By Kevin Connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

If Austintown Fitch High School is to make a return trip to the Division I regional final, it will do so via a familiar route.

The Falcons face third-seeded Westerville Central (10-1) in a regional semifinal on Saturday night for the second year in a row. Last season, Fitch’s defense pitched a shut out in the second half to win 40-24 at Mansfield’s Arlin Field.

This time around, the sixth-seeded Falcons (8-2) won’t have to travel nearly as far with the game played at Canton Fawcett Stadium. The one thing they will have to do, however, is play that same brand of dominating defense for all four quarters.

That’s what led Fitch to victory in the first round last week against Wadsworth. The Falcons’ defense got to the Grizzlies quarterback time and again, recording seven sacks in a 15-3 victory.

“That’s what we do — we’re a pressure defense,” Fitch head coach Phil Annarella said. “Fortunately Saturday night it worked, because we weren’t clicking as well as we have been on offense.

“So the defense really stepped up.”

The Falcons’ offense runs through quarterback Antwan Harris. The dual-threat senior has had an impressive season, especially University of Pittsburgh commit Darrin Hall was lost for the season in Week 5.

Harris was inaccurate throwing the ball for most of the night against Wadsworth, completing 7 of 12 passes including a first-half interception.

He missed on four of his first seven pass attempts to start the game and as a result, the Falcons had just eight first-half points.

“Yeah, I definitely had a bad game,” Harris said. “I just wasn’t feeling like I was in a groove with anything.”

Like most quarterbacks, Harris said he prefers to get in a rhythm with his wide receivers early, that way he can go back to passing if need be at the end of games. He also understands that’s not always going to be available depending on the defense.

“It just has to do with Coach Annarella’s play calling,” Harris said. “He asks me what I like and I’ll tell him and then he’ll try and run it.

“Once we get going, I like to keep it going.”

Harris was also slow getting going rushing the ball last Saturday. Luckily for him, and Fitch, Tyler Hewlett was standing back there to hand it off to.

The senior has stepped in at tailback in the absence of Hall and has played key roles in big games. None bigger than the one he played last week, rushing for 208 yards on 19 carries.

Having a workhorse like Hewlett is a luxury his quarterback isn’t taking for granted.

“He really helped us last game,” Harris said. “I had an off day rushing, but he carried the load for our offense.”

While a coach would never — and should never — complain about getting more than 200 yards from their running back, Annarella knows he needs to get more from his senior quarterback.

“You have those games as a high school quarterback where some nights you can’t miss anything and other nights you’re having a hard time hitting the broad side of a barn,” Annarella said. “He’s working on it this week, he’s certainly concerned.

“He knows we gotta throw it better if we want to continue to move on.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday. The winner advances to play the winner of Lakewood St. Edward and Powell Olentangy Liberty.

St. Edward eliminated Fitch in last year’s regional final.

“We gotta do what we do to get there first,” Harris said.