Tag: Kent Sanborn

Mission 15, All In: Fighting Tigers to play for state title

Kirtland vs Ironton

Fighting Tigers to play for state title

It’s Ironton vs. Kirtland for D-V trophy

By Paul Boggs

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn 

 

IRONTON — They say to save your best for last.

Well, Ironton Fighting Tigers, here is your last game for the 2019 football season — so make it your best one yet.

Because, if Ironton indeed does play its best game in this the Fighting Tigers’ 15th and final for the year, the Orange and Black will officially be back as a three-time state champion.

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In THE final football game for the Ohio High School Athletic Association in 2019, the 13-1 Fighting Tigers take on undefeated and powerhouse Kirtland (14-0) in the Division V state championship tilt — set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. inside spectacular Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

All seven state championships will be televised live on Spectrum News 1, and be broadcast along the OHSAA Radio Network to its 63 affiliates statewide.

That’s right.

Ironton and Kirtland cap off the season with a state title on the line, which would be the Fighting Tigers’ third all-time — along with championships in 1979 and 1989.

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The Fighting Tigers are playing in their ninth all-time state title bout, as they have been the runners-up six times (1973, 1982, 1988, 1992, 1993 and 1999)— the last of which was the controversial 16-14 loss in 1999 to Sandusky Perkins.

That season was the first for the OHSAA’s expanded playoffs, which remains in place today with eight teams in each region qualifying for the postseason.

Speaking of eight teams, Ironton and Kirtland were the top-seeded squads in their respective regions, as Ironton won its 12th all-time regional title by taking Region 19 — while the Hornets, a four-time state champion (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018) and three-time state runner-up (2012, 2014 and 2017) and all within the past decade, swept through Region 17.

In fact, the Hornets have the longest current active winning streak in the entire state of ANY school — having won 29 consecutive contests dating back to the 2017 Division VI state championship game against Marion Local.

Kirtland — last season’s Division VI state champion but moved back up to Division V this year — was also the Division V Associated Press poll champion, having been voted as the top-ranked team in all seven of the weekly polls.

Ironton, in that same poll, appeared all seven times as well — and ended up finishing fifth on the list.

But this week, polls — and past and recent history — don’t matter.

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The Fighting Tigers, as head coach Trevon Pendleton completes his second season, are excited about the opportunity to finish what they started — which is hashtagged as #Mission15.

If Ironton wins on Saturday night, not only do the Fighting Tigers take back home a third state championship, but also their 50th all-time tournament triumph.

Head Coach Trevon Pendleton

Current Team
Ironton
Past Teams
Portsmouth West
“We’re trying to treat it just as any other week, but our kids understand what’s at stake. They are looking forward to it. It’s an exciting experience that very few people ever get to experience and they are taking it all in. But at the same time, they are not getting caught up in the glitz and glamour of it,” said Pendleton, in an interview on Tuesday inside historic Tanks Memorial Stadium in Ironton. “At the end of the day, they know they have to play a football game, and they are looking forward to that more than anything. If your kids aren’t amped-up for this, they are not going to be amped-up for anything.”

The Fighting Tigers, truth be told, had in Pendleton’s own words “Kirtland on the clock” following the 49-21 state semifinal steamrolling of West Jefferson.

Ironton is on a roll with its winning streak now at 10 — its only loss a 16-10 overtime defeat at archrival Ashland (Ky.) on Sept. 20.

At the time, Pendleton said that setback “might be the best thing to happen” to his Fighting Tigers — and it’s been hard to argue against since.

If anything, Ironton is in fact playing its best football for the season, especially the last two weeks — with wins over Ridgewood (24-14) in the Region 19 championship and West Jefferson (49-21) in the state semi.

Pendleton pointed that out, and said that the Fighting Tigers are in a rhythm and a routine — now having played Saturday night games for four weeks straight going on five.

“Playing this game Saturday night keeps us in the same routine and we don’t have to change up a ton of things. The kids are comfortable with it because we’ve done it for the last month. It definitely helps. And I still don’t think we’ve played our best game or our most complete football game yet,” said Pendleton. “We’ve played well in the playoffs, probably played our best two games so far the last two weeks, but we’re still looking forward to playing our best game. Hopefully, everything comes together and the stars align this week and we are able to accomplish that. I think the sky is the limit for this football team, I really do.”

The sky might be the limit, but don’t expect to see — if both clubs are left to their own devices — too many footballs flying through the air.

The Hornets especially almost exclusively run the football 45 times or more per game, and although they graduated a large offensive line last year and are nowhere near as big this season, they are very quick and aggressive.

Ironton has played primarily running teams in Amanda-Clearcreek (Region 19 semifinals) and West Jefferson (state semifinal), but nothing like these run-heavy Hornets.

The Hornets had just three starters return off last year’s state title team, but 21 letterwinners returned, despite the program’s moveup back to Division V for the first time since 2012.

Kirtland averages 41 points per game, along with 321 yards and a seven-and-a-half yards per carry average.

The top two Hornet runners are Mason Sullivan (6-1, 193, Jr.) and Luke Gardner (5-9, 176, Sr.), as Sullivan is two yards shy of exactly 1,800 on 216 carries — with 30 touchdowns and an average yards per carry of 8.3.

Gardner has scored 23 times with an 11.2 yards per carry average, rushing 137 times for 1,535 yards.

The quarterback is Liam Powers (5-10, 180, Jr.), who has rushed 54 times for 249 yards — having completed 34 passes on 58 attempts for 721 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Hornets, however, hang their hat with the ground-and-pound attack — despite facing eight or even nine-man boxes all year.

Sullivan and Gardner were named Division V first team and third team all-Ohio running backs respectively, while the leading linemen are first-teamer Mike Alfieri (6-0, 225, Sr.) and second-teamer Kristian Grman (5-7, 201, Jr.).

“They definitely love to run the football. They are comfortable with taking three or four or five yards and just chewing up the clock and playing real good defense,” said Pendleton. “They run double-wing or stacked-I, and they do a lot of gap-schemes where they down-block a lot. They like to run some tosses too, but they pin and pull on those.”

Pendleton said scheme-wise the Hornets are similar to Chesapeake, but Kirtland is also similar to Ironton “in a lot of regards”.

“They are not overly big, but they have a lot of kids that are scrappy and get after it,” he said. “They are quick and athletic, and a lot of their kids wrestle, so they are going to be strong kids. You can tell in their bodies and physiques and the way that they move that’s the type of kids that they are. It’s not the biggest line we’ve seen, but we haven’t been the biggest line in every game this year either. When you get to this level, there’s no surprises. You are going to be playing teams that are physical, take care of the football and tackle well. You’re playing a good football team no matter what.”

The Fighting Tigers have definitely taken on a run-first identity throughout the playoffs, having rushed for at least 45 times and at least 270 yards in each of the last three games.

They attempted 57 rushes against Amanda-Clearcreek, while amassing 403 rushing yards against West Jefferson.

#
28
Name
Reid Carrico
Position
2021
Height
6-03
Weight
225
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020
Reid Carrico, of course, has been the 1,545-yard featured back — going off for 234 yards on 18 carries in the state semifinal, two of which were touchdown runs of 70 and 72 yards.

Carrico has carried 179 times and scored 25 touchdowns, and is also the leading receiver with 17 receptions for 372 yards and four scores.

Both Ironton and Kirtland’s defenses are two of the best in the entire state, as the Hornets have allowed just 86 points all season — an average of just six which includes seven regular-season shutouts.

Pendleton said the Hornets show several defensive fronts — from five-men to four-men to three-men “with a 30-stack look”.

“They give you a lot of looks and bring a lot of different pressures. But our guys have handled a lot of different fronts this year. I mean I think we’ve faced about every front you can imagine,” said the coach. “We’ve been able to adjust and handle it pretty well, and our depth up front helps us. We go about seven or eight guys deep, and we’re able to wear on teams and our guys are in really good shape. They love to assert themselves and grind out a game and take over a game late.”

Ironton, on the other hand, has had only four games all season in which its talented and highly-touted first-team unit has allowed more than one touchdown.

One was at Ashland, with two others occurring against Ridgewood and West Jefferson, as the Tigers have given up just 104 points all year.

The Hornets had four defensive players named to the Division V all-Ohio top three teams — first-team linebacker Kaleb Stephenson (6-3, 165, Sr.), second-team lineman Mike Rus (5-9, 165, Sr.), second-team linebacker Louie Loncar (5-11, 200, Sr.) and third-team defensive back Joey Grazia (5-10, 155, Sr.).

The Fighting Tigers’ defense is anchored by the six-foot, three-inch, 225-pound inside linebacker Carrico, who was named on Monday as the all-Ohio Division V Defensive Player of the Year.

Joining him are first-team lineman Seth Fosson (6-1, 235, Sr.), third-team lineman Junior Jones (6-0, 240, Sr.) and defensive back Gage Salyers (6-1, 205, Sr.), who actually made the all-Ohio squad as a second-team quarterback.

#
44
Name
Seth Fosson
Position
2020
Height
6-01
Weight
235
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
#
2
Name
Junior Jones
Position
2020
Height
6-00
Weight
240
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
#
7
Name
Gage Salyers
Position
2020
Height
6-01
Weight
205
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

For old-school football enthusiasts, and on an anticipated cold night in Canton, it’s the perfect formula for winning a championship — run the football and play outstanding defense.

Ironton, in fact, has not allowed more than 21 points in any game all season — and it might take the first team to hit 21 to be the winner.

If Ironton lacks an advantage, it’s obviously the lack of experience — compared to Kirtland — of even playing, let alone winning, beyond the regional quarterfinals in the past decade-plus.

The regional championship was Ironton’s initial appearance of playing in the Elite Eight since 2009 and 2010, as the Hornets are playing in their eighth state final in the past nine years — with only 2016 ending up as regional runner-up.

Since the start of the 2006 season, only in 2009 did the Hornets fail to make the playoffs, as they were regional runners-up in 2008 and 2010 — prior to their only Division V state championship and runner-up effort in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Still, what matters is what happens on Saturday night — from field position to turnovers and penalties and overall execution.

“It’s a matter of what we can take care of. If we can come out and play the best football game that we can play, we’re going to be just fine,” said Pendleton. “You’re dealing with two very good football teams that are playing at very high levels. We’ve faced good teams all year, and our kids have just been comfortable in these big games and environments all year.”

Now, it’s up to the Fighting Tigers to save their best for last.

An Ironton triumph would mean a second Division V state championship for the Southeast District in the past three seasons, as Wheelersburg won it all two years ago — defeating Pemberville Eastwood 21-14 in overtime to capture that crown.

“We’re going to leave it all out there. You go home as a champion or a runner-up. Anything that we have at our disposal, we’re going to use,” said Pendleton. “We’re going to play 48 minutes of extremely hard and disciplined football. We have a great group of kids that have done everything we’ve asked of them. It’s great to see them reap the benefits of that. It’s going to be hard, win or lose on Saturday night, to see it end. Hopefully, we make more plays and score more points than Kirtland does and can bring home a gold championship trophy.”

2019 Fighting Tigers

2019 Road to Canton
30 - 6
SEO
2019
Ironton

Ironton vs Wheelersburg

10 - 0
SEO
2019
Ironton

Ironton vs Russell KY

49 - 7
OVC
2019
Ironton

Ironton vs Fairland

16 - 10
SEO
2019
Ashland KY

Ashland KY vs Ironton

2 - 38
OVC
2019
South Point

South Point vs Ironton

6 - 50
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2019
Chesapeake

Chesapeake vs Ironton

46 - 0
OVC
2019
Ironton

Ironton vs Rock Hill

12 - 49
OVC
2019
Coal Grove

Coal Grove vs Ironton

0 - 52
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2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Ironton

48 - 7
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2019
Ironton

Ironton vs Portsmouth

56 - 6
Playoffs
2019

Ironton vs Wellston

31 - 7
Playoffs
2019

Ironton vs Amanda CC

24 - 14
Playoffs
2019

Ironton vs Ridgewood

49 - 21
Playoffs
2019

Ironton vs West Jefferson

17 - 7
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Canton

Kirtland vs Ironton

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Final Four, Fighting Tigers face Roughriders in state semi

Ironton in D-5’s Final 4
Fighting Tigers face Roughriders in state semi

By Paul Boggs

Photos by Kent Sanborn

Ironton vs West Jefferson

IRONTON — Once again, although for the first time in two decades, the Ironton Fighting Tigers — yes that famed Fighting Tiger Orange and Black — are practicing football on Black Friday.

But to them, there’s only one ultimate early Christmas gift.

That is the Fighting Tigers still playing actual, and official, Ohio High School Athletic Association football games on the final day of November — and into December.

One of those goals in Ironton’s ultimate mission has been met — that being the Fighting Tigers captured their first regional championship in the sport since 1999.

The other, of course, can be accomplished and checked off the “rain-bucket” list on Saturday night — when Ironton (12-1) and the fellow 12-1 West Jefferson Roughriders square off in one of two Division V state semifinals, which is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff inside Herrnstein Field in Chillicothe.

Ironton — after its 24-14 victory over previously-undefeated Ridgewood — is the Region 19 champion, while West Jefferson — after avenging its only loss of the season — is the champion of Region 20.

For the Fighting Tigers (48-32 all-time in playoffs), a win over the Roughriders means their first appearance in a state championship game since 1999 — and their would-be ninth overall as they have two titles in 1979 and 1989.

The Fighting Tigers-Roughriders winner will meet the winner of the other Division V state semifinal — which features a battle of undefeateds in Oak Harbor (13-0) and Kirtland (13-0).

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While that semi in Strongsville occupies the attention of northern Ohio, all eyes of the Southeast and Central Districts in Division V will be on Chillicothe — and two of the most proud and tradition-rich programs in all of the Buckeye State.

In an interview on Tuesday, at historic Tanks Memorial Stadium in Ironton, second-year Fighting Tiger coach Trevon Pendleton summarized his club’s journey to the Final Four.

