ASHLAND, Ky. - First, the Ironton Fighting Tigers broke them down. Next, they broke their hearts.

For the 15th straight time.

Ironton used a punishing ground game to wear down the Ashland defense, then watched the Tomcats attempted game-winning field goal fall short to hang on for a 27-26 win Friday night before an overflow crowd at Putnam Stadium.

"We started to block them the second half and our backs ran hard," Ironton coach Bob Lutz said. "They went for the field goal at the end and missed. We got one more than they did. We broke Ashland's fans' hearts again."

Running back Jared Murphy and Darius Lewis broke more than hearts as they punished tacklers in combining for 195 yards. Ironton had 403 total yards.

Ashland (3-2) rang up 387 yards with quarterback Ian Holbrook doing the bulk of the damage. Holbrook ran 18 times for 99 yards and completed 16 of 23 pass for 256 yards and an interception.

Holbrook threw for 215 yards in the first half but Ironton's ground game slowed the Tomcats' pace in the second half.

Ironton ran 17 plays in the fourth quarter to 12 for Ashland, eight coming on the final drive.

"Their quarterback is pretty damn good. He's a strong runner and he threw the ball well," Lutz said. "We had the right (defensive) package, but we didn't react to the football when it was in the air. We were tentative at times and then when we did cover them (Holbrook) pulled it down and ran it."

Ironton (4-1) had taken a 27-26 lead with a 67-yard, 9-play drive - all on the ground - capped by Murphy's 5-yard scoring run with 2:13 to play. The conversion failed when Ironton fumbled the snap.

"We just knocked them off the ball and our backs ran hard into the hole. We were determined to score," offensive tackle Jesse Carmon said.

The kickoff went out of bounds and Ashland took over at its own 35. With the exception of an incomplete pass, Holbrook scrambled four times including a 31-yard scamper to get the ball to the Ironton 13.

Holbrook ran for 3 yards and Tyler Reliford ran for 3 more yards and it was third-and-4 at the 7-yard line with six seconds to play.

Ashland coach Leon Hart called for the field goal, but Preston Freeman misfired on a 25-yard attempt and the ball was more of a pop fly that fell short of the goal post.

"I'm kind of glad they went for the field goal. I don't know if we could have stopped them," Lutz said.

The Tomcats scored on their first possession when Holbrook found Drew McDavid behind the Ironton secondary for a 42-yard pass. Freeman's kick made it 7-0.

An interception by Fields Davis at the Ashland 37 halted an Ironton drive and the Tomcats scored five plays later on an 8-yard pass to McDavid. Suddenly Ashland led 14-0 with 4:01 on the clock.

But Ironton proved unshaken.

A 43-yard pass from Chad Miller to Brandon Walker got the ball to the Ashland 14. Three plays later Murphy ran to the goal line, fumbled the ball and Walker fell on it in the end zone for the touchdown. Craig Stamper kicked the extra point and it was 14-7.

Ashland came right back with a drive to the 5-yard line, but two straight motion penalties helped stall the drive and Freeman booed a 23-yard field goal to make it 17-7.

The Fighting Tigers came right back on the strength of an amazing catch by Walker that covered 43 yards to the Ashland 5-yard line.

"Right before the play I told Chad to throw it and he said he was just going to throw it up there and see what happened. I just dove and came up with it," Walker said of the catch.

Lewis bulled his way into the end zone on the next play and it was 17-14.

Freeman kicked a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter when an Ashland drive bogged down at the 14 and it was 20-14.

An interception by Walker at the Ironton 35 with 11:15 to play ignited another scoring drive.

"It was tough. Their receivers kept moving and Holbrook did a good job scrambling. You never knew if he was going to throw or pull up and run it," Walker said.

"But we just came together and said we were going to pull it through. Jared and Darius and Dominic all did a good job hitting the holes and breaking tackles."

Jared Murphy had a 34-yard run and Dominic Murphy followed with a 12-yard gain and Ironton was at the Ashland 15. Three plays later Miller scored from one yard out and Stamper's conversion kick gave the Fighting Tigers their first lead of the game with 8:30 to play.

McDavid returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yards to the Ironton 32. It appear he fumbled the ball and Miller recovered for Ironton, but the ruling by the officials kept the ball in Ashland's possession.

Three plays later Holbrook scored on a 12-yard scramble and it was 26-21. The conversion run failed and it was 26-21 with 6:46 to go.

Ironton then drove for the go-ahead touchdown and set up the thrilling finish.

Ironton77013=27

Ashland14336=26

First Quarter

Ash – Drew McDavid 42 pass from Ian Holbrook (Preston Freeman kick) 8:58

Ash – Drew McDavid 8 pass from Ian Holbrook (Preston Freeman kick) 4:01

Irn – Brandon Walker recover Ironton fumble in end zone (Craig Stamper kick) :22

Second Quarter

Ash – Preston Freeman 23 field goal 6:52

Irn – Darius Lewis 5 run (Craig Stamper kick) 5:02

Third Quarter

Ash – Preston Freeman 31 field goal 3:59

Fourth Quarter

Irn – Chad Miller 1 run (Craig Stamper kick) 8:30

Ash – Ian Holbrook 12 run (run failed) 6:46

Irn – Jared Murphy 5 run (run failed) 2:13

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IrnAsh

First downs1823

Rushes-yards44-25930-131

Passing yards144256

Total yards403387

Cmp-Att-Int5-9-116-23-1

Fumbles-lost2-02-2

Penalties-yards7-656-35

Punts-average3-28.70-00.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Ironton: Jarod Murphy 15-98, Darius Lewis 16-97, Dominic Murphy 7-37, Chad Miller 5-21, Eric Layne 1-6; Ashland: Ian Holbrook 18-99, Tyler Reliford 9-22, Matt Thomas 2-minus 1, Adam Cannoy 1-11.

PASSING – Ironton: Chad Miller 4-8-1 106, Darius Lewis 1-1-0 18; Ashland: Ian Holbrook 16-23-1 256.

RECEIVING – Ironton: Brandon Walker 2-86, Darius Lewis 2-40, Chad Miller 1-18; Ashland: Angel Gurule 7-120, Drew McDavid 4-74, Luke Bonner 2-22, Adam Cannoy 2-40.

MISSED FIELD GOAL: Preston Freeman, Ashland, 25 (short).