| The Wellston Golden Rockets were hoping for an explosion Friday night on their home field, and they got it. Unfortunately, someone lit the wrong fuse. And not only were the running backs bursting through the line, but it seemed to be a chain reaction as the Ironton Fighting Tigers kept on exploding until the smoke had cleared for a 41-15 bombing of the Rockets. Senior Tiger fullback Tim Hodges did most of the damage again as he piled up 205 yards on 34 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. Another senior, Gabriel Lewis, ran hard when called upon and totaled 62 yards in just 13 carries as Ironton amassed 357 yards rushing. Highly touted Wellston running star Jerry Patton never got on track as Ironton deactivated the speedy runner and held him to just 42 yards on 18 carries. "We shut him {Patton} off and that hurt the," commented Tiger coach Bob Lutz. "We didn't let him get into the secondary on us." With the exception of some drive killing fumbles, Ironton had little trouble with the Rocket defense. Darwin Conwell, who had several punishing tackles, got the Tigers started as the cornerback intercepted a Jeff Montgomery pass at the Ironton 15 yard line. Then behind some superb blocking by the front line of John Moritz, Adam Ainsworth, Joe Fletcher, David Clay, Darwin Conwell, Scott Willis, Craig Thomas and Tink Williams, Ironton moved the ball 85 yards in 11 plays. Hodges did most of the running as he followed gaping holes made by his line and fellow running mates, Gabriel Lewis and Terry Royal. But is was quarterback Brent Wilcoxen who scooted around left end on a keeper that got the score from 21 yards out with 1:15 left in the first period. Fletcher added the point after and it was 7-0. "There were some huge holes in the line," smiled Lutz referring to the scoring drive. The Tigers continued with their power running game in the second stanza as Hodges scored on a pair of 9 yard runs. The first one came following a short Wellston punt and a quick 43 yard drive. The second came with 8:54 left in the half. Lewis recovered a Wellston fumble with just over 6 minutes left to play in the first half, and Ironton turned it into a touchdown drive of 75 yards. Hodges again capped the drive by running over right tackle with 2:05 showing on the clock. Fletcher kicked his third point after and it was 21-0 at the intermission. Neither team scored in the 3rd period although Ironton missed on two opportunities by fumbling the ball away on 4th down at the 5 and later on a second down at the 16 of Wellston. "We weren't tough," explained Lutz about the inability to punch the ball in for a score. " We didn't have the intensity." With the aid of a "hail-mary" pass of 28 yards from Montgomery to Patton, Wellston got its' first score with 10:40 left in the game. Fullback Mike Massie went in from 2 yards out and Montgomery kicked the point after. But Ironton came right back as Hodges scored his 3rd TD on a 3 yard plunge. Fletcher booted the extra point and it was 28-7 at the 5:48 mark. Following an interception by Lewis at the Wellston 26, Ironton tallied again two plays later. A first down pass fell incomplete, but Hodges said enough fooling around and bolted 26 yards to paydirt around left end at the 4:14 mark. Fletcher kicked number 5 and it was 35-7. Both teams second units scored as Ironton freshman Mark Hixon galloped 16 yards with 1:36 remaining for his first varsity TD. Wellston scored on a 15 yard pass from Scott Massie to Mike DeStephen with :28 left. Massie hit Dave Essman for the conversion. Despite the awesome ground game, the Tigers hit only 1 of 4 passes for 11 yards. "We could have thrown more and blown it open early," shrugged Lutz. |
| Fighting Tigers Roll Past Rockets, 41-15 by Jimmy Walker Ironton Tribune |
| Tim Hodges: There was a lot of hype from Wellston claiming Jeff Montgomery was a better defender than Gabriel Lewis. Of course, we knew better. Joe Hacker's dad challenged anyone to take it to Montgomery. I came clear on the left side and it was only Montgomery between me and the endzone. I could probably have tried to get around for the score, but I took it straight at him, full speed. They had to take Jeff out of the game. That one was for Gabriel and Mr. Hacker. |