Herald Staff reports



On a night Farrell High dedicated its field to former coach Lou Falconi at halftime, current Steelers’ coach and Falconi protégé Jarrett Samuels had a poignant comment: “Coach Falconi needs a new field!”

Samuels had just watched as his team slop through a quagmire now named for Falconi in an 18-0 victory over Lakeview that lifted the team to a perfect 8-0 on the season.

In other local action Friday night it was: Mercer routing Conneaut Lake, 41-6; Grove City topping Meadville, 31-13; Sharpsville ripping Conneaut Valley, 62-12; Wilmington blanking Titusville, 35-0; Hickory rolling over Reynolds, 42-0; and Brookfield winning its initial game, 13-6, over Champion.

ä Farrell 18, Lakeview 0 — The rain, wind and sloppy field conditions hampered both teams, but Samuels still came away happy.

“I feel a lot better this week than I did last week,” said Samuels, who was very upset after what he considered a poor performance by his squad in a 12-7 squeaker against Sharpsville the previous week. “I thought we executed and did OK, despite the weather.”

The victory left the Steelers at 8-0 overall and 6-0 in Region 1-A with only Conneaut Lake and Kennedy Catholic remaining on the schedule.

“We need to stay disciplined and stay focused,” said Samuels. “We’ve still got some things to brush up on. We had a lot of guys out this past week with the flu, so we’ve got to get healthy, too.”

Neither team was able to generate much offense under the poor field conditions, but Farrell took advantage of Sailor turnovers for all three touchdowns.

Late in the first period, the snap on a Sailors’ punt was bobbled and recovered by Steeler Dashawn Scott at the Sailors 27. After a 5-yard penalty, quarterback Danny Odem hooked up with fleet Dion Eilam on a pass to the Lakeview 2. Two plays later, the first of the second quarter, Malcolm Hailstock crashed into the end zone from 1 yard out.

Later in the period, Ron Jackson picked off a Jeremy Westlake pass and returned it to the Lakeview 9. The Sailors’ defense held tough, but on a fourth-down play from the 1, Odem swept around left end for a score.

The final Farrell score came after another Jackson interception, that he returned to the Lakeview 38. Five plays later, Kevin Brodie went around left end for a 12-yard TD sprint.

In all, there were 7 turnovers in the contest. While Jackson had both interceptions for Farrell, Lucas Reddick had a pick in the end zone for Lakeview. Each team also lost 2 fumbles.

“We couldn’t get anything going on offense in that weather,” said Lakeview coach Dan York. “We wanted to throw the ball a little bit, but we couldn’t. Still, I thought we played pretty well.

“I told the kids, ‘How many times do you get to play the No. 1 team in the state?’ and we hung with them pretty well.”

Lakeview is 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the region. The Sailors have undermanned Kennedy next week, then close with a key contest with Mercer that could determine a playoff slot. “We’ll play hard, I’ll tell you that,” said York.

Lakeview running back Kyle Scott, the county yardage leader had a tougher time that usual against the speed of the Farrell defense, but still managed 77 yards on 24 carries. Farrell was paced by Jamar Whitman, with 63 yards on 11 totes.

The field was dedicated as “Lou Falconi Field” at halftime and he spoke to the current team as well as some of his former players who braved the weather. Long-time rival coach Jim Wildman of Sharon also attended to extend his congratulations to Falconi. — By Lynn Saternow, Herald sports editor.

ä Grove City 31, Meadville 13 — At Grove City, the Eagles gathered 354 rushing yards en route to a big Region 5-AAA win over visiting Meadville.

The Eagles struck first in what was a gritty, back-and-forth game in the rain with 1:35 remaining in the 1st quarter off an 11-yard run by power back Nick Reddick.

Jeff Hershberger kicked the extra point to put the finishing touches on a 6-play, 61-yard drive that began off a 6-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Dagres to Marty Phipps and later saw Phipps bust loose for a 36-yard run to the Grove City 19 yard line.

The Eagles then forced Meadville to punt and an 81-yard return by B.J. Johnston for what would have been Grove City’s 2nd TD was called back due to a block in the back.

After a false-start penalty, a 7-yard run by Reddick and two incomplete passes from Dagres, the Eagles were then forced to punt themselves, allowing the Bulldogs to have the ball at the Grove City 47-yard line. After Bulldogs running backs Tyler Banks and Dearius Goodrum picked up enough yards on 3 carries for a first down, Goodrum found a hole and ran for a 32-yard touchdown. Ted Pierce’s extra point went through the uprights to knot the game at 7.

