Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Jamell James runs for a gain Friday night against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary

AUSTINTOWN — The emotion on the field Friday night at Austintown Fitch was palpable.

In the aftermath of the Falcons’ 21-14 loss to St. Vincent-St. Mary, tears flowed as players and coaches embraced, while students, parents and other family members stood stunned in the soon-to-be-remodeled home stand one last time this season.

“I’m going to miss these boys, especially the younger group and everybody I’ve been playing with since my freshman year,” said senior Cam Smith. “We were so tight as a brotherhood and now it’s just going to be different.”

It wasn’t the result fourth-seeded Fitch envisioned, as the Falcons had season-long hopes of a deep playoff run after a remarkable regular season, but they can rest assured that they left it all out on the field against the Fighting Irish.

“I just feel for the seniors and all those guys involved,” said head coach TJ Parker. “They gave us everything they have. They’re going to leave here as probably one of the winningest groups in our history. We just didn’t finish and it hurts now. We challenged them to give effort, and the way our defense played all night, allowed us to be in that game and continue to battle and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Based on the Falcons’ fast start, it looked as though Fitch might run all over the Irish from the get-go.

On the opening drive of the game, Fitch needed just three plays to find paydirt, as Smith found Jayden Eley for a 27-yard touchdown strike.

But from there, the Falcons mustered just 39 total yards of offense the rest of the first half. Fitch struggled to get the run game going against St. Vincent-St. Mary’s physical front, and had to deal with being backed up in the shadow of its own goalpost on several possessions.

“We were out of sorts a little bit,” Parker said. “We were backed up and we were constantly behind the sticks. It’s a lot of pressure on you when you’re in those positions. We missed some things offensively that we normally hit. Those things we normally have, we didn’t convert on and it gave them more possessions than they should have had. You give those guys enough possessions, and they’re going to find the end zone three times in a game like this.”

However, time and time again, the Falcons’ defense rose to the occasion, getting off the field and preventing the Irish from breaking off big plays and getting in the end zone.

Fitch turned the ball three times and the Falcons’ defense held the Irish to just seven points off turnovers and three missed field goals.

“I’m proud of the defense,” Smith said. “The whole season we were questioned about our run defense and St. V is mainly a run team. I feel like we stopped that for at least the first three quarters and going into the fourth quarter.”

But when the defense would get off the field, they often found themselves right back on the field just a few plays later after a stalled drive by the offense. The Falcons finished with just 273 total yards of offense and were outgained on time-of-possession by almost 11 minutes.

“I don’t think our offense helped by putting the defense on the field all the time,” Parker said. “I don’t want to say the defense wore down because they were on the field all game. They kept giving us the ball back and we really just couldn’t do anything with it.”

The Falcons took a 14-7 lead early in the fourth quarter after finally finding the end zone for the first time since the start of the first quarter.

But, just a few plays later, St. Vincent-St. Mary finally broke off a big play as D’anthony Kelker sprinted 69 yards for the game-tying touchdown.

Even though Smith threw an interception a few minutes later, the Fitch defense was able to get the offense the ball back. Still, the offense stalled out one last time with about four minutes to go, and the Irish were able to keep the ball until they scored the game-winning touchdown with 0:32 left on a seven-yard run by Santino Harper.

“They had a lot in the box and our offense sparks off our run game and we just couldn’t get the run game going,” Smith said. “I feel like that was detrimental to us tonight.”

With the regional quarterfinal loss, the Falcons finish the season 10-2.

“I’m unbelievably proud of the guys and the regular season we had with our schedule and the way they played was just remarkable,” Parker said. “We battled through injuries and through so many other things to finish the season the way we did. That’s something to hang our hats on. But I know these guys. The regular season built us for this moment and we didn’t finish. I know these guys and I know what competitors they are. That’s the disappointing part.”