Saturday, November 3, 2018
By BOB ETTINGER
EUCLID
If the Euclid football opened its Division I, Region 1 playoff game against Austintown Fitch exactly the way it wanted to, the Falcons did the exact opposite.
The Panthers grabbed momentum in the first two minutes and ran away with a 35-0 win at Euclid Community Stadium on Friday night.
Euclid took the opening kick and scored on an 18-yard run by Brandon Wright in just more than a minute before the Falcons fumbled away the ensuing kick. The Panthers went up, 14-0, with 10:40 to play in the opening quarter on a 14-yard run by Jaabir Mujahid.
“The first drive was scripted the way we wanted things to go,” Euclid coach Jeff Rotsky said. “The biggest was the turnover. That was a game changer.”
Sean Jackson forced the fumble and Patrick Hawthorne recovered at the Fitch 17 to shift momentum firmly into the Panthers’ grasp.
“It certainly does [snowball],” Fitch coach Phil Annarella said. “Any level of football is a game of momentum, but high school really is the epitome of momentum swings. In high school football, you have younger players and that does make a big difference. The team that takes the lead plays with more swagger and the team that falls behind is staggering around.”
Before the Falcons (8-3) could gain a first down, they trailed, 28-0.
“[The fumble] killed us,” Annarella said. “But I don’t think that changed the direction of where everything was going. That was a good football team we played. They’re very talented. Give them credit. They took advantage of every mistake we made. We had a few chances to score, but we couldn’t get it in the end zone. That’s a credit to [Euclid]. Like I said, that’s an awfully good football team. I’m still proud of the kids. They gave their best all season. They fought tonight, we just didn’t have enough bullets in the gun.”
The Panthers will play Lakewood St. Edward on Friday night at a site to be determined.
“We’ve talked with our team,” Rotsky said. “We want to be an elite program, but we’re not there yet. If you want to be elite, you’ve got to beat St. Ed’s or St. Ignatius. If you want to be elite, you’ve got to beat on one of the saints. We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got to get ready to play. We know we’re up against a great team, but I’ll take my chances with my guys.”