Ironton routs Blue Devils in easy fashion

GALLIPOLIS — Another game, another blowout.

With a 56-7 romp of the Gallia Academy Blue Devils on Friday, Ironton improved to 8-1 on the season and the Fighting Tigers picked up their seventh running clock in nine games.

It was an ominous start as Ironton scored on the first play of the game when Zayne “The Diesel” Williams slipped a tackle just past the line of scrimmage and bolted 80 for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game.

Ironton forced a punt and it took only 3 plays to score as Kayden Edwards hit Maddox Markel with a 25-yard scoring pass and a 14-0 lead.

The Fighting Tigers put together a 53-yard, 6 play drive capped by Edwards’ 2-yard run and it was 21-0 with 3:34 left in the quarter.

A 23-yard run by Edwards playing running back got the ball deep in Gallia territory and on the first play of the second quarter backup quarterback Wyatt Wolfe threw an 11-yard scoring strike to Braydon Baker for a 28-0 lead.

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Following another Blue Devils’ punt, Ironton scored in just 2 plays as Edwards gave Brycen Mullins a pop pass and he raced 40 yards for the touchdown and it was 35-0 with 6:48 left in the half.

Gallia Academy (3-5) finally got some offense as Max Canaday raced 77 yards on first down to score and it was 35-7 with 5;42 on the clock.

But Easton Caudill erased that score as he returned the kickoff 75 yards for the touchdown and it was 42-7 with 5:32 left in the quarter.

Ironton forced a punt and Markel returned the kick 40 yards for a touchdown and it was now 49-7 with 3:24 to go in the second quarter.

“They’re playing really well,” Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton said of the special teams. “They’re taking a lot of pride in what they’re doing. They’re getting some opportunities to make plays and taking advantage of them.”

The Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs and Ironton took over at the 26. Six plays later, Edwards hit Tyson Harvey on a 9-yard scoring pass play with just 2 seconds on the clock for a 56-7 halftime lead.

Ironton limited the Blue Devils to 165 total yards including just 19 through the air. Quarterback Max Canaday was the only effective weapon for Gallia Academy with 5 carries for 132 yards and the lone touchdown.

“Obviously, I think our guys played really well. They kept their composure and understood what we needed to do and play at a very fast pace and played very aggressively and very instinctively and was able to maintain that discipline throughout the game and fortunately we used that to make some plays,” said Pendleton.

Ironton finished with 372 total yards. Williams had 125 yards on just 5 carries as the running game had 197 yards. Edwards was 7 of 10 passing for 100 yards and 3 scores as Ironton got a combined 175 yards through the air.

The Fighting Tigers host Portsmouth next Friday on senior night and it will also start the Athletic Hall of Fame weekend with the induction of Hobe Royal, Tim Hodges, Ryan Hurley, John Pemberton and Doris Shannon.

Ironton 21 35 0 0 = 56

Gallia Acad. 0 7 0 0 = 7

First Quarter

Irn — Zayne Williams 80 run (Beckham Waginger kick) 11:43

Irn — Maddix Markel 25 pass from Kayden Edwards (Beckham Waginger kick) 8:41

Irn — Kayden Edwards 2 run (Beckham Waginger kick) 3:34

Second Quarter

Irn — Braydon Baker 11 pass from Kayden Edwards (Beckham Waginger kick) 11:52

Irn — Brycen Mullins 40 pass from Kayden Edwards (Beckham Waginger kick) 6:48

GA — Max Canaday 77 run (Nathan Shockey kick) 5:42

Irn — Easton Caudill 75 kickoff return (Beckham Waginger kick) 5:32

Irn — Maddix Markel 40 punt return (Beckham Waginger kick) 3:24

Irn — Tyson Harvey 9 pass from Kayden Edwards (Beckham Waginger kick) 0:02

———————

Irn GA

First downs 9 7

Rushes-yards 16-197 23-146

Passing yards 175 19

Total yards 372 165

Cmp-Att-Int 11-16-0 4-10-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 5-60 6-40

Punts-average 1-43.0 7-24.9

———————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING— Ironton: Zayne Williams 5-125 TD, Kayden Edwards 2-25 TD, Easton Caudill 1-7, Wyatt Wolfe 3-1, Braylon Knipp 1-18, Landon Thomas 3-17, Ayden Justice 1-4; Gallia Academy: Max Canaday 5-132 TD, Bryden Howell 11-13, Parker Burris 7-1.

PASSING—Ironton: Kayden Edwards 7-10-0 100 3-TD, Brian Kidd 1-1-0 35, Wyatt Wolfe 3-5-0 40 TD; Gallia Academy: Max Canaday 4-10-0 19.

RECEIVING—Ironton: Braydon Baker 3-31 TD, Brian Kidd 2-26, Maddix Markel 2-60 TD, Brycen Mullins 1-40 TD, Tyson Harvey 2-12; Gallia Academy: Parker Burris 4-19.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.