by A game that featured a beautiful sunset, multiple goal line fumbles, and an abundance of penalties resulted in a 35-3 win for Austintown Fitch over Strongsville tonight.
This game was strange in many different ways.
Austintown Fitch started with the ball, where they handed it off to RB Jamell James who channeled his inner Derrick Henry by evading multiple tacklers on a 31 yard gain. However, the offense would stall in the red zone. After a mad scramble that resulted in a 7 yard loss and an incompletion from QB Deshawn Vaughn, the Falcons turned the ball over on downs. The Mustangs quickly went three-and-out on their first drive.
This is when flags came into play, where you could make a serious case for renaming this game the ‘Laundry Bowl’. The Mustangs had a first down run that was wiped by a holding penalty. They were able to get first down yardage again, but the yellow flag came out once again on another holding penalty. Despite getting closer to the sticks on the next play, the 20 yards of penalties proved to be too much for the Falcons on that drive, resulting in their second turnover on downs of the quarter.
The Mustangs didn’t want to feel left out, so they turned the ball over on downs as well on a missed field goal by Bradley Whitecar. Towards the end of the first quarter, the Falcon offense finally started to come alive. Receiver Dan Evans III hauled in back to back to back catches for 12, 12, and 19 yards respectively. Deshaun Vaughn continued that momentum, as he delivered a 21 yard strike to Dominic Perry for the first points of the game. 7-0 Austintown Fitch.
The first quarter concluded with more laundry being thrown on the field, as a holding penalty by strongsville was immediately followed by a pass interference call against Austintown Fitch.
Mustang QB Nolan Beard threw a perfect sideline pass to Storm Miller to get Strongsville inside the 7 yard line. They then settled for a 38 yard field goal from Whitecar to cut the deficit to 7-3.
The Falcons’ first drive of the second quarter started strong. Deshawn Vaughn hit one of the most beautiful spin moves you will ever see, and took the ball 41 yards on a QB scamper. The very next play resulted in another big gain, as Jamell James powered through the defense for a 28 yard run to set up first and goal for the Falcons.
Remember what they say, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
That Falcons’ drive did not end well, as Vaughn fumbled the snap and the ball was picked up by David Haikam of the Mustangs. Strongsville couldn’t feed off the momentum of the fumble recovery, as their offense stalled out on their next drive. When the Falcons got the ball back, they had yet another 1st down called back due to holding. What followed was another holding penalty to affirm the notion of a ‘Laundry Bowl’. Despite being 28 yards from the first down, they were able to convert on a 23 yard QB scramble by Vaughn. Austintown Fitch was able to get the ball on the goal line once again. After a game stoppage due to vomit on the field, the Falcons did the improbable. They managed to fumble the ball on the goal line once again, but this time it was Mustang defender Devin Boyle.
The Mustangs wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead late in the second quarter when Nolan Beard threw an interception to none other than his opposing quarterback Deshawn Vaughn, who ran an extra 30 yards on the pick. The Falcons were finally able to capitalize as Vaughn threw a dime to common target Dan Evans III to make it a 14-3 lead.
All of this happened in the first half of play.
The second half was more of the same story regarding penalties, as both teams amassed over 10 penalties. The Mustangs had an opportunity to get a key stop on 3rd and 11, but the Falcons had other plans. Vaughn found Cam Smith for a 23 yard score to extend the lead to 21-3.
The start of the fourth quarter was highlighted by a 13 yard punt, which gave the Falcons beautiful field position. Dan Evans found the endzone once again, this time on the ground after he took a pitch 12 yards to the endzone. This extended the lead to 28-3 (Hey Atlanta!). Not much went right for the Mustang offense, as shown by a 53 yard catch by JJ Pleasant that resulted in a fumble in the endzone and gave the ball back to the Falcons. DJ Williams added insult to injury with a 6 yard touchdown run to make it 35-3.
Player of the Game
I think 2 players deserve this honor tonight. Austintown Finch receiver Dan Evans III gets the first nod with 8 catches for 87 yards and 3 total touchdowns. The other nod goes to QB Deshawn Vaughn, who finished the night with 139 yards and 2 passing touchdowns, while also showing off his elusive speed totaling 7 carries for 102 yards.
