Correspondent photo / Michael Taylor Ursuline's DeMarcus McElroy (6) stiff arms Austintown Fitch defensive back Bryant Butler (19) during their contest Friday evening.

AUSTINTOWN — If you wanted offense, Greenwood Chevrolet Austintown Falcon Stadium was the place to be Friday night.

In the end, it took the Irish stopping the Austintown Fitch Falcons on not just a two point conversion with 31 seconds left, but also a last offensive series and blocking a field goal with three seconds left to escape with a 48-47 win Friday night.

“I think our experience in week one certainly helped,” Ursuline coach Dan Reardon said. “I think the fact that we had a crazy game last week where we got down by a bunch and our kids battled back. They’re very resilient. I’m proud they just kept battling. Credit Fitch. They made some plays down the stretch that they needed to make. They got that one stop in the fourth quarter, then went down and scored.

“We had it at a two score game and felt pretty good but they battled back. We had to stop a two point conversion and then an onside kick. The game had everything you possibly could want. We have a lot of respect for their program. They’re very well coached. They have great players. We’re thrilled to get out of here with the W.

DeMarcus McElroy paced the Irish (3-1) with 359 yards rushing on 43 carries. He finished with three touchdowns.

“We would like to play more on defense, quite frankly, but he’s so valuable to us on offense,” Reardon said. “Him rushing for 359, that’s better than him playing defense. This was not a great night for defense.”

Correspondent photo / Michael Taylor
Ursuline quarterback Brady Shannon (5) runs for a first down Friday against Austintown Fitch.

All in all, in the first half the Falcons (2-1) and the Irish combined for 617 yards of offense.

For the game, the teams combined for 1,169 yards with neither team punting making this an instant classic between the old Steel Valley Conference rivals.

Ursuline scored on four of their six possessions in the first half starting out with a heavy dose of Brady Shannon passing which eventually opened it up for McElroy.

“‘It looked like they were very concerned about our passing,” Reardon said. “We’ve been very effective passing the ball. They have very very skilled kids in the secondary. They did a good job taking our pass away. By doing that, they were gonna miss some things in the run and obviously DeMarcus and our line took advantage of that.”

Fitch was there to match Ursuline all night with sophomore DJ Williams causing fits all night as he rushed for 200 yards on 14 carries.

Devin Sherwood was lethal with his arm and his feet with 73 yards on the ground and 214 through the air.

“It’s just a tribute to the offensive line,” Fitch coach T.J. Parker said. “They deserved a game like this. They’ve worked very hard all offseason. They did a nice job of opening holes and staying on blocks. Proud of those guys up front, the way they competed all night.

“The whole team, it wasn’t just one guy, you know. Devin does what Devin does. He did a great job of pulling it when he had to and hit guys when they were open. It was a four quarter game so you got everything.”

In the end, it came down to a two point conversion that Parker felt good about calling.

“We’re here to win, and we’re going to try to win, we’re not playing for any overtime or anything. If we get a chance to win, we’re going to try to do it,” Parker said. “I take that loss personally. That’s on myself. I feel like I let the kids down and our community.”

On that two point conversion, Sherwood initially had a receiver open but didn’t see him as he focused on the other side of the field.

“We have our play that we practice,” Parker said, “We got the look we honestly wanted. We thought they would load the front side for a run. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work. Again, it didn’t end there, our special teams competed and recovered the onside. We executed as best as we could with the two minute offense. Our guys did a good job with getting a shot with a kick.”