HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEW Saturday football

URSULINE vs. FITCH
When: 7:30.
Where: Stambaugh Stadium.
Austintown Fitch (1-5, 0-1) scouting report: The Falcons played well against Warren Harding, trailing only 14-13 before losing by eight points. The coaching staff was encouraged by the overall execution. Fitch's defensive front line of noseman Travis Beckett, Ts Lloyd Greenwalt & amp; Pat Bokesch and Es Jeff Koval & amp; Chris Bowmaster played well. Offensively, the Falcons lined up in various sets out of the I formation, featuring skill players QB Steve Burnich, FB Ray Betts, TB Davanzo Tate, TE Robert Hill and WRs Ross Watson, Miles Williams & amp; Dajwan Stubbs.
The coach says: "Did we turn the corner in the Harding game? No. We still lost, but we played well. We were more competitive and showed a lot more emotion. After looking at film, we saw that we had an opportunity to win. So we're not satisfied by any stretch of the imagination. Ursuline's offense possesses team speed and tremendous skill players. It's tough to match up with them; you start by figuring how to contend with their speed. We played on turf at Massillon, but it didn't have a huge impact. YSU isn't an easy place for a visitor to play." -- Carl Pelini.
Ursuline (5-1, 1-1) scouting report: This year's scenario is similar to last season when Fitch was playing well and the Irish were coming off a 28-0 win over Mooney. Now, Ursuline is coming off a 39-6 win over Mooney and Fitch is playing with determination. Occupying the Irish backfield will be QB Darryl Clark, TBs Terrence Graves and Delbert Ferguson and FB John Angelo. Freshman Brad Turnbull may replace FB Brandon Brown who has mononucleosis.
The coach says: "Hopefully, we'll be better focused this year and have a better week of preparation. We've got to be able to stop Burnich, Betts and Tate and their receivers [Stubbs, Watson, Williams]. We'd like get them in third-and-long situations to put pressure on them. Offensively, we can't just pound away at them; we've got to mix it up and catch them off guard at some point." -- Jim Vivo.
Radio: WNIO-AM 1390.
SOUTH RANGE vs.LOWELLVILLE
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Lowellville Stadium.
South Range (6-0, 3-0) scouting report: The Raiders have a strong backfield with seniors Brad Johnson and Jeff Johnston. They combined for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the team's 41-0 victory over Springfield last week. Senior QB Jim Sanders completed 12-of-15 passes for 142 yards while throwing and running for a touchdown. The Raiders' defense has surrendered 19 total points, six in the Inter-County League. South Range is plus-20 in their turnover ratio and have committed just two turnovers this season. Chad Manchester has three interceptions and five other players have two, including Jason King, who has four fumble recoveries and two blocked punts.
The coach says: "The whole defense has been playing super as a team. It's a lot like the '96 team in that we have a huge turnover margin. Jason King has been playing really well defensively but it's so hard to talk about one or two of them with everyone playing so well. Lowellville has a great team and their skill people are unbelievable. I expect them to come at us and mix it up on offense and attack us defensively with some blitz packages and try to stop us with their base." -- Dan Yeagley
Lowellville (5-1, 3-0) scouting report: The Rockets have won five straight games after starting the season with a loss to Crestview. They also started 5-1 last season before finishing 6-4. One of the keys in 2001 has been their offensive balance. The ground game has produced 1,600 yards, with the leader being junior Andy Peterson with 580. Junior QB Mike Palumbo has passed for 387 yards and six touchdowns while adding 300 yards and two touchdowns rushing. Also figuring in the Rockets' attack is senior WR Autumn Axel, junior TE Anthony Donatelli and sophomore TB Jeff Peterson. Lowellville won 49-12 over Mathews last week. This is Lowellville's homecoming game.
The coach says: "The kids are real excited. We have five wins in a row, and the kids believe good things can happen because we beat McDonald [to start the ICL season], which Lowellville hasn't had a lot of success against in the past. We've been getting our offense going in the last couple of weeks." On South Range, "They put up a lot of points and they're real opportunistic. They wait for teams to make a mistake. They've only given up 19 points all year. We need to move the ball on them and maybe get a couple of turnovers." -- John Protopapa.
-- Vindicator staff reports