Later in the 2nd quarter after Dagres executed the “Statue of Liberty” pass fake to perfection and handed off to Wesley Phipps, the Eagles were posed to score again, but settled for a 31-yard Hershberger field goal as time expired.

The Eagles allowed Meadville to have the ball for only about 3 minutes in the 3rd quarter and scored 2 touchdowns off runs by Harold Price of 32 and 7 yards.

About midway through the 4th, a 35-yard field goal try by Hershberger missed to the left and Meadville rallied for an 11-play, 80-yard drive, scoring off another Goodrum carry. A fake-kick-turned pass on the extra point fell out of the Meadville receiver’s hands, making the score 24-13 with 3:18 to play.

Backup quarterback Mason DePeal found the end zone on a sneak from 22 yards out for the Eagles final TD.

The win left the region-leading Eagles at 3-0 and 5-3 overall. Meadville fell to 1-2, 3-5. — By Allied News sports editor Patrick Connelly.

ä Mercer 41, Conneaut Lake 6 — At Mercer, the Mustangs continued their drive toward a possible District 10 playoff slot with the romp over Region 1-A foe Conneaut Lake.

Kyle Mariacher and Herbie Hennegan each scored a pair of TDs for the Mustangs (4-2, 5-3). Mariacher tallied on runs of 5 and 22 yards and finished the night with 91 yards rushing. Hennegan scored on bursts of 28 and 5 yards. Other Mercer scores came on a 50-yard pass from Anthony Erdos to Andy Reda and Erdos hit paydirt on a 25-yard burst. Will Juergens converted 5 extra-point kicks.

The Mustangs totaled 361 yards on the ground, with Rawlins Huntley right behind Mariacher with 90 yards on 4 carries.

The only score by Conneaut Lake (0-7, 1-7) was a 22-yard run by Zack Wade.

ä Wilmington 35, Titusville 0 — At Carter Field, Titusville, the host Rockets were no match for the Greyhounds as Wilmington moved to 5-1 in Region 3-AA and 7-1 overall. Titusville is 0-7 and 0-8.

Sutton Whiting ran for 105 yards on only 5 carries, including 3 touchdowns on runs of 58 and 11 yards and a 21-yard punt return score. Derrick Burns added TDs on bursts sof 35 and 45 yards and finished with 110 yards gained on 6 totes.

The Hounds Hammer defense allowed only 65 totals yards to the Rockets.

ä Sharpsville 62, Conneaut Valley 12 — At Conneautville, the Blue Devils bounced back from a pair of Region 1-A losses to rout the Indians.

Sharpsville (5-2, 6-2) rambled for 449 yards, led by Nate Titus with 165 yards on 12 carries, including TD runs of 20 and 25 yards, and Marcus Llewellyn with 148 yards on 11 carries, including 3 touchdowns on sprints of 27, 3 and 14 yards.

Also scoring for the Devils were Cam Christopher on a 14-yard run, Ross Stafford on a 20-yard aerial from Frank Joseph, Joseph on a 3-yard run and Ross Llewellyn on a 10-yard burst.

Coach Paul Piccirilli’s Devils face a key league contest next weekend against Linesville, a game with playoff implications.

ä Brookfield 13, Champion 6 — At Addison Field, Denny Sulick scored on a 27-yard with 4:26 left in the game to lift the Warriors (1-4, 1-8) to their 1st win of the season in an All-American Conference Blue Tier contest.

Brookfield took a 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter on a 17-yard pass from Jeremy Quinlan to Vince Venzeio. The 2-point conversion pass failed.

The Golden Flashes (0-5, 1-8) tied the game just before the end of the 1st quarter on a 30-yard run by Travis Damron. The 2-point pass failed.

Damron led all rushers with 140 yards on 29 carries. Joe Kirila led the Brookfield ground game with 67 yards on 13 totes.

Brookfield quarterback Jeremy Quinlan was 5-of-9 for 62 yards and Venzeio caught 4 of those passes for 48 yards.

ä Hickory 42, Reynolds 0 — At Transfer, Marlon Pegues rushed for 146 yards on only 7 carries and scored 3 touchdowns as the Hornets (4-1, 5-2) routed the Raiders (1-4, 1-7) in a Region 3-AA contest.

Pegues scored on runs of 12, 40 and 38 yards.

El’Rico Jones caught a 48-yard TD pass from Tyler Gargano, Ryan Hayes scored on a 3-yard run and Andrew Smith returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score.

Sean Zippie was a perfect 6-for-6 in PAT attempts.

Hickory rumbled for 349 total yards, while the Hornets’ defense limited the Raiders to to 54 yards.

