End of the Lion

Defending D-10 champ ends Linesville's season

By Pete Chiodo

November 21, 2009 — EDINBORO — Farrell head coach Jarrett Samuels had a rough week.

“I was worried, man,” Samuels said. “We had bad practices all week. I couldn’t gauge my team. Psychologically, we weren’t there all week. I really thought that we would get upset with how we performed in practice. It was bad.”

However, that tension eased right before game time Friday night.

“We have a veteran group, and they told me before the game, ‘We got you, coach. Don’t worry about anything’.”

Samuels’ team was as good as their word as the Steelers leveled Linesville 39-0 in a District 10 Class A semifinal matchup last night at Edinboro University’s Sox Harrison Stadium.

“They keep giving me headaches. They keep giving me ulcers. But they keep coming out here and proving me wrong,” Samuels said.

Farrell (12-0) now moves on to face Sharpsville in the D-10 championship game. The Steelers are looking for their second consecutive district title.

Sharpsville was a 10-7 winner over Mercer in last night’s other semifinal.

Linesville, meanwhile, ends the year with a 9-3 record and says so long to six seniors.

“We’ve done a lot this year,” said Lions coach Pat Gould. “They are a nice group of seniors and we’re going to miss every one of them.”

Farrell also ended Linesville’s season last year in the district final, beating the Lions 28-7.

“We’ve been saying this for years,” said Gould, “We have opportunities (against Farrell) where we could make something happen, and we don’t. And (Farrell) did. And they always have.”

Last night, Linesville fumbled away its third play of the ball game, giving Farrell possession on the Lions’ 10.

Then on the Steelers’ very first hike, quarterback Danny Odem swung a pass out to Jamar Whitman. Whitman shrugged off a couple tackles near the line of scrimmage and scampered 10 yards for the score.

There were 59 seconds off the clock and the Steelers led 7-0.

They would go on to out-gain Linesville 432-135, posting 16 first downs to Linesville’s seven.

The Lions also turned the ball over five times — four picks and the one fumble.

Despite that, Linesville still came up with a couple nice scoring chances. In the second quarter, trailing just 14-0, the Lions found their way into the red zone only to run out of downs on the Steelers’ 16.

In the third quarter, Linesville had a fourth down on the Steelers’ 10, but were picked off on a last-ditch attempt for the end zone.

“We had opportunities, we just didn’t make it happen,” Gould said. “We had the ball close a couple different times. We just didn’t get in the end zone.

“They’re a good team.”

For Farrell, Ron Jackson had 102 yards rushing on nine carries. He broke off a 50 yard touchdown run in the first quarter, slipping a tackle in the backfield, and bucking another one in the secondary before scoring.

“We benched Ron,” said Samuels. “He was one of the guys, performance wise, that wasn’t giving us what we wanted in practice. So we benched him this week. And it motivated him once he got in there. He made some striking plays on both sides of the ball.”

Malcolm Hailstock also had 102 yards rushing. He carried the ball 10 times. One of those was an 11-yard touchdown rush to complete the Steelers’ opening drive of the second half, giving his squad a 27-0 lead.

Dion Eilam added 52 yards rushing and a 40-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Preston Jefferson, which put the final points on the board for the Steelers.

Odem added 29 rush yards, including a one-yard TD lean in the second quarter that put the Steelers ahead 21-0. He was also 5-for-8 for 67 yards passing.

According to Samuels, “(Odem) likes to play against Trevor (Litwiler, Linesville’s quarterback.) People are always comparing them. And he likes to come out and be play against him.”

Litwiler is one of the Lions’ six graduating seniors, and one of the most prolific QBs Crawford County has produced. He has unofficially passed for 3,389 yards (second in county history) and 37 touchdowns (a new county record) while rushing for 3,285 yards (fourth in county history) and 47 touchdowns (a new county record).

Also departing are Brennan Miller, Walter Litwin, Tanner Urbanick, Zac Deal and Mike Fabrey.