Week 4: Austintown Fitch (3-0) vs Ursuline (3-0)

Should be the game of the week or maybe even the year in the Youngstown area! Is this game on Friday or Saturday?
 
1943 Game #2 "on a warm September autumn afternoon" in Austintown at the height of WW2. It was the lid lifter for both and won by the Irish 25-0. They wouldn't meet again until 1969 when the Irish (and another school) left the City Series for the Steel Valley Conference.
 

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This looks like it can be a classic matchup. After watching some of the highlights of the Farrell game, it looks like Ursuline may have some trouble with speed. That is one thing Fitch has a lot of. How ever, Ursuline is pretty big, and if they want to, they may be able to pound it out down the field and take time off the clock and keep Fitch's offense off the field. I'm pretty sure I'm going to head over to YSU for the game. Unfortunately, I will be sitting with Ursuline fans, so I may have to take a lot of abuse. But all I have to say is, "In Parker we trust."
 
falguin said:
This looks like it can be a classic matchup. After watching some of the highlights of the Farrell game, it looks like Ursuline may have some trouble with speed. That is one thing Fitch has a lot of. How ever, Ursuline is pretty big, and if they want to, they may be able to pound it out down the field and take time off the clock and keep Fitch's offense off the field. I'm pretty sure I'm going to head over to YSU for the game. Unfortunately, I will be sitting with Ursuline fans, so I may have to take a lot of abuse. But all I have to say is, "In Parker we trust."
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The way Ursuline's offense operates, I don't see them chewing up the clock. They can score quickly and usually run a lot of plays without using up much of the play clock. Could have a repeat of last year's high scoring affair. Weather looks good!
 
After seeing Fitch play two weeks ago, I came away impressed. That QB they graduated last year was pretty good, but they were dynamic and have the ability to jump on opponents quick with all of their athleticism. I think Fitch wins by 17-21
 
falguin said:
I disagree. Ursuline has a lot of good talent and a good coach. They will be ready. I give the edge to Fitch because I think our defense is better, but we have not encountered an offense like Ursuline's. This is going to be a really tough game.
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URSULINE HAS NOT PLAYED A TOUGH SCHEDULE:
D6 BROOKFIELD 2-1
D3 PADUA FRANCISCAN 0-3
D7 FARRELL 40-38

FITCH HAS PLAYED A SOMEWHAT TOUGHER SCHEDULE, BUT NOT A BACKBREAKER.
FOOTHILL D1, PUPS D1, GLENOAK D1.
FITCH BY 10-14 POINTS.
 
Cinciirish said:
According to the Vindy, Reardon knew that Farrell had the potential to beat his team. The outcome was no surprise to the Irish coaching staff. But Fitch is a horse of another color. The Falcons are right up there with the likes of St. X, Iggy, St. Ed's, Big Red, Elder, etc. who face a great challenge year in and year out in filling a schedule. That speaks spades. (One year, a while back, Fitch played St. Edward twice.)
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I wouldn’t go that far. I think all of the former SVC schools (Fitch, Ursuline, Harding, Boardman, and Mooney) all have some level of difficulty scheduling because most schools in The Valley are smaller and (traditionally) won’t play them, though that’s starting to change just a little. However, ever since the parochial schools (not named “Iggy”) started winning state titles this century, they started filling their schedules with a decent amount of out-of-state powerhouses. Even Steubenville tends to play strong OOS competition, but their issues are likely more similar to the old SVC teams’ as they’re the undisputed kings of their area.

There was a time when Harding had to load up their schedule similar to the GCL teams, but from the outside looking in, I don’t see Fitch’s scheduling issues being quite as extreme. However, I’m hearing that this year’s squad may turn out to be one of their (if not THEE) best teams ever. Time will tell!
 
Should be a great matchup Ursuline has the valleys best OL need to control the game and keep it away from Fitch, I think it’s a toss up
 
Two very good teams. However, I think Fitch has the edge. While both have explosive Os, I expect the difference to be Fitch D, which is no slouch. I’ll take Fitch, 28-21.
 
750WickAve said:
Contrary to the belief in this sub, it was Ursuline's special teams (specifically their kickoff cover team), not their defense, that was getting gashed. Farrell scored two of their touchdowns on kick returns, with a third getting called back. They need to figure that out before Friday's game.
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I’m guessing that after that game, we’ll see nothing but squib kicks from Ursuline this week and I’m almost certain we’ll also see an onside kick from them as well. Have a sneaky suspicion that this will happen.
 
garydaddy1 said:
URSULINE HAS NOT PLAYED A TOUGH SCHEDULE:
D6 BROOKFIELD 2-1
D3 PADUA FRANCISCAN 0-3
D7 FARRELL 40-38

FITCH HAS PLAYED A SOMEWHAT TOUGHER SCHEDULE, BUT NOT A BACKBREAKER.
FOOTHILL D1, PUPS D1, GLENOAK D1.
FITCH BY 10-14 POINTS.
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If Farrell was a D7 team in Ohio, they would win it all every year with a running clock. Calling them a D7 school is disrespectful and downright wrong.
 
750WickAve said:
Contrary to the belief in this sub, it was Ursuline's special teams (specifically their kickoff cover team), not their defense, that was getting gashed. Farrell scored two of their touchdowns on kick returns, with a third getting called back. They need to figure that out before Friday's game.
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Unlike last year, where the defense was blown off the ball by everybody, the Farrell game looked more like bad tackling, slow pursuit, and terrible angles. Way too many losses or minimal games that turned into touchdowns because the boys let up. I think Fitch is probably the favorite here, TJ has done a great job with building the culture over there. Kids and parents are really buying in and the community is buzzing, and that's great to see. I think we will be fired up this week, so I'm taking my boys in a (minor) upset. ;)

Go Irish!
 
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