Only a 16-10 overtime loss at arch-rival Ashland has prevented a perfect season, but Ironton opened by rolling rival Wheelersburg and defeating the Pirates for the first time since 2012 — a stretch that included two playoff tilts.

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The Fighting Tigers tore through the Ohio Valley Conference, then won over Wellston (Region 19 quarterfinals), Amanda-Clearcreek (Region 19 semifinals) and Ridgewood (Region 19 finals) en route to this state semi.

Pendleton, prior to Tuesday’s practice and two days prior to Thanksgiving Day, was a man counting his blessings.

Head Coach Trevon Pendleton

Current Team
Ironton
Past Teams
Portsmouth West
“It sounds like a year’s worth of hard work,” he said. “Our kids, going all the way back to the off-season, have put in the time and effort to make this dream of theirs become a reality. We’re truly thankful for all the work our kids have put in. Our coaching staff puts in long hours, and I know I say this every week, but I am so thankful for all of my assistants. We’re 14 weeks into this thing now, and our kids are still loving and wanting to play football as if it’s week one. It’s refreshing to see a group of kids come through like this. It starts with our team leadership and just trickles right down throughout the entire team. It’s exciting, our kids are really enjoying the moment and it’s a special group to be a part of.”

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Speaking of special groups, the Fighting Tiger first-team defense has allowed only 83 points all season, surrendered more than one touchdown in a game only three times, and grounded Ridgewood to only 225 total yards and 14 points.

As guessed, those were season-lows for the Generals, given they averaged almost 50 points and 450 yards per game prior to the regional final. Spearheaded by its talented and highly-touted line putting pressure on General quarterback Gabe Tingle, the East District Co-Offensive Player of the Year, the Tigers’ defense only allowed 145 yards of total offense — after Ridgewood scored on its opening series.

“Ironton is very good, especially defensively. Exceptional actually. They are extremely physical and the best thing they do is run to the football,” said West Jefferson coach Shawn Buescher. “I’m very impressed with their front. They get after the ball. They are relentless in their pursuit. Their linebackers seem to be very good. Their back half of the defense does an excellent job in the passing game, so they are everything you’d think they’d be in a great defense.”

Pendleton praised his defense — anchored by the Southeast District Division V Defensive Player of the Year in inside linebacker Reid Carrico, who has verbally committed to Ohio State.

He and fellow junior linebacker Cameron Deere were first-team all-Southeast District defensive players, as were senior linemen Seth Fosson (end) and Junior Jones (tackle).

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Ironton is allowing an average of only 108 rushing yards per game, and an even better 76 yards passing per game.
The Fighting Tigers have 15 interceptions, paced by safety Gage Salyers with four — as Salyers is a first-team all-district quarterback who was also strongly considered for that list as a defensive back.

Include the likes of junior ends Gunnar Crawford and Dalton Crabtree, defensive tackle Nate Cochran, and senior cover corners Collin Freeman and Jordan Grizzle — and Ironton offers an iron wall against its opponents.

The Generals presented the toughest test to the Fighting Tigers to date, and Ironton almost aced that exam with close to flying colors.
“It’s about being physical, but also being aggressive but disciplined, and everyone understanding leverage and where they fit it and getting multiple hats to the football,” said Pendleton. “Last week, we did a very good job of being disciplined and aggressive. It was a testament to the many hours we spend in the film room. Then understanding who we are playing and what we like to take away.”

What West Jefferson will do, said Pendleton — despite Buescher’s son and sophomore quarterback Tyler Buescher (5-11, 150 pounds) throwing for 32 touchdowns and 2,635 yards on 145-of-196 passing for a 74-percent completion rate — is run the ball.

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The Fighting Tigers have yet to see an offensive line of the Roughriders’ size, as West Jefferson sports five seniors up front — with only left tackle Josh Hart (6-2, 250) not weighing at least 285-to-290 pounds.

“We start five seniors on the offensive line, and we’ve been very good up front which allows us to run the football at a high level,” said Coach Buescher. “We’ve been most successful in our playoff run here because we’ve been able to run behind our offensive line.”
Carrying the football has been 5-11, 175-pound senior running back Gabe Jones — who has amassed an eye-popping and jaw-dropping 2,606 yards and 39 touchdowns on 246 carries.

That’s good for almost 11 (10.6) yards per carry, as Jones — with a massive 287 yards and five touchdowns on a hefty 29 attempts — and the Roughriders ran roughshod over West Liberty-Salem in the Region 20 final.

West Jefferson pitched a 34-0 blowout shutout in that regional championship, and avenged its only defeat— a 42-39 shootout loss at West Liberty-Salem on Oct. 18.

Jones also has 21 receptions and six scores for 445 yards out of the backfield, as the Roughriders’ receiving leaders are juniors Tyler Oberle (5-10, 160) and Kyle Scott (5-10, 150).

Both Oberle and Scott have 38 receptions apiece, as Oberle has 911 yards with 11 TDs — while Scott has 602 yards and six trips to paydirt.
Pendleton said when West Jefferson does throw the ball, it’s a vertical style.

“They go some spread, but they will go double wings and try to give you a six-man or seven-man surface up front. They like to remove people out of the box, depending on what coverage they are getting. They like to run the ball and get numbers at the point of attack and use their size to their advantage,” said the coach. “They are very big up front and they like to hang their hat on running the ball. The quarterback is the coach’s son and is definitely a capable thrower. He is very good at play-action and when they throw, they like to take deep shots downfield. They try to take the lid off the coverage. We have to play disciplined and aggressive and it’s another offense that you have to stop before they can get started.”

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The coach said the same thing about Ridgewood’s offense, but said West Jefferson focuses first on running the ball — whereas Ridgewood relies more on its passing attack.

“It’s completely different (from Ridgewood). They are not a team that wants to go out and throw the ball all over the yard. They like to run the ball and run the ball downhill. Not so much East and West running as opposed to North and South,” said Pendleton. “They are good up front, they have a very good back in the (Gabe) Jones kid, and they have some playmakers.”

Both coaches also said certain downs must be won — with Pendleton pointing to first down while Buescher said the third-down battle is paramount.

“Our number-one key is winning on first down and getting them into second-and-long, not second-and-manageable. If we can accomplish that and get them off-track in their play-calling and what they want to do, I think we’re gonna have success,” said Pendleton.

“We can’t give a team like Ironton, that does a great job in the run game with several running backs that run hard and can change at the line of scrimmage so well, any extra possessions or snaps,” said Buescher. “We have to win third down and get off the field defensively and get our offense back out there. When we face third down, we need to convert and keep the ball. We have to take care of the football first, but keeping it and picking up first downs on third downs is going to be crucial in this game.”

Buescher knows a thing or two about winning, as he has been at West Jefferson for 18 seasons — having completely turned around and rebuilt the program into a stronghold after it fell on hard times in the 1990s.

He hails from Wellston originally and graduated from the University of Rio Grande, after transferring to Westfall as a senior — when Wellston was forced to resort to its infamous “pay-to-participate” football season of 1991.

