Fitch vs Massilon Perry

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Austintown Fitch

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

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

It’s hard to believe that one play could make that much of a difference in Austintown Fitch’s 48-10 rout of Massillon Perry on Friday night.

But the confidence Falcons coach Phil Annarella showed in his offensive line and quarterback Demitrious Davis paid off late in the second quarter when the Falcons chose to not go for a field goal from the Perry 7.

Instead, even though Will Mahone had been stuffed for a 2-yard loss on third down, Annarella gave Davis the option to try on fourth-and-3.

Behind left tackle Billy Price, left guard Zach Zupp, center Chris Penson, right guard Zion Mathews and right tackle Steve Zaborsky, Davis rolled left and zipped for a 5-yard gain. His touchdown run on the next play gave Fitch a 20-10 lead.

The Falcons ended any remaining suspense when Larry Vines returned the second-half kickoff 78 yards.

“Greatest feeling I’ve ever had playing football,” Falcons linebacker Shane Stevens said of their 8-0 start and 5-0 Federal League record. Stevens sacked quarterback Cody Minor twice to help limit the Panthers to two first-half scores.

“We’re very fortunate that we’ve got playmakers,” Annarella said. “These kids are a joy to coach.”

Davis scored three touchdowns, rushed for 164 yards and passed for another 123. He completed 7 of 8 tosses that included a 53-yard scoring strike to Lucas Haupt.

“That’s what I’m supposed to do,” said Davis who deflected praise to his teammates. “The blocking was excellent.

“We just wanted the ball, we know what we can do with it once it’s in our hands,” Davis said.

What the Falcons did was respond to an early 3-0 deficit after the Panthers ran 13 plays before Marcus Peffer’s 26-yard field goal.

On the Falcons’ third play from scrimmage, Davis burst free for a 61-yard touchdown.

“The play was designed to go up the middle, but it was all bunched up so I bounced to the outside,” Davis said.

After a three-and-out series by the Panthers, the Falcons struck again when Haupt zipped past the Panthers’ secondary to haul in a pass at the 20 and race to the end zone to cap a 53-yard scoring toss for a 13-3 lead.

“At first he wasn’t open, then he saw the safety move inside so he broke it off and kept going,” Davis said.

Haupt said he was “supposed to be running a post and he blitzed. I kind of improvised and Demitrious saw me. Then I was off to the races.”

The Panthers’ touchdown came after the Falcons suffered three consecutive penalties that pushed them close to the goal line, prompting a third-down punt. Panthers tailback Jon Miller, who rushed 30 times for 149 yards, capped a 36-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to cut the Falcons’ lead to 13-10.

Annarella credited defensive coordinator Wally Hurdley and assistant Alan Mikovich for a scheme that limited the Panthers to two scores.

“Perry has a great offense, they scored 43 against Lake,” Annarella said.

Noting Perry’s 279 yards, Annarella agreed that his defenders employed a “bend but don’t break” philosophy.

“That’s the way we’ve been all season,” Annarella said.