Avon running back's big night deflates Jeff

AVON -- There are no easy tests among the talent-packed Hoosier Crossroads Conference's collection of high school football teams.

Hamilton Southeastern has wide receiver Gary Harris. Brownsburg has running back Isaac Beverstock. As Lafayette Jeff learned Friday night at Oriole Stadium, Class 5A No. 8 Avon has senior running back Charles Davis.

The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Davis rushed 30 times for a career-best 278 yards, leading the Orioles (6-1) to a 46-7 Homecoming victory over the Bronchos, who lost their fourth in a row.

"We were there ... right there," said Jeff senior linebacker Paco Carrillo, who unofficially was in on 13 tackles. "We were hanging in there and playing strong,"

Justin Ulmer's 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 5:39 left in the first half cut Avon's lead to 11-7. One series later, the Bronchos (2-5) were threatening again at the Avon 35-yard line.

But when Nick Scheumann underthrew wide receiver Jonah Green on a fourth-down play, the Orioles fed Davis until moving into position for a TD that extended the lead to 18-7 at intermission.

When the Orioles scored three times in the third quarter, this one became a blowout. Avon finished with 427 yards of total offense, including 350 on the ground.

"The score they got late in the second quarter was very important, because when they started the third quarter, we were back out there on defense," Carrillo said. "We gave them the ball back, plus more points.

"On defense, we just have to get our guys together and get their minds straight. We can't let our heads fall down. Davis is pretty good. He doesn't go down easily. You have to hit him around the legs and try to do what you can do. For us, we have to play strong from beginning to end if we want to win football games. You can't let a few plays beat you."

Which is what happened to the Bronchos. Avon quarterback Logan Haston completed only two passes for 77 yards, but each catch went for a touchdown. Davis had 12 carries of 10 yards or more, helping the Orioles amass 20 first downs.

"Paco worked his butt off in the weight room all summer, and it certainly is showing this year," Jeff coach Andy Kennedy said of his linebacker's top-notch effort on an otherwise long night for the Bronchos. "We need a lot of our guys to follow that lead.

"In that first half, he did a heck of a job, and were down 11-7 with 16 seconds to go. Then, we made a big defensive error. When it was 11-7, I thought our kids were fighting. Then, after Avon scored that touchdown to go up 18-7, you could see a big difference in the eyes of the kids. It was like they said, 'Now, its 18-7, and bad things happened to us.' "

Kennedy said the Bronchos "kind of fell apart a little bit in the second half." The Orioles outscored the Bronchos 28-0 during the final 24 minutes.

"It kind of snowballed on us real quick and kind of got away from us," Kennedy said.

Jeff was limited to 137 yards on its 44 plays from scrimmage. The Bronchos played without starting running back Darian Green, who is nursing a sore ankle. Scheumann completed only 8 of 22 passes for 50 yards.