Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — It was the “quick strike” offense versus the “grind ‘em up” offense.

The grinders won.

The Coal Grove Hornets used a punishing, ground-control running game and some key plays to rally in the second half and beat the pass-happy Fairview Eagles 46-36 on Friday.

Coal Grove (3-3) did what it does best by controlling the clock. The Hornets ran the ball 68 times for 366 yards and had 410 total yards.

Tanner Henry had another big game with 162 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns. Kimo Baldwin had his first 100-yard game as he ran 19 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.

“We made some plays when we had to,” said Hornets’ coach Brian Kidd.

“We had a kick return that kind of sparked us. (Tanner) Dolan threw a touchdown pass. Henry had a big run late in the game that kind of took the air out of them. There were quite a few big plays.”

Fairview (4-3) has lived on its passing game and quarterback Alex Roy — a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior — was 12 of 30 for 213 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

“For that caliber of quarterback and receiving crops, I thought we did pretty well. (Assistant) coach (Jarrod) Keaton put together game plan and we stuck to it. Overall, it was a pretty good effort,” said Kidd.

Both teams had a kickoff return for a touchdown. Shane Cook went 81 yards for Fairview in the second quarter while Chase McKnight returned his kick 70 yards just before the end of the third quarter that gave the Hornets the lead for good late in the third quarter.

Fairview went up 8-0 on a 51-yard pass play from Roy to Jonathan Ruggles. Roy ran for the conversion.

Coal Grove answered with Henry’s 6-yard scoring run and he also ran for the conversion to tie the game at the 2:02 mark.

But the Eagles scored quickly as Roy and Ruggles clicked on a 56-yard catch and run play. Ruggles ran for the conversion and it was 16-8 at the 1:24 mark.

The Hornets got within 16-14 on a 1-yard run by Henry with 4:50 left in the half, but Cook’s kickoff return gave Fairview a 22-14 halftime lead.

Antwan Washington got the bulk of Fairview’s rushing yardage when he bolted 45 yards for a touchdown with 5:51 left in the third quarter. Roy ran for the extra points and a 30-14 lead.

Coal Grove then used a 38-yard halfback pass on fourth down from Tanner Dolan to Sam Angelo to score and Daniel Rutherford threw to Jacob Clark for the conversion and it was 30-22.

The Hornets got the ball back and Rutherford ran 14 yards for a touchdown and also ran for the conversion to tie the game with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

Fairview struck again with a 13-yard pass from Roy to Washington and it was 36-30 with 47 seconds on the clock.

Coal Grove then got the key play of the game as McKnight got his kickoff return to tie the game. Baldwin ran for the conversion and a 38-36 lead with 36 seconds left.

Baldwin added an insurance touchdown with three minutes to play on a 4-yard run. He also ran for the conversion and a 10-point lead.

The Hornets host Ironton next Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Fairview 16 6 14 0 = 36

Coal Grove 8 6 24 8 = 46

First Quarter

Fa — Jonathan Ruggles 51 pass from Alex Roy (Roy run) 8:27

CG — Tanner Henry 6 run (Henry run) 2:02

Fa — Jonathan Ruggles 56 pass from Alex Roy (Ruggles run) 1:24

Second Quarter

CG — Tanner Henry 1 run (run failed) 4:50

Fa — Shane Cook 81 kickoff return (run failed) 4:37

Third Quarter

Fa — Antwan Washington 45 run (Alex Roy run) 5:51

CG — Sam Angelo 38 pass from Tanner Dolan (Jacob Clark pass from Daniel Rutherford) 4:50

CG — Daniel Rutherford 14 run (Rutherford run) 2:45

Fa — Antwan Washington 13 pass from Alex Roy (pass failed) 0:47

CG — Chase McKnight 70 kickoff return (Kimo Baldwin run) 0:36

Fourth Quarter

CG — Kimo Baldwin 4 run (Baldwin run) 3:00

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FV CG

First downs 11 18

Rushes-yards 22-71 68-366

Passing yards 213 44

Total yards 284 410

Cmp-Att-Int 12-30-1 2-4-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-2

Penalties-yards 10-67 4-25

Punts-average 6-40.3 3-31.3

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Fairview: Antwan Washington 4-56, Shane Cook 8-27, Jonathan Ruggles 6-2, Alex Roy 4-minus 14; Coal Grove: Tanner Henry 25-162 2-TD, Kimo Baldwin 19-116 TD, Jacob Clark 9-42, Daniel Rutherford 12-31 TD, Tanner Dolan 2-17, team 1-minus 2.

PASSING — Fairview: Alex Roy 12-30-1 213 3-TD; Coal Grove: Daniel Rutherford 1-3-0 6, Tanner Dolan 1-1-0 38 TD.

RECEIVING — Fairview: Jonathan Ruggles 3-106 2-TD, Antwan Washington 5-104 TD, Dylan Romine 2-2, Trevor Hutchinson 1-2, Shane Cook 1-minus 1; Coal Grove: San Angelo 1-38 TD, Ranze Large 1-6.