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Trotwood, foe on similar missions for title

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Rams, Avon seek redemption for last season’s shortfalls.

By Marc F. Pendleton, Staff Writer Updated 12:00 PM Friday, December 2, 2011

Avon football coach Mike Elder isn’t waving a white flag at the thought of playing Trotwood-Madison for a high school football state championship. But he grasps the daunting task that awaits tonight.

“If you’re going to base this game on speed and size and Division I offers, we certainly don’t have a chance, because they’re pretty special,” said Elder.

Trotwood (14-0) and Avon (13-1) will play for the Division II state championship at 7 p.m. at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

That’s just one of three games today and Saturday at Massillon and Canton’s Fawcett Stadium in what Stark County likes to label Championship Weekend.

All three of today’s games involve area teams. At 11 a.m. at Massillon it’s Coldwater (11-3) vs. Kirtland (14-0) for the D-V title. Springfield Shawnee (14-0) plays mighty Youngstown Mooney (10-3) for the D-III crown at 3 p.m. in Canton.

Divisions I, IV and VI play Saturday.

Both Avon and Trotwood have been on similar missions: fix what went wrong a year ago.

A No. 1 regional seed last season, Avon imploded with seven turnovers and dropped its 2010 playoff opener to Sandusky. This year, the Eagles have been on a playoff tear since after falling in Week 10 to rival Avon Lake in the final 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, Trotwood has grimaced for a year about the 2010 D-II title-game setback to Maple Heights.

“Everything is about finishing the deal,” assured Rams coach Maurice Douglass.

Elder is at least partially correct in identifying differences between the teams. Trotwood most assuredly has the size, speed and blue-chip recruits that any program would covet. And Avon? Free spirits, and plenty of them.

After wins, the Eagles celebrate by collecting locker-room stools and dancing around a pretend bonfire. Their choice of music is “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, “which is kind of interesting,” said Elder.

Rotating Wednesday and Thursday night team dinners were the norm. So was 6-3, 300-pound offensive guard Ryan Byrne at poolside — in a Speedo — during summer camp at Mount Union.

“We’ve got some goofy characters,” assured Elder. “I’m telling ya, there’s a whole bunch of them on this team.”

The Rams mostly have limited their antics to late-game heroics. In Week 13 they needed an unlikely halftime reboot after trailing 20-0 to Kings. Recharged, they ran off 35 unanswered points to win easily.

In last week’s semifinals, they had Columbus Marion-Franklin on the ropes, leading 40-15 at the half. They won 47-44.

“With having had that experience of playing on the big stage, it’s helped up in the second half to go in there at halftime and make some adjustments and come out and focus the way that we need to focus,” said Douglass.

It’s the first state title game for the Eagles, members of the West Shore Conference near Cleveland. Like the Rams, they’re focused in their own way and have been a calming influence on Elder.

“I’m a high-strung, uptight guy by nature,” he said. “We’ve been through so much in three years with these seniors, they make jokes and try to loosen me up a little bit.

“That’s been awesome, because you want to enjoy the ride and the run, and they’ve helped me do that. It’s funny — it’s usually the other way around.”

Contact this writer at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@DaytonDailyNews.com.