Team

Austintown Fitch

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

By Josh Reilly

sports@vindy.com

CANTON

The Austintown Fitch football team followed a lackluster first half with a strong second half and earned a 43-21 victory over GlenOak on Friday at Bob Commings Field. The victory was the Falcons’ first over the Eagles in four seasons.

Will Mahone made a number of plays for Fitch. He scored three touchdowns of 50 yards or more, including an 88-yard kickoff return to open the second half. That snapped a 14-14 halftime tie.

The Golden Eagles responded with a 14-play, 66-yard drive – capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Bri’onte Dunn.

Mahone had an answer on Fitch’s next possession — a 51-yard touchdown reception from Demitrious Davis — which put the Falcons ahead, 27-21.

Fitch’s Ken Kilpatrick added a 30-yard field goal, making it 30-21, then GlenOak’s next possession ended with an interception by the Falcons’ Blake Otterson.

Backup quarterback Shane Stevens and Mahone put the game out of reach with touchdown runs of 13 and 61 yards, respectively.

Mahone finished the contest with 244 all-purpose yards. He ran seven times for 97 yards and had just the one catch. Davis ran 14 times for 148 yards. Throwing the ball, he was 3 of 5 for 66 yards.

“That’s just what those guys do,” Fitch coach Phil Annarella said of his playmakers. “We’re having success this year because of the amount of talent we have on the field. There’s no secret to our game. We just needed to quit making stupid mistakes tonight and start executing.

“[The win] is very gratifying after losing to [the Golden Eagles] three years in a row. Last year, we were 4-0 and they came to our place and tripped us up. We were due.”

For the Eagles, Dunn carried the ball 39 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Annarella’s game plan was to prevent big plays by Dunn.

“We knew he was going to get his yards,” Annarella said. “We just wanted to stop the big ones and make [GlenOak] drive the length of the field.”

When forced to pass, GlenOak struggled. Meredith was 8 of 23 for 84 yards. His top receiver, Branden Means, had four catches for 38 yards.

Dunn opened the scoring with a 13-yard run in the first quarter.

The Falcons stalled on their responding drive, giving the ball up at GlenOak’s 9-yard line, but then benefited from a short field on their next two possessions.