Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
Tyler Evans of Fitch looks for running room Friday night in the Falcons’ 56-28 win over Ursuline.

YOUNGSTOWN — The LED panels on the scoreboards at Stambaugh Stadium were changing numerals non-stop on a gorgeous late-summer evening Friday.

Ursuline and Austintown Fitch, a pair of teams that entered Friday with blowout wins in their openers, looked to make an early statement on the turf at Youngstown State University, but it was the Falcons who lit up the field with an impressive 56-28 win.

Fitch outgained Ursuline 536-321 in total yards.

“Every week, if you look at our schedule, we know we’re going into battles,” Fitch coach T.J. Parker said. “The back and forth of this game early and the middle of the game shows that we’re a resilient bunch. We’re not going to walk around with our heads down when things go wrong, we’ll respond, and as you can see, we can score quick and we can score in bunches, so we’re never really out of any game. I think the kids kind of understand that now.”

There were several major playmakers for the Falcons, but the catalyst was junior quarterback Devin Sherwood, who threw for 236 yards and a touchdown in the rout, going 13-for-17 passing. He threw for five touchdowns last week.

“Me and my wide receivers are really, really close,” Sherwood said.

“We worked all summer, and even during Coronavirus, we found ways to get work in and we’re just a really close team I think.”

A pivotal moment occurred when junior running back Tyree Mitchell shed several tackles and bolted for a 57-yard TD to completely change the momentum and begin Fitch’s scoring outburst.

“I didn’t know about the breaks to be honest,” he said. “Like somebody hit the power, I just kept going. When I scored, coach (Parker) just wanted to go for it, he got the onside-kick and that really changed the game. We scored right after that and just kept pounding.”

Mitchell ended the game with 67 yards rushing.

In the red zone, the Falcons relied on the strength of senior Nate Leskovac, who had 59 yards receiving, 114 yards rushing on five carries, and four total touchdowns.

Three out of those four scores came as rushing touchdowns.

“We’re always on the same page, it rarely happens when we’re off,” he said. “We’re always on the same page, and we’re always together. Everything we do is together; we ride together, we die together. That’s our motto.”

“The touchdown that I felt was the best, that really changed the game, didn’t even come from me, it came from Tyree,” Leskovac added. “On that long run where he broke five or six tackles, that just really changed the game.”

Sophomore Jamell James also had a huge night with 70 yards and a touchdown.

“It feels really great, before the game started they were talking, we’re both talking, that’s just football,” James said. “Then we came out and executed, and we just beat them.”

Other noteworthy stats included freshman D.J. Williams, who added a touchdown on 80 yards rushing. Senior Todd Simons had 111 yards receiving and a 37-yard touchdown reception on a flea-flicker from the arm of fellow receiver Tyler Evans.

Parker sees his team growing after starting 2-0.

“I do feel good at where we are, but we have a lot of growing to do,” he said. “I think that this is attributed to the hard work, now the kids get to taste it and feel it.

“The hard work that they put in through the offseason and the changes that we made, they looked at us like we were crazy, but now they’re seeing them pay off and it’s awesome for them. It just brings more buy-in, consistently to what we’re doing and the culture we want to create here.”

On the other side of the table Ursuline (1-1) coach Dan Reardon feels that the Fighting Irish could learn a lot from lopsided game.

“We’ve got to watch the film tomorrow and correct the mistakes,” he said. “There were some missed assignments to be sure and that’s something that we have to correct.

“They out-executed us, and that was the bottom line. They’re a very skilled football team and they have a lot of guys who can hurt you and they showed that last week and they showed that tonight as well. Credit them, but at the same time, there were a lot of correctable things, and that’s something that we have to do a great job of as coaches and players.”

Junior Brady Shannon was 11-for-23 passing for 210 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception.