Austintown Fitch Falcons at Louisville Leopards 2016 Football Preview

Week 3: Austintown Fitch Falcons at Louisville Leopards

SPREAD: Austintown Fitch By 10 (According to Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50)

WHEN: Friday, September 9 at 7:30 PM

WHERE: Louisville Leopards Stadium

HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org

SERIES

ALL-TIME SERIES: Austintown Fitch leads the all-time series 1-0.

VIEW FULL ALL-TIME SERIES

LAST MEETING: The Falcons won 37-19 at Falcon Stadium back on September 11, 2015.

View 2015 Video Highlights & Recap

Schedules:

Pictures

Cover Photo Taken By Jim & Laura Photography

View & Purchase Louisville Leopards Pictures on the  Jim & Laura Photography Website

LEOPARDS

Louisville has averaged 377 Yards (278 passing, 99 rushing) and 21 points per contest, while surrendering 280 Yards (170 passing, 110 rushing) and giving up 21 points per game in their 1-1 start this season. The Leopards achilles heel has been turnovers as they are currently -4 for in that department giving up 6 (5 interceptions, 1 fumble lost) while taking away 2 (1 interception, 1 fumble).

Senior Quarterback Brody Hahn leads the Leopards offense both in passing (41 of 75 for 556 yards, 4 touchdowns, 5 interceptions) and rushing (34 carries, 126 yards, 2 touchdowns). His top target is Senior Wide Receiver Tyler Adams (18 catches, 244 yards, 3 touchdowns) who is closing in on Louisville career receiving records. Sophomore Max Hartline (9 catches, 169 yards) has been a solid number two receiver and broke free for a 63 yard reception last week at North Canton. Others impacting the Louisville aerial attack include Jack Davis (2 catches, 45 yards, 1 touchdown), Logan Thomas (4 catches, 31 yards), Gavin Birone (3 catches, 32 yards), and Sean McKinney (1 catch, 32 yards).

The Leopards will continue to look to establish the running game behind Junior Runningback Gavin VanZant (21 carries, 40 yards). He will run behind the Louisville Offensive Line made up of Seniors Dillon Deckerd (5’10, 219 lbs.), Sam DeDominicis (5’10, 245 lbs.), Chase Lautzenheiser (5’10, 235 lbs.), Max Marino (5’11, 250 lbs.), and Jerod Warren (5’11, 225 lbs.).

On Defense, Senior Linebacker Justin Vanover (17.5 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass break-up) had a huge week at Hoover with 11.5 tackles, 2 stops in the backfield, and a forced fumble. He will look to expand upon his Week 2 success with fellow Senior Linebacker Casey Nau (15.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack).

Upfront, Senior Cade Stertzbach (10 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack) and Junior Drew Doerschuk (12 tackles, 1 sack) have each brought down the opposing quarterback once a piece, while Senior Jimmy Leonard (16 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass break-up) leads the Leopard Line in tackles.

Don’t throw Adams’ (5.5 tackles, 1 interception, 2 pass break-ups) way in the secondary as he leads the team in interceptions and pass break-ups. Rounding out the rest of the Louisville secondary are Seniors Cole Weston (11 tackles, 1 pass break-up), Corey White (8 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), and Sean McKinney (7 tackles).

On special teams, Junior Kicker Hannah Baughman has been perfect on extra points booting home 6 of 6. Baughman has already hit her mark 3 times this week for the Girls Soccer team as she recorded a Hat Trick at Minerva. Junior Kicker Austin Terra has also been superb on kickoffs and Hahn (8 punts, 33.3 avg., 3 inside 20, 57 long) has helped change field position in the punting game.

In the return game, Hartline (1 kick return, 21 yards) and Adams (1 kick return, 15 yards) have taken back one kick each. Adams (3 punt returns, 6.0 avg.) has taken back all punts this season for the Leopards with his longest return 15 yards.

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FALCONS

Austintown Fitch has averaged 225 Yards (44 Passing, 181 Rushing) and 17 points per game, while allowing 239 Yards (76 Passing, 163 Rushing) and 19 points per contest during their 1-1 start this year. The Falcons are currently +1 in turnovers this year giving the ball up twice through the air and taking the ball away 3 times (2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery).

There is nothing new with the Fitch offense as they have run the ball 75% of the time this season. The majority of the load has been given to Junior Runningback Randy Smith (34 carries, 161 yards, 1 touchdown) and the Falcons have also switched it up with fellow Junior Runningback Jakari Lumsden (20 carries, 148 yards, 1 touchdown).

Junior Quarterback Nate Fowler (11 of 28 for 88 yards, 2 interceptions) has completed just 39.3% of his passes this season to 7 different Austintown Fitch players. His top targets include Senior Wide Receiver JC Mikovich (3 catches, 33 yards), Junior Wide Receiver Jason Johns (3 catches, 25 yards), and Junior Wide Receiver Devin Moore (1 catch, 6 yards). Fowler is also not afraid to use his feet (26 carries, 29 yards) and is due for a breakout run.

On Special Teams, the Leopards are no stranger to Falcons Junior Kicker Dylan Correia (2 of 3 field goals, 4 of 4 extra points) who made three second half field goals in last year’s matchup to help secure the Falcons victory. Correia (5 kickoffs, 39.2 average) has shared kickoff duties with Junior Kicker Nick DeSalvo (3 kickoffs, 53.7 average). DeSalvo is also the team’s main punter (12 punts, 38.4 average, 4 inside 20), but has had three boots blocked this season. Fowler (2 punts, 43.5 average) has also punted the ball this season and can quick kick it at anytime.

In the return game, Smith (4 kick returns, 30.3 average) is the team’s leader on kickoffs while Mikovich (6 punt returns, 8.0 average) has taken all of Fitch’s punt returns this year.

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