Austintown Fitch 2023
- Thread starter falguin
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Cinciirish
Well-known member
Boardman no longer schedules Ursuline in any sport because they keep losing talent to the northside. Somehow the Irish have survived. Canfield won't play either parochial school on the gridiron. It's been decades since Struthers or Niles has scheduled either. Poland, South Range, & Girard stay clear of them, too. Mooney did land Howland & Hubbard the last few years but I suspect that won't happen again for a long time to come. Campbell is out of the question. If Mooney (now up a division) continues to improve they may land another meeting with Fitch. The SVC wants more members but everybody is staying clear, although East & Chaney do play some of the other locals. Canfield vs. Mansfield? Boardman vs. Dover? They'll be lucky to get a couple hundred people at those games.
simkon
Well-known member
Canfield has played Ursuline in football in the regular season...
1983- Ursuline 48, Canfield 14
1984- Ursuline 27, Canfield 7
And the attendance for the game at Canfield had a very sparse visiting crowd. So even if Canfield vs Mansfield has a small crowd, it is no different then when they played previously at Canfield. And I think Dover usually travels pretty well, they always traveled well up to Canfield whenever I was there. Most of the Dover vs Canfield games were in front of capacity crowds (approximately 5,000).
simkon
Well-known member
Canfield vs South Range would by default have more attendance because it only takes 5 minutes on State Route 46 to get between the two. Geographically South Range is the closest high school to Canfield. The closest schools by drive time are South Range (5 minutes down SR 46 S), Western Reserve (10 minutes across US 224 W), Salem (15 minutes down US 62 W), respectively. The decision to play Mansfield obviously had nothing to do about the anticipated gate or money. I finally got the full story on what happened with Canfield and South Range calling off the game, but I am not privy to share any of the details unfortunately.
FWIW it takes 20-30 minutes depending on traffic to get to Fitch, Boardman, Chaney, and Cardinal Mooney.
Cinciirish
Well-known member
I was very aware that Canfield had taken on the Irish on 2 occasions in the regular season. My point is that they won't schedule them today. Boardman, too, scheduled Ursuline regularly for many decades since their first meeting in '68 (I was at that game). Canfield of the early 80s is hardly comparable to Canfield of today. The Cards have become a power in the valley. Perhaps the small crowd at their home game with Ursuline in '84 was because they didn't have a snowball's chance in hell against the Irish. That's hardly the case today. As for BHS, Dover may travel well but they are hardly the rival Ursuline has been with a long and rich history and some classic meetings. (My all time fav was a 12-0 Ursuline upset of a Boardman team that finished 9-1, in '70 at the first ever official SVC meeting of the two. The Spartans had some great upsets, too.)
simkon
Well-known member
The Canfield side was mostly full, the visitors' side (Ursuline) was almost completely empty from the photos. If I had to guess the opposite was probably the case in '83.
Keep in mind that at that time Canfield only had a seating capacity of around 2500. The current seating capacity is 4050.
If Dover brings approximately the same size crowd to Boardman as they do to Canfield then the crowd would be larger than the crowd Ursuline had against Canfield in the playoffs.
Cinciirish
Well-known member
I attended the Mooney at St. Xavier game in '87. The Mooney crowd was larger than the home team's, despite a 4 1/2 hour hike down I - 71. Cincinnati friends asked me, "What else is there to do in Youngstown?"
.
We might ask the same, "What else is there to do in Dover?"
simkon
Well-known member
I also lived on Wooster Ave in Dover formerly incidentally. I know the point you are trying to make, but the difference in crowd size between Ursuline or Dover against Boardman would be negligible. Dover usually travels very well for football.
330Football
Well-known member
If Canfield and south range opened the season on a Thursday night it would draw a massive crowd
That game would have been standing room only wherever it was played. Same could be said of a Canfield Vs. Austintown game this year if it were scheduled, especially after this past weekends Twitter nonsense from Austintown.
simkon
Well-known member
I think having it on a Thursday would make the crowd smaller than if it were on a Friday or Saturday. Many more people could go if it were on Friday night or Saturday, work and other obligations would preclude a lot of people from going on Thursday.
330Football
Well-known member
What happened
330Football
Well-known member
Not everyone goes to sleep at 6pm during the week like you lol
simkon
Well-known member
I and many others work out of town during the week. I am overseeing several projects for the state of Ohio 4-5 hours away. All of the crews out here are from Cleveland, Akron, Mansfield, and Zanesville. So everyone is far from home for the most part.
