Pick 6's help Tigers pull away from Rockets in 2nd half

CINCINNATI — On the old syndicated TV comedy show Hee Haw, guitar played Buck Owens would be a pickin’ and banjo playing Roy Clark would be a grinnin’.

Friday night, the secondary was a pickin’ and that left the Ironton Fighting Tigers’ a grinnin’ as they used four interceptions including a pair of Pick 6s to beat the Cincinnati McNicholas Rockets 29-7.

Braydon Baker had a pair of interceptions including a 95-yard Pick 6 late in the fourth quarter that sealed the outcome.

Jacob Hughes also had a Pick 6 and Tyson Harvey made a diving interception of a pass that glanced off a receiver’s hands.

“A sophomore (Hughes) stepped in and played a big moment. He played pretty well and he’s only going to get better,” said Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton. “Our guys in the secondary did a great job of keeping eye level contact.”

Ironton (3-0) went 62 yards in 8 plays on its first possession of the game keyed by a 23-yard pass from Kayden Edwards to Brock Biggs. Edwards hit Zayne Williams with a 5-yard swing pass for the score and it was 6-0 with 7:01 on the first quarter clock.

Ironton punted on its next two possessions and a short punt gave the Rockets the ball at the Ironton 46.

Joseph Reuss ran 22 yards to the 24 and quarterback Steven Meltebrink had 4 straight carries before Reuss went the final 5 yards to tie the game. Andrew Corcoran kicked the conversion and McNicholas led 7-6 with 6:18 left in the half.

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“We went in at halftime and got hit in the mouth a little bit, so we had to see what they were made out of and they responded pretty well,” said Pendleton.

“We changed up the blocking stuff and rules and went back to something we’ve had in but we haven’t used a lot but we were able to execute it. Our kids adjusted really well and I’m proud of that.”

Ironton came out running the ball in the second half. Edwards finished the game with 24 carries for 96 yards and Williams ran 20 times for 91 yards and a touchdown.

Edwards was 12-of-18 passing for 79 yards and a score. Pendleton said there has to be more production out of the passing game.

“We’ve got to do more to get open. We’ve got to sustain our blocks and keep our eyes downfield,” said Pendleton.

McNicholas completed a 44-yard pass from Meltebrink to Evan Sandfoss to reach the 48-yard line. But two plays later Hughes stepped in the path of a Meltebrink pass and returned it 65 yards for the touchdown and Ironton took a 12-7 lead.

Later in the quarter, the Rockets reach midfield only to have Baker come up with his first interception.

A shanked punt gave Ironton the ball at the Rockets’ 40-yard line only to have a holding penalty move the ball back to midfield.

But Ironton was able to drive to the 3-yard line and then turned the game over to Beckham Waginger who drilled a 20-yard field goal and the lead was now 15-7.

Three plays later, a ball deflected off a receiver’s hands and Harvey made a diving interception at the Ironton 31.

A 12-yard pass to Williams got the ball into Rockets’ territory and a steady diet of running the ball followed with 9 straight carries including a 10-yard burst by Williams for the touchdown with 2:10 left to play and it was 22-7.

Meltebrink hit Sandfoss on a 57-yard pass play to start the next series and the Rockets had the ball at the Ironton 10-yard line.

But a pass tipped off a receiver’s hands and Baker grabbed the ball and raced down the sidelines 95 yards for the clinching score.

The Rockets (1-2) were playing without leading rusher Caleb Naumann who has been lost for the rest of the season due to a broken bone in his foot. The Colgate recruit was leading the team in rushing after running for 1,800 yards last season.

Ironton will host Canisius (N.Y.) next Saturday.

Ironton    6 0 6 17 = 29

McNicholas 0 7 0 0 = 7

First Quarter

Irn — Zayne Williams 5 pass from Kayden Edwards (run failed) 7:01

Second Quarter

CM — Joseph Reuse 5 run (Andrew Corcoran kick) 6:18

Third Quarter

Irn — Jacob Hughes 65 interception return (pass failed) 6:56

Fourth Quarter

Irn — Beckham Waginger 20 field goal 8:45

Irn — Zayne Williams 10 run (Beckham Waginger kick) 2:10

Irn — Braydon Baker 95 interception return (Beckham Waginger kick) 1:33

———

Irn CM

First downs 15 7

Rushes-yards 50-218 24-77

Passing yards 79 105

Total yards 297 182

Cmp-Att-Int 12-18-0 3-15-4

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-64 6-37

Punts-average 3-27-.7 5-33.6

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Ironton: Kayden Edwards 24-96, Zayne Williams 20-91 TD, Kylan Grace 3-20, Tyler Carmon 2-8, Brycen Mullins 1-3; Cincinnati McNicholas: Joseph Reuss 15-58 TD, Steven Meltebrink 6-18, Zayden Harvey 2-7, Evan Sandfoss 1-minus 2.

PASSING–Ironton: Kayden Edwards 12-18-0 79 TD; Cincinnati McNicholas: Steven Meltebrink 3-14-3 105, Carson White 0-1-1.

RECEIVING–Ironton: Brock Biggs 3-31, Zayne Williams 2-17 TD, Brycen Mullins 3-13, Braydon Baker 1-9, Maddix Markel 2-7, Tyson Cox 1-2; Cincinnati McNicholas: Evan Sandfoss 2-101, Mitch Ganim 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.