Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Austintown Fitch quarterback DeShawn Vaughn Jr. runs from a group of Massillon defenders Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium.

MASSILLON — For what it was, the duel between the Austintown Fitch and Massillon Washington ended up being the type of battle that one would expect from two of the best Division II teams in the state.

When the clocks on the sizeable south end scoreboard displayed nothing but zeros, the Tigers walked off the turf at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium with a 49-28 victory over the Falcons.

It’s the first loss of the season for Austintown Fitch. After the contest, Falcons coach TJ Parker felt his team learned a thing or two on a brisk, but comfortable autumn evening.

“We got taught a hard lesson tonight,” said Parker. “Offensively, some pressure situations, we kinda fumbled the ball, and then defensively they just pushed us around and moved us off the ball. We had no answer for it all night. Disappointing, but this is a game where we have to learn from. This is why we play this game and this is why I said it was perfect in the middle of the season.

“They’re special in the box. I think they mixed it up on the outside when they were pressuring and when they were dropping. Early, we were second-guessing ourselves and weren’t playing fast and confident.”

Tigers senior Willtrell Hartson started the scoring on the first Massillon drive, later finding paydirt again midway through the second quarter. He’s ended his evening with four touchdowns and 287 rushing yards.

Down 7-0, Austintown was driving and Parker called a timeout with 4:03 to go in the first at the Falcons 45-yard line on third and fourth to rally his players and bring them together.

What was said worked as junior quarterback DeShawn Vaughn Jr. rolled to his right and found senior wideout Jayden Eley near the Tigers sideline.

Eley shook his defenders and ran with nothing but open space in front of him for a Falcons score.

“Early, we didn’t feel like we were lined up as good as we should and we were unsure if we really got the right call,” Parker said about the timeout. “So we called it, we knew it was crucial there, especially when we were backed up. Got what we wanted, and DeShawn and Jayden Eley made a play, and they kinda did that all night for us.”

Down 21-7 Vaughn scored from seven yards out, but a botched point after attempt on a bad snap forced Fitch (5-1) to walk away with only six points very late in the first half after driving down the field in just 1:11.

Following an onside-kick attempt to start the second half by Fitch, Massillon would eventually command a 28-13 edge heading into the fourth.

Late scores included a 56-yard touchdown reception by Dom Perry and a 10-yard score by Jamell James from Vaughn. The tale of the game came down to Austintown’s inability to run the ball, as DJ Williams and James have normally been the Falcons’ bread and butter.

Massillon (5-1) outran Austintown 406-49.

“Don’t get me wrong Willtrell is special, but I think it was more of that offensive line and what they were doing,” Parker explained. “Willtrell won his fair share of one on ones, he did do that and made some special plays. He’s a special player and we knew that, but there was times that we had him bottled up and he made his plays and there were times we had him bottled up and we kept him bottled up.

“What you saw throughout the game was their push up front and they moved us. They beat us up quite simply, to be blunt they beat us up and pushed the ball and we learned a hard lesson tonight.”

Vaugnh Jr. tallied 266 yards through the air for three touchdowns and an interpcetion on defense. Eley hauled in 143 yards on six catches along with his score. Davion Pritchard added a first half interception.

“The kid is a complete warrior,” Parker said of Vaughn. “I think early that first bubble screen they blitzed really kinda threw him off. It just threw him off of his run and read keys in our offense.

“After he got the jitterbugs out, he got back to his gutsy self and started to make some plays. I thought offensively we kept battling. They took things away, that’s a very good box we went against.”

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