HURON — The Avon fans have found themselves in uncharted territory the last two weeks. After weeks of comfortably watching a string of blowout victories, they’ve been on the edge of their seats as the Eagles have squeaked out a pair of playoff wins — including Saturday night’s 13-6 nail-biter over Tiffin Columbian in the Division III regional semifinals at Kalahari Field at Huron Memorial Stadium.
The other new experience for the Eagles faithful is the emergence of the Avon defense as the heroes of those victories. The Avon offense put up more than 43 points a game during the regular season but has been held in check during the first two postseason games.
“All season long everyone talked about our defense and their weaknesses and how that was going to be our problem when we got into the playoffs,” Avon coach Mike Elder said. “In the playoffs I always say, ‘Defense wins championships, offense sells tickets.’ We sold a lot of tickets during the year but right now our defense is going to help us win a championship.”
Tiffin Columbian (9-3) struck first as sophomore tailback Phil Chavez broke through a hole in the middle of the line and sprinted 26 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
The Tornadoes missed the extra point when a bad snap caused Derek Kneeskem to kick the ball into the line. The miss was a precursor to a pair of flubbed field goals by Kneeskem later in the first half. He missed wide left from 34 yards early in the second quarter, then missed wide right from 32 yards as time expired.
Avon (12-0) roared back after the Tornadoes score, as senior quarterback Ryan O’Rourke connected with senior wide receiver Garrett Gronowski for a 12-yard touchdown for a 7-6 lead, and hit junior fullback Zak Wearsch for an 8-yard score before the Eagles missed an extra point of their own.
“We moved the ball in key situations where we needed to keep their offense off the field,” O’Rourke said. “We were able to give our defense a breather, and that was huge.”
Avon’s defense would need that extra energy late in the game as Tiffin Columbian put together an 18-play drive that ate up nearly a full quarter of the game. The Tornadoes used short runs and passes by senior quarterback Ethan Kagy to move their way down the field, until they were eventually facing a first-and-10 from the Avon 12-yard line.
But a tackle-for-loss by Avon linebacker Bryent Robertson and Eagles defensive back Patrick Furnas tripping up Kagy on a run to the right side set up a fourth-and-3 from the 5. Tornadoes backup quarterback Brett Hossler threw his only pass attempt of the game, and the ball fell harmlessly to the ground in the end zone.
“We just dropped it,” Tornadoes coach Steve Gilbert said. “The play was right there, (the fullback) slipped right behind the linebacker and we had everything we wanted. He just dropped the ball. It comes down to you have to make the play.”
The Eagles, in what has now become typical fashion, held strong down the stretch and wound out the clock to preserve the victory.
“Nothing in the playoffs is going to come easy,” O’Rourke said. “These are great teams every week. Each week is going to get tougher. We need to focus on each week and stay prepared.”
Actually, the regional championship game on paper should be an easier test than the semifinal against Tiffin Columbian. Avon is Region 10’s top seed while next week’s opponent Sunbury Big Walnut, which came away with a 17-12 win over St. Mary’s Memorial, is the region’s No. 7 seed.
 For now, the Eagles will just be happy with another hard-fought playoff victory.
“We’ve worked so hard for this,” O’Rourke said. “It’s great for Avon and great for our team.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER
TIFFIN 6, AVON 0. Phil Chavez 26 run (kick failed) 1:07. DRIVE: 6 plays, 69 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:55. KEY PLAYS: 12- and 21-yard passes from Ethan Kagy to Tony Hoover to Avon 33-yard line.
second QUARTER
AVON 7, TIFFIN COLUMBIAN 6. Garrett Gronowski 12 pass from Ryan O’Rourke (Ryan Galik kick) 6:12. DRIVE: 7 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 2:36. KEY PLAYS: Tiffin 34-yard FG attempt wide left to start drive. O’Rourke hits Brett Jensen in stride for 61-yard pass play to Tiffin Columbian 15.
AVON 13, TIFFIN COLUMBIAN 6. Zac Wearsch 8 pass from O’Rourke (kick blocked) 3:52. DRIVE: 3 plays, 31 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 0:38.
KEY PLAY: Matt Logan intercepts Kagy pass and returns it 19 yards to Tiffin Columbian 31.

Avon 13, Tiffin Columbian 6

Tiffin Columbian    6    0    0    0    —    6
Avon    0    13    0    0    —    13
Scoring
TC — Phil Chavez, 26 run (kick failed)
A — Garrett Gronowski, 12 pass from Ryan O’Rourke (Ryan Galik kick)
A — Zak Wearsch, 8 pass from O’Rourke (kick failed)
Team statistics
    TC        A
First downs    13        13
— by rushing    8        7
— by passing    5        6
— by penalty    0        0
Yards rushing    200        114
Yards passing    74        174
Total offense    274        288
Passes att./comp.    22/8        23/12
Intercepted by    0        2
Fumbles/lost    1/0        0/0
Penalties/yards    2/16        8/50

Individual statistics

RUSHING — (TC) Ethan Kagy 20-112, Phil Chavez 10-66, Phil Tran 6-18, Brandon Stephens 2-2, Brett Hossler 1-2, Derek Kneeskem 1-0. (A) Marquis Harrell 16-97, Zak Wearsch 4-12, Garrett Gronowski 3-8, Alex Tabar 2-5, Ryan O’Rourke 5-(-8).
PASSING — (TC) Kagy 8-21-74-0-2, Hossler 0-1-0-0-0. (A) O’Rourke 11-21-170-2-0, Gronowski 1-1-4-0-0, Harrell 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING — (TC) Tony Hoover 3-37, Kneeskem 2-20, Stephens 2-12, Chavez 1-5. (A) Gronowski 4-80, Brett Jensen 3-68, Harrell 2-12, Wearsch 2-10, Vic Jenkins 1-4.

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