———

LAKEVIEW 0 0 0 0 0

FARRELL 0 12 0 6 18

Scoring plays

F — Hailstock, 1 (pass failed)

F — Odem, 1 (run failed)

F — Brodie, 12 (pass failed)

Team stats

LAKEVIEW FARRELL

5 First downs 10

93 Rushing yards 133

0 Passing yards 52

5-0-2 Att-comp-int 8-3-1

93 Total yards 185

5-2 Fumbles-lost 3-2

2-10 Penalties-yards lost 5-40

Individual stats

Rushing: LAKEVIEW — Scott 24-77, Novak 5-11, Blair 7-8, Westlake 1-(-3); FARRELL — Whitman 11-63, Brodie 5-41, Hailstock 12-19, Jackson 3-6, Eilam 2-2, Odem 6-2.

Passing: LAKEVIEW — Westlake 4-0-2, Scott 1-0-0; FARRELL — Odem 8-3-1-52.

Receiving:FARRELL — Eilam 2-50, Jefferson 1-2.

———

CONN. LAKE 0 0 6 0 6

MERCER 20 21 0 0 41

Scoring plays

M — Hennegan, 28 run (Juergens kick)

M — Mariacher, 5 run (kick failed)

M — Reda, 50 pass from Erdos (Juergens kick)

M — Mariacher, 22 run (Juergens kick)

M — Erdos, 25 run (Juergens kick)

M — Hennegan, 5 run (Juergens kick)

CL — Wade, 22 run (run failed)

Team stats

CONN. LAKE MERCER

6 First downs 11

197 Rushing yards 361

72 Passing yards 50

11-3-1 Att-comp-int 5-1-0

269 Total yards 411

4-3 Fumbles-lost 2-2

5-55 Penalties-yards lost 4-45

Individual stats

Rushing: CONNEAUT LAKE — Shell 14-119, Wade 7-87, Miller 6-1, Smith 2-(-6); MERCER — Erdos 7-96, Mariacher 11-91, Huntley 4-90, Hennegan 5-59, Selders 1-8, Mannozzi 2-7, Reda 1-6, Burns 1-4, Buchanan 1-4, Campbell 1-0, Gawne 1-(-4).

Passing: CONNEAUT LAKE — Smith 11-3-1-72; MERCER — Erdos 5-1-0-50.

Receiving: CONNEAUT LAKE — Shell 1-32, Miller 1-28, Wade 1-12; MERCER — Reda 1-50.

———

MEADVILLE 0 7 0 6 13

GROVE CITY 7 3 14 7 31

Scoring plays

G — Reddick, 11 run (Hershberger kick)

M — D. Goodrum, 39 run (Pierce kick)

G — Hershberger, 31 field goal

G — Price, 27 run (Hershberger kick)

G — Price, 7 run (Hershberger kick)

M — D. Goodrum, 4 run (pass failed)

G — DePeal, 22 run (Hershberger kick)

Team stats

MEADVILLE GROVE CITY

13 First downs 14

218 Rushing yards 354

47 Passing yards 20

10-4-0 Att-comp-int 8-3-0

265 Total yards 374

7-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0

3-14 Penalties-yards lost 8-55

Individual stats

Rushing: MEADVILLE — D. Goodrum 15-147, Banks 18-78. T. Goodrum 2-11, Foster 1-0, Kilburn 6-(-17); GROVE CITY — M. Phipps 10-101, Price 10-74, Dagres 11-72, W. Phipps 7-47, Reddick 8-34, DePeal 1-22, Shaffer 1-4.

Passing: MEADVILLE — Kilburn 10-4-0, 47; GROVE CITY — Dagres 8-3-0, 20.

Receiving: MEADVILLE — Heaney 2-26, Foster 1-15, Banks 1-6; GROVE CITY — Steffanus 1-9, M. Phipps 1-6, Reddick 1-5.

———

WILMINGTON 14 21 0 0 35

TITUSVILLE 0 0 0 0 0

Scoring plays

W — Whiting, 58 run (kick failed)

W — Whiting, 11 run (Whiting run)

W — Whiting, 21 punt return (Wilson kick)

W — Burns, 35 run (Wilson kick)

W — Burns, 45 run (Wilson kick)

Team stats

WILMINGTON TITUSVILLE

8 First downs 3

302 Rushing yards 59

18 Passing yards 6

1-1-0 Att-comp-int 5-1-0

320 Total yards 65

5-3 Fumbles-lost 1-0

1-10 Penalties-yards lost 3-15

Individual stats

Rushing: WILMINGTON — Burns 6-110, Whiting 5-105, Phillian 3-34, DeMedal 2-32, Llewellyn 3-18, T. Donati 2-5, Crawford 2-4, Tekac 2-3, G. Donati 1-2, Bretz 2-(-1), Vasko 2-(-10); TITUSVILLE — Evans 15-48, Tarr 3-13, Corklin 9-1, Ciccarelli 8-(-3).

