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Published: October 10, 2008 11:58 pm
Orioles hold off Mavericks
BY JEFF ROBISON
AVON —
Late in the year, struggling teams seem to save their best efforts for top opponents. And while the McCutcheon Mavericks may have only one victory this year, the Mavericks gave the Avon Orioles a determined challenge before the Orioles pulled away late for a 31-19 victory to cap off the Orioles’ Senior Night celebration.
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Avon came out sluggish, reduced to two turnovers and two three-and-out punt situations for their first quarter efforts. But, the Orioles came away with the lone touchdown of the half, an eight-yard pass play from Jake Harris to Darvon Blackmon. Avon did get the lead to double digits twice in the third quarter, but the Orioles never really secured the game until the fourth quarter when running back Darren Oliver broke free for an 80-yard scoring dash with 5:58 remaining.
The fact that the Mavericks (1-7) were so close to Avon could directly be traced to what Avon coach Dave Shelbourne thought was an excellent game plan against his team.
“(McCutcheon) did a nice job of preparing,” Shelbourne said. “They came in and did some things they hadn’t shown before. They had nothing to lose and came in and played some different defenses than what we’d seen before and blitzed a little bit more than we’d seen before. In the first half, they played at a higher speed than we did.”
Oliver’s night was directly impacted by McCutcheon’s efforts. After a 200-yard game a week earlier, Oliver entered the fourth quarter against McCutcheon with just 14 yards rushing. However, that total jumped to 126 by the game’s end. Oliver got his first touchdown in the third quarter with a 13-yard run up the middle that was his longest of the night prior to a fourth quarter watershed run.
“When you start the game with a turnover on the first play (an interception of Harris by Alex Mack), it set a tone and we never got out of that in the first half,” Shelbourne said. “We made some adjustments, and I think we changed our routines to loosen things up in the second half.”
McCutcheon’s defensive change ups put more of the onus on Harris and the Orioles’ passing attack to produce. Harris (10-of-17 for 129 yards, 2 TD) stretched the Orioles’ lead in the third quarter when he hit Kendall Griffin on a nine-yard slant pass as Avon took advantage of shortened field by stopping the Mavericks deep in their own territory and receiving a shanked punt just outside the Mavericks’ 30-yard line.
But, McCutceon remained undeterred by the deficit. Sophomore quarterback Clint Thayer did his best to keep the Mavericks alive. Thayer drew the Mavericks first touchdown on a 38-yard escape on a fourth down play to answer Griffin’s touchdown in the third quarter. Later, he set up the field for kicker Ryan Dismore to open the fourth quarter with a 26-yard field goal, then served as the receiver for a 57-yard connection from backup quarterback Jon Zanker on lateral pass from Thayer combined with the downfield throw to Thayer. That set up Clay Oppy for a one-yard reverse that put Mavericks within 24-19 in the final quarter.
But, Shelbourne found room to smile about what came next from his team. The rushing came finally came through with Oliver’s outburst, and took the game to the finish by controlling the game’s final minutes.
“If you’re a good football team, even when you’re not at your sharpest, you have to find a way to win,” Shelbourne said. “We had to be patient and finally settled in, but it took us a little while to get a feel tonight.”
Avon puts its 6-2 record on the line at Zionsville Friday, with second place in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference at stake.
Jeff Robison is a Flyer Correspondent
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