Avon Grove downs Chichester in season finale

BOOTHWYN >> In a defensively dominated regular-season finale where both teams managed just over 300 total yards for the evening, Shane McLaughlin’s second-quarter touchdown run was the only scoring as Avon Grove edged Chichester, 6-0, on Friday.

Chichester (3-7) allowed only 198 yards, while its offense could only muster 104 yards against Avon Grove’s (5-6) stout defense. The two sides combined to force 13 punts in the game.

McLaughlin broke through with an 11-yard scamper around the outside in the second quarter, just beating the Chichester secondary to the pylon to give his team a lead they would not relinquish.

“The defense flooded to the right of the field,” said McLaughlin, who finished the game with 69 yards rushing and 41 in the air. “I saw an opening to the left, and my running back (Nate Jones) made a great block.”

The Eagles defense, led by Jahmad Lockett, made things difficult for Avon Grove’s offense, as it was unable to get anything going. Lockett blocked Kevin Sheehan’s extra point attempt after the touchdown, and stopped Jones on several occasions in the backfield.

“Every point counts,” said Lockett. “We can never give up, that could have been a big moment in the game.”

Avon Grove had multiple chances to put the game out of reach, set up with good field position by its defense, but were unable to turn those opportunities into points. The defense recovered a fumble on Chichester’s 35 in the fourth. They were pushed back 15-yards for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. From there, Jones ran for 35 of his 63 total yards in the drive.

McLaughlin extended the march running for 10 yards on a fourth-and-nine, but fumbled on the next play. Shaquan Cobb recovered for Chichester with 4:39 left in the game.

“Our defensive coordinator put a great game plan together, and the kids executed it perfectly,” said Chichester coach Ryan Smith. “We stopped them in critical moments, we just couldn’t cross over onto their side of the field.”

Quarterback Andrew Rodriguez found Cobb on a slant for 20 to give the Eagles their initial first down of the second half. Rodriguez looked Cobb’s way again on third down, but he was stopped just short of the first-down marker, bringing up a fourth-and-short.

Avon Grove’s defense rose to the occasion, stopping Kevin Miller at the line of scrimmage, to force a turnover on downs. However, Jones lost the ball, the Red Devils’ third turnover of the second half, to give Chichester one more chance.

“(Chichester) played really well, they shut down what we like to do on offense,” said Avon Grove coach Harry O’Neill. “The three turnovers we had inside the 20 hurt us.”

With 48 seconds left and 52 yards to go for the go-ahead TD, Rodriguez attempted to lead his team down the field to steal the game. After three straight incompletions, linebacker Ryan Hoffman sacked Rodriguez on fourth down with 16 seconds left on the clock to secure the victory for Avon Grove.

“Winning the last game of the season means everything,” said Hoffman. “After winning two games in the past two seasons, to get to five this season, it means everything.”

Second Quarter

Avon Grove — McLaughlin 11 run (kick blocked)

AG     C

First downs 12 4

Rushes-yards 36-157 28-68

Passing 4-15-0 5-14-0

Passing yards 41 40

Total yards 198 104

Punts 5-35.4 8-28.4

Fumbles-lost 3-3 3-1

Penalties-yards 8-65 9-70

Rushing — Avon Grove: McLaughlin 12-69 TD, Jones 16-63, Francis 8-25. Chichester: Miller 19-51, Lockett 6-20, Rodriguez 3-(-3)

Passing — Avon Grove: McLaughlin 4-15-0 41 yards. Chichester: Rodriguez 5-14-0 40 yards.

Receiving — Avon Grove: Buchannan 2-11, Jones 1-22, Yurkovich 1-8. Chichester: Cobb 3-42, Lo 1-0, Lockett 1-(-2).

Sacks — Avon Grove: Brockson, Hoffman, Schmidt. Chichester: Smith.