Brown's big plays, defense help Pirates take down Ironton
- Staff
- Sep 27
- 6 min read
WHEELERSBURG — Elijah Brown came up with two critical catches and two scores, and the Pirate defense came up with the stops when it mattered, sparking Wheelersburg to a 24-15 comeback win over the Ironton Fighting Tigers on Friday night at Ed Miller Stadium.
All week long, the focus was on Ironton's explosive offense going up against Wheelersburg's stingy defense.
And rightfully so, as Ironton came into the contest averaging 47 points per game and 355 yards of total offense. For the Pirates, the defense came into the game allowing just 159 total yards and 5.8 points per game.
And while both teams showcased their strengths, it was ultimately Wheelersburg's offense that made the biggest impact on the night.
Senior running back Elijah Brown, along with fellow senior Braylon Rucker combined to spark the Pirates with big play, after big play to help the Pirates.
"Coming into the game, I didn't expect to be a large part of the passing game," said Brown. "But Rucker was scrambling around a couple times and found me down field. It wasn't in the game plan but it worked tonight."
Brown finished the night with 4 catches for a game-high 148 yards to. Rucker put together his best passing game to date, completing 14 of 19 passes for 258 yards.
Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward credited the win to the players' ability to play a four quarter football game.
""When you get a group of guys together playing selfless football, like they've been doing for 5-6 weeks, you have something special," said Woodward. "As you saw for 4 quarters tonight, our kids played a heck of a football game."
Trailing 9-7 at the half, the Pirates needed to grab the momentum back. And as they had done all season long, the Pirates turned to their defense again.
Hunter Henderson came up and made a tackle for loss on a screen pass to put the Tigers behind the sticks and forced a 3rd-and-long.
Ironton couldn't convert and was forced to punt, setting the Pirates up at midfield.
"(Ironton) is a great team. So it was a mentality all week at practice that we had to come out physical and I think we performed well," said Henderson after the game.
The Pirates found themselves facing a 3rd-and-4 on their first possession of the second half, needing another big play.
Rucker was able to hit Brown again out of the backfield, and the senior back rumbled 17 yards for the first down to the Ironton 25.
On the very next play, Rucker hit Xavier Miller streaking over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Pirates back ahead. Cooper Heimbach added the extra point to make it 14-9 with 8:28 in the third frame.
The Pirates came up with the first turnover of the night when Edwards let loose a deep ball down the far sideline, but Jay King was there to make the interception near midfield and set the Pirates up in Ironton territory.
But Wheelersburg couldn't cash in on the takeaway after driving to Ironton's 24. The Pirates were forced to settle for a 41 yard field goal attempt from Heimbach, but the ball sailed wide right and Ironton took over.
In the fourth, Ironton's defense came up with a huge stop when Wheelersburg failed to convert a fake punt attempt on 4th-and-2. The run attempt by Brown came up a yard short and Ironton took over at midfield.
Edwards connected with tight end Brock Biggs for 29 yards to the Wheelersburg 37. The pass play wound up being the largest gain by Ironton's offense on the night.
A short gain by Zayne Williams and a 7-yard run by Edwards set up the pivotal play of the game, a 4th-and-1 at the Wheelersburg 16.
Ironton hurried to the line in the I-formation, with Edwards under center. Edwards attempted to sneak the ball for the first. But there was trouble with the exchange from center, which threw the timing off for Edwads, and he was stuffed short of the line to gain by the interior of Wheelersburg's defense.
"Fourth-and-one, it's just a dog fight. So whoever goes harder when the ball is snapped wins. I went as hard as I can on that play and I'm just glad to be able to make a play," said Henderson.
Needing to run the clock out and preserve the win, Brown said his offensive line was challenged and they rose to the challenge.
"Coming down to the end in the fourth quarter, we told the offensive line this one was on them. And they took me there. They made their blocks and did what they had to do to finish off the game."
The first big play on the clinching drive came when Rucker hit Brown on a swing pass out of the backfield on 3rd-and-11 and Brown darted down the Ironton sideline 57 yards to the Tiger 26.
"(Rucker) has mentally got a grasp of the game, of what he can do and what we're trying to do. He was so tough tonight," said Woodward. "He was able to extend some plays and make some good decisions with the ball, and then he was able to get the ball to the guys when they were open."
