PROCTORVILLE — FedEx Ground, meet the Ironton Fighting Tigers’ running game.
Ironton’s offense was sluggish in the first half and the Fighting Tigers were lacking energy and focus. But that all changed at halftime and Ironton turned a 6-0 lead into a 41-0 rout of the Fairland Dragons on Friday.
Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton said they decided to go under center and run the ball more downhill to start the second half.
The Fighting Tigers finished with 377 total yards with 204 coming in the second half. Of that total, 247 came on the ground. Zayne “The Train” Williams ran 8 times for 86 yards and a touchdown while Shaun “Mr. Electric” Terry had 6 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.
“We decided to come out and pound them for a little bit and we had some success at it so we just stayed in it,” said Pendleton.
Fairland was forced to stick mainly to the ground with quarterback Ethan Wall sidelined with an injury.
Without Wall, Fairland threw for just 32 yards and the running was limited to 106 yards for 138 total yards against a swarming Ironton defense.
Jack Hayden — normally the H-back — filled in at quarterback and led the offense with 49 yards rushing on 16 carries to go along with the 32 passing yards.
Ironton (7-1) fumbled the ball away and suffered an interception to half a pair of drives in the first quarter.
Fairland used a fumble recovery to get the ball at the Ironton 46. But a fourth-and-4 and the 24 gained only one yard and Ironton took over at the 23.
The Fighting Tigers then went on a 77-yard, 8-play drive that culminated on a 41-yard strike that hit Tier Roach in stride behind the secondary for a touchdown with 10:05 left in the half.
The conversion kick failed and the lead remained at 6-0.
The Dragons got a 19-yard punt return by Keegan Smith to the Ironton 45. Jack Hayden hit Kam Kitts with a 21-yard pass as Kitts made a nice catch keeping his feet in bounds at the Ironton 24.
But Fairland was unable to connect on a fourth-and-4 pass with 2:02 left in the half.
Then came the third quarter.
Ironton took the opening kickoff and began a drive at the 48-yard line that took just 4 plays to get into the end zone.
Zayne Williams ran for 13 and 26 yards and a 15-yard facemask penalty that got the ball to the 6-yard line. Jesse Copas ran for 4 yards and Williams finished off the drive.
Quarterback Braden Schreck ran for the conversion and it was 14-0 with 10:48 on the clock.
“(Zayne) is definitely one of our leaders,” said Pendleton. “He loved being in that position where he’s leading and his back’s against the wall and our kids definitely rallied behind him.
“When he came out the second half and popped that first (run), that kind of set the tone and our team got really excited and after that our team played with that energy all night.”
Fairland (7-1) decided to go for it on a fourth-and-2 play and was stopped for no gain at their own 43.
Shaun Terry ran for 27 yards and 3 plays later Copas went 4 yards for the touchdown and after David Fields’ conversion kick Ironton held a 21-0 lead with 8:15 left in the quarter.
Brycen Mullins came up with an interception as Ironton got the ball back and had a first down at the Fairland 22.
On the ensuing play, Schreck found Roach in the end zone and the lead was 28-0 with 6:11 on the clock.
The Dragons had another drive come up a yard short on a fourth down play and Ironton took over on its own 40.
Williams ran for 20 yards, Schreck hit Terry for 8 more, Copas ran for 9 and Terry covered the final 23 yards on 3 carries including 7 yards for the score as the quarter ended. Field’s kick made it 35-0.
The backups played the fourth quarter and Ironton went 62 yards in 10 plays with linemen Grant Day and Bowen Gossett carrying the ball the final 4 plays including Gossett going one yard for the score.
Schreck was 9-of-14 passing for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns plus the interception. Roach caught 4 passes for 85 yards and both scores.
Ironton played without Kayden Edwards, Braylon Sturgill and Aiden Hensley who were all out with injuries.
“All those guys play and guys who typically play,” said Pendleton.”We had other guys step up and play well, so I was really proud of them.”
Next Friday, Ironton will host Gallipolis while Fairland entertains Coal Grove.
Ironton 0 6 29 6 = 41
Fairland 0 0 0 0 = 0
Second Quarter
Irn — Tyler Roach 41 pass from Braden Schreck (kick failed) 10:05
Third Quarter
Irn — Zayne Williams 2 run (Braden Schreck run)1:30
Irn — Jesse Copas 4 run (David Fields kick) 8:15
Irn — Tyler Roach 22 pass from Braden Schreck (David Fields kick) 6:11
Irn — Shaun Terry 7 run (David Fields kick) 0:00
Fourth Quarter
Irn — Bowen Gossett 1 run (no attempt) 1:30
———
Irn Fa
First downs 18 5
Rushes-yards 31-247 34-106
Passing yards 130 32
Total yards 377 138
Cmp-Att-Int 10-15-1 4-7-1
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 6-54 5-55
Punts-average 2-37.5 3-30.7
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING–Ironton: Zayne Williams 8-86 TD, Shaun Terry 6-78 TD, Tyler Carmon 1-9, Jesse Copas 3-17 TD, Braden Schreck 4-3, Braydon Baker 1-6, Landon Thomas 1-17, Tyson Harvey 1-3, Silas Edwards 1-7, Jacob Hughes 1-0, Brian “Bubby” Kidd 1-13, Grant Day 2-2, Bowen Gossett 1-6 TD; Fairland: Kam Kitts 9-33, Quentin Cremeans 6-12, Jack Hayden 16-49, Lucas Bompus 2-5, Davin Murphy 1-7.
PASSING–Ironton: Braden Schreck 9-14-1 121 2-TD, Brian “Bubby” Kidd 1-1-0 9; Fairland: Jack Haynden 4-7-1 32.
RECEIVING–Ironton: Tyler Roach 4-85 2-TD, Shaun Terry 3-27, Zayne Williams 2-9, Landon Thomas 1-9; Fairland: Kam Kitts 1-21, Quentin Cremeans 3-11.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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