He served as an assistant at Oak Hill, Chillicothe and Wellston — before taking over at West Jefferson in 2002.

The rest, as they say, is history — with the Roughriders winning eight conference championships and qualifying for the state playoffs 10 times.

Buescher is 138-71 in his 18 seasons so far, as his Roughriders from Madison County have seven regional runner-ups — and one other regional championship in 2013.

While Ironton now owns a dozen regional championships, the Region 20 title was West Jefferson’s fifth all-time (1976, 1977, 1982 and 2013)— as the Roughriders are in the playoffs for the 22nd campaign, with a record of 26-19.

The Roughriders also own two state titles — in 1976 and 1982.

Buescher has never faced Ironton, at any level, before Saturday night.

However, he holds the Fighting Tiger program and all of its rich history in the highest of regards.
The state playoffs are obviously overly-familiar for the Fighting Tigers, as their now 35 all-time appearances are tied for second-most in OHSAA history with Cincinnati Moeller.

Only Newark Catholic, with 36 including this year, leads Moeller and Ironton.

The meeting marks the first-ever between the Fighting Tigers and Roughriders.

“We are excited about competing against Ironton,” said Buescher. “Their program has so much history, has been the most visible program in Southeastern Ohio for a long time. I have a lot of respect for that program and what they have done. I’m sure their kids are excited and their staff is excited. We’re hoping to put our best foot forward. It should be an exciting night for both communities.”
There’s no doubt about that, but both teams do want to win — and advance to the state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Canton.
That said, the Fighting Tigers were still practicing football on Black Friday — with the aim of winning on the final day of November and still playing actual, and official, football the opening week of December.

“The later in the season you are playing, the higher the stakes are getting. When you are playing for championships and a chance to do something special that not a lot of people are getting to do, it’s something we’re definitely not taking for granted,” said Pendleton. “We know how hard it is to get here, and there are a lot of great teams out there not playing football right now. We’re not taking it for granted, but we’re definitely not satisfied either. You feel the energy in the town and in the kids, and they are excited to be here, but as I tell them each week the mission isn’t accomplished. We’re going to keep showing up here to work and keep after it. We’re still attacking this thing each and every day, and our goals aren’t complete yet.”

2019 Ironton Football Results

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2019 Ironton Tigers

Ironton goes retro, wins Region 19

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Ironton7140324Win
Ridgewood707014Loss

Ironton goes retro, wins Region 19

Fighting Tigers down Generals 24-14

By Paul Boggs

Photo’s  by Kent Sanborn

Also read: Pre-game and Post Game Talk Southeasternohiopreps.com 

Game Preview by Paul Boggs 

Game Photo’s by Kent Sanborn

 

NELSONVILLE — As Ironton High School football made its rise in the 1970s and 1980s, how fitting for the 2019 Fighting Tigers to go retro in winning their 12th all-time regional championship.

After all, in an age and era when the game is all about athleticism, speed and slinging the ball all around — it was actually refreshing for the Fighting Tigers to capture Saturday night’s Division V Region 19 title tilt by dominating defensively, going on a ground assault, and being super-special on special teams.

As a result, Ironton — after a two-decade drought — is playing in the Ohio High School Athletic Association state semifinals, as the Fighting Tigers rallied past previously-undefeated Ridgewood for a 24-14 victory inside a rainy but jam-packed Boston Field at Nelsonville-York High School.
Both teams are now 12-1, but indeed it is Ironton — the top seeded squad in Region 19 — advancing on to football’s Final Four for the first time since 1999.

It had been since 2009 and 2010, to be in exact, in which Ironton even advanced to the regional final — as the Tigers also prevented a General sweep of Southeast District teams en route to what would have been their second all-time regional crown.
Ironton secondyear head coach Trevon Pendleton, the former Portsmouth West High School star, said his senior class of 14 “was going to be the one” to get the Fighting Tigers’ self-professed “order restored”.

“When I got hired almost two years ago, I told these seniors that they were the ones. This was going to happen with them,” said an elated Pendleton. “It all goes back to the offseason and the things we put them through. This team has built a brotherhood and a bond. They would do anything for each other and fight like brothers for each other. This feels so good. I’m so proud of these guys and I can’t say enough about them. We’re going to go celebrate this one tonight for sure.”

But no need to party and strike up Prince’s music, the Fighting Tigers’ triumph resembled one of their many wins from the 70s and 80s.

Defensively, their talented and highly-touted line got pressure on Ridgewood standout quarterback and East District Division V Co-Offensive Player of the Year Gabe Tingle, as Tingle completed only 10-of-28 passes for 112 yards with one interception by Collin Freeman.

#
25
Name
Colin Freeman
Position
2020
Height
6-00
Weight
170
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

Tingle also rushed for 56 yards and a one-yard third-quarter touchdown plunge on 17 carries, but of Ridgewood’s 225 total yards on 56 total plays, the Fighting Tigers only allowed 145 on 44 — following the Generals’ game-opening 80-yard, dozen-play, five-minute scoring drive.
In fact, Ironton forced four General punts including three following three-and-outs, as two General drives — one inside the red zone in the final 54 seconds of the opening half and the other from the 20-yard-line to midfield inside in the second half of the final quarter — resulted in critical turnovers on downs.

The second of those was with three-and-a-half minutes remaining, and followed a massive 34-yard field goal by Avery Book that made it 24-14 with only 6:15 to play.

#
12
Name
Avery Book
Position
2020
Height
5-11
Weight
180
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

While Saturday night was only the third time all season that the Fighting Tiger first-team defensive unit had allowed more than one touchdown in any one game, the Generals — which had averaged almost 50 points and 450 yards per game — easily scored a season-low (14).

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After the game-opening drive which featured five first downs and was actually aided by an Ironton personal-foul penalty, the only other General drive of significance was its 11-play, 65-yard, four-minute march that picked up four first downs.
Tingle finished that off with his 1-yard sneak that made it 21-14 late in the third quarter, as Ridgewood — when starting in Ironton territory — only crossed midfield three times.

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The Generals also dropped four of Tingle’s passes — one of which would have likely resulted in an 83-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 Ridgewood.

“Those guys on that (defensive) side of the ball can fly around. We had a great week of practice on defense, we got into a rhythm and we maintained time of possession, which is huge in games like this. We knew if we kept their offense off the field, it would be hard for them to score. We knew if we could force four or five punts, especially on three-and-outs, that we were in a very good position,” said Pendleton. “That’s what our ultimate goal was and we were able to accomplish that. The key to success was just playing disciplined and understanding what we were trying to accomplish. We gave some things up, but we were able to take away the things they like to do. We kept the ball in front of us, rallied to the football, played with great effort and got Tingle to the ground.”

Offensively, the power base of the Fighting Tigers’ running game was on full display, as they rushed for 270 yards on exactly 50 carries, with Reid Carrico carrying 20 times for 143 yards — easily highlighted by a bull in a China shop-style 55-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.

Quarterback Gage Salyers rushed for 78 yards on 18 carries, as his 5-yard scoring sprint with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter made it 21-7 — and capped a 10-play, 48-yard four-minute and 36-second scoring drive.

