Avon’s Ian McDonald leaps into the air during Saturday’s Pequot Conference game in Avon with Valley Regional/Old Lyme. McDonald ran for a team-leading 106 yards on 17 carries.
AVON – Avon High football coach Jim Caouette was confident his team could play with undefeated Valley Regional/Old Lyme. But he knew that turnovers could be deadly.
He was right on the money. Trailing by one point, Avon fumbled away the ball twice in the fourth quarter inside the Valley Regional 10-yard line. That helped the visiting Warriors remain undefeated with a 17-9 Pequot Conference victory Saturday.
With its 21st consecutive Pequot Conference victory, Valley Regional improves to 9-0. The Falcons fell to 6-3 and saw their hopes for the Class M playoff berth damaged. The top eight teams qualify for the state tournament and Avon is ranked No. 10. The Falcons would need to beat Canton (8-1) and Gilbert/Northwestern (4-5) and hope some of the teams in front of them lose.
Avon didn’t just fumble the ball away. The Warriors forced the turnovers. Leading 10-9, Valley Regional’s Andrew Tuscano stripped the ball away from Avon QB Ian McDonald on the Warrior six-yard line with 9:41 remaining in the game. Valley’s Tyler Cheverier recovered to stop a 15-play drive that began on the Avon 16-yard line.
With 2:04 remaining, Avon’s Teddy Allmendinger lost the ball on the Valley nine-yard line after it was jarred by the helmet of Valley’s Tyler Cheverier. Christopher Jean Pierre recovered for the Warriors.
“I tell the kids all the time that we have to win the turnover battle, play great defense and you’ll have a shot to win the game,” Caouette said.
Even after the two turnovers, Avon still had a chance to win. Jean Pierre scored on a 74-yard run for Valley Regional with 53 seconds remaining because Caouette told his defense to let the Warriors score. It was the only way for Avon to get the ball back quickly. Valley’s Jared Roche kicked the extra point to give the Warriors an eight-point lead, 17-9.
Avon got the ball back on its 30-yard line with 47 seconds remaining and one timeout. Sean Del Gallo completed a 16-yard pass to Geoff Kirk to the Avon 46-yard line with 21 seconds left. Two plays later, Del Gallo completed a 19-yard pass to Ian McDonald to the Valley 35-yard line with nine seconds remaining.
Del Gallo spiked the ball to stop the clock with nine seconds to go. He completed a 14-yard pass to McDonald to the Valley 21-yard line and Avon called its final timeout with one second left. Del Gallo’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Valley’s Andrew Tuscano to seal the win.
“We knew it would be a dogfight,” Valley Regional/Old Lyme coach Tim King said. “They played an incredible ballgame.”
Caouette said, “I thought the kids fought for 48 minutes. It came down to one last play and we had a shot. That football team has dominated everyone they’ve played except Morgan. For us to have a shot to beat them, I’m proud of my guys.”
Avon’s Jake Corrigan has his eye on Valley Regional/Old Lyme QB Christopher Jean Pierre (4) in Saturday’s Pequot Conference game in Avon.
It was a 3-3 game at halftime. On Valley’s first play of the second half, Del Gallo recovered a fumble from Pierre on the Valley Regional 41-yard line. McDonald had a 28-yard run to the Warrior seven-yard line. Three plays later, Allemendinger scored on a one-yard run. But Aiden Getz’s extra point hit the upright and bounced away to give Avon a 9-3 lead.
Valley Regional responded with a six-play drive that ended with Pierre running up the middle and outside for a 40-yard touchdown run. Roche’s extra point gave Valley a 10-9 lead with 5:59 left in the third quarter. Pierre ran for a game-high 226 yards on 14 carries.
Avon marched 76 yards on 15 plays on its next drive, eating up nearly seven minutes. With McDonald, who ran for 106 yards on 17 carries, and Allmendinger (16-100) running well, the Falcons looked like they would take the lead.
In fact, they had the lead for a second or two when Dlugolecki fought his way into the end zone on a seven-yard run with a superb second and third effort. But the play was waived off due to an illegal motion penalty by Avon.
But the drive ended three plays later when McDonald was stripped and lost the ball with 9:41 left in the game.
Avon got the ball back with 4:36 remaining. McDonald completed a 30-yard pass to Kirk but was injured on the play due to a late hit. Valley was penalized 15 yards, moving the ball to the Warrior 35-yard line. Allemendinger took over and ran for 29 yards on four consecutive carries. That scoring chance ended on the Allmendinger fumble with 2:04 remaining.
“We had the ball in field goal range and we have a very good kicker,” Caouette said. “We were going to kick it and not leave them too much time on the clock.”
Nice runs from Andrew Blackmore and Allmendinger helped Avon take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Falcons marched from their own 20 to the Valley Regional 15 before Getz hit a career-long 32-yard field goal.
“I was very happy with our offensive line,” Caouette said. “I thought they played extremely well.” The line includes center Dean Zacchio, tackle Max Kritikos, guards Harrison Gill and Justin Nastri, tackles Ryan Rogers, Kurt Ollestead and Gino Bonalumi.
Valley responded on their next drive. They marched 56 yards on six plays to the Avon four-yard line before the drive stalled. Roche hit a 20-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
“This one is going to sting for a while. It’s a tough one to lose,” Caouette said.
Valley Regional/Old Lyme 17, Avon 9
At Avon
Valley/OL (9-0) 0 3 7 7 — 17
Avon (6-3) 3 0 6 0 — 9
First quarter
A: Alden Getz 32 FG, 0:12
Second quarter
VR: Jared Roche 20 FG, 8:55
Third quarter
A: Teddy Allmendinger 1 run (kick fails), 8:43
VR: Christopher Jean Pierre 40 run (Roche kick), 5:59
Fourth quarter
VR: Pierre 74 run (Roche kick), 0:53
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Avon – Teddy Allmendinger 16-100, Andrew Blackmore 4-19, Ian McDonald 17-106, Jamie Dlugolecki 11-45, Luke Meany 1-minus 9; Valley Regional/OL – Christopher Jean Pierre 14-226, Andrew Tuscano 1-3, Justin Cheverier 13-52, Evan Smith 5-48
PASSING: Avon – McDonald 1-3-0, 30; Sean Del Gallo 3-7-1, 49; Valley Regional/OL – Pierre 6-11-0, 58
RECEIVING: Avon – Geoff Kirk 2-46, Ian McDonald 2-33; Valley Regional/OL – Justin Cheverier 4-36, Smith 1-16, Tuscano 1-6
FUMBLE RECOVERY: Sean Del Gallo (A), Jamie Dlugolecki (A); Tyler Cheverier (V), Christopher Jean Pierre (V); INTERCEPTION: Andrew Tuscano (V); SACKS: Geoff Kirk (A) 1½, Tyler Cheverier (V) 1, Jamie Dlugolecki (A) ½
KICKOFF RETURNS: Del Gallo (A) 4-70, Justin Cheverier (V) 1-15, Pierre (V) 1-10, Smith (V) 1-25
You must be logged in to post a comment Login