SOUTH POINT – When you take away one thing, you have to give way to another.

Saturday, September 02, 2000

SOUTH POINT – When you take away one thing, you have to give way to another.

When the South Point Pointers defense tried to take away Ironton fullback B. J. Kerns from the offense, that was just fine with halfback Josh Harmon.

The Ironton senior running back made the most of his opportunities Friday as he scored four touchdowns and ran for 126 yards on just five carries as the Fighting Tigers breezed to a 49-8 win over the Pointers.

"They were trying to take our fullback (B. J. Kerns) away inside, so Harmon had a field day," Ironton coach Bob Lutz said.

"Wheelersburg was a lot stronger than (South Point) and we want to come out and play hard again and put some points on the board and we were able to do that."

Harmon set the tone early as he bolted 79 yards for a touchdown on Ironton’s third play from scrimmage. He added scoring runs of 21 and 18 plus a 10-yard touchdown reception.

Harmon said it wasn’t that big of an accomplishment.

"The holes were eight feet wide. Anyone could have run through them," Harmon said.

"I only had three carries against Wheelersburg, I really wasn’t really expecting many carries."

While the Ironton offense was rolling up a 35-0 halftime lead, the defense was harassing Pointers quarterback Jarrod Smith.

Ironton (2-0) racked up seven quarterback sacks for minus 42 yards.

Defensive end Roman Fry was in on two of those sacks, once each with Tyler Scior and Tyler Whaley.

"The defensive line got after him and we pressured him well, and he had trouble throwing with so much pressure on him," Fry said.

"Coach said if we get pressure on him, we can win the ball game. And we did that. And (Erique) Bacon with that interception was big."

Whaley teamed up with Matt Kelly for a sack, Redgie Arden, Bacon, Mark Gleichauf, and Aaron Morrison had one each.

Bacon got his interception at the 1-yard line late in the first half to halt a Pointer threat set up by a fumble recovery at the Ironton 16.

"The defense did the job. (Defensive back Chris) Haney stepped up and made some plays, and we had a bunch of sacks," Harmon said.

South Point, 1-1, used a 20-yard pass from Smith to Shane Holsinger to help get in Ironton territory at the 38, but Scior and Fry came up with a sack that forced a punt.

Three plays later, Harmon went 79 yards for his first touchdown. Tommy Lutz kicked the conversion and it was 7-0 at the 7:13 mark.

After another South Point punt, Ironton scored in one play as quarterback Drew Mains hit Chris Frazer on a 70-yard scoring strike for a 14-0 lead.

The Fighting Tigers next score was set up by a fumble on a punt. Scior recovered at the 21 and Harmon scored on the first play for a 21-0 lead as time ran out in the quarter.

Ironton had to drive the ball for its next score, going 67 yards in seven plays.

Kerns got loose for 36 yards to the Pointers 31. Six plays later Harmon shot through another big hole and ran 18 yards for the touchdown and a 28-0 lead with 6:38 to play in the half.

South Point had its best scoring opportunity of the half when D. J. Bryant recovered an Ironton fumble at the 16.

An offsides penalty gave the Pointers a first-and-goal at the 3, but Holsinger was stopped for a 2-yard loss and then Bacon came up with his interception.

Bacon returned the ball to the Pointers 20 to set up a 10-yard scoring pass from Mains to Harmon. Tommy Lutz’s conversion put the lead at 35-0 with just 14 seconds on the clock.

Ironton’s first unit didn’t get any work the second half, thanks to Scior who return the second half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

The Fighting Tigers second and third teams finished up on both sides of the ball.

The reserves put together a 60-yard, 11-play drive capped by Jeff "Scooter" Pleasant’s 3-yard touchdown run with 6:34 remaining. Kicker Michael Huber ran for the conversion when the snap deflected off the holder’s hands.

South Point avoided the shutout when Smith hit Monty Oates with a 3-yard touchdown pass with 1:03 to play. Bryan Maggard ran for the extra points.

Ironton amassed 368 total yards including 279 on the ground. Besides Harmon, Kerns had 57 yards on eight carries.

Mains completed 3-of-5 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

South Point had 195 total yards with 140 coming on the ground – 124 in the second half. Bryant picked up 75 yards on 10 carries, Chapman had 46 on 13 attempts, and Maggard got 39 on six tries.

Smith was 4-of-14 for 55 yards and a touchdown.