Stonington — The schedule-maker for Fitch football 2024 came armed with an evil sense of humor. The finality of the season — and for some kids their football careers — comes with enough angst. Then comes Fitch’s last three games:

Rival to the west: New London. Rival to the east: Stonington. Rival to the north: Ledyard. All of which makes managing emotions all the more challenging.

But the Falcons earned gold stars all around Friday night, able to dismiss last week’s disappointment against New London by throttling Stonington 48-28. They kept their state Class L playoff hopes alive, too, likely making Thanksgiving vs. Ledyard a win-and-in game.

“We felt like the last two games on our schedule were winnable,” Fitch quarterback Porter Carter said after running for three scores . “We’ve got to keep pushing. Now we fight for the (Colonel Ledyard) Sword and for the playoffs.”

Carter ran Fitch’s first play from scrimmage for 70 yards and a score, some quality foreshadowing for a night when Fitch ran for 526 yards as a team.

“Our line blocked well and we had yards after contact,” Fitch coach Mike Ellis said. “We kept driving the pile.”

The Falcons (5-4) did trail 6-0 after Stonington quarterback Jayden Carter hit Jacob Schrage for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Fitch trailed 13-7 after Stonington lineman Evan West grabbed a fumble and went 72 yards. Eventually, though, the 526 yards overwhelmed the Bears (6-3), who will need to beat Westerly on Thanksgiving to make the Class S playoffs.

Fitch fullback Devin Cook ran for 222 yards and two scores.

“I put that all on my line,” Cook said. “I can’t do anything without them. I knew we were good after (Carter’s 70-yard run). We knew we could move the ball.”

Anthony Spader and Sean Bussey also ran for scores for the Falcons, who don’t play again until Thanksgiving.

Carter also threw another touchdown pass to Schrage and a late 65-yarder to Chase Spurley.

Now comes the biggest test for both programs: Beat their rivals on Thanksgiving for a chance at the postseason.

“Our kids are young and don’t always get the whole picture,” Ellis said. “There’s a lot going on right now. We have spirit week coming. Keeping things rolling and keeping them focused is going to be huge. We had a big win at Windham and then came New London. We got a big win here. Now we have to keep it up.”

m.dimauro@theday.com