AVON — Since Scott Salius has taken the helm as head coach of the Gilbert-Northwestern football team, he has faced Avon twice before — and suffered hard-to-swallow losses in both games. It seemed that in spite of Salius’ efforts, which have dramatically transformed the Jackets into an increasingly improved team each year, the Avon Falcons remain the season’s hurdle.
This year, Salius and his Yellowjackets had more on the line than just pride or another win to tally on their season record — defeating Avon would open up the door to a possible Class M playoff bid. The team responded by playing the best defensive football they have played in Salius’ tenure, claiming a 7-0 win on the road Saturday, Nov. 20, and handing Avon their first shut-out loss since 2008.
Though neither team seemed to generate much offensively in the opening minutes of the game, the Jacket defense was clearly primed from the kickoff. Every Falcon play was read with near perfection, dooming the lion’s share of Avon’s offensive efforts even before the snap.
The Jackets pressured Avon deep in Falcon territory midway through the second, forcing Avon to shank a punt off the sideline for little more than 10 yards. Yellowjacket Devon Molway, who had been the centerpiece of the Jackets’ limited offense up to that point, began consuming yardage in bunches, putting GN in a first and goal situation.
Yellowjacket quarterback Bobby Lippincott took a few keepers to inch closer to the goal line, but Kyle Jones finished the job, abandoning his helmet in a bulldozer rushing effort to tally the first touchdown of the day. John Ambrozaitis tallied the extra point, giving the Jackets a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.
GN took that lead to the halftime break and held onto it by repelling a surging Falcon team throughout the third quarter.
The fourth-quarter Avon offense, however, pushed the limits of the Jackets’ defensive capabilities as a team.
Avon, still working off a late third-quarter drive, began barreling toward GN’s goal line with one first down rush upon the last, putting themselves in position to score. It appeared at that point that GN’s defense has lost some of its snarl, but with their backs to their own goal line they snapped back to life and forced a turnover on downs deep in their own end.
The Jackets’ next drive had little edge to it and put them in an ugly spot defensively, forcing them to punt away possession, which was quickly undone with a great return by Avon.
The Yellowjackets defensive line went right back to work, disabling each Avon play with clean, effective defensive counters. Freshman John Lippincott nailed the big tackle to put the Falcons at fourth at seven, giving GN the chance to come up strong again and force another turnover late in the fourth quarter.
Moments after avoiding possible disaster, the Jackets coughed up an interception, but another extraordinary defensive effort dismantled Avon’s following offensive drive and forced yet another turnover on downs, sending the GN sideline and fan section into a frenzy.
Salius coached very smart football in the final seconds, doing what was necessary to run down the clock while taking minimal risk of another bad fumble or interception and giving Avon few precious seconds on their final rush of the day. Gilbert senior Charlie Shea obliterated any hope of a late Avon response with a fierce sack in the final seconds. The Jackets held their 7-0 lead to the end, taking the enormous road win at Avon.
“We put ourselves in some bad situations,� said Salius, “but we buckled down and all across the board we knew our mission and we went to it. We played outstanding defense. I can’t say enough about our boys.�
