Seventh-seeded Canton McKinley scored 20 points in the third quarter Friday night to rally past No. 2 seed Austintown Fitch 27-22 in a Division I, Region 1 regional quarterfinal in Austintown. The Bulldogs trailed 16-7 at halftime before taking their first lead late in the third quarter, according to The Canton Repository’s live game coverage.
Fitch built its halftime lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kalaher, a 25-yard field goal by Myers and a 44-yard touchdown pass from Kalaher to Iluono, The Canton Repository’s box score shows. McKinley’s only first-half answer was a 39-yard touchdown run by quarterback Braylon Crook.
The third quarter turned the game. After an 8-yard touchdown run by Gordon III pulled McKinley within 16-13, Fitch’s Iluono returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to stretch the Falcons’ lead to 22-13 with 9:39 left in the quarter, according to The Canton Repository. The Bulldogs answered with a 15-yard Crook touchdown run, then took the lead for good when Crook found Darius Hill for a touchdown pass — listed at 19 yards in The Canton Repository’s box score — with a Crook two-point run making it 27-22.
McKinley’s defense made the lead stand. Fitch got the ball back with 4:57 to play after a Bulldogs drive ended in a turnover, but the Bulldogs recovered a fumble with 1:12 remaining to stop the Falcons’ final drive and complete the comeback, The Canton Repository reported.
The Repository’s box score credited McKinley with 376 total yards, including 276 rushing yards on 44 carries, against 356 total yards for Fitch. Both teams turned the ball over three times on fumbles in a sloppy, physical game.
McKinley improves to 9-3 and has now won back-to-back playoff games after routing Brunswick 62-28 in the first round, according to The Canton Repository. Fitch’s season ends at 8-2 after the Falcons took a first-round bye into Friday’s game.
The Bulldogs advance to the Division I, Region 1 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13, where they will face Mentor, which beat Strongsville 45-14 on Friday, according to the Mansfield News Journal scoreboard. The winner moves on to the regional final on Nov. 20.
Photo: Engineerchange, CC BY-SA 4.0
[…] rallied past Austintown-Fitch 27-22. Read our coverage of St. Edward’s Holy War win and McKinley’s comeback at Fitch for the full picture of the […]