AVON — Senior linebacker Alex Tabar had plenty of reasons to turn in a big performance Friday night against visiting Defiance.
Tabar — the team’s leader in tackles, tackles for losses, sacks and fumbles forced — wanted to lead by example. He wanted the Eagles, the No. 1 seed in Region 10, to shine in their first Division III playoff game. He also wanted his team to get its first shutout and the spoils that come with it.
“We have this game in practice against the coaches where we kick and see who can kick the most field goals,” Tabar said. “If we win it and then get a shutout, they run a sprint for every point we score.”
The Eagles coaches better lace up their running shoes, as Tabar and the defense made a first-quarter touchdown hold up for a 7-0 victory.
“Yeah, it’s only seven sprints,” Tabar said, looking at the scoreboard. “But it’s better than nothing.”
Senior running back Marquis Harrell gave Avon (11-0) all the points it would need at the beginning of the game, taking the opening kickoff 48 yards to the Defiance 40-yard line, breaking off a pair of long runs to move the ball into the red zone and plunging into the end zone from 3 yards out for the game’s only score.
“They’re a good football team with a lot of weapons — we were on our toes all night,” Defiance coach Jerry Buti said.
 “(Harrell) was juking us all over the place and we were scared to death of (quarterback Ryan O’Rourke) and (wide receiver Garrett Gronowski), but we just kept coming after them.
“I thought our kids after that first series really handled them well.”
The Bulldogs did hold Avon’s high-octane offense down after the first score — which happened less than two minutes into the game — and the Eagles managed only 78 rushing yards and O’Rourke finished with 69 passing yards.
But the Eagles defense was making life just as hard for Defiance’s playmakers, too. Senior running back Travis Spitnale — who has rushed for nearly 1,600 yards this season — chipped away at the Eagles for small gains, but couldn’t break a run to tie the game.
“(The Eagles’) speed is the difference,” Buti said. “There were plays where Spitnale would usually break for maybe 20 yards, and he’d only get 6 or 7. They stopped our offense, that’s the bottom line.”
And nobody seemed to do it better, or in a more timely fashion, than the 5-foot-8, 160-pound Tabar.
Defiance (6-5) saw its best scoring chance in the game come apart thanks to the weak-side linebacker. The Bulldogs put together long drive and had a first-and-goal at the Avon 10. Tabar sniffed out a reverse on second down and put down Defiance receiver Craig Gutman for a 5-yard loss, then on fourth down sacked quarterback Sean Murray for a 10-yard loss to end the threat.
“The kid’s tremendous, he’s an unbelievable player,” Eagles coach Mike Elder said. “He was frustrated all year long when we weren’t in close football games and he’d only get to play a half and he would be heard saying, ‘I’m a senior, I want to play as much football as I can.’ I’d say, ‘Just be patient, you’ll get your football.’
“So tonight he got to play from wire to wire and I’m sure he loved every minute of it. He’s not a big kid, but I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the state on defense, that’s for sure.”
The win puts Avon in the regional semifinals next Saturday night against Tiffin Columbian at a neutral site. The Eagles will be eager to get on the practice field to iron out their offensive kinks and … oh, yeah … take care of some unfinished business.
“I’ll be glad to run seven sprints in practice this week,” Elder said. “Our defense did a tremendous job tonight.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

