MAUMEE - Avon Lake has four more victories to go to win a state championship. One member of the Shoremen, however, might not want to see the season ever end.

Trent Toy just keeps getting better each week. His effort Friday night was the best yet, as he piloted Avon Lake to a wild 56-35 victory over Maumee in a Division II, Region 6 quarterfinal game.

Toy completed 9 of 15 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. All four of the TD throws went to Ronnie Willoughby, who set a school record with his quartet of scores.

Quite a switch from the start of the season, when passing was an afterthought for Avon Lake, which depended heavily on the running of Mike Mansnerus.

“Everyone has matured,” Willoughby said. “We have more games under our belts. Trent was nervous at the beginning, but he’s throwing touchdowns left and right now. He’s found out the difference between varsity and junior varsity is day and night.”

Mansnerus was still plenty effective, rushing for 191 yards on 32 carries and scoring two touchdowns, but it was the passing that got No. 5 seed Avon Lake (8-3) past the fourth-seeded Panthers.

“They (Maumee) stacked the line big-time,” Avon Lake coach Dave Dlugosz said, “but they didn’t have anyone to match up with our wide receivers. I hope there is more of this to come.”

Willoughby totaled 177 yards on five catches. His touchdowns covered 65, 38, 15 and 40 yards. He had an 18-yard reception on a third-and-13 that kept the Shoremen’s final TD drive alive.

“Not at all,” Willoughby said when asked if he was surprised he and Toy, both juniors, were so potent. “Most teams stack the line against us, so we eventually have to throw.”

Despite yielding five touchdowns, Dlugosz had kind words for the defense.

“We knew they had some weapons,” Dlugosz said. “Those kids are quick. We made some adjustments at halftime, but adjustments don’t mean a thing if we don’t execute. Fortunately, we have some intelligent kids on defense. We shut down that No. 11 (Damon Contat).”

Contat caught four passes for 63 yards, all in the first half.

Maumee quarterback Jake Goatley completed 18 of 28 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted twice. One of the pickoffs, by Nick Marinkov, was returned for a touchdown. The other, by T.J. Thompson, set up a TD that gave the Shoremen a 35-21 lead early in the third quarter.

Avon Lake advanced to play Toledo St. Francis DeSales next Friday at a site to be determined. Maumee finishes 9-2.

The Shoremen jumped on top first after Mansnerus broke off a 71-yard run to the 10-yard line. Three plays later Mansnerus was in for a 7-0 lead.

The Panthers answered with two TDs in the first quarter. Goatley passed 63 yards to Jake Schneider on Maumee’s first play from scrimmage. Two runs totaling 18 yards by Eric Long was followed by a

1-yard run to the end zone by Goatley.

Goatley hooked up with Contat for 33 yards to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead, but Avon Lake answered when Toy went deep to Willoughby for a

65-yard TD.

On the Panthers’ first play after the kickoff, Marinkov stepped in front of Goatley’s screen pass and went 22 yards for a 21-14 Avon Lake lead.

Goatley tossed a second TD to Contat to tie the score. Toy and Willoughby got their second scoring strike to give Avon Lake a 28-21 halftime lead.

Thompson’s interception, on a pass that bounced off another player’s helmet, set up the Shoremen at the Maumee 32. Toy threw 15 yards to Willoughby for TD No. 3. The fourth Toy-to-Willoughby scoring pass came 3:33 later to lift the Shoremen to a three-touchdown lead.

Maumee scored with 33 seconds left in the third period. Avon Lake answered with an 80-yard drive. Toy threw 20 yards to Kevin Morissette on a third-and-16 and tossed 27 yards to Morissette on a third-and-7.

Avon Lake’s final touchdown came at 4:03 to play on a 9-yard run up the middle by Marinkov. The Shoremen finished off Maumee with sacks by John Rodgers and Austin Detzel. A last-gasp pass was over the head of Eric Studyvin.

Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

FIRST QUARTER

AVON LAKE 7, MAUMEE 0. Mike Mansnerus 4 run, 9:27. DRIVE: 5 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 2:33. KEY PLAY: Mansnerus’ 71-yard run on the Shoremen’s second play from scrimmage set up Avon Lake at Maumee’s 10.

AVON LAKE 7, MAUMEE 7. Jake Goatley 1 run, 7:44. DRIVE: 4 plays, 82 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:43. KEY PLAY: Goatley’s 63-yard pass to Jake Schneider on the Panthers’ opening play.

MAUMEE 14, AVON LAKE 7. Damon Contat 33 pass from Goatley, 3:05. DRIVE: 5 plays, 49 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 2:29. KEY PLAY: 20-yard Avon Lake punt set up Panthers at Shoremen 49.

