By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

When you are the biggest high school in the area, there are no nights off for the football team.

“Teams want to beat us,” Fitch senior middle linebacker Larry Harrington said, “and we want to beat them, too. We have a chip on our shoulders.”

Fitch, the Mahoning Valley’s lone Division I school, went 7-3 in 2015 and qualified for the postseason with a 21-14 win over Cardinal Mooney in Week 10. Euclid won the playoff game, 28-7.

Losses in the regular season to Hudson, Warren Harding and Boardman have inspired this year’s squad.

“Hudson will be a great test to see how we’ll be this year,” senior defensive back JC Mikovich said.

Senior linebacker Zach Krohn can’t wait to play Warren Harding after last year’s 38-0 loss to the Raiders.

“Warren is going to be a big game,” said Krohn who also plays running back. “We were pretty hyped up. Things did not go our way.

“We’re hoping to turn things around.” If they do, credit head coach Phil Annarella, who’s beginning his 45th season as a coach, for being willing to shake things up.

The Falcons have 19 lettermen returning.

“We played a boatlaod of sophomores [last season], but it doesn’t mean a hill of beans if they don’t get better,” Annarella said.

OFFENSE

The Falcons, who have six starters returning, will be using tight ends this year.

“I love that position. I feel like it’s awesome,” said senior Bryce Warmouth, who has been a starting defensive end since he was a sophomore. “You can go out for a pass and get some glory and at another point, you can just knock people off the ball.

“It’s the best of both worlds.”

Warmouth likes that Annarella is not afraid to try new things.

“Coach Annarella constantly has something new running through his head,” Warmouth said. “I can’t even explain that man. He’s genius.”

Annarella said the key to the offense will be what happens up front.

“It comes down to your linemen,” Annarella said. “That’s still a work in progress, especially our offensive line.”

Junior Nate Fowler returns at quarterback and Krohn said he’s ready to excel.

“Last year, he was young, he was nervous throughout the season,” Krohn said. “I worked with him throughout the offseason to try and build his confidence up.

“I know he’s a lot better than he was last season.”

Harrington and Randy Smith also will be running backs, with Smith backing up Fowler.

DEFENSE

Seven starters return on defense including Mikovich.

“His motto is ‘heart over height,’” Warmouth said of his 5-foot-6, 135-pound teammate. “That kid will throw his body at a 250-pound running back and not expect to get hurt.

“He’s phenomenal.”

Asked if the defense is further ahead after the first scrimmage, Annarella said, “We’re mediocre right now on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, we’re going to get some improvement in both areas.”

OUTLOOK

Annarella said there were positives and negatives in the Canton GlenOak scrimmage.

“We did OK, it was a pretty even scrimmage,” Fitch’s 10-year head coach said. “We certainly made our share of mistakes on both sides of the ball. We’re just using that as a learning tool. At present, the Falcons’ eyes are trained on Hudson, which won last year’s opener, 30-8.

“Obviously, we’re fired up for Hudson, first game,” Mikovoch said. “We want a little revenge [against] a good team.”