Rocco Conti's big night leads Olmsted Falls past Avon Lake, 56-31

AVON LAKE, Ohio - Six total touchdowns from senior running back Rocco Conti lifted Olmsted Falls to a 56-31 win over Southwestern Conference rival Avon Lake Friday night.

All night, whenever Avon Lake caught a lucky break or was threatening to fight back into the game, Conti would take over and break the back of the Shoremen.

After an Avon Lake fumble went out the side of the endzone in the first quarter, Olmsted Falls’ coaching staff was calling for a touchback, but the referees ruled that the runner was down, and the Shoremen scored a few plays later to tie the game at 7-7.

But on the very next play from scrimmage, Conti broke through the Avon Lake defense and ran 64 yards for a touchdown to put the Bulldogs back in front.

And then after another Avon Lake touchdown later in the game, Conti responded with a 95-yard kickoff return to the house to nullify a hard-fought drive from the Shoremen.

All told, Conti ran the ball 23 times for 250 yards and four touchdowns. He nearly ran for a fifth score, but it was called back for a holding penalty. Backed up 10 more yards, he caught his only reception of the game on the very next play, taking it 16 yards right back into the endzone.

“What we do creates some issues, because teams have to account for gaps or for their responsibilities and (Conti) can just make them pay,” coach Tom DeLuca said. “He’s a special talent. I’ve never had a kid like him, and I probably won’t have one again.”

Conti also played outside linebacker until the game was safely put away in the fourth quarter, registering a strip-sack fumble which was recovered by Avon Lake.

“I am so dumbfounded that schools don’t offer this kid a full ride,” DeLuca said. “It’s just ridiculous that it’s not happening.”

The Bulldogs offensive line, led by Rutgers-bound tackle Dominic Rivera, who stands at 6-foot-7, 320 pounds, imposed its will on the Avon Lake front seven.

“A lot of the credit goes to them in this game,” Conti said. “Our line blocked amazing tonight, there were a lot of runs where I was completely untouched.”

The rest of the Olmsted Falls offensive line is not as large as Rivera, but it was just as ferocious, opening lanes for Conti and the rest of the Bulldogs backfield.

“Our offensive line has been improving drastically throughout the year,” DeLuca said. “We knew that they could be good coming in, and a couple of the newer guys on the left side have been getting much, much better. They went up against a good defensive line tonight and they really did a nice job.”

Complementing Conti in the Olmsted Falls backfield were junior Derek Neckar, who had 11 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown and senior Jack Pinchek, who picked up 64 yards on four carries.

“Jack Pinchek is an unbelievable football player,” DeLuca said. “When you have (Pinchek and Conti) in the backfield and you’ve got Derek Neckar leaning on you, I mean I don’t know what more to say. We are blessed to have the backfield that we do.”

Conti, Neckar and Pinchek are frequently all in the backfield at the same time, creating matchup nightmares in the box for opposing teams.

“Jack Pinchek had an incredible game, I thought he had some beautiful runs, and Derek Neckar did awesome too,” Conti said. “All those dudes, we’re all blocking our butts off for each other too, so it’s cool having three running backs that are very good in the backfield.”

The Olmsted Falls offense is led by sophomore quarterback James Rosol, who threw the ball only four times but managed to find the endzone twice. He was 3-of-4 through the air for 42 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran the ball six times for 30 yards.

Contrary to the Bulldogs ground attack, the Shoremen leaned on their passing game and senior quarterback Jeremy Dzik for production.

Dzik passed 18 times for 10 completions, 203 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two deep balls that could have gone for touchdowns but were dropped by open receivers.

Olmsted Falls completely neutralized Avon Lake on the ground, with the leading rusher for the Shoremen, junior Wade Nelson, carrying the ball 17 times for just 33 yards.

“Obviously we want to stop the run first all the time,” DeLuca said. “Our game plan going in was to stop the big play over the top, which we struggled with a little bit tonight. We gotta get back to work on that on Monday. We knew that their offense was good enough to take your lights out at any time with the receivers that they have in the quarterback that they have.”

Olmsted Falls (7-2, 5-1 SWC) returns home next week to close out the regular season with senior night against rival Berea-Midpark, while Avon Lake (7-2, 4-2) will close out its season against North Ridgeville.