By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WHEELERSBURG — The offense is the star of the show, but the defense earns the dough.

Ironton’s offense put up some big numbers but the defense kept the Wheelersburg offensive numbers down and the result was a 37-7 Fighting Tigers win over the Pirates in Friday’s season opener.

Ironton racked up 379 total yards  while the defense limited Wheelersburg to 144 yards including just 20 yards in the second half.

“Our defense stepped up and played really well. It was bend, don’t break,” said Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton. “We made some big plays and was very opportunistic. We forced a few three-and-outs and got the ball back to our offense. Those guys done a great job.”

The offense was the exciting part of the night led by quarterback Braden Schreck and Missouri bound wide receiver Shaun Terry teamed up on 9 completions with Terry racking up 124 yards and 2 touchdown passes.

Schreck was 14-of-23 for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns while running 6 times for 34 yards. Terry also had a 32-yard run for a score.

“(Terry’s) a pretty special player. Sometimes he tries to do too much and we tell him that, but then there are other times when he does something and makes a play out of it and you’re scratching your head and you’re like, ‘Wow. I’m glad he’s on this side of the ball and not the other side of the ball,’” said Pendleton.

Ironton played like it was a first game early with penalties that stifled a scoring drive early. But the Fighting Tigers went 37 yards in 7 plays capped by Zayne “The Train” Williams 6-yard scoring run with 3: 48 left in the first quarter.

David Fields kicked the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

Pendleton said the team did a good job overcoming its early problems.

“We just told them to stay focused,” said  Pendleton.

Wheelersburg answered with its lone scoring drive of the game that started on its own 21 and spilled over into the second quarter. Quarterback Braylon Rucker scrambled out of the pocket and ran 16 yards for the score with 8:52 left in the half.

Cooper Heimbach kicked the conversion to tie the game.

A couple of penalties helped cause Ironton to bog down again on its next series and turned the ball over on downs.

The Pirates were unable to move the ball and a shanked 4-yard put gave Ironton the ball at midfield.

On the ensuing play, Terry caught a short slant pass and took it to the house  and Ironton now led 14-7 with 3:36 on the clock.

Forcing another quick 3-and-out, Ironton got the ball back at its down 41.

Schreck completed 3-of-5 passes including a 23-yard play to Tyler Roach for a first down at the 17.. Fields kicked a 34-yard field goal on the next play and it was 17-7 with just 3 seconds left in the half,

“Just the ability (of Fields) to come in and convert those points at the end of the first half was huge. It really helped us going in at the half and knowing we was getting the ball back,” said Pendleton. “And then a big special teams play by Kayden Edwards, an explosive athlete that we need to get the ball in his hands more”

Ironton began to speed up the offense in the second half and its depth and speed led to more scoring.

“That’s something we have enough bodies that we can do that and we can really speed up the tempo when we need to and our kids did a good job of executing it,” said Pendleton. “It’s not as crisp as we would like, but that might be something to work on this week.”

The Fighting Tigers went 59 yards in 7 plays to start the second half and scored when Terry broke a 32-yard scoring run. A penalty moved Ironton back on the conversion and the extra point was missed leaving it 23-7 at the 8:13 mark.

The lead went to 29-7 with 10:19 to play as Schreck put up a perfect lead pass that Terry ran under for the score from 43 yards out.

Ironton’s final score was a 6-3 yard punt return by Edwards. Schreck threw to Terry for the conversion.

Ironton plays at Jackson next Friday while Wheelersburg goes to Cincinnati McNicolas.

Ironton     7 10 6 14 = 37

Wheelersburg 0 7 0 0 = 7

First Quarter

Irn – Zayne Williams 6 run (David Fields kick) 3:48

Second Quarter

Wh – Braylon Rucker 16 run (Cooper Heimbach kick) 8:52

Ian — Shaun Terry 50 pass from Braden Schreck (David Fields kick) 3:46

Irn — David Fields 34 field goals 0:03

Third Quarter

Irn – Shaun Terry 32 run (David Fields kick) 8:13

Fourth Quarter

Irn – Shaun Terry 43 pass from Braden Schreck (pass failed) 10:19

Irn — Kayden Edwards 63 punt return (Shaun Terry pass from Braden Schreck) 7:42

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IranWh

First downs 17 8

Rushes-yards 27-189 28-97

Passing yards 190 47

Total yards 379 144

Cmp-Att-Int 14-23-0 9-14-1

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 9-75 9-57

Punts-average 1-43.0 6-31.7

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Ironton: D’Erick Graves 6-59, Braden Schreck 6-34, Zayne Williams 5-23 TD, Tyler Carmon 4-15, Jesse Copas 3-16, Shaun Terry 2-30 TD, Kayden Edwards 1-12; Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 13-43 TD, Stephen Hall 11-45, Ison Emnett 2-6, Elijah Brown 1-2, Landon McGraw 1-1.

PASSING–Ironton: Braden Schreck 14-23-0 190 2TD; Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 8-12-1 39, Jack Doerr 1-2-0 8.

RECEIVING–Ironton: Shaun Terry 7-128 2TD, Nick Sites 2-16, Braydon Baker 2-7, Tyler Roach 1-23, Kayden Edwards 1-12, Jesse Copas 1-4.; Wheelersburg: Xander Movery 3-27, Landon McGraw 3-18, Kenyon Evans 2-7, Braylon Rucker 1-minus 5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.