Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PROCTORVILLE — Remember the story of Br’er Rabbit who got caught and begged the fox to do anything with him except throw him in the briar patch.

The fix did just that and Br’er Rabbit laughed and said, “I was born and bred in a briar patch.”

Before Friday’s game, the Coal Grove Hornets were pleading that the rain would stop and the field would remain dry, but, of course, that wasn’t the case as the rain fell throughout the night.

The Hornets laughed as they gained 395 yards — all on the ground — and explained, “Our offense is built to run in the mud.”

The main mudder was Isaiah Gunther who ran 23 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns as Coal Grove beat the Fairland Dragons 48-12 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Tanner Murphy added 95 yards on 12 carries and he also scored three touchdowns as Coal Grove improved to 4-3 and 1-0 in the OVC.

Fairland (0-7, 0-2) had 257 total yards with quarterback Chance Short hitting 19 of 31 attempts for 158 yards and a score. However, he was intercepted three times.

The win sets up a showdown next Friday at Chesapeake in a battle for first place in the league.

Tanner Henry set the tone for the Hornets by returning the opening kickoff 72 yards to the Fairland 13. Moments later, Gunther ran 1-yard for the score and it was 6-0.

Fairland shanked a punt for just 7 yards and Coal Grove took over at its own 49. Gunther then bolted 51 yards on the first play and it was 12-0.

Murphy plowed through the defense for 38 yards with 2:12 left in the first quarter and Jacob Clark added the conversion to make it 20-0.

Murphy’s 5-yard scoring run less than a minute before the half extended the lead. His conversion run made it 28-0 at the break.

Fairland showed some life as Short hit Hayden James with a 19-yard scoring pass with 9:40 left in the third quarter, but Coal Grove answered as Murphy blasted 5 yards for the touchdown and his second conversion run made it 36-6.

The Dragons were able to cut the deficit to 36-12 on a 3-yard run by Colton Burmfield just before the end of the third quarter. Brumfield had 58 yards on 12 carries as Fairland was limited to 99 yards rushing.

But Gunther ran 10 yards early in the fourth quarter to dash any comeback hopes.

Ranze Large led the Hornets’ backup unit with a 29-yard scoring run with 41 seconds to play.

Coal Grove 20 8 8 12 = 48

Fairland 0 0 12 0 = 12

First Quarter

CG — Isaiah Gunther 1 run (kick failed) 9:44

CG — Isaiah Gunther 51 run (pass failed) 7:07

CG — Tanner Murphy 38 run (Jacob Clark run) 2:12

Second Quarter

CG — Tanner Murphy 5 run (Murphy run) 0:57

Third Quarter

Fa — Hayden James 19 pass form Chance Short (kick failed) 9:40

CG — Tanner Murphy 5 run (Murphy run) 4:49

Fa — Colton Brumfield 3 run (pass failed) 0:13

Fourth Quarter

CG — Isaiah Gunther 10 run (kick failed) 9:24

CG — Ranze Large 29 run (kick failed) 0:41

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CG Fa

First downs 22 15

Rushes-yards 48-395 21-99

Passing yards 0 158

Total yards 395 257

Cmp-Att-Int 0-1-1 19-31-3

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-1

Penalties-yards 7-65 6-50

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Coal Grove: Isaiah Gunther 23-202, Tanner Murphy 12-95, Jacob Clark 2-19, Jesse Rigsby 4-25, Tanner Henry 1-4, Greg Carter 3-7, Ranze Large 2-42, Maty Cordle 1-2; Fairland: Colton Brumfield 12-58, Kobe Woodall 1-minus 1, Chance Short 2-11, Sidney Tucker 3-12, Dylan Murphy 1-2, Nathan Campbell 1-11, Brett Brewer 1-6.

PASSING — Coal Grove: Jesse Rigsby 0-1-1; Fairland: Chance short 19-31-3 158.

RECEIVING — Coal Grove: None; Fairland: Dylan Murphy 3-11, Nathan Campbell 9-83, Colton Brumfield 3-18, Austin Christian 1-14, Ty Staten 2-13, Hayden James 1-19.