By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Matt Furino knows that his team’s offense on Friday will not win any creativity awards.

However, considering the circumstances his Field Falcons faced, it is fair to ask: What offense would?

Heavy rain, along with an unexpected change in available personnel, put Furino and his staff in a unique circumstance to simplify the offensive gameplan.

The new plan?

Field running back Drexal McAmis falls forward for as he is tackled during Friday’s game.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Give the ball to 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior running back Drexal McAmis.

“He put us on his shoulders tonight, that’s for sure,” said a rain-soaked Furino.

McAmis ran the ball 33 times for 211 yards, accounting for 89 percent of the team’s total offensive output, while also scoring all three touchdowns in the Falcons’ 21-0 shutout win over the host Rootstown Rovers.

Each game presents new challenges and on this night, creativity was not a priority that was ever going to get in the way of doing what was needed to win the game.

The win improves Field’s record to 3-0 for the first time since 2015.

While there were brief periods without rain, the majority of Friday’s game was played under heavy rain. With both the Falcons and Rovers already preferring offensive approaches that spotlights the running game, those plans were amplified even further.

Field ran 40 total plays and 33 were on the ground. Rootstown totaled 52 plays, with 41 being run plays.

McAmis simply proved to be too much for the Rovers. His relentless running style wore down a Rovers defense that held strong through three-and-a-half quarters before McAmis broke free for two long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

With a 7-0 lead, McAmis spun out of a loss and turned it into a 55-yard score with 8:25 to play.

A group of Rootstown defenders team up to bring down Field running back Drexal McAmis.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

On the play, McAmis was hit in the backfield, but spun out of the tackle, then burst through the line of scrimmage before bubbling out to the left sideline to outrun the Rootstown pursuit for the touchdown. It was his 26th carry of the game and the electric effort showed no signs of fatigue to put the Falcons up 14-0 after Alec Grimm’s extra-point kick.

Six minutes later, McAmis hit for another gamebreaking touchdown. This one came from 41 yards out and it was on his 31st — and last — carry of the game. The score broke the game open at 21-0.

“Listen, everyone in the entire stadium knew who was getting the ball,” said Furino. “Rootstown had all 11 focused on him, but Drexal is so big and so strong that for the course of a game, it is not if, but when he is going to break one. I thought he showed some pretty good speed, too, for a guy his size, to break out for those big runs like he did.”

Prior to the two big scoring runs, Rootstown’s defense had held McAmis in check relatively well, considering, with 115 yards on 29 carries (4.0 yards per attempt).

“You have to take your hats off to Rootstown tonight. I thought that they came in with a great gameplan, and they played extremely hard against us,” Furino said. “I think through the course of the game, we just wore them down. I don’t think people realize what it is like to try to tackle someone like Drexal over and over again. Those collisions really take a toll on you. Much of what we did tonight probably did not look very creative, but we were confident that we would break something big at some point.”

Part of that patience was also created because of Furino’s trust in his defense, which once again played aggressive. In three games, the Falcons have now allowed just 29 points.

Field senior offensive lineman X’ion Cunningham (51) celebrates a fourth-quarter touchdown with senior Drexal McAmis, who ran 55 yards for the score.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

“We talked a little about opening up the offense to some other things tonight, but my staff did not want to make any big mistakes because of the weather,” Furino said. “They had confidence that our defense would do their job and our offense just needed to keep grinding, and they were right.”

Despite the poor conditions, Field had just one turnover, which was a fumble in the first quarter on Rootstown’s 15-yard line.

The Rovers have struggled to take care of the football this season and it showed up again on Friday. On the first offensive play of the game, Rootstown’s backfield had some miscommunication that led to a botched handoff that hit the grass and was recovered by McAmis. In total, Rootstown (1-2) fumbled four times and lost two, and also turned the ball over on downs three times.

The Rovers’ offense looked its best in their opening drive of the third quarter. Trailing 7-0 at the time, the line created space and the backs hit the line of scrimmage with some momentum. It started with a tough run by Damien Reuting that covered 11 yards, but not before the junior broke a couple of tackles, then, with the help of his line, pushed the pile ahead another four yards. The next nine runs all turned in positive gains and put the Rovers on the Falcons’ 7 yard line.

“They really came out with a blast of energy that is for sure,” Furino said.

The threatening drive, though, quickly came to a halt and resulted in zero points.

A sweep to the right resulted in a six-yard loss, then a pass attempt turned into a sack by the Falcons’ Andrew Phillip for another seven-yard loss.

Reuting was the leader offensively for the Rovers. He rushed for 97 yards on 23 carries.