This edition of Northeast Ohio High School Football coverage is brought to you by Floors2U.
AVON LAKE, OHIO – The Avon Lake Shoremen are 4-1 at the midpoint of the regular season, thanks to a dominant 42-15 win at home over North Ridgeville in Week 5.
Senior quarterback Mark Pappas put together an impressive night, passing for nearly 270 yards and completing three touchdowns passes opposed to two interceptions.
The Shoremen have a dynamic trio of wide receivers, led by Hunter Bateman and Jason Sullivan, who each finished with over 100 receiving yards. Bateman caught two touchdown passes, including a 66-yard bomb, while Sullivan caught a pass about ten yards deep and ran 40 more yards to the end zone.
Much of the credit for the win goes to Avon Lake’s strong offensive line, who gave Pappas plenty of time and created room for the Shoremen running backs, most notably Tyler Nelson, who ran for 61 yards and scored a touchdown.
Coming into this season, Avon Lake had a long way to go to prove its football program can get back to the “powerhouse status” of years passed.
The Shoremen went from a perennial playoff team to finishing with only six wins between 2014 and 2015.
Avon Lake has already matched its 2015 win total, of four games, but there’s a long way to go and head coach Dave Dlugosz is not taking anything for granted.
“I coach from paranoia,” said Dlugosz. “I worry about every single week like it’s the Super Bowl and I’ll worry about Amherst (Steele) this week the exact same way.”
Dlugosz has the job of keeping his team mentally focused for every single game week in and week out, but it’s hard not to take a look at Avon Lake’s schedule and believe they have a solid shot of getting to the playoffs.
Their lone loss so far came to Avon, who is a state championship contender, so that game is out of the way.
The Shoremen take on Amherst Steele, Berea-Midpark, Olmsted Falls, Midview, and North Olmsted in the second half of the season.
Aside from Midview, Avon Lake appears to have an edge in the other four games, and if the Shoremen take care of business, it could be an 8-2 regular season.
The two games against Berea-Midpark and Olmsted Falls will be particularly interesting to watch, as those will be pivotal matches for all three teams as far as their playoff chances are concerned.
This edition of Northeast Ohio High School Football coverage has been brought to you by Floors2U.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: WR Hunter Bateman 4 catches, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns
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