “Morgan went down, Kish went down and (Josh) Smith, our other running back, went down. The same positions went down, like one right after another.
“This year we’ve stayed fairly healthy, at least through the first three games.”
The passing game has been dependable, too. Eliopoulos has completed 26 of 40 passes for 461 yards (17.7 per catch) and seven touchdowns. He has thrown just two interceptions.
“Our offensive line has been doing a great job blocking — last game is the first time I’ve been sacked,” he said. “The wide receivers are getting open, they’re running good routes.”
Eliopoulos has completed passes to five receivers and all five have caught a touchdown pass. Kish leads the way with eight receptions for 139 yards, tight end Ryan Bartizal has seven catches for 113 yards, Gonzalez has six catches for 125 yards, Morgan has four catches for 63 yards and Benjamin Schwinn has one catch for 21 yards. Gonzalez and Morgan each have two touchdown receptions.
“We have just so many threats on offense this year,” Morgan said. “We can give the ball to whomever. The opposing defense can’t key in on a particular guy or just worry about the run or just about the pass. They almost have to play us in a base to try and stop everybody.”
Nobody has been able to yet, and the Bulldogs (1-2) have surrendered 64 points (21.3 per game) so far this season, while scoring only 62. But while the Pioneers, Middies and Sailors are all regarded as solid area programs, nobody at Amherst is denying the Bulldogs should provide Amherst its most difficult test to date.
“It’s definitely going to be the toughest game so far,” Morgan said. “We’re excited about it and we feel we have a lot to prove after last year’s loss. I think we realize that to really get our name out there and make ourselves known, we’re going to have to go out and beat Olmsted Falls.”
But the pressure should be on the Bulldogs as they’ve yet to post a dominant defensive performance and the Comets are entering the game with a ton of momentum. Fell knows that the versatility of his offense is going to be the biggest key in Amherst gaining a victory against Falls.
“It’s good that we can both run and pass because it seems that if you only have one thing you can do, people find a way to take that away from you,” Fell said. “So far we’ve been pretty balanced and we expected it to be that way. We expected to be a pretty solid offense.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Steve Mares, Avon Lake

YEAR: Senior
HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 185
POSITIONS: RB/SS
LAST WEEK: Mares rushed 27 times for 222 yards and five touchdowns in the Shoremen’s 43-22 victory over Elyria last weekend. Mares served as Avon Lake’s backup running back before starter Mike Mansnerus went down with an injury.
PARENTS: Michelle and Frank Mares
BIO: Mares enjoys playing guitar — both acoustic and electric — and lists classic and contemporary rock as his favorite forms of music. He enjoys riding his two motocross bikes — a Honda CR125 and Kawasaki KX85 — and swimming in his backyard pool. He also likes working out at Competitive Edge gym and at the high school weight room.
FUTURE PLANS: Mares plans to take the civil service test, attend the academy and be a firefighter after graduation.

Anthony Harrison, Admiral King

YEAR: Senior
HEIGHT: 5-6
WEIGHT: 160
POSITIONS: RB/FB/OLB
LAST WEEK: Harrison rushed 20 times for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Admirals’ 13-12 loss to Berea last weekend. Harrison scored on runs of 56 and 54 yards.
OTHER SPORT: Basketball (freshman and sophomore years)
PARENTS: Glenda and Mike Harrison
BIO: Harrison likes to stay active during the offseason by playing pickup basketball and football games in his neighborhood. To unwind, he likes having friends over to play Madden and NCAA football on his PS3. After the football season ends, he’d like to get a part-time job, possibly helping out at a nursing home.
FUTURE PLANS: Harrison knows he wants to play football in college but hasn’t made up his mind about where, although Mount Union has been in contact. He is leaning toward earning a business degree.

 

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