Ohio’s Strongsville When it came to a two-point conversion, it seemed only fitting.
Strongsville’s defense made the game-winning stop to defeat visiting Avon Lake, 43-42, in a thrilling contest that saw over 750 yards of offense and 85 points scored. This is the Mustangs’ first series victory in the previous five years.
“We fought and we believed, and we won,” stated Jason Trusnik, coach of Strongsville. In the end, this began when I entered the office last year. We were determined to play swiftly, physically, and with unwavering faith in one another.
Dawson TenBrink, the quarterback for the Shoremen, rolled right and connected Aidan Stewart on a crosser in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown with 1.6 seconds remaining, trailing by seven. The visitors decided to go for the two-point conversion and the victory because they were ahead.
“In that case, we had to go for two,” stated Matt Kostelnik, coach of Avon Lake. Although we believe we had a strong play planned, they applied strong pressure, so it is what it is. I’m really pleased with our children’s performance.
However, pressure by the Strongsville defense—led by Texas A&M commit Storm Miller, who had two sacks on the last drive—broke up the two-point pass and secured victory.
This is enormous. Trusnik added, “Avon Lake is a great team.” Since they have been on our schedule, we have not defeated them. We have a lot of momentum after this season-opening victory.
The Shoremen, who are ranked 12th in the cleveland.com preseason Top 25, began the scoring with a 41-yard run by senior running back Ezra Jones after junior Mitchell Streeter intercepted the Mustangs’ first possession.
In the second quarter, both offenses sped up, scoring 37 points between the two teams in seven minutes.
Nick Carrossellia, a sophomore quarterback, was used by the eighth-ranked Mustangs to jumpstart the attack. Junior running back Kendrick Boddie ran 15 yards to cap off a 52-yard drive he constructed with six plays.
Carrossellia then tied the game at 14 with a stunning 27-yard play-action pass to Jon Hogg. With two minutes remaining before halftime, Boddie added a 51-yard touchdown run on a counter play to give the Mustangs their first lead of the game, 22-14. Boddie had 11 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns at the end of the half.
The offensive line comes first. Trusnik continued, “They have heart, they play together, and they work together.” When you insert Boddie, who is an excellent running back, between our lines, it elevates the entire game.
TenBrink, who dazzled with his dual-threat skills, was the Shoremen’s counterattack. The sophomore finished the half with two touchdowns and 204 yards (103 passing, 101 rushing).
Halfway through the second quarter, he scored on a 49-yard run, and with six seconds left, he tied the score at 22 with a 1-yard fade pass to Aidan Stewart. On the drive, he completed six passes in a row.
Kostelnik on TenBrink finished with a game-high 216 yards (19 of 32), three touchdowns passing, and an additional 127 yards and a touchdown on the ground. We’re thrilled for him to develop in this scheme. We were blown away by his performance. In this one game, we can likely learn from a season’s worth of tape.
In the third quarter, the Shoremen’s special teams made two plays: Caleb Smith blocked a punt, and he stopped a fourth-and-two to create short fields. Both were turned into touchdowns. A 14-yard pass from TenBrink to Stewart and an 8-yard run from Jones gave the team a 36–22 lead.
With 1:02 left, however, the Mustangs took the lead again after scoring 21 points in a row. Two crucial takeaways from the defense—a fumble recovered by Austin Adkins and an interception by Shane McIntyre that was turned into 14 points—were a major factor in the comeback.
Junior Jack Kasner’s highlight-reel 48-yard touchdown pass to Alex Espay reduced the margin to seven. The Mustangs then took a 43-36 lead with to rushes of 27 and 2 yards by Boddie, who finished with a game-high 222 yards and four touchdowns on 29 touches.
On the last play before the conversion attempt, TenBrink found Stewart, who finished with a game-high 73 yards and three touchdowns on six catches, as the Shoremen tried their best to complete the miraculous comeback.
Both teams play again next Friday. Avon Lake visits Mentor to play Lake Catholic, while Strongsville hosts Solon.
Austin Opfer is a Cleveland-based independent contractor.
