By ERIC FORTUNE

sports@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

The Austintown Fitch Falcons will wonder what could have been after a couple of missed opportunities cost them in a 20-7 season-opening loss to Hudson on Friday night.

“Against a good football team, you can’t have missed opportunities,” Fitch coach Phil Annarella said. “You have to take advantage. Unfortunately we didn’t and it ended up the way it ended up.”

After forcing a three-and-out, the Falcons had a good balance marching 53 yards on their opening drive only to see the drive stall and a missed field goal keep the game scoreless.

Things stayed that way as both teams punted the ball on the ensuing seven possessions.

“Defensively, they came out ready to go,” Hudson coach Jeff Gough said. “That looked like a playoff defense. I don’t know if we could replicate that and I don’t think we did because it did take us a couple of drives to get going. Offensively, they never showed us that — lining up empty and spreading out some really skilled athletes.”

Still, the Falcons never seemed to find the consistency in their drives after moving the ball the way they did to start out the game as they mustered just 18 yards for the rest of the half.

On their fifth possession, the Explorers hit on passes of 25 and 23 passes to drive deep into Falcons territory. Quarterback Colt Pallay snuck it in from a yard out to give Hudson a 7-0 lead with 3:45 left in the half.

“They hit a couple of big pass plays which just broke our backs,” Annarella said.

Pallay had a few bigger pass plays in him as a 36-yard pass to Stephen Bianconi set up 27-yard field goal from Grant Gonya to make it 10-0 at the half.

Pallay finished with 197 yards passing.

Fitch missed an opportunity late in the first half after Randy Smith returned a kickoff 70 yards to the Hudson 28.

But the Falcons fumbled the ball away on next play from scrimmage,

“That was huge — to get a momentum play after you finally score, get a drive together, hit a couple of balls, and squeak it in,” Gough said. “Then to watch him [Smith] start running. You have to give it up to the pursuit. Timely turnovers is something a good teams needs to have.”

Fitch opened the third quarter with another turnover — this time an interception — and Pallay threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Greg Mailey.

Fitch got onto the scoreboard when quarterback Joey Zielinski capped a 16-play, 78-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run with 8:29 to play.

Zielinski led the Falcons with 80 yards rushing.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Explorers got an excellent return and started at the Fitch 42.

Fitch couldn’t get a stop or turnover it needed and Hudson ran four minutes off the clock before a 33-yard Gonya field goal made it 20-7.

“I thought it would be a good football game,” Annarella said. “I thought we matched up fairly well. We just couldn’t make the mistakes we did. We had to capitalize on opportunities which we did not do. They did.”