"It was a tough one," said V/C coach Bob McNamara. "The Avon kids did a nice job. They took away what we wanted to do. But we played well enough to win."
The big play which broke a 10-10 tie was something the Hawks knew would work.
"My assistants and I were all on the same page," said McNamara. "It was a play action pass we felt would work. It was the same play we used earlier when we should have had a touchdown."
The earlier play was a dropped pass in the end zone by Francis, a pass that hit him in the numbers. But when it counted, Francis caught the ball.
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"This wasn't our best game, but we've had days when we've played well and lost, so we'll take it," said McNamara.
Avon put a scare into McNamara when the Falcons completed a 36-yard pass with 2:42 left in the game to the Hawks' 41. But the drive ended when Francis intercepted a fourth down pass, the Hawks' fifth interception of the night.
V/C took a 3-0 lead at 11:06 of the second quarter when Jason Dubowsky kicked a 25-yard field goal. Although the Hawks had the lead, the kick came after Francis' drop in the end zone. So it was more of what might have been than satisfaction with a 3-0 lead.
When Avon took a 7-3 lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ben Lerer to Tom Canty just three minutes later, those feelings intensified. But with 4:23 left, Francis bolted 35 yards for a touchdown to give the Hawks a 10-7 lead.
Avon came back to tie just before the half when, after a 53-yard completion from Lerer to Danny Jamieson, Chris McClellan booted a 21-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 at the break.
Francis led all rushers with 81 yards in 24 carries. V/C finished with 138 yards in 54 tries and the Hawks added 83 yards in the air for 221 yards. Avon had 202 yards rushing.
, 118 in the air.
V/C is home with East Catholic/Cheney Tech next Saturday at 7 at Palmer Field.
