Groton — Success may be measured a bit differently this season than last for the Fitch football team.

At least until the young Falcons go through some growth spurts.

It was evident in a season-opening 31-14 loss to Guilford that Fitch still has some talent but will need time for its promising newcomers to blossom. The Falcons have holes to fill from last year’s 9-2 team that reached the Class MM quarterfinals.

Guilford moved the ball behind a potent running game, heavily relying on Caden Hillier who ran for five touchdowns and 277 yards.

Fitch hung in there for as long as it could. New quarterback Porter Carter threw two touchdown passes to Zyree Williams-Brown covering 59 and 32 yards.

Ultimately, the Falcons made too many mistakes to keep up despite showing positive signs on offense and defense.

“In the fourth quarter, we were a touchdown away,” Fitch coach Mike Ellis said. “The kids really fought but we made way too many mistakes and turned the ball over. We didn’t play well enough to win.”

The season’s first play put the Falcons in a quick hole, as Hillier raced around the right side and took off on a 68-yard touchdown run.

Fifteen seconds into the game, Fitch trailed 6-0.

The Falcons recovered nicely and only found themselves down 13-7 early in the third quarter when Carter connected with a wide open Williams-Brown over the middle for a 59-yard touchdown pass.

But turnovers derailed any comeback hopes.

Guilford recovered Carter’s fumble at the Fitch 6-yard line and Hillier strolled into the end zone on the first play for a 19-7 advantage with 2:52 left in the third quarter.

It was the second time that Guilford cashed in on a Fitch turnover. Hillier’s 5-yard rushing touchdown came on the heels of Carter’s interception in the second quarter.

The Falcons showed some competitive fight to close the gap to 19-14 with 10:26 remaining in the game. Williams-Brown got behind the defense again, finishing off a 32-yard scoring catch and run.

But they couldn’t stop Hillier and Guilford’s potent ground game. Guilford went 65 yards in six running plays with Hillier scoring from 11 yards out to seal the win.

“He’s a very good back, there’s no question about it,” Ellis said. “We didn’t bring our feet on the tackle. If you watch, we were diving. … You got to wrap him. You can’t just bounce off. A lot of his runs except the first one, he was bouncing off, bouncing off and then going all the way. We didn’t have guys finish plays.”

Ellis is encouraged by his team’s play overall.

“It’s only the first game and we will build,” Ellis said. “And they did get better. They were better than last Friday, so that’s good. But we have to be able to play for 48 minutes and we have to make a lot less mistakes than we made tonight.”

g.keefe@theday.com