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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Ironton roughs up Canadian vistors in 54-6 victory
IRONTON — It took Ironton’s football team all of 27 seconds to forget about last week’s disappointing loss to Wheelersburg.
The Fighting Tigers forced a fumble on Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s second play from scrimmage and scored on the next play to start an onslaught that ended in a 54-6 victory Friday night at Tanks Memorial Stadium.
It started a string of domination for Ironton, who scored on its first five possessions to jump to a 35-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
“I didn’t know what I was getting coming in,” Ironton coach Bob Lutz said. “I didn’t know whether I was getting a buzzsaw or what. They had a few skilled athletes, but they were what they were.”
Chance Freeman rushed for three scores on only five first-half carries and finished with 66 yards to lead Ironton, who had five players rush for over 40 yards. Freeman’s 16-yard burst into the end zone on Ironton’s first offensive play started what would be a long night for the Crusaders. As a team, the Fighting Tigers finished with 312 yards rushing.
While Ironton ran its offense like a well-oiled machine, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel struggled to get going. In addition to the fumbled snap, the Crusaders committed nine penalties with several being false starts on the offensive line.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel running back Raul Thompson was the game’s leading rusher with 116 yards on 20 carries, but the penalties and turnovers kept the Canadian school from sustaining drives.
A botched snap set up Ironton inside the Crusaders’ 5-yard line and Keith Wetzel punched the ball in from there as Ironton led by two scores. Major Brice followed late in the quarter with a 4-yard score to give the Fighting Tigers a 21-0 lead.
With a comfortable lead, Lutz decided to work on the Ironton passing game and after a slow start, things got clicking quickly for Ironton.
After a pair of missed opportunities with receiver Lukas Morris, Ironton quarterback Jon Schweickhart found a connection with Michael Lamb, who was making his first appearance at Tanks Memorial Stadium.
Lamb caught four first half passes for 135 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown and a 42-yard completion on a double pass from Jon Monnig to set up another score on the final play of the first half to give Ironton a 41-6 lead at the break.
“No. 84 (Lamb) isn’t going to drop it,” Lutz said. “He’s going to catch it. It’s a big weapon.”
After the long first half, Lutz decided to put the game into cruise control and the Fighting Tigers responded with 201 yards rushing in the second half to ice the game in less than 45 minutes.
“Our idea was not to do any throwing in the second half,” Lutz said. “We wanted to practice in the first half by spreading it around.”
Ironton (1-1) will face its first SEOAL opponent next week when Gallipolis comes to Tanks Memorial Stadium.
MOUNT CARMEL 0 6 0 0 — 6
IRONTON 21 20 0 13 — 54
I — Freeman 16 run (Schweickhart kick)
I — Wetzel 5 run (Schweickhart kick)
I — Brice 4 run (Schweickhart kick)
I — Wetzel 5 run (Schweickhart kick)
I — Lamb 50 pass from Schweickhart (Schweickhart kick)
MC — Bennett 32 run (pass failed)
I — Freeman 1 run (kick failed)
I — Wetzel 3 run (Wetzel kick)
I — Taylor 21 run (kick blocked)
Team Statistics
MC I
First downs 8 18
Rushes-yards 27-138 39-312
Passing Yards 34 153
Comp-Att-Int 7-21-1 7-12-0
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 9-60 3-20
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — Our Lady of Mt. Carmel: Thompson 20-116; Bennett 3-36, TD; Jackson 2-(-6); Dedys 2-(-8). Ironton: Freeman 6-66, 3 TDs; Brice 8-60, TD; Wetzel 9-52, 2 TDs; Taylor 4-43, TD; Schweickhart 4-43; Lewis 2-15; Dyer 2-14; Warner 2-13; Edens 1-4; Waginger 1-2; Wilks 1-0.
PASSING — Our Lady of Mt. Carmel: Jahmari Bennett 7-of-20, 37 yards; Mike Dedys 0-of-1, INT. Ironton: Jon Schweickhart 6-of-11, 111 yards, TD; Jon Monnig 1-1, 42 yards.
RECEIVING — Our Lady of Mt. Carmel: Bailey 3-11; Dedys 1-11; Thompson 2-9; Cadrington 1-3. Ironton: Lamb 4-135, TD; Freeman 1-11; Brice 1-4; Morris 1-3.
