Stephen Dumeyer | Reporter

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The football team entered Friday night with a 6-0 undefeated streak, destined for a matchup with the Westfield Shamrocks. The Shamrocks entered the day with a 4-2 overall record and a 2-2 in conference record.

First Half

The scoring didn’t begin the way the Orioles would have liked as Westfield senior Eli Patchett put his first rushing touchdown of the night on the board to take an early 7-0 lead. It didn’t take long for the Orioles to put a rushing touchdown of their own on the board. Junior Henry Hesson punched the ball in from the one-yard line on a QB keeper to tie the game up.

Westfield tacked on a field goal before the end of the quarter, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Shamrocks. This was the third time the Orioles have trailed after the first quarter of play this season: they recovered from a 3-0 hole against Brownsburg to win 7-3, and overcame a 14-0 deficit against Fishers last week to put up 35 unanswered points and win 35-14.

Senior Jalen Love started the scoring in the second quarter with a 47-yard touchdown run, giving the Orioles their first lead of the night at 14-10. After a Westfield three-and-out, Avon got the ball back looking to expand their newly found lead; however, an interception by Westfield junior Benji Welch ended that drive.

The Orioles defense forced yet another three-and-out on the following drive, setting the offense up for another 47-yard rushing touchdown, this time by Sophomore Chrishon McCray. After the failed PAT, the score was 20-10, and it stayed that way until halftime.

Second Half

Avon received the kickoff to start the second half, but after what seemed like a simple three-and-out, they went for it on the fourth down on their own 35 yard-line. They lost 7 yards on the play, and handed the ball over to the Shamrocks with prime field position.

After a six-play drive, Westfield found the end-zone on Patchett’s second touchdown run of the night, making it a three-point game at 20-17. Avon got the ball on their 48 yard-line with four minutes to play in the third with the same lead, looking to extend their lead to a two-score margin.

After a long, penalty-riddled drive, Hesson found junior wide receiver Wallace Stovall Jr. for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Orioles up for good with 1:29 left to play in the third. The third quarter ended 27-17, and Westfield managed a third rushing touchdown from Patchett, but that was all for scoring in the final period. Avon escaped with a 27-24 victory to improve to 7-0 on the season.

Game Analysis

The rushing game continued to be a dual threat with Love and McCray. Love had 22 carries on the night for 186 yards for an average of 8.5 yards per rush and a score. McCray only had 8 carries but ran up 72 yards for nine yards per rush and another touchdown. However, there were many miscues with the team, racking up 13 penalties for 159 yards, which is over twice the amount of passing yards the Shamrocks could manage. The time of possession also didn’t favor the Orioles, as they held the ball for less than a third of the game, while Westfield had possession for 32:31 minutes of the 48 minutes of regulation. Despite the setbacks, the Orioles managed to pull out a 27-24 win and look forward to the next game with an undefeated streak of 7-0.

Next week, the Orioles match up against the Zionsville Eagles, who are 3-3 this season with a 1-3 in conference record. The Eagles are coming off a 54-14 loss to Brownsburg. Avon should look to perform well against Zionsville as the Eagles are a potential sectional matchup on November 1.