Exactly six minutes earlier at 9:46, Cameron Deere took a sweep play 26 yards to the house to give Ironton the lead for good at 14-7 — as that Fighting Tiger scoring drive spanned six plays, 52 yards and exactly 2:36.

#
30
Name
Cameron Deere
Position
2021
Height
5-11
Weight
185
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020

Deere rushed five times for 33 yards, as Ironton did not attempt a pass in the entire opening half — instead rushing 28 times for 187 yards, which included one lost fumble right at the General 20-yard-line at the five-minute mark of the first quarter.

But the tide turned in the Fighting Tigers’ favor over the final 17 minutes of the first half — when Ridgewood punted three times and the Fighting Tigers turned all three possessions into their 21 points.

“We’ve started nine or 10 different offensive linemen. The guys up front, we just kept pounding away at them and told them that they are going to be the reason for our offensive success, especially running like we did tonight, They’ve come so far since the first game,” said Pendleton. “Then our skilled guys in the backfield, we’re deep and can rotate in those positions. With Reid (Carrico) running the ball and Gage (Salyers) running the offense as a whole, all of our guys came up big again.”

Ironton added 83 yards on 22 second-half carries, as Salyers completed a pair of second-half passes on four attempts — one for 20 yards to Carrico and another for 11 to Ashton Duncan.

For their final three points, Book booted his 34-yard field goal, but it was special teams that took center stage for the final 25 minutes.
Following Freeman’s interception of Tingle — and an unsportsman-like conduct call which started the Ironton possession at the 10 — Book punted following three plays and two five-yard penalties, but his shank kick covered only 12 yards.

With 54 seconds remaining in the second, the Generals started from the Fighting Tiger 17, but a Tingle first-down pass to Kaden Smith — who rushed for 51 yards on 10 tries — resulted in a 2-yard loss.

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Tingle then threw three consecutive incompletions, as Ironton — with 10 ticks till halftime — had made its biggest defensive stand of the game.
“I was really proud of how we handled that sudden-change situation,” said Pendleton. “We got a poor punt off, gave them short field position, but our defense extinguished that fire right away.”

With Ironton then leading 21-14, another penalty-filled Tiger possession ended with Salyers’ two incompletions at his own 36.
But Book — just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter — pulled off an incredible 63-yard punt that pinned the Generals all the way back to their own goal-line.

#
7
Name
Gage Salyers
Position
2020
Height
6-01
Weight
205
Current Team
Ironton
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

The ball first bounced at around the Ridgewood 25, then perfectly — and even properly — spun on a dime and rolled all the way inside the 1-yard-line where the Tigers downed the ball.

Ridgewood went three-and-out again and actually avoided getting called for a safety, as Ironton began its next series at the General 32 —and moved six plays and 15 yards before Book, the ever-reliable left-footer, booted the ball straight through the uprights.
“Anytime you get a two-score lead late in the game when you have an offense that is able to chew up clock, it definitely gives you a cushion and makes you feel better about yourself in that situation,” said Pendleton. “That drive we were also able to conserve our defense a little bit and we knew we were going to get one last stop.”

Finally, Book’s 35-yard punt with only 27 seconds remaining was once again downed at the 1-yard-line — this time by Deere and Kyle Howell.

Book also made all three of his extra-point kicks, and made a major difference on kickoffs with his four touchbacks out of a possible five chances.

“Avery has done a great job of punting and kicking all year for us. Our special teams came up huge with a lot of touchbacks, and with the big punt to pin them deep early in the fourth quarter. It seemed like they had bad field position all night,” said Pendleton.

And, when the Fighting Tigers faced any adversity on Saturday night, they handled it well.

“That’s the thing about us. We’re able to beat a storm,” said Pendleton. “We got down 7-0 and they moved the ball right down the field on us, but we just stayed the course. I was asked what all changes did we make after their first possession. I said we didn’t make any. We just settled in and played great defense.”

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And great defense, like a sound ground-and-pound running game and super special teams, wins championships.
Indeed, Ironton played the wayback machine in winning Region 19.

The Tigers will now face West Jefferson in the Division V state semifinals on Saturday night, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.

Ironton 24, Ridgewood 14

Ridgewood 7 0 7 o — 14
Ironton 7 14 0 3 — 24

R — Deontae Brandon, 4-yard run (Connor Kunze kick), 7:06, 1st (7-0 R)
I — Reid Carrico, 55-yard run (Avery Book kick), 2:37, 1st (7-7 tie)
I — Cameron Deere, 26-yard run (Avery Book kick), 9:46, 2nd (14-7 I)
I — Gage Salyers, 5-yard run (Avery Book kick), 3:46, 2nd (21-7 I)
R — Gabe Tingle, 1-yard run (Connor Kunze kick), 3:14, 3rd (21-14 I)
I — Avery Book, 34-yard field goal, 6:15, 4th (24-14 I)

Team Statistics
R I
First downs 14 16
Plays from scrimmage 56 54
Rushes-yards 28-113 50-270
Passing yards 112 31
Total yards 225 301
Cmp-Att-Int. 10-28-1 2-4-0-31
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 2-16 13-100
Punts-average 4-30.25 3-36.7
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Ridgewood: Gabe Tingle 17-56 TD, Kaden Smith 10-51, Deontae Brandon 2-6 TD; Ironton: Reid Carrico 20-143 TD, Gage Salyers 18-78 TD, Cameron Deere 5-33 TD, Seth Fosson 4-12, Trevor Carter 1-7, Team 2-(-3)
PASSING — Ridgewood: Gabe Tingle 10-28-1-112; Ironton: Gage Salyers 2-4-0-31
RECEIVING — Ridgewood: Dalton Patterson 4-48, Koleton Smith 4-48, Connor Kunze 1-18, Kaden Smith 1-(-2); Ironton: Reid Carrico 1-20, Ashton Duncan 1-11

Video

https://www.facebook.com/726127327496368/posts/2439994612776289/

Ironton

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
7Gage Salyers24031018781000
24Ashton Duncan000000001110
28Reid Carrico000002014311200
28Trevor Carter00000170000
30Cameron Deere000005331000
44Seth Fosson000004120000
 Total2403104827332310
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Ridgewood

CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
00000000000
Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
00000

Details

Date Time League Season
November 23, 2019 7:00 pm Playoffs 2019

Parker, Trojans push past Rock Hill

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Portsmouth8816840Win
Rock Hill866828Loss

Parker, Trojans push past Rock Hill

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn

PEDRO — Speed kills.

So do turnovers at the most inopportune times.

For two-and-a-half quarters on Friday night, the undermanned Rock Hill Redmen matched the heavily-favored and visiting Portsmouth Trojans score for score.

But, like many other teams before them, the Redmen simply couldn’t catch Portsmouth senior Talyn Parker – before they were undone by two lost fumbles which led directly to 14 second-half Portsmouth points.

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#
1
Name
Talyn Parker
Position
2020
Height
5-11
Weight
195
Current Team
Portsmouth
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
In the end, Parker – the reigning Division V Southeast District Offensive Player of the Year – poured on 266 rushing yards and all five Trojan touchdowns, and Portsmouth posted a 40-28 Ohio Valley Conference victory.

