Farrell pulls a decisive win over Linesville

The Steelers look solid for a playoff berth.

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

FARRELL, Pa. — When Linesville and Farrell faced each other in a District 10, Region 1-A game Friday night, it was expected by many to be a close game.

So much for expectations.

Taking advantage of early turnovers and big plays, the Farrell Steelers opened up a 19-0 lead in the first half before cruising to a 38-14 win over the Linesville Lions.

“They were up by 19 at the half, and there is no doubt that makes it difficult to come back,” said Linesville coach Pat Gould. “I am proud of the kids coming back to score a couple of touchdowns, but it just wasn’t enough. We just gave up too much early in the game.”

One of the big factors for the Steelers in the win was their ability to convert on third and fourth down situations.

During the first 24 minutes of the game, the Steelers were perfect on third and fourth down conversions, moving the sticks four times on each of the situations.

“They had the ball the whole first half,” said Gould. “We couldn’t stop them on third down or fourth down. When we did get a little bit of a drive going, we would throw an interception, and when you throw an interception, that allows them to control the ball.”

In addition to committing four turnovers — three interceptions and one lost fumble — the Lions were also guilty of giving up chunks of real estate on big plays, Farrell showing 14 offensive plays of 10 yards or more.

“That [big plays] is just a matter of hard work and our kids staying on the course,” said Farrell coach Jarrett Samuels. “We have been trying to get big plays during the course of the year, and tonight, we got a lot of them because the team came together and clicked. I am so proud of this group of kids because of the way they stay focused.”

The two teams traded touchdowns for much of the second half, and that made Samuels happy with the way his players answered the challenge.

“We didn’t want them to score at all,” said Samuels. “[Linesville] is very explosive. We call it a three-headed monster because their quarterback, their fullback and tailback are all good runners. We wanted to contain them as much as possible and overall, our kids did a pretty good job doing that.”

Farrell (6-2, 5-1 Region 1) all but secures a berth in the district playoffs while the Lions (5-3, 4-2) must pretty much win out.

“If we win out we’re in, but we have two good teams to play,” Gould said. “We have West Middlesex and they are playing better ball now. They played these guys tough. After that, we have to face Conneaut Lake, two good ball teams, so we have to play better than we did tonight if we want to make the playoffs.”

The Steelers rushed for 349 yards, averaging nearly 9 yards per carry. Leading the way was Lamont Hailstock with 95 yards, Hailstock followed by Jake Hartley with 92 yards and quarterback Danny Odem with 84.

Odem figured in four of Farrell’s six touchdowns as he ran for two and passed for two.

“We are just starting to jell as a line on both sides of the line of scrimmage,” said Samuels. “We just wanted to establish a running game because down the road when the weather gets bad, we are gong to have to have a positive running game. Our guys did a good job up front.”