Avon's Riley Rucktaeschel (5) makes a throw against Gayville-Volin on Friday in Gayville. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

GAYVILLE -- No lead was safe between Avon and Gayville-Volin on Friday. 

No. 3 Avon erased a 10-point deficit with six minutes left and edged No. 1 Gayville-Volin, 36-32, in a Class 9B afternoon matinee. The Pirates scored the final 14 points in over four minutes to cap off a seesaw battle, which featured eight lead changes and 701 total yards. 

“We got down and everyone stepped up,” Avon (5-0) senior Riley Rucktaeschel said. “They were just a good team and they had all the momentum in the first half and we just came back and answered.”

After Nate Quatier gave Gayville-Volin a 32-22 lead with 6-minutes and 17 seconds left, Avon’s comeback started with a Rucktaeschel 35-yard touchdown run. 

Rucktaeschel rolled out to the left side of the field, cut back to the right and it was a race to the pylon. 

“I just saw some open green grass after I was rolling out and then my running backs were telling me just to go with it,” Rucktaeschel said. 

Avon’s coach Tom Culver told him the same thing.

“We call it a counter blast and have had some success,” Culver said. “We had that play action off that pass and he rolls out to his left and there’s nobody there. I said ‘Run!’ He took off and made some cuts and that was a heck of a run.” 

The touchdown made it 32-28 with 4:21 left, which happened less than two minutes after Gayville-Volin’s touchdown. The Pirates forced a Gayville-Volin (3-1) punt and Jaden Stahl’s go-ahead 15-yard touchdown run pushed it to 36-32. 

The Raiders worked the ball into Avon territory on their final drive, but Rucktaeschel cemented the victory with an interception on a pass intended for Kyle Hirsch in the end zone. 

“(Hirsch) is a really good player and I saw him coming there and I was just so excited waiting for that,” Rucktaeschel said about the interception. “It was right in my hands and I tipped it up and caught it. I was so excited for the team and it just sealed the deal.”

Avon finished with 354 total yards, while Gayville-Volin had 347 total yards. Avon’s Brady Bierema finished with 141 rushing yards on 20 carries and one touchdown. Gayville-Volin’s Andrew Gustad had 126 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the loss. 

The top-five matchup didn’t disappoint as the teams traded touchdowns early and often. 

Gustad scored two first-quarter touchdowns, while Avon’s Landon Mudder scored a three-yard score in between the scores. Rucktaeschel connected with Lincoln Thury with eight seconds left before halftime for a 14-12 advantage. 

But the Raiders and Gustad needed just two plays to respond. Gustad took a short screen pass from Nate Quatier and took it 51 yards for a 18-14 lead as time expired before halftime. 

Bierema and Quatier traded third-quarter scores, with Quatier’s six-yard run putting Gayville-Volin up 24-22. Quatier’s 11-yard touchdown run gave the Raiders their 32-22 lead before Avon pulled off its comeback. 

“I am proud of our kids,” Culver said. “We kind of challenged them and got after them a little bit and got after them at halftime and barked at them a little bit. But they responded.”