The matchup marked the OVC opener for both clubs, as Portsmouth stayed undefeated at 4-0, while the Redmen remain winless at 0-4.

[event_scoreboard id=”1716″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

In fact, for the Trojans, it is the first time that the tradition-rich program has started a season with four triumphs since 2002.

That is important, per Portsmouth second-year head coach Bruce Kalb.

Head Coach Bruce Kalb

Current Team
Portsmouth
Past Teams
Waverly
“I’m very happy for this group of seniors and very proud of the work they have done so far for this 4-0 start. They deserve all the credit as the leaders on this team,” he said. “To do something that hasn’t been done in 17 years is special. We have a lot of football ahead of us of course and a lot of things we need to clean up and work on, but these seniors have led the way and deserve this start to the season that we’ve had.”

While it’s been an excellent beginning to 2019 for the Trojans, it’s been the exact opposite for the Redmen.

Rock Hill has suffered several injuries – some season-ending – over the course of the first four games, including starting senior running backs Zak Adkins and T.J. McGinnis.

Add to that MASH unit on Friday was fellow senior starting back Logan Hankins, who didn’t play in the second half due to suffering concussion-like symptoms.

But the Redmen gave an excellent effort against the talented Trojans, as their two tight end T-formation full-house offense moved the ball – often times at will.

However, Rock Hill fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, as the Trojans recovered and scored four plays later to go up 24-14.

[event_scoreboard id=”1717″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

Then, late in the third quarter, the Redmen fumbled following an eight-play four-minute and 15-second drive – in which they moved from midfield to just inside the red zone.

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Following five plays of 10 yards or more, and only two minutes later, Parker posted his fifth and final touchdown – a 25-yard run to double the lead at 40-20 with 10-and-a-half minutes remaining.

“The final score doesn’t reflect how hard our kids played and how well we played at times,” said Rock Hill head coach Mark Lutz. “I thought we handled the line of scrimmage most of the game, which is what we tried to do. That’s the best our offensive line has blocked all year. We had kids out injured and we lost Logan Hankins early, then we’re playing (Talyn) Parker who is just lightning in a bottle. If you don’t tackle him, more than likely he is going to break one. He had two long runs tonight. Then we had two unfortunate turnovers at the wrong times, one of which set up a short field for them and the other we were driving the ball. We controlled the line of scrimmage, and there weren’t too many negative plays that we had. A loss is a loss, but our kids played hard and that’s all I can ask of them.”

The Redmen, which did not attempt a single pass, ran the football 55 times for a massive 302 yards and picked up 24 first downs.

“It’s such a difficult offense to face,” said Kalb. “You really have to be disciplined. Rock Hill has big powerful offensive linemen and their backs run very hard. Here they are picking up four, five, six yards on you every time, but I thought we hung in there and we made some good adjustments in the second half.”

Logan Hankins had 46 first-half yards and a touchdown on seven carries, but sophomore Owen Hankins and junior Hayden Harper carried 20 times apiece, as Hankins amounted 142 yards while Harper hit for 102 and two short touchdown runs (four and two yards).

#
3
Name
Owen Hankins
Position
2022
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021

Parker picked up his 266 yards on 16 carries, as the Trojans rushed 27 times for 331 yards as a team.

Drew Roe, Portsmouth’s sophomore quarterback, completed 11-of-17 passes for 137 yards – with Eric Purdy catching eight of Roe’s passes for 107 yards.

Roe rushed four times for 32 yards, as the Trojans did not punt, did not commit a turnover, and racked up 22 first downs.

The Trojans also converted all five of their extra-point tries – which were all two-point conversions.

“Those (two-point conversions) are plays we’ve been working a lot on in practice. We’ve had some issues in the kicking game, and we knew there are going to be times when we need to go for two. You want to trust and have confidence in going for two points,” said Kalb. “We did a nice job of executing all of those attempts. And in a 12-point final score, 10 points makes a huge difference.”

Meanwhile, Rock Hill went 2-of-4 on two-point attempts, including a pass failure on its second touchdown with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter.

Harper capped an impressive 13-play, 66-yard, seven-minute and three-second scoring march with a four-yard plunge to make it 16-14, as the Redmen actually appeared to convert the subsequent two-point run attempt.

But a chop block penalty was called on the Redmen, negating the conversion and forcing Rock Hill to retry the PAT at the 17-yard-line.

The second attempt failed, but Lutz labeled the fumbling of the second-half kickoff as “the death to us.”

The Redmen received the kick, but it bounced right off the return man –and into the arms of Portsmouth’s Reade Pendleton who recovered right at the 26.

Four plays and a minute and 49 seconds later, Parker cut up for an 11-yard TD run, as Roe completed the two-point conversion pass to Michael Duncan for a 24-14 Trojan advantage.

The Redmen returned to their ground assault, driving 65 yards and nine plays in four-and-a-half minutes, as Harper had his 2-yard run to trim the deficit to 24-20.

The two-point run attempt failed, and Parker burned Rock Hill with his second scoring run of at least 59 yards – a 69-yard scamper at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter.

On the game’s opening play, Parker broke about a half-dozen tackles on a 59-yard dash to the end zone – just 23 seconds into the contest.

“What more can you say about Talyn?” said Kalb. “But the thing is, he just keeps getting better.”

Tyler McCoy made it 32-20 with his two-point conversion run, as the Redmen then moved the ball exactly 34 yards to the Portsmouth 17 before fumbling.

The Trojans recovered, and Roe completed passes to Purdy for 13 and 14 yards, sandwiched around 10 and 18-yard gains by Parker – prior to his 25-yard scoring sprint.

Roe’s two-point pass to Bryce Wallace officially doubled the advantage, which was Portsmouth’s largest of the night.

The Redmen made it 40-28 with a 14-play, 64-yard, seven-minute and 17-second scoring march that picked up five first downs – and was capped off by a Hunter Massie 1-yard QB sneak.

Harper ran in the two-point conversion, as Logan Hankins had Rock Hill’s opening touchdown and two-point run – a 9-yarder to cap an eight-play, 68-yard drive at the 7:25 mark of the opening quarter.

That tied the score at 8-8, as Portsmouth never trailed, going ahead 16-8 just 40 seconds into the second quarter after a five-play, 56-yard drive that spanned a minute and 22 seconds.

Roe ran for 15 yards to move the Trojans into Rock Hill territory, as another Roe completion to Purdy for 40 yards set up Portsmouth 1st-and-goal at the 2.

The Trojans succeeded with Roe throws to Purdy in the flat, and letting Purdy pick up yards after the catch.

#
2
Name
Drew Roe
Position
2022
Height
235
Weight
5-06
Current Team
Portsmouth
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021
“Of course, once Talyn gets going, we want Drew to throw enough and complete enough passes to keep the defense honest,” said Kalb. “We have a lot of playmakers on this team besides Talyn, and it’s important we get them involved and keep them involved if we are going to be successful.”

Parker finished the drive on the next play, and ran in the two-point conversion run.

