By Matthew Peaslee

mpeaslee@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Kerrell Johnson thinks touchdown every time he touches the ball.

On Friday, he finally pulled it off.

The Fitch junior kick returner fielded a clean punt at the Falcon 39-yard line, paused, and then took off.

“I read my blocks, that’s how we always set it up,” Johnson said after his first career return for a score. “I cut to the left, made my way to the right and followed everyone down there. They blocked great.”

It was the final Fitch touchdown in a 35-7 rout of previously unbeaten Brunswick. The Falcons are 3-0 for the second time in three years.

“I’m very pleased with the way things turned out tonight and thus far on the season,” Fitch coach Phil Annarella said. “Our players executed the game plan perfectly on special teams, offense and defense.”

It was the defense, though, that stole the show again.

The Blue Devils entered averaging 40 points in their first two games. But the Falcons have given up just 16 points to start their season.

C.J. Martini recovered a Nick Roberts fumble on the first Brunswick possession of the game and Tyler Grover picked off a pair of Dan Yohman’s passes. All three defensive efforts were converted into Fitch touchdowns.

“That’s the reason we’ve been winning,” Annarella said. “We play as a team. They’re the difference on that side of the ball.”

Brunswick coach Luke Beal said his team has been able to beat early opponents with speed. That wasn’t the case against the Falcons.

“We were shell-shocked from the beginning,” Beal said. “We knew that this defense was fast and physical. They float to the ball well. We couldn’t get anything going offensively and that’s a tribute to how tough their defense is.”

The Blue Devils (2-1) ended with 342 total yards, eclipsing the Fitch total of 319. However, they were forced into seven three-and-out situations.

On Fitch’s first drive after the Martini fumble recovery, Matt Futkos hit Keith Lawrence for a 43-yard touchdown pass on its second play from scrimmage. Futkos had another throwing TD in the third quarter — a 4-yard pass to Billy Aaron. He finished with 84 passing yards, completing half of his passes (6-of-12). Lawrence finished with four catches for 72 yards.

“Everyone’s working together,” said Futkos, who also ran for a 17-yard score. “We have great team chemistry and we’re going to keep fighting and keep our focus on winning games.”

Aaron finished with 73 yards on 18 carries, while Tyreese Anderson had 82 yards on 13 carries with a 13-yard TD run. Anderson went down earlier in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury and did not play the rest of the game. Annarella was unsure of his status at the conclusion.

“Those guys take lot of pressure off me and open up a lot of things with the offense,” Futkos said. “They do a great job running with it and they’re both reliable.”

In the fourth quarter, sophomore Darrin Hall carried seven times for 49 yards and Rodney Smith had three carries for nine yards. Futkos had 20 yards and the Falcons had 235 yards on the ground.

“It was a long day and we came out flat,” Brunswick defensive end Garrick Koermer said. “We should be better than that.”