SECOND QUARTER

MAUMEE 14, AVON LAKE 13. Ronnie Willoughby 65 pass from Trent Toy, 10:10. DRIVE: 2 plays, 68 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 51 seconds. KEY PLAY: Missed extra point allows Panthers to maintain lead.

AVON LAKE 21, MAUMEE 14. Nick Marinkov 22 interception return, 9:57. KEY TO THE PLAY: Marinkov reads Maumee screen pass perfectly; two-point conversion restores scoring order.

AVON LAKE 21, MAUMEE 21. Contat 5 pass from Goatley, 5:41. DRIVE: 4 plays, 28 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 1:41. KEY PLAY: Maumee again gets good field position, this time off an Avon Lake fumble at the Panther 28.

AVON LAKE 28, MAUMEE 21. Willoughby 39 pass from Toy, 2:46. DRIVE: 7 plays, 57 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 2:55. KEY TO THE PLAY: Willoughby fakes an out pattern, runs a slant and Toy finds him in stride.

THIRD QUARTER

AVON LAKE 35, MAUMEE 21. Willoughby 15 pass from Toy, 8:20. DRIVE: 5 plays, 32 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 2:12. KEY PLAYS: T.J. Thompson picks off Goatley, setting up Avon Lake at Maumee 32.

AVON LAKE 42, MAUMEE 21. Willoughby 40 pass from Toy, 4:47. DRIVE: 3 plays, 41 yards. TIME OF POSSSESSION: 55 seconds. KEY TO THE PLAY: Willoughby questionably separates from the Panther defensive back, much to the chagrin of the Panther faithful.

AVON LAKE 42, MAUMEE 28. Goatley 1 run, :33. DRIVE: 11 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 4:15. KEY PLAY: Pass interference call on Avon Lake on a fourth-and-4 play from the Shoremen 44.

FOURTH QUARTER

AVON LAKE 49, MAUMEE 28. Mansnerus 17 run, 8:28. DRIVE: 9 plays, 80 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 4:05. KEY PLAY: Toy hits Kevin Morissette for 25 yards on third-and-16 from the Shoremen 14-yard line.

AVON LAKE 49, MAUMEE 35. Nick Gebhart 72 pass from Goatley, 8:11. DRIVE: 1 play, 72 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 17 seconds. KEY TO THE PLAY: An Avon Lake defensive back goes for an interception, misses and Gebhart runs untouched.

AVON LAKE 56, MAUMEE 35. Marinkov 10 run, 4:03. DRIVE: 10 plays, 74 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 4:08. KEY PLAYS: Toy and Willoughby hook up for 18 yards on third-and13.

Avon Lake 56, Maumee 35

Avon Lake     7              21            14            14            -           56
Maumee          14            7              7              7              -           35

Scoring

AL - Mike Mansnerus, 4 run (Brad Brill kick)
M - Jake Goatley, 1 run (Jake Olman kick)
M - Damon Contat, 33 pass from Goatley (Olman kick)
AL - Ronnie Willoughby, 65 pass from Trent Toy (kick failed)
AL - Nick Marinkov, 22 interception return (Willoughby pass from Toy)
M - Contat, 5 pass from Goatley (Olman kick)
AL - Willoughby, 39 pass from Toy (Brill kick)
AL - Willoughby, 15 pass from Toy (Brill kick)
AL - Willoughby, 40 pass from Toy (Brill kick)
M - Goatley, 1 run (Olmsn kick)
AL - Mansnerus, 17 run (Brill kick)
M - Gebhart, 72 pass from Goatley (Olman kick)
AL - Marinkov, 10 run (Brill kick)

Team statistics

AL                          M
First downs                   13                            14
- by rushing                   8                              3
- by passing                    5                              9
- by penalty                    0                              2
Yards rushing              227                          64
Yards passing               252                          303
Total offense                  479                          367
Passes att./comp.         15/8                        26/18
Intercepted by               2                              0
Fumbles/lost                    1/1                          0/0
Penalties/yards            4/39                        4/25

Individual statistics

RUSHING - (AL) Mike Mansnerus 32-191, Nick Marinkov 6-37, Trent Toy 1-1, Kevin Morrissette 2-(-2). (M) Eric Long 8-36, Jake Goatley 16-31, Nick Gebhart 1-(-3).
PASSING - (AL) Toy 9-15-252-4-0. (M) Goatley 18-26-303-3-2.
RECEIVING - (AL) Ronnie Willoughby 5-177, Morrissette 3-57, Dan Schneider 1-18. (M) Jake Schneider 1-163, Damon Contat 4-63, Jon Hall 2-20, Erik Studyvin 4-43, Gebhart 5-93, Long 2-21.

