Team

Canfield

Record	Div.	Conf.
12/1	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Niles

Record	Div.	Conf.
2/8	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

By MATT WAGNER

Ashtabula Star Beacon

SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP

Following Lakeside’s 35-6 loss to Austintown Fitch at Lakeside High School on Friday evening, it was hard for Dragons coach Frank Hall not to marvel at the way the Falcons play.

Using a two-headed monster in the backfield, sophomores Randy Smith and Jakari Lumsden combined for 123 yards on 18 carries, and quarterback Nate Fowler did enough with his legs and his arm in the first half to take a five-possession lead before the break.

For Hall, that’s exactly how he’d like his Dragons (2-5, 0-2 All-American Conference, Golf Tier) to play someday as he continues to try and point the Lakeside program in the right direction.

“That’s something we’re talking about all the time, changing our culture, learning how to play like Fitch — fast, hard all the time,” Hall said. “Coach (Phil Annarella) does a great job at what he does — just go 100 miles an hour for 48 minutes, and it’s tough to match.”

It was tough to match right from the start, as Fitch (5-2, 1-1 AAC Gold) took its opening drive 52 yards on seven plays to take an 8-0 lead at the 9:04 mark in the first quarter off a Smith 23-yard run through the middle of the Lakeside defense.

Lakeside had two opportunities to get off the field on that drive, with the Falcons facing two third-and-long plays. The first, a third-and-nine at the Fitch 49-yard line, Fitch converted thanks to a 14-yard jet sweep by Marquis Barbel, and the second, a third-and-10 at the Lakeside 37, Fowler scrambled for another 14 yards to set up the touchdown.

“Any time you can score on the first drive, that’s always a plus, and it does kind of set the tempo for your team for the rest of the game,” Annarella said. “It was important. We had talked about it, and we were fortunate enough to convert a couple of big third down plays on that drive.”

The Dragon defense got no respite for the rest of the first half, due in large part to a couple of Lakeside turnovers that gave the Falcons great field position. Fitch started three of its six drives inside Lakeside territory, with all but one ending in a touchdown, and the Falcons enjoyed an average starting position of the Lakeside 47-yard line.

Hall didn’t make any excuses for his defense, which he said he considers the strength of the team. The Dragons allowed another rushing touchdown of 20-plus yards when Jaylon Sanders went untouched along the visiting sideline for a 21-yard score a the 3:34 mark in the first, and Fowler added a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter to give the Falcons a 35-point lead at halftime.

In fact, he pointed to all three aspects of the game struggling on Friday, as the offense recorded just one first down in the first half and the special team gave up a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown by Fitch’s J.C. Mikovich at the 1:16 mark in the first quarter to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead.

The second half went a little better for the Dragons, as they held the Falcons scoreless with just two first downs.

More importantly for Hall, though, was that Lakeside showed some life on the offense. The Dragons managed to get the ground game going, especially through senior wideout Johnny Evans on the sweep. Evans totaled 74 yards on six carries — all but one of which came in the second half.

The Dragons managed to convert the offensive production into points when quarterback Spencer Loftus connected with Jared Patton on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 3:52 remaining in the game.