Fitch advances Beats Willoughby 42-35

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Austintown Fitch

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/4	Div. I	All-American Conference Gold Tier

Fitch defense roars in overtime

By Jon moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Austintown

With his long, golden locks flowing down, Kenny Walter looks more like a lion than a defensive tackle.

And the senior acted as such, pouncing on his prey before letting out a mighty roar. He and his pride had just conquered its victims.

Walter jumped on a loose ball in overtime to secure a 42-35 victory over Willougby South at Falcon Stadium on Saturday.

The Falcons (10-1) had just scored on the initial possession of overtime on Will Mahone’s fourth touchdown run of the night. The ensuing possession for South (9-2) saw a fumbled exchange between the quarterback and running back. And when Walter saw the ball lying helplessly on the ground, his instincts took over.

“I was so excited when I saw the ball on the ground. I was like, ‘I’ve got to get this to end the game,’” Walter said. “Then I did. I feel so happy right now.”

It’s ironic that a defensive play signaled the end of an otherwise offensive show.

The teams combined for 77 points and 923 yards of offense. But it was the Falcon defense that stepped up at the most critical time.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Fitch coach Phil Annarella. “They hadn’t made hardly any mistakes on offense all night, and that’s a great football team. But the good Lord; the football gods were looking down on us, and we got the break we needed at a crucial time.

That time came after 48 minutes of football had already been played. South won the toss in overtime and elected to play defense first.

The plan backfired when Mahone scampered in from 20 yards out on the first play of the extra frame. A successful extra ponit by Ken Kilpatrick, who made all six of his tries, gave Fitch a seven-point lead.

Then, on the first play on offense, quarterback Ray Russ and running back Dominique Darling never had control of the handoff, and the ball fell to the turf.

Walter smothered it, and the Falcons did the same to him.

Mahone, who had 167 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries, said the team didn’t want to experience its second overtime loss this season. The Falcons lost to Uniontown Lake 34-28 in week nine.

“I was on the sideline, and I was thinking that I wanted to jump on [the ball,]” he said. “They were a tough, tough team. But we weren’t going down like we did against Lake.”

Fitch led 14-7 at halftime. Then the floodgates opened and the scoring began.

Russ entered the game with almost 3,000 passing yards on the year. He had 28 touchdown passes and two interceptions.

But even in the win, the Falcons may have experienced a big loss.

Standout junior quarterback Demitrious Davis suffered a right leg injury midway through the fourth quarter and did not return. Annarella said the injury “doesn’t look good.”

Taking Davis’ place was sophomore signal caller Matt Futkos. Futkos led the team down for the tying touchdown, a 13-yard run by Mahone. Annarella said both were pivotal players on the drive.

“[Mahone] said, ‘Coach, get me the ball,’ and we didn’t mess around,” he said. “And throwing a sophomore in who hasn’t played anything but mop-up time, [Futkos] did a great job.”