Avon completes season with dominating win over Lewis Mills

AVON, Nov. 21, 2023 – The season began in the rain and ended in the rain although there were some snow flurries mixed in the raindrops as the Avon High football team rolled to a 48-13 win over a young and overmatched Lewis Mills squad on Tuesday night.

Rain was a constant throughout the season along with running back Nik Meltser, who ran for a career-high 296 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries against Mills. He became the 15^th player in program history to finish the season with more than 1,000 yards rushing with 1,278 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Avon’s Nick Seminara ran for a career-high 143 yards and three touchdowns on five carries. They were the first touchdowns of his varsity career.

“The name of the game was to get Seminara in the end zone and he wasn’t going to leave today without it,” Avon High coach Brendan Smith said. “He has run so hard for us and he does everything for us. He is such a great leader day in and day out. He busts his butt every single day. He dedicated himself to being a better runner.”

Avon (3-7) scored on their first three possessions of the game and Seminara scored twice on runs of 41 and 20 yards. John Murphy also scored on a one-yard run as the Falcons took a 24-0 lead.

“I am proud of the guys,” Smith said. “The message coming into the game was play our game and we’ll see what happens.”

Meltser had some big runs as well. He scored touchdowns on runs of 81 and 65 yards in the third quarter.

“Nik has been our horse (all season)” Smith said. “He came into the season knowing he had expectations and not knowing how to handle that. He responded and he and (Johnny) Murphy has been great for us.”

Murphy ran for 645 yards and six touchdowns this season but he also played well at middle linebacker.

Smith praised the effort of junior Reyan Fawad on both sides of the ball along with cornerback Jahki Richens, who made some nice plays in the defensive backfield. Ethan Lavore had the only sack of the game against the Spartans.

Mills coach Tory Vibert completed his first official season behind the bench after serving as the interim coach a year earlier.

His Spartans, who have lost a program-record 19 consecutive games, are young. Seventy-five percent of the roster are of freshmen and sophomores, Vibert said. Mills (0-10) started five freshmen and three sophomores.

“We’re young, we’re a feisty team that fights all the way through,” Vibert said. “We just have to grow up, get better and work in the offseason.

Sophomore quarterback Alex Weaver came on his relief of his older brother, Larry, who was injured in the first quarter. Alex Weaver scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half for Mills.

Mills, who scored a program-low 44 points this season, had been shutout in four of nine games coming into Tuesday night’s contest.

“I am proud of the effort they put in,” Vibert said. “They fought all the way and that is all you can ask of them, especially when they are outmatched physically.”

The game and season had just finished and the Mills players were on the field discussing with Vibert what they could do in the offseason to get better.

With the win, Avon takes a 3-0 lead in the Thanksgiving week series that began in 2021. A year ago, the Falcons won by one point with a late fourth quarter touchdown, 25-24.

Leading 24-0 at the half, Seminara ran 70 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play of the third quarter for a 32-0 lead. Murphy had a two-point conversion run.

The Falcons extended their lead to 40-0 on Meltser’s 81-yard touchdown run with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Lineman Tyler Andrews ran in the two-point conversion run.

Alex Weaver (six carries, 40 yards) scored on a 22-yard run to put Mills on the scoreboard.

But on Avon’s next offensive possession, Meltser stepped to the left but turned and ran 65 yards down the right side on the first play of the drive to extend the lead to 48-7. On his 81-yard touchdown run, Meltser started by going to his left but quickly reversed himself and streaked down the right sideline.

Casey McKinley led the Spartans on the ground, rushing for 57 yards on six carries. Alex Weaver completed 3-of-10 passes for 50 yards.

It was the most points in a game for the Falcons since scoring 55 in a 55-20 win over East Catholic in 2021.

Avon 48, Lewis Mills 13
At Avon
Lewis Mills (0-10)            0  0    7  6  -13
Avon (3-7)                       16  8  24  0  — 48
First quarter
A: Nick Seminara 41 run (Carter Davies run), 6:47
A: Seminara 20 run (David Minami run) 3:30
Second quarter
A: John Murphy 5 run (Minami run), 9:36
Third quarter
A: Seminara 70 run (John Murphy run), 9:54
A: Nik Meltser 81 run (Tyler Andrews run), 6:02
LM: Alex Weaver 22 run (Gianluca Dolzdelli kick), 0:08
A: Meltser 65 run (Minami run), 0:00
Fourth quarter
LM: A. Weaver 5 run (kick fails), 6:35
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Lewis Mills – Larry Weaver 3-4, Alex Weaver 6-40, Gianluca Dolzdelli 4-2, Casey McKinley 6-57, Owen Magnola 4-21; Team 1 minus 10; Avon – Carter Davies 2-20, David Minami 5-23, Nik Meltser 13-296, Nick Seminara 5-143, John Murphy 5-42. Team 1-minus 10
PASSING: Lewis Mills: Larry Weaver 1-3-0, 7; Alex Weaver 3-10-0, 50; Avon: David Minami 0-2
RECEIVING: Lewis Mills: Casey McKinley 2-16, Alex Braley 1-31, Tyler Pierzchalski 1-10