Hoover vs Austintown Fitch
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SITE: North Canton Memorial Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
RECORDS: Austintown Fitch 5-1, Hoover 4-2.
LAST WEEK: Austintown Fitch 45, Jackson 37; Hoover 7, Boardman 16.
LAST MEETING: Hoover won, 45-42 (double OT), last year.
Fitch vs Jackson Game Notes:
- Fitch ran 56 times for 340 yards and threw fro 75 yards on 9-13
- Fitch QB Jon Ballard ran for 140 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown
- Jackson ran 30 times for 131 yards and threw for 259 yards on 20-38
- Fitch had 314 total yards in the first half, including 240 on the ground.
- Fitch senior QB Jon Ballard #7 (6-3, 210) had a 7 yards TD run in the 1st quarter.
GONE: RB Sylvestry Gibbs, now at Youngstown State, was a gamebreaker for the Falcons and a four-year starter in the backfield. He led Fitch with 842 yards rushing and 16 TDs last season. Also gone are RB Nick Groat and the team’s top two receivers, Chris Smaldino and Quinton Pirl, who combined for 75 catches and eight TDs.
VOID FILLER: Jon Ballard gives the Falcons one of the area’s more talented quarterbacks to run their spread offense. He’s a three-year starter who completed 66 percent of his passes this fall for 782 yards with 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions in 98 attempts. Ballard is also Fitch's leading ball carrier with 567 rushing yards on 97 carries with 6 TD's. Ballard accounts for 65% of Fitch's offense and is the leading scorer on the team with 6 rushing TD's. The second leading rusher and scorer on the team is junior RB Bruce Reed #21 (5-8, 175) with 454 rushing yards on 68 carries with 5 TD's.
Fitch’s top receivers are #9, senior Sam Mariano and #24 senior DeAndre Richardson, who have combined for 39 catches and 491 yards.
NETWORK
Hoover Vikings Football
Hoover Vikings Football
Austintown Fitch Falcons Preview
Austintown Fitch's backfield: #21 - Bruce Reed and #7 - Jon Ballard
