Ballard, Marino lead Fitch over East

By Chuck Housteau

AUSTINTOWN — Austintown Fitch senior Sam Mariano has been catching passes from Jon Ballard since the seventh grade.

But never has Mariano had a game like he did against East High on Friday night.

Mariano caught four touchdown passes from Ballard and had 138 receiving yards to lead the Falcons to a 42-14 win over the Panthers.

“It was a fun night but it was a team effort,” said Mariano who also plays safety and returns punts for the Falcons. “The line gave Jon [Ballard] a lot of time and I was able to find some open seams.

“The passes were right on target.”

Mariano hauled in touchdown passes covering 39, 7, 37 and 50 yards.

But what Mariano did with the catches was most impressive. Twice Mariano made great moves after catching the ball to find the end zone and on one other he made a diving one-hand grab for a score.

“Sam had a good game, didn’t he?” said Fitch coach Phil Annarella. “We had situations where we had to take what they were giving us.

“East was sending guys to stop our run so we started throwing and Jon responded and Mariano responded.

“They did a great job.”

The Falcons rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and opened up a 28-0 lead in the first half.

Sophomore Will Mahone, who alternated at tailback with Bruce Reed, had 70 yards rushing on 16 carries and scored the first Fitch touchdown on a 4-yard run on the Falcons opening drive.

Mahone also tallied a touchdown on an 11-yard run in the second quarter.

East tried to get back in the game in the second half as the Falcons’ offense sputtered for a couple of series.

The Panthers inserted Stephen Johnson at quarterback and he led East on 13-play, 68-yard drive before scoring on a 1-yard run.

The score cut the Fitch lead to 28-6.

The Falcons responded in the fourth quarter when Ballard found Mariano in the seam and hit him in stride for a 37-yard score.

East again scored on a 74-yard run by Lilton Morris on the next play from scrimmage to make the score 35-14 but Ballard and Mariano connected again on a 50-yard touchdown.

“I’m a little disappointed,” said Annarella.

“We started out OK but then we got a little sluggish in the third quarter. That is to take nothing away from East. They played hard and they played a great game.”

The Panthers had 350 yards of offense but suffered numerous injuries throughout the contest and turned the ball over three times.

East was also penalized several times during key situations.

“I’m proud of my kids for hanging in there like they did in the second half,” said East coach Brian Shaner.

“Our guys never quit today. It was a great game for us as a character test.

“Fitch is a great football team,” added Shaner. “Ballard can do almost anything he wants on a football field but I like how our defense got after him a lot of times tonight.”

Ballard finished with 13 completions in 17 attempts for 192 yards. The quarterback also rushed 14 times for 52 yards.

East’s Morris rushed for 124 yards on 13 carries and quarterback Shawn Haywood was 13 of 25 for 149 yards passing.