He had the leather pigskin in his hands most of the first game of the season, dominating Erie (Pa.) for about 250 yards.

The Falcons junior quarterback saw the openings in the Ursuline defense Friday during a 27-7 win over the Irish.

The senior-laden offensive line has plenty of experience and leadership, making the necessary adjustment against Ursuline (0-2).

“When they make those holes, it’s a lot easier for me,” said Leskovac, who had 15 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Staff photo / John Vargo Tyler Evans (11) of Austintown Fitch looks for running room against Julian Johnson of Ursuline on Friday.

The last one was a two-play drive with about two-and-a-half minutes left as the Falcons (2-0) saw Leskovac go 48 yards on the first play to the Ursuline 5 and take it in from there on the next play.

It was only one hiccup for the Ursuline defense, which played much better after giving up 21 points in the first half.

“I thought our kids did a very good job defensively in the second half,” Ursuline coach Dan Reardon said. “In the second half I thought we cleaned up a lot of things and played a lot better.”

Fitch’s defense, led by Leskovac, a linebacker, had a ball hawk mentality against the Irish – coming up with key interceptions and fumble recoveries throughout the game,

“Defensively, we’ve got a lot of movement,” Leskovac said. “We might not be the biggest defense out there, but we move and flow to the ball well. Our defense is in our heart. Eleven guys to the ball all the time.”

Staff photo / John Vargo Austintown Fitch’s Chris Scott (4) brings down Dean Boyd of Ursuline during the Falcons’ 27-7 victory over the Irish Friday night at Austintown.

Those miscues for Ursuline cost this young team Friday.

“We make a couple of those plays, it’s a different game going into the fourth quarter,” Reardon said.

Fitch faced a first-and-10 from the Ursuline 14 with 6 seconds remaining. Instead of opting for a field-goal attempt, the Falcons’ Devin Sherwood found the lanky junior receiver Todd Simons, who stands 6-foot-3 and is a basketball star for Fitch. Simons out raced his defender to the right post and made an over-the-shoulder catch with a second remaining as the Falcons took a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

“With 6 seconds, I thought we had time to throw it up in the corner,” Elliot said. “We talked about doing that often. Now’s the time to do it. We probably have a second or two to kick a field goal. Devin Sherwood made a great throw.”

The play was set up by the tenacious defensive play of A.J. Winterburn, who forced a fumble and possibly a second one, but it was ruled an incomplete pass. The drive stalled at the Ursuline 5 for the Irish. Fitch got the ball back at the Ursuline 43 to start its last scoring drive of the half.

Staff photo / John Vargo Matthew Reardon (8) of Ursuline gets help from a teammate in bringing down Nate Leskovac of Austintown Fitch Friday night at Austintown.

Reardon said before the game he was pleased with his offensive skill talent. Early in the second quarter, Ursuline showed off its firepower as the Irish went two plays in 69 yards on two pass plays by sophomore quarterback Brady Shannon.

Shannon found Dan’s son, Matthew, with 10:08 left in the half as Matthew beat his defender to the right pylon on a drive which took 20 seconds as Ursuline cut the Falcons lead to 14-7.

The Falcons’ running game was quite prevalent in their first two scoring drives, something Fitch had early and often in its Week 1 pounding of Erie (Pa.) as the Falcons amassed more than 400 yards in that contest.

Fitch completed an 11-play drive which went 73 yards in the early part of the second quarter on Leskovac’s 15-yard run through the Ursuline defense with 10:33 left remaining the half. The Falcons were up 14-0 at that time.

Fitch’s first scoring drive went 12 plays for 72 yards capped by Sherwood’s 4-yard run with 4:45 left on a drive that took almost four-and-a-half minutes for a 7-0 Fitch advantage.

It wasn’t all glory for the Falcons, who had nine penalties for 75 yards. It’s fortunate for the Falcons the Irish did not capitalize on those miscues.

“Last week we had one or two holding calls,” Fitch coach Jon Elliot said. “This week we had a ton. It’s disappointing. It put us back in a hole.”