Team

Austintown Fitch

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

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Austintown

For anyone who was skeptical of whether Fitch could contend in its final year in the Federal League, the Falcons have one word: Unbeaten.

The Falcons improved to 7-0 overall, and 3-0 in the conference, with a 42-12 rout of North Canton Hoover at Falcon Stadium on Friday.

The Falcons scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters, and took a 42-6 lead into halftime. Four of those touchdowns came on the hands, and feet, of junior quarterback Demitrious Davis.

Davis scored three times on the ground on runs of two, 10, and 46 yards. And he tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Cam Patterson.

Davis finished going 5-of-8 passing for 111 yards and had 66 yards on six carries. He said his team put him in a position to succeed.

“I have to give all the credit to the offensive line, you can’t do it without them,” he said. “They did well blocking, and the receivers ran good routes. We just had a good team performance.”

The Fitch offense seemed to move at will. The unit racked up 410 total yards, most of which came in the first half.

Coach Phil Annarella said the first-team offense and defense would play only a series in the second half because of the deficit. But even with backups in, Hoover wasn’t able to do much.

The Vikings’ (3-4, 1-3) defense couldn’t figure out Davis and his teammates in the backfield.

When Davis didn’t keep the ball himself, he handed it off to either running back Bruce Reed or Will Mahone. Reed did the dirty work, rushing for 83 yards on 12 carries. And Mahone provided a change of pace. He had 92 yards on five carries, including a 66-yard touchdown run after intercepting a pass.

Many of those big plays came off Davis play-fakes, who kept the defense guessing. Annarella said he’s glad he gets to gameplan with Davis and not against him.

“I’m glad here’s on our side, because I wouldn’t want to defend the son of a gun,” Annarella said. “He’s a complete player. And when you have to defend a kid who can run and throw it, that’s the dread of any team.”

And it wasn’t just about the scoring.

The Falcons defense stepped up to shut down one of the more prolific quarterback prospects in the state. Junior Austin Appleby (6-foot-5, 200 pounds) entered the game having thrown five interceptions all year. But he threw two against the Falcons.

The Falcons also forced two fumbles, and recovered one for a score.

Hoover running back Justin Smith coughed up the ball just before halftime. Senior Antoine Cox scooped up the loose ball and ran it 29 yards for a touchdown.

Davis said there is just nothing like a strong defense to put a quarterback’s mind at ease.

“It takes a lot of pressure off of me,” Davis said. “I feel real good, and it makes me want to go out there and score some more points.

“Everybody underrates our defense. But our defense has a lot of speed and a lot of athletes who can do some things that people don’t’ expect.

The only negative thing that Annarella saw was a little bit of a letdown in the third quarter. He said his team needs to know how to play with a big lead and still play hard.

“We got a little lax there with a big lead, and we didn’t play maybe as well as we hoped.”