Ironton whips Warren

Published 1:12 am Sunday, November 1, 2009

VINCENT — Power up.

Ironton’s power offense was charged up way too much for the Warren Warriors to stop as the Fighting Tigers rolled to a 41-12 win Friday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

Ironton (8-2, 4-1) amassed 390 yards — all on the ground — on 48 attempts as 11 different players carried the ball. Quarterback Ethan Preston was the key weapon as he ran seven times for a career-high 124 yards.

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“We were better up front and we took advantage of our strength,” said Ironton coach Bob Lutz. “We only threw the ball once or twice, but you don’t need to throw it when you’re getting five and six yards a carry.”

Ironton stopped Warren on its first possession and got the ball at its own 33. It took just two plays for the Fighting Tigers to score as Brian Warner went 15 yards and Tres Wilks bolted 53 on the next play with the help of a nice downfield block by J.P. Taylor.

Preston passed to Erin Edens for the conversion.

Wilks picked off a pass on the next series and ran it back 40 yards to the Warren 20.

Taylor carried for 9 yards and then Keith Wetzel ran 4 and 7 yards, the latter for the touchdown and it was 14-0.

A bad snap on a punt not only cost Warren 26 yards but gave Ironton the ball at the 9-yard line. Warner scored on the next play and it was 20-0.

Preston raced 69 yards t o the Warriors’ 11-yard line to start Ironton’s next series. Two plays later Preston did the scoring honors from 9 yards out and Wilks’ conversion run made it 28-0

Ironton led 35-0 on a 1-yard run by Wetzel and then Lutz emptied his bench starting at the midway mark of the third quarter.

Tyler Hager’s 4-yard touchdown run with 2:54 on the clock put Ironton up 41-0 in the third quarter.

Kaleb Wolfe eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season as he ran 29 times for 128 yards and scored both Warren touchdowns. However, Wolfe managed only 32 yards on 14 carries against Ironton’s first unit.

The Warriors as a team managed just 4 nets yards rushing and 96 total yards against Ironton’s first defensive unit.

Ironton will host Zane Trace at 7 p.m. Saturday at Tanks Memorial Stadium in the first round of the Division IV playoffs.

The Fighting Tigers — who will leave the SEOAL after this spring — finished second in the league standings.

Ironton 14 21 6 0 = 41

Warren 0 0 0 12 = 12

First Quarter

Irn — Tres Wilks 53 run (Erin Edens pass from Ethan Preston) 8:36

Irn — Keith Wetzel 7 run (kick failed) 1:38

Second Quarter

Irn — Brian Warner 9 run (run failed) 11:46

Irn — Ethan Preston 9 run (Tres Wilks run) 8:54

Irn — Keith Wetzel 1 run (Wetzel kick) 4:08

Third Quarter

Irn — Tyler Hager 4 run (kick failed) 2:54

Fourth Quarter

Wa — Kaleb Wolfe 5 run (run failed) 3:34

Wa — Kaleb Wolfe 3 run (pass failed) 0:27

—_

Irn WL

First downs 17 12

Rushes-yards 48-390 37-109

Passing yards 0 151

Total yards 390 260

Cmp-Att-Int 0-1-0 11-21-1

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 2-10 4-50

Punts-average 2-31.5 5-48-2

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Ironton: Ethan Preston 7-124, Tres Wilks 7-79, J.P. Taylor 7-64, Keith Wetzel 7-32, Tyler Hager 5-55, Tyler Duty 1-6, Michael Lawless 1-minus 2, Codey Jones 2-4, Leron Beach 5-6, Brandon Leach 1-0, Tyler Kratzenberg 2-minus 2. Warren: Kaleb Wolfe 29-1128, Kyle Pritt 3-10, Evan Arnold 2-2, Austin Henthorn 1-2, Clay Ellenwood 1-minus 7, Team 1-minus 26.

PASSING—Ironton: Ethan Preston 0-1-0. Warren: Clay Ellenwood 7-12-1 64, Grant Venham 1-1-0 29, Justin Hilverding 3-8-0 58.

RECEIVING—Ironton: None. Warren: Justin Yocum 2-50, Kaleb Wolfe 3-16, Kyle Pritt 1-7, Grant Venham 5-78.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.