Tigers make short work of Rams in home opener

IRONTON — A group of tigers is called a swarm or ambush. In the case of the Ironton Fighting Tigers, it’s a swarming ambush.

Ironton’s defense ambushed the Salem (New Jersey) Rams with a swarming defense as the Fighting Tigers cruised to a 55-14 win on Saturday at Tanks Memorial Stadium.

The Ironton defense gave up a meager 25 net total yards including a minus 20 yards rushing and only 45 yards passing.

“Our defense right now is playing pretty well. They’re applying a lot of pressure, kind of choking offenses off giving us good field position offensively. We’ve just got to get better capitalizing,” said Ironton coach Todd Knipp who was filling in for the second week in place of head coach Trevon Pendleton who was serving a two-game suspension for an intentional forfeit last season.

Ironton (2-0) struggled offensively in the first quarter against the athletic defense of the Rams, but once they found the end zone for the first time, the points were able to rain thanks in a large part to the defense providing excellent field position the entire game.

The Rams were forced to punt from their own end zone and Kayden Edwards returned the kick from the 37 to the 27. But the Fighting Tigers drive stalled and they turned the ball over at the 18.

After exchanging more punts, the Rams fumbled and Ironton recovered at the Salem 18-yard line with 1:07 left in the first quarter.

Tyson Harvey ran for 7 yards and a wide receiver pass from Edwards to Nolan Wolfe was incomplete but a pass interference call on the play gave Ironton the ball at the 5-yard line.

Beckham Waginger’s conversion kick made it 7-0 with 17 seconds on the clock.

In the second quarter, the Rams were forced to punt from their own end zone and Edwards returned the kick from the 41 to the 25.

Two runs by Easton Caudill and a short pass to Edwards put the ball at the 14. Caudill ran for 2 yards. Wyatt Wolfe threw 6 yards to Bryson Kerns and three runs got the ball to the 2-yard line where Wyatt Wolfe scored on a quarterback sneak for a 14-0 lead with 7:20 on the second quarter clock.

Another punt from the end zone by Salem gave Ironton the ball at the Rams’ 30-yard line. Wyatt Wolfe threw a flanker screen to Edwards who was split out to the right and Edwards made the catch running back to the ball and went up the field, cut back to the left and outran the defense into the end zone.

A direct snap to Waginger on a fake extra point pass play was incomplete and the lead was 20-0 with 4:49 until the break.

On a fourth-and-5 at the Ironton 34, Jacob Hughes sack of Salem quarterback Owen McDonald gave the Fighting Tigers the ball at their own 43.

Ironton moved the ball into Rams’ territory and a 13-yard pass from Wyatt Wolfe to Harvey put the ball on the 3-yard line. Wolfe kept the ball again and went up the middle for the score.

Edwards ran for the conversion and it was 28-0 with just 37 seconds left in the half.

“We were kind of able to weather the storm and then get going offensively,” said Knipp.

“The screen game slowed them down a little bit and we were able to get out athletes in space and let them make some plays. Once the kids settled down, we were able to get out and establish some stuff.”

Ironton put the game out of reach and kicked in the running clock in the second half as Caudill ran 10 yards for a score at the 10:39 mark to make it 35-0 and Brycen Mullins 32-yard gallop with 6:12 left in the quarter and it was 42-0.

Salem’s Adrian Alleyne returned the kickoff 84 for a touchdown and it was 42-6 with 5:01 on the clock.

“Any time you bring in a team from out-of-state and you see them on film, film tells a lot but it doesn’t tell the whole story, so you’re always kind of apprehensive,” said Knipp.

“Gauging speed, gauging some of these kids' athletic ability. They have a bunch of guys who can run. I thought they were aggressive to the ball.”

Ayden Justice got his first career touchdown with a 3-yard for Ironton with 6:15 to play and Barrett Waginger kicked the conversion for his first varsity point.

Quimere Bergen caught a 14-yard pass from Owen McDonald for a score with 1:10 left and Sincere Cook-Reese hauled in the conversion pass and it was 49-14.

But Caudill answered by returning the kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and it was 55-14.

Salem (N.J.) 0     0     6     8 = 14

Ironton 7   21   14   13 = 55

First Quarter

I —  Tyson Harvey 5 run (Beckham Waginger kick), 0:17

Second Quarter

I — Wyatt Wolfe 2 run (Beckham Waginger kick), 7:20

I — Kayden Edwards 30 pass from Wyatt Wolfe (pass failed), 4:49

I — Wyatt Wolfe 3 run (Kayden Edwards run), 0:37

Third Quarter

I — Easton Caudill 10 run (Beckham Waginger kick), 10:39

I —Brycen Mullins 32 run (Beckham Waginger kick), 6:12

S —Adrian Alleyne 84 kickoff return (kick failed), 5:01

Fourth Quarter

I —Ayden Justice 3 run (Barrett Waginger kick), 6:15

S —Quimere Bergen 14 pass from Owen McDonald (Sincere Cook-Reese pass from Owen McDonald), 1:10

I — Easton Caudill, 83 kickoff return (no conversion attempt), 0:00

———————

Sa Irn

First downs 5 17

Rushes-yards 22-minus 20 26-158

Passing yards 45 115

Total yards 25 273

Cmp-Att-Int 6-12-1 10-13-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 10-53 4-17

Punts-average 5-32 2-41

———————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Salem: Adrian Alleyne 4-22, Izaiah Santuago 6-minus 9, Owen McDonald 8-minus 14, Cashmir Parsley 1-minus 3, Quimere Bergan 1-1, Ky'Vion Parsons 1-minus 16, Team 1-minus 1; Ironton: Easton Caudill 10-85 TD, Tyson Harvey 6-26 TD, Brycen Mullins 2-56 TD, Kayden Edwards 2-5, Wyatt Wolfe 4-minus 1 2TD, Ayden Justice 1-3 TD, Team 1-minus 16.

PASSING — Salem: Owen McDonald 6-12-1 45 TD; Ironton: Wyatt Wolfe 10-13-0 115 TD.

RECEIVING — Salem: Kai' Siere Muhammad 1-34, Quimere Bergen 1-14 TD, Izaiah Santuago 2-1, Adrian Alleyne 1-minus 1, Ky'Vion Parsons 1-minus 3; Ironton: Tyson Harvey 3-37, Kayden Edwards 3-36 TD, Bryson Kerns 2-17, Easton Caudill 1-18, Bryce Mullins 1-7.