By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

There was Hal Spears to Jimmy Payne. Brent Wilcoxon to Joe Fletcher. A.J. Edwards to Bobby Lutz. Drew Mains to Chris Frazier. Mark Lutz to either Bart Burcham, Junie Depriest or Travis Franz, Tayden Carpenter to Ty Perkins.

Add one more to the list: Braden Schreck to Shaun Terry.

That last tandem had one of the most led Ironton to the Division 5 state championship this season and they connected 90 times for 1,595 yards and 23 touchdowns. For the season, Schreck was 189-of-260 for 4,063 yards and 37 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions.

Terry’s performance earned him the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Division 5 Offensive Player of the Year.

“That’s amazing,” said Terry.

So was Terry.

But the 5-10, 175-pound senior shrugged off the individual award and focused on the team’s success and his connection with Schreck that developed over the past two seasons.

“Me and Bigs (Schreck) always talk about what we see in the defenses and how he’s going to make adjustments to throw, what he sees and what I should do, simple things like that,” said Terry.

“There’s a bunch of communication. We always have had a connection. I really do believe that he and I have one of the best connections that’s ever come through at Ironton together and he’s one of the greatest quarterbacks to come through Ironton and that’s to my advantage.”

The 6-2, 185-pound Schreck said the two talked a lot but he pushed the praise on Terry.

“It’s pretty easy when he’s going to play in the SEC. He talks to me when I miss him and I talk to him when I make a bad read. He just says ’trust me.’ Before every game he says, “Just trust me. If you throw it to me, I’ll go get it.’ He proved that,” said Schreck.

The proof moment in the state championship game was a 46-yard pass in the fourth quarter that put Ironton up 21-9 for some breathing room with 5:25 to play.

“I just saw the ball in the air and I saw the guy on me and I said if I’m not getting it, he’s not getting it. He didn’t stop me from getting it,” said Terry.

The play was difficult on both ends. Schreck got pressured for one of the few times in the game against the Liberty Center pass rush. Schreck stayed focused and was hit just after he threw the ball.

“It was like right after I threw it on the follow through. We set it up with an out and up and I just took a chance and it worked out pretty well. When I threw it I thought it was picked,  but (Terry) made an unbelievable catch.

Schreck’s grandfather is Mike Burcham who was not only a Hall of Fame athletic director but was head baseball coach when Ironton won the 1972 Class AA state championship and he was an assistant coach for Ironton’s 1979 and 1989 state championship football teams.

Schreck visited his papaw before leaving for Canton and the state title game.

“We were just talking about that it’s been 35 years since we’ve won a state championship and he just wanted us to be the third champion and his message was, ‘We’ll show up,’” said Schreck. “It meant a lot to me to have him watch me get it done.”

Terry said the Ironton players were on a mission to win the state title.

“Early in the workouts in the summer how determined everyone was and how locked in everyone was. Throughout the year, just realizing we had the same goal and if you wish it they told you to get your act together or you can leave. That was the biggest thing,” said Terry.

Schreck said the addition of assistant coach Tom Kaskey helped add to the offense.

“I thought with coach (Tom) Kaskey coming in, we were going to throw the ball more. Just the different formations and different concepts that coach Kaskey brought in just helped,” said Schreck.

Terry said that while the game had its ups and downs, the Fighting Tigers never wavered and adjusted to the Liberty Center adjustments including their coverage of him.

“Just stay the course and just keep doing what we’re doing.We just did what we do and we ended up winning,” said Terry.

“First thing in the second half they put a corner on me and they put a safety right over top of the corner and the outside linebacker shaded closer to me, so it was like triple coverage and double coverage in man. I just kept doing what I do and instead of running my routes as quick, I started running smarter routes and taking a little more time and things like that.”

With the championship behind them, Terry and Schreck are turning their attention to the future.

“Just find a way to keep getting better. We did what we’re supposed to do as Fighting Tigers and that’s the standard here and winning state championships is what we want to do. It made me better as a player and as a man and I’ll take it to Missouri,” said Terry, who is leaving school early for Missouri.

Scheck will finish his senior season and he is anxious to bring similar success to the basketball team.

“Today felt really awkward not having to go to football. I was just thinking of the college aspect and what I’m going to do after that. We’ll just have to see going into basketball if I want to play basketball or football,” said Schreck.

“It would be great to win a championship in basketball, too.”