By LENNY REICH

sports@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

If experience is the best teacher then Ashtabula Lakeside was well-schooled by a group of senior skill position players from Austintown Fitch as the Falcons rolled to a 49-6 win at Falcon Stadium.

Fitch senior quarterback Bobby Cavalier was nearly perfect in the first half as he completed 12 of 13 passes for 200 yards throwing for two scores and running for another. He played just one series in the second half and finished 13 of 14 for 240 yards passing.

“We do have a good group of seniors; they are a very cohesive group and they will fight out there,” said Fitch coach Phil Annarella. “He [Cavalier] got into a rhythm, and he threw the ball well, and we caught the ball well.”

Cavalier threw those two touchdowns – 79 yards and 24 yards, respectively, to senior receivers Ralph Fitzgerald and Cory Vernon. Fitzgerald had 170 yards on seven catches.

On the ground, senior Rod’dell Bebbs had a 33-yard touchdown run as part of a 94-yard rushing performance, while senior backup quarterback Dominic Montalbano ran a score in from 25 yards out.

The only mistake for the Falcons (5-2, 1-1 All-American Conference Gold Tier) was a fumble on the Lakeside 6-yard line on its second possession but Fitch had a pair of sacks and held the Dragons without a first down in a 14-0 first quarter.

“You can’t turn the ball over there,” Annarella said. “There were some mistakes we made and we have to fix those things as we have three very tough games coming up.”

Lakeside (1-6, 0-2) showed signs of life in the second quarter as quarterback Johnny Anservitz completed eight passes in the period — the last of those an 11-yard score to Mark Dalrymple, but a two-point conversion failed, and it was 28-6.

Cavalier then capped off a five-play drive with an 18-yard scoring run for a 35-6 lead.

Lakeside opened the second half recovering an onside kick but then Fitzgerald intercepted an Anservitz pass at the 1-yard line and ended the threat. Fitch took over and moved 99 yards in five plays as Bebbs had his second rushing touchdown of the game that pushed the lead to 42-6.

Once the benches cleared in the fourth quarter, one more score went on the board as Fitch sophomore Nate Leskovac threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Todd Simons.

Fitch plays its final regular-season road game next week at Erie (Pa.) McDowell.