HURON — From the time players first put on their pads, coaches always harp about not giving up on a play.
Good thing Avon’s Garrett Gronowski took those words to heart.
It was Gronowski chasing down Tiffin Columbian’s speedy Ethan Kagy that ultimately saved Avon on Saturday night.
Kagy broke free from his own 20-yard line and appeared headed for the end zone when Gronowski came from behind to prevent what appeared to be a sure touchdown.
“During the week, a lot of my teammates were telling me (Kagy) is faster than me,” Gronowski said. “I didn’t think so. I think I proved it there. I thought he was scrambling to run and I stayed on my half of the field. I saw him break away. I just unleashed it and caught him from behind. I couldn’t believe it.
“Coach (Mike) Elder always preaches, ‘Hustle, hustle, hustle’ and good things will happen. We just hustled all night.”
Good things did happen for the Eagles, who now find themselves in next week’s Division III, Region 10 final against Sunbury Big Walnut. Where they’ll play will be determined tonight by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but Ashland College could be the sight.
“We always tell our kids when you put so much into a season, and you invest so much, you never give up on a play,” Elder said. “Obviously, it was a great hustle play by (Gronowski). They end up missing a field goal. It was a huge play in this football game and it’s one you’ll always show your young kids to say, ‘Hey, this is what you have to do and the kind of effort you have to give.’”
Thanks to Gronowski, the play gave Avon’s defense time to regroup and stop the Tornadoes from scoring as the clock wound down to close out the first half. Vic Jenkins stuffed Kagy on first down for no gain. Bryent Robertson and Alex Tabar combined to hold him to a short gain on second down and Matt Kiessling read an inside reverse handoff to Brandon Stephens to force a 32-yard field-goal attempt that missed wide right as time expired.
When reminded of the theory that offense sells tickets but defense wins championships, Gronowski simply said: “That’s true.”
“It’s a cliché,” Elder said. “We sold a lot of tickets during the year but right now our defense is going to help us win a championship, hopefully.”
Certainly Gronowski’s play on offense shouldn’t be overlooked. He grabbed Ryan O’Rourke’s 12-yard pass for Avon’s first score and he finished with four catches for 80 yards on the night. The biggest catch came on a third-and-27 situation following an Avon holding penalty. Gronowski caught O’Rourke’s toss for 34 yards and a first down at the 44-yard line to get the Eagles out of poor field position.
Gronowski eventually punted, but it pushed Tiffin back to its own 21.
“It’s great to know we have an offense that can do it and a good defense,” said Gronowski, who also handles Avon’s punting chores.  “I think we’re proving that to a lot of people. Our red-zone defense is getting pretty good. We’re getting the hang of it.”
Avon’s defense came up huge all night — holding Tiffin out of the end zone on its lone sustained drive of the night that lasted from the 1:16 mark of the third quarter all the way to the 4:43 mark of the fourth. The Eagles intercepted two passes — one by Matt Logan, the other by Collin Krebs.
“With a quarterback (Kagy) that’s a dual threat (pass and run), you’ve got to play assignment football,” Elder said. “If (Kagy) gets kids to bite on a fake and they’re not playing their half of the field, he’s capable of making a big play. Our kids had to be very disciplined in practice. We actually used Marquis Harrell as our scout team quarterback and he gave us a great look this week. I hope our kids don’t beat each other up too much. We’re going best on best in practice.”
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

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