Just when basketball is tipping off, there’s no better time than to talk about football.

In Ironton, there seems to be three seasons. Football season, the off-season and pre-season.

Since this is the off-season, a lot of fans have speculated about the 2012 schedule. As of now, there are eight games scheduled and several other teams negotiating.

The opener is Aug. 24 at Wheelersburg followed by a trip to Russell, Ky.

The first home game is Sept. 7 against Gallipolis with Ashland, Ky., coming to Tanks Memorial Stadium the next week.

Next is a trip to Portsmouth. The teams played the final game of the season the past two years, but the SEOAL is playing its league games over the final five weeks forcing this game to be moved.

Ironton picks up a new opponent with a trip to Johnson Central, Ky., on Sept. 28.

There is an open date waiting to be filled followed by the return of Bishop Hartley. Ironton goes to Oak Hill — another first-time opponent — the following week and the final week is still open.

Highlight Video

While the schedule is a look ahead to Ironton football, Sam Heighton of Heigh-Tone Videos has plenty of film footage to the past.

The 2011 season highlight DVD is available now for $25. Sam also has single game videos for any Ironton game dating back to 1986 including the classic match-up between No. 1 CAPE and No. 2 Ironton as well as the 1989 state championship game. Game DVDs are $10.

If interested, fans should give Sam or Penny a call at (740) 532-7951.

Harries Honored

Neil Harries came from Lancashire, England, to play for the national soccer power of the University of Rio Grande.

It’s been quite an experience for Harries both on and off the field. On the field, Harries was named first team Mid-South Conference as Rio Grande again qualified for the NAIA tournament.

Although the RedStorm lost in the quarterfinals, Harries was named to the NAIA All-American second team.

But Rio Grande isn’t the only small community Harries has found. The senior defender has visited Ironton and made friends here.

In fact, he made Ironton a second home since playing in summer leagues didn’t allow him to return to England. He spent Thanksgiving and last Christmas here as well as the last couple of summers.

Northwest Moves Down

While there was some talk that the Northwest Mohawks might consider a move to the Ohio Valley Conference, a compromise was reached that will allow the school to drop down to the SOC Division I for football.

The two divisions are based on enrollment and Northwest is larger than most of the schools. However, the Mohawks are 2-33 since 2005 against SOC II teams and 5-14 against current SOC I teams.

Wheelersburg, Valley, Waverly, Portsmouth West and Minford all want to stay in Div. II allowing Northwest the chance to move down.

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Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.