FITCH SENDS BENNETT PACKING

AUSTINTOWN OH-

Coming off a big win in Week 4 against The Ursuline Fighting Irish, The Austintown Fitch Falcons looked to the halfway point of the season, where they would welcome in another out-of-state team. This time, that team would be both one of New York’s and the city of Buffalo’s finest teams! That team being The Class AA state runners-up from a year ago, The Lewis J. Bennett Tigers.

For Bennett, they came into this season riding a ton of momentum off their 2021 campaign; however, losing their top 2 rushers from a season ago, The Tigers would have to look to get creative on offense in hopes they can get replacements for over 3000 rushing yards from last year.

Austintown would win the coin toss, elect to defer and stop Bennett’s offensive drive dead in its tracks. A theme that would be all too familiar for The Tigers come the end of the game. Fitch would strike on two big passes in back-to-back drives from DeShawn Vaughn Jr. to help Fitch take an early 14-0 advantage. Not slowing at all on offense, The Falcons would hit paydirt on their first five drives consecutively. Owning a 36-6 lead going into halftime, Austintown would look to play keep away in the second half, with Fitch receiving the kickoff.

Executing that plan masterfully, The Falcons burn the first 7 minutes of the third, utilizing the running game clock to its fullest. The Tigers would end up with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter; however, it was too little too late. As Fitch continued to eat away the clock, before coming away with the Week 5 win 42-20.

The win sets up Austintown (5-0) with their biggest test yet! Heading to Paul Brown Stadium to take on another set of tigers, this time, it happens to be Massillon Washington’s (4-1).

Scoring by Quarter

Q1: Fitch 21 – 0 Bennett

Q2: Fitch 15 – 6 Bennett

Q3: Fitch 0 – 0 Bennett

Q4: Fitch 6 – 14 Bennett

Final: Fitch 42 – 20 Bennett

Stats (Austintown)

Passing-

DeShawn Vaughn Jr. – 11/15, 172 YDS, 2 TD.

Rushing-

Jamell James – 17 Carries, 50 YDS, 2 TD.

D.J. Williams – 10 Carries, 77 YDS, 1 TD.