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330Football
Well-known member
Not many others do, also you’re gonna have so many fans from teams in the area going to watch that game. So maybe it wouldn’t benefit you or a small group it would benefit a ton of others by a lot
Spread All Day
Well-known member
The last time Struthers scheduled Mooney was 1999. (Struthers won that game) maybe it was 2000 I’m not sure. The last time Struthers and Ursuline played was I don’t know I have to look.
but why schedule them? The cons greatly outweigh the pros and that is why they are not being scheduled by most schools in Mahoning Valley. Hubbard scheduled Mooney because they knew they were down. They would never schedule them if they were good.
As for Fitch, they can schedule whoever the hell they want in the Mahoning Valley, and should win that game
but why schedule them? The cons greatly outweigh the pros and that is why they are not being scheduled by most schools in Mahoning Valley. Hubbard scheduled Mooney because they knew they were down. They would never schedule them if they were good.
As for Fitch, they can schedule whoever the hell they want in the Mahoning Valley, and should win that game
I agree that there really isn't an upside for schools like Struthers to play Mooney and Ursuline. Some would say it would get them ready for the rigors of the playoffs, but I disagree. If you are a good team, you will play just fined when it comes time to play the better teams. If you have one shot to beat them, make it the playoffs when it really counts. As for Fitch beating anyone in the Valley, that isn't the case anymore. Fitch is only one division above Canfield. Our student population is not going to be that much bigger where we could have that many more players. Canfield and Ursuline will field teams just ast talented as Fitch. And Harding could field a very competitive team if they would get a new coach. However, this year, we should be the best team in the best team in the Valley. We are loaded everywhere, except the o-line. We have had good o-lines but not dominant o-lines. I hope that changes this year.
simkon
Well-known member
@falguin If I am not mistaken
Fitch is at 500
Canfield is at 284
Ursuline is the smallest team in D-III around 27X I think
Steubenville is the largest team in D-IV around 27X also
Hubbard is at 271
Niles is at 264
Of late Fitch has double the number of boys Canfield has, while Canfield has typically 10-20 more boys than the schools in the area that are a division below them. Fitch is normally in the 500-550 range, and Canfield is normally in the 275-300 range. Other area teams like Niles, Hubbard, Salem et al are normally in the 275-250 range.
Fitch is at 500
Canfield is at 284
Ursuline is the smallest team in D-III around 27X I think
Steubenville is the largest team in D-IV around 27X also
Hubbard is at 271
Niles is at 264
Of late Fitch has double the number of boys Canfield has, while Canfield has typically 10-20 more boys than the schools in the area that are a division below them. Fitch is normally in the 500-550 range, and Canfield is normally in the 275-300 range. Other area teams like Niles, Hubbard, Salem et al are normally in the 275-250 range.
I didn't know Canfield was that small. I still say Canfield seems to be the team to beat. They have a great turnout on their team, and they have been getting many division one players. I guess it makes sense that Canfield would not play Fitch on a regular basis. But I would really like to get a shot at them. Losing to Canfield no matter how good they are upsets most Falcon fans.
simkon
Well-known member
In 2003 when Canfield played Fitch, Fitch actually had well over double the number of boys Canfield had at that time. Fitch was middle of the road in D-I, and Canfield was one of the smallest D-II schools, and was D-III the previous cycle.
There is a big difference in enrollment between an average D-II school and a small D-III school. Dover on the other hand has been back and forth between the divisions of late and would be a lot more reasonable than Fitch which has over twice as many boys more often than not.
Some of the largest D-III schools such as Chardon, Aurora, Louisville and Dover would be more suitable opponents for Fitch to be honest.
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Louisville plays 4 D2 schools, one D1 school which is crazy but is still better than playing Mooney and Ursuline who brought zero fans. Might as well schedule Cleveland East Tech and get the same number of computer points and same number of fans. But next year, Louisville and Canfield are back on the schedule. This game should never been cancelled.
Louisville brought one of their most talented teams to Fitch about 10 years ago and got beat by an average Fitch team. I could agree with Canfield by not playing Fitch, but Boardman and Canfield should be played every year.
Fitch was in the right league for them when they were in the Federal league. Should have stayed there.
330Football
Well-known member
If you beat Ursuline you would get a lot more points then beating east tech, unless you’re talking about that game not being winnable and east tech being an easy win then I get it.
That is the point, why did Struthers schedule East and not Ursuline?
If Struthers wanted an opponent that would be a good challenge they would at lease want to see fans at the game $$$. If I was AD it would be Boardman before Ursuline
330Football
Well-known member
Struthers didnt schedule Ursuline probabky because they took a 8th grader that was really good from Struthers last season. Struthers would sign any public school over Mooney and Ursuline solely based on them showing up at junior high games looking at our players
Maxie
🏈 2023 State Champions——16-0
No way. AF made the right decision in leaving the Stark County based Fed League. Actually, the Falcons should never have joined that league in the first place. The costs for participating in an All-Sports conference became cost prohibitive.