No. 4 Avon grinds out impressive 42-21 win over No. 12 Midview

AVON, Ohio - The Avon Eagles churned out 329 yards on the ground and junior quarterback Ryan Maloy threw for a score and ran for another in an impressive 42-21 high school football win over Midview on Friday night at Joe Firment Stadium.

Avon, the fourth-ranked team in the cleveland.com Top 25, led 14-7 at the half. But the Eagles then exploded for 28 second-half points as they improved to 5-0 and 4-0 in the Southwestern Conference.

Midview, which entered the game No. 12 in the Cleveland.com Top 25, lost for the first time and fell to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the SWC.

Maloy threw for 124 yards and ran for another 78 in leading the Eagles to the win. His 24-yard touchdown scamper midway through the third quarter put the Eagles on top 28-7 and for all practical purposes ended the game.

“He’s a dynamic kid, he really is,” Avon coach Mike Elder said of Maloy, who is entering his second year as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. “His leadership ability has improved. He’s growing up tremendously. I’m really proud of him. I thought he did a masterful job today.”

Avon sophomore running back Nick Perusek had a coming out party of sorts. He rushed 156 yards and a pair of scores. His 74-yard scoring run on the second play of the second half in which he ran out of several tackles gave the Eagles a 21-7 lead.

“He’s not a secret to anyone in Avon. He’s been doing that since the seventh grade,” Elder said of the 6-foot, 166-pound Perusek. “He had a great night tonight.”

Elder was also quick to credit senior fullback Tony Eberhardt for leading the way for Perusek.

“He did some selfless things in blocking tonight,” Elder said.

And then there was Avon’s defense, which was able to keep Midview’s usually high-powered offense in check. Elder noted that his starting defense allowed just 14 points, with the backups giving up the final score late in the game.

“Our defense was the story of the game. We really gave up 14 points. It was a great performance to hold that team and that coaching staff to 14 points,” Elder said.

The Eagles’ defense picked off Midview quarterback Seamus Higley twice and also forced a turnover late in the first half when the Middies were trailing just 14-7 and appeared to be going in for the tying score.

“That turnover in the red zone really killed us in the first half. That was a huge momentum swing,” Midview coach D.J. Shaw said. “We told our guys before the game you’ve got to make plays in big games. If you don’t, you’re not going to beat teams like that,” Shaw said.

Higley finished the night 18-for-34 for 254 yards and three touchdowns, but the two picks proved costly.

“We’ve just got to play harder and better sound football. We’ll be fine,” Higley said. “That’s a good team and a very good defense.”

The game was played in front of a packed house. Long lines of cars backed up along the road that led into the stadium 30 minutes prior to kickoff.

Avon got on the board first. On its second possession of the game, Maloy got into a passing rhythm as he began rhythming around the ball to his receivers. That included three completions to Chris Mullins, the final one an 8-yard gain, which set up Perusek’s first TD of the night, a 13-yard scamper.

Midview answered midway through the second quarter when Higley found Zac Gill on an 11-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:49 left in the half.

Maloy used his feet and arm to help the Eagles answer in their next drive. He completed two passes to Dave Orlando for a combined 22 yards and added a big 36-yard run. That play set up Ben Steinmetz’s 9-yard TD run to put the Eagles back on top. Steinmetz added a 2-yard touchdown run the second half.

In the cool of the night, Elder soaked up the win as the lights of Firment Field shined on him. But he knows the season is far from over. Last year the Eagles went 10-0 only to lose in the first round of the playoffs.

Elder and his team want much more this year, although the Eagles are focused on winning another SWC title.

“Our goal is to win a conference championship, and we value and respect the coaches and competition and teams we play in this league. Right now all we’ve accomplished is we control our own destiny to win a conference championship. It certainly helps us to punch our ticket for that second season (the playoffs), but that’s five weeks down the road,” said Elder.