By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — The first half was “flag” football. But by the end of the second half, the Ironton Fighting Tigers were waving the checkered flag.

In a game marred by penalties in the first half, Ironton overcame the continued whistles to roll past the Portsmouth Trojans 50-0 on Friday in their annual rivalry game.

A total of 26 flags were thrown including 22 in the first half as both teams reached 100 penalty yards. But things settled down in the second half as Ironton rolled to its sixth straight win over Portsmouth and leads the series 65-57-9.

Ironton (9-1) racked up 354 total yards with 181 on the ground and 173 via the air. The Fighting Tigers’ defense held the Trojans to 157 total yards with 122 on the ground and 35 by the pass.

A penalty on the kickoff left Portsmouth (7-3) at the 10-yard line to start the game. The Trojans went 3-and-out and had a short 17-yard punt that put Ironton in business at the Portsmouth 28.

Three plays later, Braden Schreck hit Tyler Roach in stride on a 19-yard touchdown pass. Schreck ran for the conversion and it was 8-0 with 8:41 on the clock.

After an exchange of possessions, Portsmouth was facing third-and-9 at its own 17. Braiden Linn made the hit on Trojans’ quarterback J.T. Williams and caused him to fumble the ball. A mad scramble ensued and Austin Bump jumped on the ball in the end zone for the score and it was 14-0 with 9:48 left in the quarter.

A 47-yard run by Williams got Portsmouth to the Ironton 28-yard line only to have the drive stall at the 31. Ironton went on a 69-yard, 6-play drive that spilled over into the second quarter.

Tyler Carmon had a couple of 14-yard runs, Schreck ran for 13 more and Ironton was at the Trojans’ 23. Shaun Terry ran for 5 yards and Williams bolted the final 18 yards and it was 21-0 with 4:26 to go in the half.

Terry caught a 45-yard pass to the Trojans 14 that set up a 3-yard scoring run by Jesse Copas and Fields’ kick pushed the lead to 28-0 with 5:14 to halftime.

Portsmouth kicked the ball out-of-bounds 3 times to start the second half as Ironton kept taking the penalty that led to a short kickoff and a return to the Portsmouth 32.

Williams ran 17 to the 15 and 3 plays later Terry and Scheck teamed up on a 4-yard scoring pass play. Fields’ kick made it 35-0 with 10:08 left in the third quarter.

The Trojans got off a 46-yard punt that pinned Ironton back to the 3-yard line. Undaunted, Ironton used a 29-yard run by Carmon and a 15-yard penalty on the Trojans to get to the 32. Schreck ran for 13 and then hit Terry with a 39-yard scoring strike and it was 41-0.

A bad snap on the conversion forced Schreck to run to his left and improvise by switching the football to his left hand and throw a pass to Braden Barbour and it was 43-0 with 1:28 left in the third quarter.

Ironton’s final score came with 6:30 to play when Kayden Edwards kept the ball and ran 11 yards for the touchdown that was set up by Copas’ 21-yard run.

Terry had a strong game as he caught 4 passes for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns while also running 3 times for 13 yards. Williams rushed 8 times for 74 yards and a TD and caught 2 passes for 26 yards. Carmon finished with 65 yards on a. 4 attempts.

Schreck was 9-of-12 for 161 yards and 3 touchdowns and had 2 interceptions.

Williams ran 13 times for 68 yards and Chase Heiland had 59 yards rushing on 17 attempts.

Beckham Waginger kicked the conversion to cap the scoring.

Ironton will open the playoffs at home on Friday against Worthington Christian for the second straight year. Portsmouth will host Amanda-Clearcreek in the opening round.

Ironton     14 14 15 7 = 50

Portsmouth 0 0 0 0 = 0

First Quarter

Irn — Tyler Roach 19 pass from Braden Schreck (Braden Schreck run) 8:41

Irn — Austin Bump recover fumble in end zone (kick failed) 9:48

Second Quarter

Irn — Zayne Williams 18 run (David Fields kick) 4:26

Irn — Jesse Copas  3 run (David Fields kick) 5:14

Third Quarter

Irn — Shaun Terry 4 pass from Braden Schreck (David Fields kick) 10:08

Irn — Shaun Terry 39 pass from Braden Schreck (Braden Barbour pass from Braden Schreck)

Fourth Quarter

Irn — Kayden Edwards 11 run (Beckham Waginger kick) 6:30

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IrnPrt

First downs 18 6

Rushes-yards 22-181 34-122

Passing yards 173 35

Total yards 354 157

Cmp-Att-Int 10-14-2 5-14-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 10-100 16-130

Punts-average 0-00.0 6-29.8

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Ironton: Zayne Williams 8-74 TD,  Shaun Terry 3-13, Tyler Carmon 4-65, Jesse Copas 2-22 TD, Braden Schreck 4-18, Kayden Edwards 1-11 TD; Portsmouth: J.T. Williams 13-68, Chase Heiland 17-59, Marquez Locklear 1-1, Fernando Poxes 1-1, Dontavion Parker 2-minus 7.

PASSING–Ironton: Braden Schreck 9-12-2 161 3-TD, Kayden Edwards 1-2-0 12; Portsmouth: J.T. Williams 5-13-0 , Marquez Locklear 0-1-0.

RECEIVING–Ironton: Shaun Terry 4-91 2-TD, Tyler Roach 1-19 TD, Kayden Edwards 1-16, Nick Sites 1-9, Zayne Williams 2-26, Josh Johnson 1-12; Portsmouth: Lathan Bradley 1-7, Camron Williams 2-7, Chase Heiland 1-14, Landon Malone 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.