Avon Lake’s 2024 Week 1 game at Strongsville on Aug. 23 started slowly for both sides. A few stalled drives and several blocked punts — plus a blocked field goal — turned the kicking game into chaos.
Enter Avon Lake junior Aidan Stewart. After a third-down conversion by the Shoremen late in the opening quarter and a third-and-long in the second quarter, senior signal-caller Alex Affolter threw touchdown passes of 76 and 28 yards to Stewart.
That would be enough to help the Shoremen to a 21-6 away win against the Mustangs.
After a nine-yard catch by Devin Dew on a third-down attempt in the first quarter, Affolter found Stewart in the middle of the field. What looked like a big gain turned into a footrace, with Stewart spinning out of the tackle and running 76 yards for the goal with 55 seconds left on the opening period clock.
Likewise, a holding penalty late in the second quarter forced the Shoremen to a third-and-14 at the Strongsville 28-yard line. Stewart recovered another deep ball and again got completely free to the middle of the field, where Affolter hit the junior wideout on the run for his second touchdown of the half, while Reece Polomsky sank his second point-after attempt.
In the first half alone, Stewart caught five of six attempted passes, achieving 124 yards and two touchdowns.
The Shoremen ran 74 yards down the field at the start of the third quarter, but the nearly four and a half minutes of play ended with a 4th-and-short stop at the goal line. Four plays later, Kendrick Boddie of the Mustangs stormed an 87-yard run, making the score 14-6, but the point-after was missed.
The score remained that way into the fourth quarter, as Strongsville was unable to capitalize on a missed 40-yard field goal by the Shoremen late in the third quarter. The Mustangs got some momentum going, but saw the drive stall and were forced to punt.
The same was true for Avon Lake, but as they approached the red zone with less than five minutes left in the game, a quarterback keeper was stopped. It was not in vain, as Luke Stuewe intercepted a pass in the scrum and returned it 37 yards to the Mustangs’ 14-yard line. From there, Anthony Benedict was able to score a two-yard touchdown with 1:55 left in the game.
Strongsville managed an 11-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left, but the onside attempt failed, which caused the Shoremen to breathe a sigh of relief.
The result
Avon Lake 21, Strongsville 6
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