By Bill Albright

The Steelers were impressive against the previously unbeaten Lions.

FARRELL, Pa. — After facing a lot of adversity in its first four games that resulted in a 2-2 record, the real Farrell High football team made an appearance at Paulekas Stadium Friday night.

Combining an overwhelming and swarming defense with an opportunistic offense and several big plays by the special teams, the Steelers tossed a 27-0 shutout at previously unbeaten Linesville (4-1, 3-1) in a District 10 Region 1 game.

“Our guys came out tonight and played really hard against a good team,” Farrell coach Jarrett Samuels said. “That team [Linesville] is one of the best teams in D-10. Our guys showed up tonight ready to play and I think the score shows that.

“Those guys who came back [from disciplinary action] were very humbled, their attitudes are very positive and now we have to keep it going in the classroom as we prepare for our next game.”

Just how dominant the Steelers defense was could be seen in the halftime statistics.

At the break, Farrell (3-2, 2-1) had amassed 221 yards of total offense while scoring four times, while on the other side of the line, Linesville was held to a meager 15 yards of total offense.

“Their offense is tailor made for our defense and we worked real hard on it during the week,” Samuels said. “Our defense has improved because we now have a number of guys back healthy. But tonight, we were who I thought we were. We are a good football team.”

After the two teams exchanged punts to begin the game, the Steelers took total command of the contest as they scored on four of their next five possessions for a 27-0 lead.

Farrell compiled 290 yards of total offense, 137 on the ground and 153 through the airways.

Terrell Jackson was the leading rusher with 52 yards on nine carries while scoring a pair of touchdowns. Quarterback Dan Odem completed 6-of-12 attempts for 153 yards, one of his tosses going to Norman Blue for a score. Odem completed the scoring when he ran in from 7 yards.

“We did a lot of good things tonight, but again, we still have a lot of things that we need to go back and clean up,” Samuels said. “We have a big game coming up against West Middlesex so we have a lot of work to do.”

Although the Lions failed to dent the scoring column, they mounted their best drive of the game early in the fourth quarter when they marched from their own 30 to the Farrell 3.

However, at that point, it was again the Farrell defense that stood tall to turn the Lions away from the end zone and preserve the shutout.

As for his team’s inability to mount any consistency on offense during the game, Linesville coach Pat Gould put his finger on the obvious.

“We couldn’t handle them up front and with their speed, they were in our gaps before we knew it,” Gould said. “We were trying to run an option and we couldn’t get the ball off because they always had someone on our quarterback. They are very fast and a really good team.”

If there was a negative in the game for the Steelers, it might have been in the penalty category where they were flagged nine times for 87 yards.

“We had 10 [penalties] last week also and we have to continue to work on that,” Samuels said. “If we don’t correct that situation, it will catch up to us down the line. But aside from those mistakes, our effort tonight was great and I’ll take a win like this one all the time. We put it all together tonight.”