Avon’s ‘O’ is no go, but Eagles persevere

Joel Hammond
The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON — Avon’s offensive numbers were staggering: seven points, 147 total yards, seven completed passes and zero passing touchdowns for standout quarterback Ryan O’Rourke.
Yes, for an entire game.
If you expected the Eagles to score 40 points and O’Rourke to complete 10 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns, you were in the wrong place.
The Eagles’ offense was extremely un-Eagle like Saturday night, but Avon kept its perfect record intact with a 7-0 win over Defiance in a Division III regional quarterfinal. Avon will play Tiffin Columbian,
21-18 winners over Bellevue, at a neutral site next week.
Over the final 46 minutes, there was nary a trace of the Eagles who scored 435 points this season.
Ah, but those first two minutes were the key.
Marquis Harrell returned the opening kickoff 48 yards to the Defiance 40-yard line, O’Rourke found Brett Jensen for 5 yards, Garrett Gronowski ran for eight and Harrell gained 22 — including the last three for a touchdown that staked Avon to a 7-0 lead.
“Every game, (Avon coach Mike Elder) emphasizes that we have to come out and show them what we have,” said Harrell, who finished with 71 yards on 13 carries and caught two passes for 15 yards. “Otherwise, they’re going to get the momentum. We had to come out and shove the ball down their throats.”
Especially on this night, where the Bulldogs masterfully kept the ball away from the Eagles’ potent offensive attack.
Defiance ran 73 plays to Avon’s 37, and the Bulldogs dominated the time-of-possession battle, controlling the ball for 33:37 to Avon’s 14:23.
The Eagles had only six first downs, and their total yardage was their lowest total since the 183 they gained in a Week 5, a 41-16 win over Rocky River.
“On the first drive, we were penetrating the same as we did the whole game; we just didn’t tackle,” said veteran Defiance coach Jerry Buti. “We were getting used to (Harrell), and we were scared to death of (Gronowski) and (O’Rourke). You know, we just kept coming after them. After that first series, I thought our kids really handled (Avon) well. To stop that team was a great game by our defense.”
The Bulldogs’ offense also did the job – except for finding the end zone — with two
16-play drives in the first half.
The Eagles’ defense, though, was able to prevent those long jaunts in the second half, and the minimal success the Avon offense mustered helped to turn the field position game around. In turn, the clock became the methodical Defiance offense’s 12th defender, a factor down the stretch.
“(The offense being limited) was definitely frustrating,” Gronowski said. “That first drive went great. We drove on them, but then they really tightened up. But, we grinded it out and played a field-position game, and it worked out for us in the end.”
Key to field position was the opening sequence of the second half, when Defiance earned two first downs but was forced to punt. Avon, in turn, picked up two of its three second-half first downs and Gronowski pinned the Bulldogs at their 13. Gronowski averaged 34.1 yards on six punts, three times pinning Defiance inside its own 15-yard line.
“It was frustrating,” said O’Rourke, who finished 7-of-17 for 69 yards. “Scheme-wise, (Defiance) did a great job of stopping what we wanted to do. The defense stepped up for us and that first touchdown was big.”
Contact Joel Hammond at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Avon 7, Defiance 0

Defiance    0    0    0    0    —    0
Avon    7    0    0    0    —    7
Scoring
A — Marquis Harrell, 3 run (Ryan Galik kick)
Team statistics
    D        A
First downs    18        7
— by rushing    12        4
— by passing    6        3
— by penalty    0        0
Yards rushing    126        78
Yards passing    84        69
Total offense    210        147
Passes att./comp.    18/11        17/7
Intercepted by    0        0
Fumbles/lost    0/0        0/0
Penalties/yards    4/17        1/15
Individual statistics
RUSHING — (D) Travis Spitnale 34-140, Mark Sebring 8-34, Alex Nofziger 4-12, Craig Gutman 2-0, Sean Murray
7-(-60). (A) Marquis Harrell 13-71, Garrett Gronowski 3-15, Zak Wearsch 3-6, Ryan O’Rourke 2-(-14).
PASSING — (D) Murray 11-18-84-0-0. (A) O’Rourke 7-17-69-0-0.
RECEIVING — (D) Nofziger 5-41, Gutman 4-31, Serge Mayeku 2-12. (A) Harrell 2-15, Brett Jensen 2-13, Vic Jenkins 1-27, Gronowski 1-11, Matt Logan 1-3.

Scoring summary

First quarter
Avon 7, Defiance 0: Marquis Harrell, 3 run (Ryan Galik kick), 10:21. DRIVE: Five plays, 40 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:28. KEY PLAYS: Harrell returns the opening kickoff 48 yards, setting up the Eagles at the Defiance 40.
 

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