Football Preview: Harding Raiders vs. Austintown-Fitch Falcons
Harding and Austintown-Fitch are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2017, but not for long. The Harding Raiders will face off against the Austintown-Fitch Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Harding is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They claimed a resounding 37-0 win over John Hay. The Raiders' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Chaz Coleman went supernova for Harding, throwing for 112 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes, and also rushing for 88 yards on only seven carries. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 50 yards. Marcus Crum was in the mix as well, providing Harding with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, everything went Austintown-Fitch's way against Mayfield on Friday as Austintown-Fitch made off with a 31-7 victory. The Falcons might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 24 points or more this season.
Harding is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. Those victories were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 14.3 points per game. As for Austintown-Fitch, their win bumped their record up to 8-3.
Harding strolled past Austintown-Fitch in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a score of 35-21. Does Harding have another victory up their sleeve, or will Austintown-Fitch turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
