Central can't keep up momentum against Avon

Central Catholic's Jayme Thompson (8) runs the ball against Avon High School's Ralph Smith (5). THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

FREMONT — Greg Dempsey has been the head football coach at Central Catholic for 12 seasons and his Irish have won over 100 games and reached the playoffs 10 times in that span.

But not once has Dempsey witnessed such a drastic shift in momentum in a game as the one he saw in his team's 49-28 loss to fifth-ranked Avon Friday night in a Division II regional playoff semifinal at Fremont's Don Paul Stadium.

The Irish (8-4) had taken a 14-7 lead to halftime before the Eagles unleashed the Paul O'Rourke-Matt Eckhardt aerial show after the break.

PHOTO GALLERY: Avon tops Central.

That potent quarterback-receiver combination connected seven times for 220 yards and five touchdowns – all in a span of 12:43 – in the third and fourth quarters to simply overwhelm the Central secondary.

"I've never had a game where it looks like you're in control, and then it turns on you like that," Dempsey said. "Momentum in the playoffs is huge, and they really took advantage of it."

Avon (11-1) advances to meet Tiffin Columbian (10-2) for the Region 6 title next Friday night.

The Eagles' momentum actually began on a late first-half TD strike of three yards from O'Rourke to Jacob Mullins 2:44 before the break, bringing Avon within seven points. Before that scoring march the Eagles had managed just one first down over their first four possessions.

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Eckhart's second catch of the game was a six-yard TD grab to tie the game 2:09 into the third quarter. His next reception was a diving eight-yarder for another TD and a 21-14 Eagles lead with 5:49 left in the third.

"In the first half they were playing great coverage on our receivers," Eckhardt said. "We were trying to find open receivers. We were trying to get whatever we could.

"But we went in at halftime and made adjustments, and then we took some shots and they ended up paying off for us."

Things were just heating up for Avon's dynamic duo, as it struck again on Avon's next two plays from scrimmage in the period.

The first was a 62-yard O-Rourke-to-Eckhardt bomb down the middle of the field for a 28-14 Eagles edge with 3:31 left in the third.

"It was amazing," Dempsey said. "One minute we're standing in the end zone with the ball. There was a penalty on that play, and then all of a sudden everything just went south for us."

"We knew coming in that was a great combination [O'Rourke to Eckhardt]. It took some time for them to find it, but they eventually got to it, and that's what good teams do in these situations."

Central stemmed the tide briefly at that point, as sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer (11-of-25 passing, 140 yards) directed a seven-play, 60-yard drive that was capped by junior running back Amir Edwards third TD run of the game, this one a 21-yarder around left end with 44 seconds left in the third.

But, after the ensuing kickoff, O'Rourke (16-of-28 passing, 355 yards) found Eckhardt down the left sideline on an 83-yard TD, and Avon took a 35-21 lead to the final quarter over the stunned Irish.

"Justin is a phenomenal quarterback," Eckhardt said. "I think he's one of the best in the state in all divisions. He makes beautiful reads and puts the ball right on the money."

The Eagles' next drive needed just three plays to find the end zone, the first a 17-yard completion for O'Rourke to Eckhardt, and the third a 45-yard scoring pass down the right sideline for the fifth TD connection to Eckhardt with 9:08 left in the game.

"Matt made some great cuts and some great plays," O'Rourke said. "He ran great routes on all of those big TD catches.

"In the first half, Matt was on the right page and I wasn't. But I picked it up."

The teams each added touchdown run down the stretch for the final margin.

Avon topped Central 479-359 in total offense in the game after trailing 145-119 at the break.

After the two teams traded punts twice to open the game, Central drove 60 yards on eight plays and took the lead on a four-yard run by Edwards (24 carries, 105 yards) with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Irish took advantage of good field position again on its next possession, which also concluded in the end zone.

This time Central needed to cover just 45 yards, but needed 12 plays to take a 14-0 lead on Edwards' one-yard plunge 7:32 before halftime.

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade.