Avon stuns St. Ignatius with epic comeback victory to open up the high school football season

Trevor Sykora (3) and Michael Colburn celebrate after an early-game Avon score. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The opening week of Ohio High School Football features the new-look St. Ignatius Wildcats hosting the Avon Eagles at Huntington Bank Field.

St. Ignatius enters the season under new head coach Tom Kaufman, who came from the college ranks to take the job—coming from Marietta College, with 24 years of coaching experience.

Avon returns four starters from last year's team; look to see how they hold up in a tough Division 2.

Avon would prevail 22-21 on late-game heroics by senior Michael Colburn's touchdown that would set up a successful 2-point conversion. "I knew it was goal line, where on the short yardage, I know I gotta speed up, use my power and push it in there," said Colburn.

St. Ignatius opens the drive with Dane Donavon getting the start at quarterback, but they come up short on their first drive, going out on a 4th-and-1 with 6:34 remaining in the quarter in Avon territory.

The period would end 0-0.

St. Ignatius begins to struggle offensively as they open the 2nd quarter, not getting past midfield.

The Eagles strike first as Sykora finds a streaking Fin Jerdonik up the middle of the field for a 53-yard touchdown reception. Avon leads 7-0 after a successful point-after with 6:47 remaining in the half.

Jake Lamirand goes down after a hard hit and exits the game at the 6:34 mark.

Dane Donavan throws an interception as Ryan Eaton picks him off near the line of scrimmage. Avon takes over at the Wildcats' 21-yard line.

Tyler McMillon (12) sprints downfield as Jarel Fenton (0) attempts to tackle him. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com)

With the ball on the 6-yard line, the Wildcats commit a pass interference that is penalized half the distance to the goal line, taking the ball to the 3-yard line and resulting in an eventual score by running back Michael Coburn to take the lead by two touchdowns.

Jacob Mikin takes over for Donovan at quarterback for St. Ignatius.

Billy Cole scampers up the middle for a 19-yard rushing touchdown that puts six points on the board after a failed attempt due to a penalty on St. Ignatius. They trail 14-6.

Avon loses a down after an intentional grounding call with 58 seconds left in the half.

St. Ignatius attempts a field goal but is blocked by Jariel Fenton, which would end the quarter with Avon leading.

Eagles open up the third quarter on their 20-yard line. And comes up short on offense, as St. Ignatius ' offense does not seem as aggressive as it did in the first half of the game.

With a big sack by Avon’s Jacob Rockich, they receive a punt, but followed by a personal foul penalty; Avon places the ball on the Avon 46 to start the possession.

Sophomore Tyler McMillon scores with 1:25 remaining in the 3rd quarter on a 17-yard rush and a 2-point conversion pass from Jacob Mikin to tie the game up 14-14 with just under 2 minutes remaining.

Michael Colburn (7) with fire in his eyes while celebrating a score by the Eagles. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com)

Ignatius takes the momentum as Trevor Sykora's pass is tipped into the hands of Avon senior Anthony Anghilante with 8 minutes left in the quarter.

Kaufman's Wildcats Played With a Sense of Urgency

Wildcats take the lead on a 16-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore Tyler McMillon, and the point-after puts the lead at 21-14 with 5:38 remaining in the game. "We had the 8-point lead at halftime; that evaporated, went down seven. A lot of teams without a championship pedigree would have folded," said Elder.

This game would have twists and turns in the final five minutes of play; when most would have thought Avon would just pack it up, they showed resilience and came out on top with a one-point win to start the season.

Billy Cole motivates the crowd after he put the first points on the board for the Wildcats with this 19-yard rushing touchdown. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com)

Michael Colburn would be the straw that broke the camel's back when he scored on a go-ahead 3-yard rushing touchdown.

The twist was that Avon went for a successful 2-point conversion as Jackson Palmer caught a pass from quarterback Trevor Sykora with 14 seconds left to lift Avon to a 22-21 victory. "We're going to find some things out about ourselves about this game, and thankful we got the win to go with it," Elder elaborated.

Avon hosts Pine-Richland, PA, next week during week two, while St. Ignatius will travel to Columbus to take on Pickerington North.