Only the strong survive.

Saturday, September 09, 2000

Only the strong survive.

Oh, and so do the big and nasty.

Using a punishing ground game, the Ironton Fighting Tigers proved to be big, strong, and nasty Friday night as they pounded out a 26-10 win over the Gallipolis Blue Devils.

Ironton coach Bob Lutz knew coming into the game that Ironton would be put to the test, and he challenged his team to be physical and handle the Blue Devils defensive stunts.

"We knew Gallipolis would be a tough ball game. They’re not big, but they’ll tag you," Lutz said. "We made some mistakes, but we were able to come back and we did the job when the game was on the line."

The Fighting Tigers led just 12-10 at the half and Gallipolis put together a drive in the third quarter that reached the Ironton 17.

Ironton drove to the Gallipolis 30, but Josh Stapleton shot a gap and grabbed the ball from quarterback Drew Mains on a third-and-one play.

Gallipolis, 2-1, then drove to the Ironton 17. But Mark Mains sacked Gallipolis quarterback David Brodeur for a 5-yard loss, then tackled him on the next play for a yard loss on an option play. Brodeur’s third down pass went incomplete and Bobby Jones’ 40-yard field goal attempt was wide left with one second on the clock.

"The defense stepped it up. We were in the right place at the right time," Ironton defensive end Mark Mains said. "Overall, everyone played well. Both ends tried not to let them outside. And the fourth quarter is all about heart, and we showed a lot of heart."

Ironton then took over and used a punishing 17-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Drew Mains’ 1-yard run with 3:21 to play. Tommy Lutz kicked the extra point and it was 19-10.

Fullback B. J. Kerns carried nine times for 42 yards in the drive.

"We like to get the fullback running the ball. That’s what our game is all about," Lutz said.

Ironton, 3-0, scored on its first possession of the game and was threatening on its second try only to fumble the ball away.

"We fumbled on one drive, then we backed ourselves up with a penalty on another drive, and then they stunt a linebacker and we miss him. We just made too many mistakes the first half," Lutz said.

After Gallipolis went three and out to start the game, Ironton marched 56 yards in just six plays. The drive culminated on a 23-yard pass from Drew Mains to Chris Frazer to make it 6-0.

A holding penalty backed Ironton to its own 10 late in the quarter, and a 16-yard punt return by Tony Moore put Gallipolis at the Fighting Tigers 29.

A 19-yard run by Ike Simmons got the ball to the 6 and two plays later Brodeur hit Jon Lawhorn with a 7-yard touchdown pass. Clayton Saunders kicked to point after and Gallipolis led 7-6.

A fumble recovery by Chris Haney gave Ironton the ball at the Gallipolis 25, and on the second play Drew Mains kept the ball and snaked his way through the Blue Devils defense for a 21-yard touchdown run that put Ironton up for good at 12-7.

Two big runs by Simmons helped get the ball to the Ironton 19. Moore was tackled for a yard loss, and Gallipolis settled for a 37-yard field goal by Saunders with 2:19 left in the half.

Ironton tried to make something happen with one second left in the half, but Drew Mains’ quick out pass was intercepted by Justin North who returned the ball down the sidelines only to be tackled by Mains at the 1-yard line as time ran out.

"We wanted to throw a slant to Harmon and see if he could make something happen. Drew changed the route and Harmon didn’t see it. (Drew) made one bad play, but he made one heck of a play to stop the touchdown," Lutz said.

After each team failed to score on its first possession of the second half, Ironton eliminated its mistakes and began to dominate up front.