Fitch gains 48-40 win over Cards

Canfield's Jamie McNally passed for 421 yards andthree TDs in the loss.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- Fitch coach Neal Kopp looked over at his father, John, and yelled, "They had 421 yards passing."
Kopp shook his head, then frowned.
"That's embarrassing," he said.
It's also a problem.
As well as the Falcons played offensively in Friday's 48-40 win over visiting Canfield, they played equally bad defensively --specifically, against the pass.
And if Fitch (3-1) expects to make a run in the playoffs, that needs to change.
"If we don't improve, we're going to have our hands full down the road," Kopp said. "But the one thing we've shown is that even when we don't play real well, we feel like we can come away with a win.
"In years past, if we didn't play well, we wouldn't have won."
They almost didn't.
School and stadium record
Canfield junior quarterback Jamie McNally torched the Falcons' secondary --which played without senior Miles Williams -- for a school-record 421 yards and three touchdowns -- all to wideout Jordan Ferns. McNally also broke the stadium record.
Ferns finished with nine receptions for 284 yards -- also a school record.
"I thought our [pass] protection was really good," Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said. "The guys ran really good routes and we attacked the areas we thought would be open."
Despite trailing the whole game, Canfield stayed close and made a run in the final minutes.
With just under a minute left, McNally found Ferns for his final touchdown pass to make it 48-40. But Fitch junior Mike Craig recovered Canfield's onside kick attempt and the Falcons ran out the clock.
"No disservice to Canfield, but we've gone against teams with a lot more athletes this year," said Kopp, whose team beat Canton GlenOak and Chaney and lost to Massillon Jackson. "We just didn't have our heads in the game on defense."
But they did on offense.
Chine sparks Falcons
Fitch senior fullback Eric Chine had his second-straight strong game, running 23 times for a career-best 184 yards and a school-record five touchdowns.
"We started off slow and it was really tough to run at first," Chine said. "But as the game went on, the line really stepped it up."
Williams, an Ohio State recruit, tweaked his hamstring warming up before the game and made it worse on a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the first quarter. He sat the rest of the game.
But Chine, along with junior tailback Mike Eliseo, filled in nicely. Eliseo finished with 19 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown as the Falcons ran up 339 yards on the ground.
"They're a much bigger team and we knew if we couldn't shut down their run, it was gonna be a long night for us," Pavlansky said. "We gave a great effort, but we're not satisfied with that. There's no moral victories. We expected to win this game."
McNally also scored
Chris Pankewicz added 15 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals (1-3). McNally, who was 20-of-36 through the air, added an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
"The kids really fought back," Pavlansky said. "The one thing I always know about this team is that they'll play hard for 48 minutes. I'm very proud of them for that."
The Falcons, meanwhile, are just a few plays from being undefeated. But they might have their toughest challenge of the season coming up on the road against Massillon Perry.
"That's gonna be tough," Kopp said. "If you want to be successful in the Federal League, you have to win on the road. We'll have to be at our best."
scalzo@vindy.com