Passing: WILMINGTON — DeMedal 1-1-0, 18; TITUSVILLE — Ciccarelli 5-1-0, 6.

Receiving: WILMINGTON — Burns 1-18; TITUSVILLE — Hart 1-6.

———

CHAMPION 6 0 0 0 6

BROOKFIELD 6 0 0 7 13

Scoring plays

B — Venzeio, 17 pass from Je. Quinlan (pass failed)

C — Damron, 30 run (pass failed)

B — Den. Sulick, 27 run (Je. Quinlan kick)

Team stats

CHAMPION BROOKFIELD

7 First downs 9

165 Rushing yards 144

13 Passing yards 62

6-1-1 Att-comp-int 9-5-0

178 Total yards 206

2-2 Fumbles-lost 0-0

6-56 Penalties-yards lost 4-40

Individual stats

Rushing: CHAMPION — Damron 29-140, Yartz 8-14, Brown 1-5, Vesey 3-4; BROOKFIELD — Kirila 13-67, Je. Quinlan 19-45, Den. Sulick 5-32.

Passing: CHAMPION — Yartz 6-1-1, 13; BROOKFIELD — Je. Quinlan 9-5-0, 62.

Receiving: CHAMPION — Vesey 1-13; BROOKFIELD — Venzeio 4-48, B. Mosora 1-14.

———

HICKORY 14 21 7 0 42

REYNOLDS 0 0 0 0 0

Scoring plays

H — Pegues, 12 run (Zippie kick)

H — Jones, 48 pass from Gargano (Zippie kick)

H — Pegues, 40 run (Zippie kick)

H — Pegues, 38 run (Zippie kick)

H — Hayes, 3 run (Zippie kick)

H — A. Smith, 80 kickoff return (Zippie kick)

Team stats

HICKORY REYNOLDS

7 First downs 4

292 Rushing yards 54

57 Passing yards 0

2-2-0 Att-comp-int 6-0-1

349 Total yards 54

5-1 Fumbles-lost 4-1

8-77 Penalties-yards lost 4-36

Individual stats

Rushing: HICKORY — Pegues 7-146, Kirsch 2-58, Hayes 7-51, A. Smith 6-43, Gargano 4-0, Bishop 2-0, Freeman-Otey 2-(-1), Myers 2-(-5); REYNOLDS — Fowler 10-26, Baptiste 5-20, Matthews 5-9, Besic 6-7, Wolfe 2-(-8).

Passing: HICKORY — Gargano 2-2-0, 57; REYNOLDS — Wolfe 6-0-1.

Receiving: HICKORY — Jones 2-57; REYNOLDS — none.

———

SHARPSVILLE 20 28 14 0 62

CONN.VALLEY 6 0 6 0 12

Scoring plays

S - M. Llewellyn, 27 run (pass failed)

CV - Conley, 3 run (kick failed)

S - M. Llewellyn, 3 run (Llewellyn run)

S - Titus, 20 run (kick failed)

S- Titus, 25 run (Christopher run)

S - M. Llewellyn, 14 run (pass failed)

S - Christopher 14 run (Wilson kick)

S - Stafford 20 pass from Joseph (Wilson kick)

S - Joseph 3 run (Wilson kick)

CV - Smith, 60 run (pass failed)

S - R. Llewellyn 10 run, (Wilson kick)

Team stats

SHARPSVILLE CONN.VALLEY

27 First downs 8

449 Rushing yards 128

78 Passing yards 15

7-4-0 Att-comp-int 10-3-1

527 Total yards 143

2-0 Fumbles-lost 4-1

N/A Penalties-yards lost N/A

Individual stats

Rushing: SHARPSVILLE — Joseph 3-4, M. Llewellyn 11-148, Totin 3-15, Titus 12-165, Christopher 1-14, Flynn 3-28, Henwood 5-21, Majors 3-24; R. Llewellyn 4-40; CONNEAUT VALLEY — Smith 9-87, Harris 3-20, Conley 6-16, Baker 3-5.

Passing: SHARPSVILLE — Joseph 7-4-0, 78; CONNEAUT VALLEY — Baker 10-3-1, 15.

Receiving: SHARPSVILLE — M. Llewellyn 1-19, Piccirilli 1-3, Totin 1-36, Stafford 1-20; CONNEAUT VALLEY — Duda 1-10, Conley 1-4, Smith 1-1.