The Redmen return to OVC action next Friday when they travel to Fairland, while Portsmouth returns to the road – and returns to OVC play – at defending champion Gallia Academy.

The Blue Devils defeated Chesapeake 55-27, thus setting up a matchup of undefeateds at historic Memorial Field in Gallipolis.

Fairland vs Rock Hill

Gallia Academy vs Portsmouth

 

*     *     *

Portsmouth 40, Rock Hill 28  

Portsmouth 8 8 16 8 – 40

Rock Hill 8 6 6 8 – 28

P — Talyn Parker, 59-yard run (Talyn Parker run), 11:37, 1st (8-0 P)

RH —  Logan Hankins, 9-yard run (Logan Hankins run), 7:25, 1st (8-8 tie)

P — Talyn Parker, 2-yard run (Talyn Parker run), 11:20, 2nd (16-8 P)

RH — Hayden Harper, 4-yard run (pass failed), 4:16, 2nd (16-14 P)

P— Talyn Parker, 11-yard run (Michael Duncan pass from Drew Roe), 10:04, 3rd (24-14 P)

RH — Hayden Harper, 2-yard run (run failed), 5:29, 3rd (24-20 P)

P — Talyn Parker, 69-yard run (Tyler McCoy run), 4:38, 3rd (32-20 P)

P — Talyn Parker, 25-yard run (Bryce Wallace pass from Drew Roe), 10:24, 4th (40-20 P)

RH  — Hunter Massie, 1-yard run (Hayden Harper run), 3:03, 4th (40-28 P)

Team statistics

P RH

First downs 22 24

Plays from scrimmage 44 55

Rushes-yards 27-331 55-302

Passing yards 137 0

Total yards 468 302

Cmp-Att-Int. 11-17-0 0-0-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 5-56 4-30

Punts-average 0-0 1-29

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Portsmouth: Talyn Parker 16-266 5TD, Drew Roe 4-32, Donavon Carr 2-14, Beau Hammond 1-12, Tyler McCoy 3-8, Team 1-(-1); Rock Hill: Owen Hankins 20-142, Hayden Harper 20-102 2TD, Logan Hankins 7-46 TD, Skylar Kidd 5-19, Hunter Massie 3-(-7) TD

PASSING — Portsmouth: Drew Roe 11-17-0-137; Rock Hill: none

RECEIVING — Portsmouth: Eric Purdy 8-107, Bryce Wallace 2-16, Michael Duncan 1-14; Rock Hill: none

Portsmouth

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
1Talyn Parker00000162665000
2Bryce Wallace000000002160
4Donavon Carr000002140000
5Drew Roe1116013703200000
9Eric Purdy0000000081070
14Michael Duncan000000001140
19Beau Hammond000001120000
35Tyler McCoy00000380000
 Total111601370253205111370
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Rock Hill

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
3Logan Hankins000007461000
12Hunter Massie000003-71000
25Owen Hankins00000201420000
29Hayden Harper00000201022000
32Skyler Kidd000005190000
 Total00000553024000
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
September 20, 2019 7:00 pm OVC 2019

Court

Portsmouth

Big plays, speed spark Falcons’ win over Redmen

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Minford14871443Win
Rock Hill0012012Loss

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn http://www.southernohiosportsphotos.com/

 

MINFORD – Ty Wiget’s two lengthy touchdown dashes, which book-ended Saturday evening’s season opener, summed everything up.

#
25
Name
Ty Wiget
Position
2020
Height
5-09
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019

The injury-riddled Rock Hill Redmen simply weren’t going to catch the Minford Falcons.

Minford made big plays from the opening kickoff to the closing whistle, as the Falcons soared past the larger Redmen 43-12 at Minford High School.

The matchup marked the seventh meeting between the two squads since 2012, with Minford winning all except the Redmen’s runaway win three years ago.

The Falcons’ 43 points are the most scored by either team over that same seven-year span.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was postponed a day due to inclement weather – with rainwater significantly saturating the playing surface.

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Indeed, the field was dried out on Saturday, and neither it nor the Redmen could slow down the speedy Falcons.

Wiget ran the opening kickoff back 81 yards for a touchdown, then closed the scoring by sprinting 68 yards up the middle with five minutes remaining.

The final four minutes and 55 seconds was played under the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule, as several reserves ran the football for Rock Hill on its final possession.

By then, though, the Falcons had long since sealed an important opening-week win.

“Every team wants to get week one, because it springs you forward for week two and often times for the rest of the season,” said Minford coach Jesse Ruby. “We have a lot of speed with our skilled guys, who are very talented and can make people miss and score on any play.”

Wiget rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries – the other TD being a two-yard plunge to cap a two-play, 26-second possession with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Of course, though, his return of the season-opening kickoff caught everybody’s attention.

Wiget ran up and scooped up the ball at the 19, his momentum initially taking him into a line of Rock Hill defenders and Minford blockers.

But he broke free from would-be tacklers, got to the outside on the right side, and outraced the remaining Redmen for the final 50 yards.

“It was kicked kind of short, one of those where he (Wiget) had to come up and pick it up off the ground. At first, I thought he was stopped at around the 35-yard-line. But he squeezed through, made a kid miss, and he just has real good speed and outran everybody,” said Ruby. “He sees the field very well, and took full advantage of an opportunity.”

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Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis, the left-hander and new quarterback this season, led the Falcons with 163 passing yards and two touchdowns on 10-of-17 attempts.

He added 22 yards on four carries, part of 148 rushing yards on 23 totes as a team.

His four-yard touchdown run with a minute remaining in the opening quarter closed a six-play, 42-yard drive, making it 14-0 with Caleb Yuhas’ second of five successful extra-point kicks.

Vogelsong-Lewis found his receivers open in space, and those wideouts did their part by picking yards after the catch.

#
2
Name
Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis
Height
5-10
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019, 2020

“Elijah is such a natural thrower, and he is so smart about where to put the football. He reads his keys very well,” said Ruby of his signal-caller. “He trusts his receivers, they trust him and they have really good chemistry together.”

Rock Hill coach Mark Lutz said the Falcons’ speed and playmaking ability bothered his club all game.

Combine that with the Redmen moving players around defensively due to their injuries adding up.

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Rock Hill was already without senior running back Zak Adkins, and fellow senior running back T.J. McGinnis missed the entire second half after re-injuring his ankle in the first.

Brayden Malone missed as well with an injured knee – as he was set to start in the secondary – and Logan Hankins suffered a dislocated finger, forcing him to miss some snaps on Saturday.

“Minford is a good team with a lot of speed. We had a few opportunities to do a few things, but just didn’t. They have guys that can make plays in open field, and their quarterback does a nice job throwing the ball around,” said Lutz. “We had issues out in space, then when you start moving people around, you are down to your second, third or fourth defensive backs that aren’t used to that many reps. If we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all at this moment. We have some kids banged up, but you can’t take anything away from Minford.”

Early in the fourth quarter, and with the Falcons leading 29-12, Vogelsong-Lewis put the contest out of reach with a wide-receiver screen to Matthew Risner right at the Redmen 37, as Risner ran well behind his downfield blockers all the way to the end zone.

The Yuhas extra point made it 36-12 with only 10:51 remaining, as run-oriented Rock Hill – with forced second-half shifts in its offensive backfield and a limited passing attack – couldn’t rally after that.

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Risner caught four passes for 72 yards, as Drew Skaggs made three receptions for 37, including a 14-yard touchdown to make it 22-0 with 37 seconds left before halftime.

A low snap on the point-after try turned a Yuhas kick attempt into an improvised Vogelsong-Lewis run, which he converted for the two-point conversion.

That capped a four-play, 80-yard drive, as Vogelsong-Lewis completed passes to Skaggs for 14 and to Wiget for 26 on the opening two plays to move Minford into the red zone.

That score marked a major swing, as it immediately answered a massive march by the Redmen which failed to produce any points.

Rock Hill held the ball for 10 minutes and 40 seconds in the first half, running 17 plays – mainly McGinnis carries from the traditional two-tight full-house formation – and 70 yards to the Minford 3-yard-line.

Unfortunately for the Redmen, McGinnis was hit and fumbled at the 1, as Risner recovered for the Falcons for a touchback.

“That was huge right there,” said Lutz. “If we score right there, it’s 14-7 and we get the second-half kickoff and see what happens. Instead, we don’t get anything and give up another score, and on the two-point conversion, guys in space don’t make another tackle.”

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“That was a huge momentum swing for us,” said Ruby. “They we wearing on us with a long drive, and we have a lot of kids playing both ways. But we got the turnover, and our kids rebounded. We started picking up steam again and responded by taking it 80 yards in four plays and scored.”

Ruby explained the difficulty of defending the Redmen’s T-formation offense, which the third-year mentor Lutz brought with him to Rock Hill from his days as an Ironton assistant.

“It’s very tough, because you just don’t see that offense a lot at all. We often times see different offensive styles and sets every week, but usually not like that, especially in week one,” he said.  “It was a challenge for us all week. It’s hard to simulate that in practice. But our kids came out and stood in there and did a very good job of trying to contain them.”

 The Redmen rushed for 260 yards on 54 carries, as Hankins – who made the lone Rock Hill reception on five passes for 13 yards – had 94 yards on 17 tries.

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Brayden Friend, the starting quarterback who was moved to running back in the second half, finished with 66 yards on 10 carries, as McGinnis gained 53 first-half yards on a dozen carries before exiting due to injury.

Friend finished a 61-yard drive with a 36-yard jaunt on the opening possession of the third quarter, as Hankins had a two-yard TD run to end a 48-yard drive with 23 seconds left in the period.

Both drives were five plays, but the Falcons answered the initial Rock Hill score with Wiget’s short scoring run, set up by Risner returning a Redmen punt 33 yards to the 7.

“I challenged our kids that this was going to be a game where we face adversity. How are we going to respond when Rock Hill puts something together and we have something negative happen? Every time Rock Hill scored, we answered,” said Ruby. “The kids rose to that challenge and did a good job.”

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“Every time we had an answer, Minford had an answer right back,” said Lutz. “I kept hoping for us to have something happen in the second half that would get us jump-started, but it didn’t. Then we turned into a MASH unit in the second half. I had to explain to the kids what MASH was.”

The Redmen must get healthy in a hurry now too, as Rock Hill hosts another spread-the-field formation team in Meigs on Friday night.

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and I’m not going to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Lutz. “We’re not going to make excuses. We just have to get better and that begins with me.”

The Falcons will travel to Chesapeake next week, as the Panthers – an injury-plagued team last year – opened their season with a 35-13 victory over Oak Hill.

Chesapeake is coached by former Rock Hill head coach Todd Knipp.

“Next week will be a totally different challenge for us altogether. It is going to be a much different offensive scheme, so we have to get lined up correctly and be able to read our keys,” said Ruby. “They are going to do some things to cause us some issues, but we have to prepare this week and respond and adjust accordingly.”

*     *     *

Minford 43, Rock Hill 12

Rock Hill 0 0 12 0 – 12

Minford 14 8 7 14 – 43

M — Ty Wiget, 81-yard kickoff return (Caleb Yuhas kick), 11:44, 1st (7-0 M)

M — Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis, 4-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 1:00, 1st (14-0 M)

M — Drew Skaggs, 14-yard pass from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis (Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis run), :37, 2nd (22-0 M)

RH — Brayden Friend, 36-yard run (pass failed), 9:36, 3rd (22-6 M)

M — Ty Wiget, 2-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 2:00, 3rd (29-6 M)

RH — Logan Hankins, 2-yard run (run failed), :23, 3rd (29-12 M)

M — Matthew Risner, 37-yard pass from Elijah-Vogelsong Lewis (Caleb Yuhas kick), 10:51, 4th (36-12 M)

M — Ty Wiget, 68-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 4:55, 4th (43-12 M)

Team statistics

RH M

First downs 17 18

Plays from scrimmage 59 40

Rushes-yards 54-260 23-148

Passing yards 13 163

Total yards 273 311

Cmp-Att-Int. 1-5-0 10-17-0

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 9-85 6-40

Punts-average 3-27.7 1-34

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Rock Hill: Logan Hankins 17-94 TD, Brayden Friend 10-66 TD, T.J. McGinnis 12-53, Hayden Harper 6-25, Skyler Kidd 3-17, Chase Delong 4-8, Kordell French 1-3, Trenton Williams 1-(-6); Minford: Ty Wiget 14-121 2TD, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 4-22 TD, Matthew Risner 2-8, Andy Crank 2-2, Team 1-(-5)

PASSING — Rock Hill: Brayden Friend 1-5-0-13; Minford: Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 10-17-0-163 2TD

RECEIVING — Rock Hill: Logan Hankins 1-13; Minford: Matthew Risner 4-72, Drew Skaggs 3-47 TD, Ty Wiget 2-36, Bryson Ashley 1-8

Rock Hill vs Meigs

Chesapeake vs Minford

Minford

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis1017016325401000
7Matthew Risner000002904721
11Drew Skaggs000000003471
20Andy Crank00000220000
25Ty Wiget000001312522360
30Bryson Ashley00000000180
 Total101701632221763101632
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis00000
7Matthew Risner00000
11Drew Skaggs00000
20Andy Crank00000
25Ty Wiget00000
30Bryson Ashley00000
 Total00000

Rock Hill

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
3Logan Hankins00000179411130
14Brayden Friend15013010661000
29Hayden Harper000006250000
32Skyler Kidd000003170000
36T.J. McGinnis0000012530000
4Kordell French00000130000
10Trenton Williams000001-60000
33Chase Delong00000480000
 Total1501305426021130
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
3Logan Hankins00000
14Brayden Friend00000
29Hayden Harper00000
32Skyler Kidd00000
36T.J. McGinnis00000
4Kordell French00000
10Trenton Williams00000
33Chase Delong00000
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season Headline
August 30, 2019 7:00 pm SEO 2019 Big plays, speed spark Falcons' win over Redmen

Court

Minford