A SECOND HALF COMEBACK LIFTS THE FALCONS

YOUNGSTOWN, OH-Football is a 48-minute long game. What happens in the first 24 matters little if you can’t perform in the final 24 minutes. Cardinal Mooney fell victim to this as the Fitch Falcons made fantastic adjustments to win 27-14.

The first half was largely dominated by the Cardinals. Walter Sweeney, in his fourth career start at QB, along with sophomore running back Zyere Rodgers marched down the field on their first two offensive possessions. Sweeney was the first to find the endzone, a 15 yard scamper that put the Cardinals up 7-0. Later in the second quarter, running back Dom Byrd had a 3 yard plunge to extend the lead before halftime to 14-0.

But the second half adjustments from the Falcons were superb. Devin Sherwood, the sophomore QB, used his legs as well as his arm to get the Falcons back into the game. After a muffed punt, Sherwood took little time to run in a touchdown for the Falcons first score of the game. Fitch’s defense put the clamps on the Mooney offense, forcing punt after punt. Sherwood would find Todd Simons for 2 more touchdowns, one at the end of the third and another in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter. Then, while trying to run off the clock, Sherwood broke free again for a 38 yard touchdown run.

Despite a third-quarter interception from Jack McGlone, Mooney simply could not match the second-half scoring run put on by the Falcons. Mooney falls to 4-6, Fitch playing the playoff spoiler and keeping Mooney from reaching week 11.