The Ironton Fighting Tigers relied on their "D."

That's "D" as in defense and Darius.

With the defense pitching another shutout and Darius Lewis running 21 times for 233 yards, Ironton spanked the Gallipolis Blue Devils 30-0 Friday night.

"I didn't know I had that much yardage. I love the (offensive) line," Lewis said. "I got a little tired in the first half, but not the second half."

The Ironton defense bottled up the Blue Devils high-powered offense most of the night. Gallipolis finished with only 118 total yards and just 35 rushing.

"The defense overall was good all night," Ironton coach Bob Lutz said. "We were a little lethargic in the first half. You have to play hard all the time. It was a good effort, especially in the second half."

Ironton moved the ball in the first half but bogged down on its own mistakes. Lewis had the only touchdown of the half on a 13-yard run early in the second quarter that capped a 42-yard, five-play drive.

"Lewis is a load," Lutz said. "He's got size and speed. He runs hard and punishes people when they try to tackle him."

Ironton, 3-0, forced a three-and-out to start the second half and got the ball on its own 32.

Behind the offensive line of center Ryan Walker, guards Adam Ferguson and Michael Phillips, tackles Josh Carty and Greg Igo, and ends Patrick Kouns, Shane Kerns and Tyler McDaniels, Ironton covered the distance in nine plays with Lewis bursting up the middle for 27 yards and a touchdown.

Lewis ran for the conversion and it was 14-0.

The Fighting Tigers recovered a fumble at midfield and quickly converted the turnover into a touchdown.

Four plays after the turnover, quarterback Josh Adkins hit Shane Kerns on a 43-yard scoring play. Marcus Williams ran for the extra points and it was 22-0.

"Adkins threw a pretty good ball and Kerns made a nice adjustment and catch," Lutz said.

After trading possessions, Ironton stopped a fake punt attempt by Gallipolis at the 24 with 9:21 to play. Five plays later Eric Layne scored on a 12-yard run. Lewis did the honors on the conversion and the backups handled the final 6:26 of the game.

As for the Blue Devils, they were in Ironton territory only three times: once at the Ironton 49 in the first quarter, again at the 48 to start the fourth quarter, and to the Ironton 29 late in the game only to have the drive stopped when Brandon Matkins recovered a fumble.

"The defense played another good game. We still need to work on our pass coverage, but a shutout is a shutout," said McDaniels who doubles as a defensive back.

Gallipolis0000-0

Ironton06168-30

Second Quarter

Irn - Darius Lewis 13 run (kick failed) 10:24

Third Quarter

Irn - Darius Lewis 27 run (Darius Lewis run) 5:56

Irn - Shane Kerns 43 pass from Josh Adkins (Marcus Williams run) :29

Fourth Quarter

Irn - Eric Layne 12 run (Darius Lewis run) 6:26

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GaIrn

First downs718

Rushes-yards24-3553-363

Passing yards8353

Total yards118416

Cmp-Att-Int11-17-03-5-1

Fumbles-lost3-22-1

Penalties-yards1-153-15

Punts-average4-32.32-29.5

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING-Gallipolis: Dustin Winters 8-31, Jaymes Haggerty 6-4, Todd Saunders 7-2, Austin King 1-3, Seth Haner 1-5, Kyle Burnett 1-minus 10; Ironton: Darius Lewis 21-233, Marcus Williams 6-33, Jared Murphy 6-15, Josh Adkins 4-21, Eric Layne 3-18, Andrew Walker 6-19, Justin Paulus 2-10, Joey Zornes 1-7, Chad Miller 1-3, Robbie Downs 1-3, Walter Ballard 2-1.

PASSING-Gallipolis: Jaymes Haggerty 11-17-0

83; Ironton: Josh Adkins 3-5-1

53.

RECEIVING-Gallipolis: Kyle Burnett 5-37, Shaphen Robinson 2-15, Todd Saunders 2-8, Jeff Payton 1-16, Dustin Winters 1-7; Ironton: Shane Kerns 1-43, Marcus Williams 1-7, Patrick Kouns 1-3.