Week 10 scores
Twinsburg 35, Elyria 7
Hudson 45, Lakewood 10
Stow 17, Cuyahoga Falls 7
Lake Catholic 41, Chanel 6
Buckeye 57, Keystone 13
Wellington 46, Brookside 14
Brooklyn 36, Black River 22
Clearview 35, Oberlin 0
Columbia 35, Lutheran West 6
Avon Lake 34, Amherst 6
N. Olmsted 14, Olmsted Falls 6
Brecksville 26, Westlake 19
Midpark 47, Berea 7
North Ridgeville 18, Midview 14
Avon 14, Bay 7
Vermilion 20, Firelands 14, OT
Fairview 22, Rocky River 7
Warrensville 12, Bedford 7
Euclid 16, Shaw 0

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WESTLAKE - Call it a step in the process.

Elyria Catholic’s Emily Mueller and Morgan Baker lived up to their No. 1 seeding by winning Saturday’s Division II sectional doubles final at Five Seasons Family Sports Club.

Mueller and Baker, who are seniors, made it to state last season. Saturday they needed less than hour to sweep Sarah Chen and Christina Kander of Bay, 6-1, 6-1, for the sectional crown. Chen and Kander were the No. 3 seed.

“After state last year, they vowed that they were going to work hard to get back and have better results,” Elyria Catholic coach Terry Butler said of Mueller and Baker.

Mueller’s rocket serve and Baker’s net play were the keys for the Panther doubles team, which improved to 8-1.

“They were a little bit intimidated from the high-caliber play of Elyria Catholic,” Bay coach Dave Peters said of his team.

“Chen and Kander had a wonderful tournament. It’s nice to be going down (to district) as a No. 2 seed.”

During the regular season, Mueller is EC’s No. 1 singles player, while Baker is No. 2. Chen is Bay’s first singles player and Kander is a regular at first doubles.

For Mueller and Baker, Saturday’s win was about more than talent.

“We focused a lot this summer on just doubles,” Baker said. “We did a lot of doubles tournaments together during the summer and last winter when we were working up to this.”

“Emily and Morgan played very solid tennis,” Butler said. “I was very happy with the way they moved on the court. There are just a couple minor things to work on. They play tough competition. We upped our schedule this year so we could get them tougher competition to get them ready for this.”

The performance on the court leaves the impression the EC pair is a year-round doubles team. Mueller and Baker look very polished.

“We had them play doubles almost every day in practice against our other doubles teams,” Butler said. “They worked on doubles on their own with their pros. They’re more confident in their doubles game. They know more of the strategies. They’ve been working on that. They’re both much stronger players than they were last year, individually as well as together.”

Last year, Mueller and Baker were upset in the sectional finals as the No. 1 seed. The EC pair lost in straight sets to the No. 2 seed Hathaway Brown team of senior Colleen Maloney and sophomore Jennifer Huang, 6-3, 6-1.

Mueller and Baker then took third at the Canton district at Weiss Park to qualify to state.

“We had a taste of it (of qualifying to state) so now we want more,” Baker said.

“And we want to try and make farther this year,” Mueller said.

The EC doubles pair was eliminated in the first round at state by Julia Youn and Lena Tome of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, 6-4, 6-0.

And the lesson learned?

“It’s all about keeping focus,” Mueller said. “Don’t lose focus.”

“We just need to stay motivated and keep doing what we’re doing,” Baker said.

As with doubles, communication was also a major factor.

“We try to talk between every point and figure out what were going to do for the next point,” Mueller said.

Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

SINGLES

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: Cameron Dorsey (Hathaway Brown) def. Jennifer Huang (Hathaway Brown), 6-0, 6-1

CONSOLATION FINAL: Pauline Marting (Hathaway Brown) def. Allie Sperli (Rocky River), 6-0, 7-5

SEMIFINALS: Dorsey def. Sperli, 6-0, 6-1; Huang def. Marting, 6-2, 6-1

QUARTERFINALS: Dorsey def. Dong (Bay), 6-0, 6-0; Sperli def. L. Chen (Bay), 6-4, 6-2; Huang def. Corrigan (Fairview), 6-0, 6-0; Marting def. Michele Mueller (Elyria Catholic), 6-3, 6-2

DOUBLES

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: Emily Mueller-Morgan Baker (Elyria Catholic) def. Sarah Chen-Christina Kander (Bay), 6-1, 6-1

