By Steve Wilaj

sports@vindy.com

POLAND

Whether it was because of nerves, anxiousness, a slippery football, or a combination of the three, Youngstown Christian played an extremely sloppy first half to begin the season.

Although they led Lowellville at the break, the Eagles had lost three fumbles and committed nine penalties for 65 yards.

Simply put, Youngstown Christian coach Brian Marrow wasn’t pleased.

“I think they had the jitters,” Marrow said. “I told them we gotta get the jitters out and play like it’s game time.”

Apparently the Eagles received the message, as they played a cleaner second half of football, defeating Lowellville 13-7 Saturday night at Dave Pavlansky Field in Poland.

“I told my guys how proud I am of them to be able to win a game ugly,” Marrow said. “I’ll take that.”

And while the Eagles were better in the second half, they still finished the game with three turnovers and 15 penalties for 120 yards.

“We can’t be a very good football team [committing penalties and turnovers],” Marrow said.

Youngstown Christian got on the board first with 1-yard run by DreVon Green, set up by a 41-yard pass from Emmett Underwood to Ryan Coyier.

Lowellville responded in the second quarter when Robert Ciccone found the end zone from 30 yards out.

Trailing 7-6, the Eagles regained the lead for good when Darien Townsend took a wide receiver screen 29 yards for a touchdown, reversing field while showing some fancy-footwork.

“He’s electric,” Marrow said. “He’ll make a big play out of anything. That’s why we try to get him the ball as many ways as we can.”

Townsend finished with 86 all-purpose yards, while Ryan Grier ran for 96 yards. Underwood completed 13 of 22 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.

Lowellville had one last chance when they received the ball with 3:08 remaining at their own 14 after a failed Youngstown Christian field goal. However, their hopes died when quarterback Alex Harkelrode was sacked on three consecutive plays.