But one final first down was needed as Ironton could stop the clock, and if they could hold Wheelersburg to even a field goal, the Tigers still had a chance to win with a touchdown.
But on 3rd-and-2, Brown took a handoff off the right side, and broke the plane and scored from 18 yards out. Heimbach added the extra point to make it a 9-point game and salt away the victory.
In the first half, Wheelersburg shocked the Tigers on the third play of the game, when Rucker scrambled in front of the home stands and found a wide open Brown, who made the catch and weaved his way downfield to the Ironton 14.
Two plays later, Brown nosed his way in from 2-yards out for the first points of the game. Heimbach added the point after to make it 7-0.
After teams traded punts, Ironton finally flexed its offensive muscle with a 7-play, 64-yard drive.
The scoring drive was highlighted a bruising 21-yard run by Williams, where he dragged tacklers with him to the 13. That run was followed by Tyler Carmon with a 7-yard run on a sweep.
Then Edwards finished the drive off, knifing his way through the heart of the defense from 6 yards.
After an inordinate amount of neutral zone infractions on the Pirates and Ironton opting to decline the penalties, the Tigers decided to take the penalty and go for two.
But Williams was stopped for no gain, leaving the score at 7-6 with 18 seconds left in the first.
In the second, it was more-or-less the Ironton offense exclusively.
Following a Wheelersburg punt, the Tigers took over from their own 35 at the 9:38 mark of the quarter. The drive lasted 19 plays, covered 58 yards, and ran off 9 minutes and 9 seconds.
Asides from a host of penalties by both teams, some key plays in the drive included a 14-yard gain on a jet sweep by Brycen Mullins. Then a 16-yard pitch and catch by Edwards to Tyler Carmon to put Ironton in the red zone.
Ironton made it as far at the Pirate 7, but could go no further and settled for a 24-yard field goal.
Placekicker Beckham Waginger spilt the uprights with 29 seconds remaining to give Ironton its first lead of the game and head into the locker room ahead 9-7.
Ironton was led offensively by Edwards, who carried the ball 24 times for 101 yards and completed 10 of 19 passes for 142 yards.
Williams finished with 61 yards on 10 carries. Biggs led all Ironton receivers with
For the Pirates, the win snapped a 4-game losing skid against their rival and ended Ironton's 16-game winning streak.
Wheelersburg will pivot back into SOC play with a road contest against Oak Hill. Ironton will be back on the road next Saturday when they travel to Uniontown, PA.
Ironton 6 3 6 0 = 15
Wheelersburg 7 0 10 7 = 24
First Quarter
Wh — Elijah Brown 2 run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 8:58.
Irn — Kayden Edwards 7 run (run failed), 0:18.
Second Quarter
Irn — Beckham Waginger 24 field goal, 0:29.
Third Quarter
Wh — Xavier Miller 25 pass from Braylon Rucker (Cooper Heimbach kick), 8:28.
Irn — Kayden Edwards 6 run (run failed), 6:31.
Wh — Cooper Heimbach 43 field goal, 3:08.
Fourth Quarter
Wh — Elijah Brown 18 run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 1:12.
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Irn Wh
First downs 18 12
Rushes-yards 38-163 22-44
Passing yards 132 258
Total yards 295 302
Cmp-Att-Int 10-20-2 14-19-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-95 12-89.5
Punts-average 3-34.0 2-44.0
Time of Poss. 22:37 20:14
———————
Individual Leaders
RUSHING — Ironton: Brycen Mullins 1-9, Kayden Edwards 23-88 2-TD, Zayne Williams 10-52, Tyler Carmon 3-14, Team 1-minus 14; Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 11-25 TD, Stephen Hall 1-1, Elijah Brown 9-23 2-TD, Team 1-minus 5.
PASSING — Ironton: Kayden Edwards 10-19-2 131, Brycen Mullins 0-1-0 0; Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 14-19-0 258 TD.
RECEIVING — Ironton: Brycen Mullins 3-27, Brock Biggs 3-63, Maddix Markel 1-10, Braydon Baker 1-15, Zayne Williams 1-1, Tyler Carmon 1-16; Wheelersburg: Brady Doss 4-29, Kenyon Evans 2-22, Hunter Bivens 2-14, Xavier Miller 2-45 TD, Elijah Brown 4-148.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — Cooper Heimbach (Wheelersburg) 41 wide right.
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