Louisville Leopards at Austintown Fitch Falcons 2015 Football Preview
Week 3: Louisville Leopards (2-0) at Austintown Fitch Falcons (1-1)
SPREAD: Fitch by 4 (According to Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50)
WHEN: Friday, September 11 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Austintown Fitch Falcon Stadium
RADIO: WBBW-1240 AM
TV: None
HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org
SERIES
ALL-TIME SERIES: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Schedules:
| Louisville Schedule | Fitch Schedule | |||
| WK | Opponent | Result | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | Canfield | W 40-14 | Hudson | L 8-30 |
| 2 | North Canton Hoover | W 33-20 | at Brunswick | W 20-9 |
| 3 | at Austintown Fitch | 9/11 | Louisville | 9/11 |
| 4 | Salem | 9/18 | at Warren Harding | 9/18 |
| 5 | Carrollton | 9/25 | Youngstown East | 9/25 |
| 6 | at West Branch | 10/2 | Massillon | 10/2 |
| 7 | at Minerva | 10/9 | at Lakeside | 10/9 |
| 8 | Marlington | 10/16 | McDowell (PA) | 10/16 |
| 9 | at Alliance | 10/23 | at Boardman | 10/23 |
| 10 | at Canton South | 10/30 | at Cardinal Mooney | 10/30 |
LEOPARDS
The Leopards are averaging 403 Yards (299 Passing, 104 Rushing) & 37 points per contest, while surrendering just 244 Yards (123 Passing, 121 Rushing) & 17 points per game. A key to Louisville’s success has been jumping out in front early as they outscored Canfield & Hoover a combined 21-3 in the first quarter. The Leopards have turned the ball over 6 times in two games (5 Fumbles, 1 Interception), but have been fortunate in equaling that amount in takeaways (2 Fumble Recoveries, 4 Interceptions). Ball Security will be key if Louisville is going to pull off the upset on the road.
Runningback Rahzul Young (48 Carries, 195 Yards, 3 Total TDs) erased two big mistakes in Friday’s win over Hoover by making the game-winning 4th-and-Goal touchdown grab. Quarterback Jake Adams (38 of 49 for 598 Yards, 7 TDs) has completed a whopping 78% of his passes in leading the explosive Louisville aerial attack. Receiver Tyler Adams (17 Catches, 294 Yards, 3 TDs) has been seemingly uncoverable as all three of his trips to the endzone have come from 40+ yards. Alec Jones (10 Catches, 102 Yards, 2 TDs) and Conner Bast (6 Catches, 144 Yards, 1 TDs) have also made the opposition pay whenever they touch the ball.
Defensive Back Brody Hahn (2 Interceptions, 2 Pass Break-Ups) seemed to cover all 6400 Square Yards of the Louisville Leopards Stadium Football Turf last week in ending four drives against the Vikings. Cody Allgood (5 Tackles, 1 Interception, 1 Pass Break-Up), Dalton Deckerd (10 Tackles), Stephen Kerzan (7.5 Tackles, 1 Force Fumble), and Casey Nau (12 Tackles, 1.5 Sacks, 1 Pass Break-Up) have all left their mark in the Louisville secondary as well.
Linebackers Frankie Falcone (15.5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 1 Interception) and Kyle Ashcraft (12.5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 1 Sack) lead the defense in tackles. On the defensive front, Lineman Daichi Castles (7.5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 1.5 Sacks), Jimmy Leonard (3.5 Tackles, 0.5 Sacks, 1 Fumble Recovey, 1 Pass Break-Up), and Cade Stertzbach (6 Tackles, 2 Sacks) have also made their presence known in the opposition’s backfield.
On Special Teams, Kicker Trevor Burk has made 7 of 9 extra point attempts this season with his only two misses coming after penalties backed the line of scrimmage up 10+ yards. Quarterback Jake Adams has averaged 37.2 yards on 5 punt attempts with a long of 52. Top Returners include Tyler Adams (22.5 average on 2 Kick Returns), Hahn (15.7 average on 3 Kick Returns, 2.7 Average on 3 Punt Returns), and Jones (17.0 average on 2 Kick Returns).
FALCONS
The Falcons are averaging 166 Yards (49 Passing, 118 Rushing) & 14 points per contest, while allowing 
only 194 Yards (125 Passing, 70 Yards Rushing) & 20 points per game. Despite only being 1-1, Austintown Fitch is a disciplined team that currently has a +5 turnover differential.
Senior Quarterback Ben Nishmura (10 of 21 for 95 yards, 2 TDs Passing & 14 carries, 42 yards, 1 TD Rushing) has played a part in all three Falcon touchdowns this season. Nishmura left the Brunswick game in the second quarter with an apparent wrist injury after leading Fitch to a 17-0 lead. The Falcons rotated Senior Quarterback Kyle Kent (4 of 13 for 2 Yards, 1 Interception) and Athletic Wide Receiver Jaylon Sanders (16 Carries, 53 Yards Rushing & 4 Catches, 11 Yards Receiving) at the QB position the rest of the way. Sanders did not pass as Fitch mostly used the Wildcat Formation with him behind center.
Wide Receiver Carlos Herriott has been a big playmaker for Austintown Fitch as he leads the team in both Rushing (8 Carries, 63 Yards) and Receiving (4 Catches, 47 Yards, 1 TD). Runningback Randy Smith (20 Carries, 42 Yards) has carried the majority of the offensive load in the running game. Other top contributors for Fitch include Earl Scott (2 Catches, 25 Yards, 1 TD), Major Lee (2 Carries, 29 Yards), Lawrence Harrington (5 Carries, 29 Yards, 1 2-Point Conversion), and Marquis Babel (2 Carries, 26 Yards).
The Falcons have recorded 7 Takeaways (5 Fumble Recoveries, 2 Interceptions) this year. Linebacker Tyler Price had a 32 yard interception return and Defensive Back J.C. Mikovich had a 13 yard interception return to highlight Fitch’s aerial defense. Fumbles have been recovered by Emmanuael Dawkins, Herriott, Zach Krohn, Nick Terry, and Alonzo Williams.
Kicker Dylan Correia has booted through field goals of 22 and 30 yards this season and is 2 for 2 on extra point tries. Sanders (69 Kick Return Yards, 15 Punt Return Yards), Mikovich (40 Kick Return Yards, 17 Punt Return Yards), and Scott (22 Kick Return Yards) all have taken returns this season. Austintown’s kick coverage did surrender a 94 yards kick return touchdown in the opening quarter of the season against Hudson.