CONSOLATION FINAL: Hayley Schaffer-Christa Schroedel (Hathaway Brown) def. Whitney Mills-Elise Griffiths (Rocky River), 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-6 (9)

SEMIFINALS: Mueller-Baker def. Mills-Griffiths, 6-3, 6-2; Chen-Kander def. Schaffer-Schroedel, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

QUARTERFINALS: Mueller-Baker def. McBride-Rapps (Bay), 6-2, 6-0; Mills-Griffiths def. Eisele-Kilbane (Hathaway Brown), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Chen-Kander def. Gosselin-Pawlawski (Fairview), 6-3, 6-2; Schaffer-Schroedel def. Nicole Campana-Shannon Tomshack (Elyria Catholic), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

ELYRIA - Good teams find ways to win and Elyria Catholic certainly has to be rated as a very good team this year.

The Panthers found another way to survive Saturday in holding off dangerous Villa Angela-St. Joseph, 21-14, to improve to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in the North Coast League’s White Division. VASJ is 2-4, 0-1.

“Football is a game of mistakes,” EC coach Ben Malbasa said. “I’m a firm believer that you don’t let mistakes get you down. You’ve just got to believe you’ll make the next play.”

Elyria Catholic probably should have had an easier time of it against the Vikings. They dominated the statistics and did a great job overall of controlling the speedy set of receivers and backs VASJ brings to the field, but the Panthers squandered a couple scoring opportunities early that could have settled the issue much easier.

EC put together a 59-yard, 13-play drive and had a first down inside the 5-yard line in the first quarter but couldn’t punch it in.

On their next series, the Panthers fumbled the ball inside the 20 after another impressive drive.

When VASJ struck after a fumbled Panthers punt with a 52-yard scoring pass from Anthony Libertini to a wide-open and fast Clinton James on the next play, even the staunchest of Panther fans had to wonder if it just wasn’t going to be EC’s night.

It’s a good thing the players never wavered in their confidence.

With junior Danny Reaser looking for and finding his favorite target - 6-foot-5 senior Josh Russ - the Panthers scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter and hung on to win.

“Me and Danny just have good chemistry,” Russ said. “He saw me open. I had to change up my route a little bit but he read it. We got it. It worked out.”

Russ caught three balls - all for scores. On one, Russ had the ball knocked out of his hands inside the 5-yard line but the ball wound up in the end zone where Russ recovered for what turned out to be the winning margin.

“The one he fumbled was just a checkdown to a slant,” Reaser said. “The other long one was just set up to go backside to him one-on-one. We’ll go one-on-one all day because our big guy is better than their big guy. It was just connecting. We were both on the same page. The line did a great job in protection. I don’t think there was one time where we gave up a legit sack.”

Russ’ other TD came on a sideline route in which he simply refused to be knocked out of bounds.

It was all EC needed the way the Panther defense protected the end zone. EC gave up only 195 yards of offense against a bevy of speedy, dangerous Vikings.

“Our defense played one of its best games against a really tough offense,” Malbasa said.

And when the Panthers needed to salt the game away, they called on their shifty, 5-foot-7, 170-pound tailback, Alex Alicea, who rushed for 174 yards - none bigger than the 37 he had as the Panthers wound down the clock to preserve the win.

“It’s good to know when you’re not having that good a game early in the first half, you can rely on your teammates,” Alicea said. “I watched them throw three touchdown passes - Reaser to Russ - there’s no better feeling. I’m running behind the greatest line - big Schuster (Jared) and Mettles (Dan Metelsky). They just played great.”

CHECK THAT: Fans may have left Knights of Columbia field Saturday wondering if Danny Reaser and Josh Russ had been credited with all three touchdowns. Russ fumbled the ball near the 5 and eventually recovered it in the end zone. “I got it back,” Russ said. “I bear-crawled to get it. I wasn’t going to let it go.” A check of the rule book afterward does indeed credit Reaser with a TD pass and Russ with a touchdown reception. Had a teammate recovered the fumble, he would have been credited with the touchdown but Reaser would still get the TD pass.

Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

EC 21, VASJ 14

VASJ                                0              6              8              0              -           14

Elyria Catholic             0              21            0              0              -           21

Scoring

VA - Clinton James 52 pass from Anthony Libertini (kick failed)

EC - Josh Russ 39 pass from Danny Reaser (Miles Foisy kick)

EC - Russ 29 pass from Reaser (Foisy kick)

EC - Russ recovered own fumble in endzone (Foisy kick)

VA - LRonnell Spates 4 run (Darryl Jones pass from Libertini)

Team statistics

VASJ                     EC

First downs                    11                            20

- by rushing                     5                              11

- by passing                      5                              8

- by penalty                     1                              1

Yards rushing                 78                            235

Yards passing                  117                          183

Total offense                    195                          418

Passes att./comp.         23/7                        22/12

Intercepted by               1                              1

Fumbles/lost                  1/0                          3/2

Penalties/yards            9/52                        3/35

Individual statistics

RUSHING - (VASJ) Ronnell Spates 10-13, Anthony Libertini 13-24, Kawmae Sawyer 1-0, Clinton James 7-41. (EC) Alex Alicea 26-174, Danny Reaser 11-55, Cory Campbell 1-1, Tyler Velasquez 1-(-2), Mike Betka 2-7.

PASSING - (VASJ) Anthony Libertini 7-21-117-1-1, Darryl Jones 0-2-0-0-0. (EC) Danny Reaser 12-22-183-2-1.

RECEIVING - (VASJ) Phil Tucker 3-31, Darryl Jones 4-86. (EC) Josh Russ 3-68, Conor Voreis 2-54, Christian Foisy 2-14, James Baker 2-11, Alex Alicea 3-9.

NORTH RIDGEVILLE —Mother Nature took care of the game Friday, but the extra time off didn’t affect North Ridgeville on Saturday, as the Rangers started off the 2009 football season with a strong performance on both sides of the football.

The result was a 33-0 victory over Westlake.

The Rangers jumped on the Demons in a hurry, forcing a fumble on the opening kick that Taylor Abraham recovered on the Westlake 32-yard line. It was from there that the ground troops put together a nine-play drive, and fittingly enough, it was Abraham going the last three for the touchdown. Anthony Grazetti (a soccer player doing double duty on this day with a soccer game in the early afternoon) kicked the extra point, and with 7:38 left in the quarter it was 7-0 Rangers.

Westlake started from its own 32 on the ensuing drive, only to have the Rangers’ Mark Szylakowski pick off a quick pass over the middle at the 37. A 5-yard face mask penalty set the Rangers up on the 32 again.

Again the ground troops went to work again and seven plays later Josh Deitz carried it in from the 1. The point after was blocked, Ridgeville leading 13-0 with 4:43 left in the quarter.

That was all the scoring in the first half, though North Ridgeville had the ball twice deep in Demon territory, but was unable to cash in on a 36-yard field goal attempt.

The North Ridgeville one-two running back punch of Abraham (15 carries for 63 yards) and Mohammed Jaber (190 yards on 20 carries) was too much for the Demon defense, the Rangers’ veteran offensive line opening up holes for the senior ball carriers. The rushing attack accounted for 307 yards.

“The offensive line of Alex Lovasz (center), guards Chris Fule (Fuller) and Jacob Botson, and tackles Vinney Rodriguez and junior Alex Gillock, give us a four out of five veteran linemen that gives us that ability to focus on running the ball,” Rangers’ head coach Jeff Riesen said. “We’ll add the pass as our quarterback Mike Mees gains experience.

“Mike’s a good quarterback, but we just have to work a little more. We had two open receivers and just missed them, but we’ll make those plays later on.”

Westlake five turnovers derailed the Demons.

“The bottom line is that offensively we didn’t block anybody or hang on to the ball,” Westlake coach Marc Campo said. “We may have made a play here or a play there because of their alignment, but if you don’t block anybody or hang onto the football, you’re not going to be too successful.”

The Rangers took advantage of the time that Westlake’s defense was on the field by scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter, two by long distance, as Jaber scored twice — once on a 26-yard run and then on a 61-yard gallop. Sophomore Christian Watkins added the third score on a 2-yard burst.

CALL TO THE WALL: Prior to the game the North Ridgeville Football Boosters inducted five inaugural members to the ‘Wall of Fame’.

The five members are: Class of 1972 all-conference and all-county running back Don Mould (Don Mould’s Plantation), Class of 1979 all-conference, all-county, Golden Helmet winner running back Craig Best, all-conference, all-county, all-state, Lorain County Lombardi Trophy winner defensive lineman, Class of 1982 Mike Foor, 1986 graduate, all-conference, all county, all district linebacker, Lombardi Trophy winner Jeff Seasor,  1995 graduate, all-conference, all-county, all-district, all-state, Golden Helmet Award winner and North Ridgeville’s all-time leading Rusher Jerel Klue.

Each was presented with a plaque with a similar being mounted at the high school.

The Booster plan on making this a yearly event with nominees being presented by interested parties and hope to expand the awards to all sports.

Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.