Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

There is one word that best describes Bishop Watterson: Solid.

Ironton head coach Mark Vass said the Watterson Eagles are a sound team on offense and defense.

“They’re a good team. They’re solid. They do things well fundamentally on both sides of the ball,” said Vass. “They aren’t better in one area than another. They’re just solid across the board.”

The Fighting Tigers (5-1) faced a big, strong team in Johnson Central last week and lost 44-31. The Eagles (3-3) are not as big overall, but they have better size at all positions.

One player with good size is quarterback Andy Elberson (6-2, 202) who runs the option-style offense and scored on an 8-yard run in last week’s 28-14 loss to unbeaten Columbus Bishop Hartley.

“He’s a big kid. He throws well and he runs hard,” said Vass. “But you can’t just focus on the quarterback. They have some good backs with good speed.”

The fullback is DeAndre Golden (5-9, 180) and the tailback Walter Green (5-7, 155). The Eagles also have a strong backup in Cody Calhoun (5-11, 195).

The slotback is Jacob Graham (5-9, 192), the tight end Alec Greene (6-3, 221) and the flanker spot is split between Mike Vlahakis (6-2, 195) and Patrick Roark (6-2, 181).

Up front the Eagles have Andrew Lorenz (6-3, 280) at center, Josh Hoyng (6-1, 225) and Patrick Birch (5-10, 223) at the guard, and Kyle Fada (6-2, 223) and Joe Winters (6-3, 221) at the tackles.

“They have a good line. (Fada) is a real nice player,” said Vass.

In last week’s loss to Hartley, the Eagles fell behind 7-0 to start the game but responded by driving to the 1-yard line only to fumble the ball into the end zone.

Hartley then scored again and the Eagles drove to the 1-yard line again only to be held on downs.

“They can move the ball,” said Vass.

On the defensive side, Watterson operates from a 4-3 alignment that has good size up front as well as at linebacker.

Lorenz and John Bogue (6-1, 270) are the tackles, Fada and George Cleary (6-2, 224) the ends, and Roark, Eli Kirk (6-1, 207) and Matt Stafford (6-0, 221) the linebackers.

Calhoun and Vlahakis are the safeties with Patrick Latimer (6-0, 163) and Ryan Urquhart (5-10, 163) the corners.

“They’re a good defensive unit. They run to the ball well and play good, solid defense up front,” said Vass.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.