Tyler Harris, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
IRONTON — Do you remember as a kid, running around in your yard with your friends playing football? You’d create fake scenarios to enact and it was always the most dramatic moments ever in sports.
CREDIT: Baylee Harris/SOSA
For example, you’re down 22-0 and have to come back to tie it in the fourth quarter? Or it’s fourth down with 14 seconds to go, and your defense needs just one stop to secure a win?
Sometimes in life, you get to live out those exact moments. On Friday night, every fan that packed Tanks Stadium got to witness and feel why we all love high school football in Ironton’s 29-22 win over Gallia Academy — a win that allowed the Tigers to secure a share of the Ohio Valley Conference title.
It was a tale of two halves for both teams.
Ironton (9-0, 6-0 OVC) dominated the first half time of possession and looked poised for another blowout, yet their defense couldn’t get off the field in the second half. Gallia Academy (7-2, 4-2 OVC) struggled to find its footing in the first two quarters, but held the ball and all of the momentum in the second half.
With that momentum, the Blue Devils stormed back and had a chance to send the game to overtime from the Tigers’ 13-yard line.
Ironton, who has had a dominant defense all year, looked mortal in the third and fourth quartrs and had its back against the wall with just 14 seconds remaining. A defensive pass interference call at the two-yard line negated an interception that would’ve sealed the deal. Instead, Gallia was given one more shot and the Tigers’ defense had to make one more play.
On 4th and 9, coming out of a timeout, everything was on the line and everyone in the stadium was holding their breath as the young men on each team lived out the scenario we’ve all played out in our backyards.
And the Tigers came through.
“We told them they had to fight,” Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton said about the last play. “We had to find a way to get it done tonight, and we had to scratch and claw and fight, and our guys just found a way to win.”
The night started out like so many others this season as the Tigers jumped out to an early 22-0 lead, utilizing splash plays through the air that set them up for easy scores.
PHOTOS: Images from Ironton’s win over Gallia Academy
Ironton quarterback Tayden Carpenter found Landen Wilson for a 13-yard strike to open the scoring frame. On the team’s next possession, Carpenter capped off a 10-play, 57-yard drive with a one-yard plunge.
Their third possession ended like the first two, this time, with senior bruiser Jaquez Keyes finding pay dirt from two yards out. And with just over five minutes left until halftime, it seemed the Tigers were going to cruise on Senior Night.
But the night was just getting started.
Gallia responded with a 43-yard kick return to set up shop at the Tigers’ 36-yard line. Just five plays and two Tiger penalties later, Hudson Shamblin put his mark on the game with a two-yard dive into the end zone. When the Tigers got the ball back, they used two big pass plays, but the second ended with a fumble recovered by the Blue Devils with 51 seconds left until halftime.
You could feel, ever so slightly, that the visiting team was starting to gain some momentum.
The second half started much differently as Gallia’s defense made an appearance, forcing back-to-back punts for the Tigers. After a block in the back penalty knocked the Blue Devils back to their own 26-yard line, Gallia marched 74 yards on nine plays — with the help of two more Tiger penalties — and flashed the passing attack. Brody Fellure found Kenyon Franklin for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 22-14.
While penalties started to mount up for both teams, 10 for Gallia and 14 for Ironton, the Tigers shot themselves in the foot at the most inopportune times. After Ironton botched a handoff that led to a fumble, Fellure ripped off runs of 28 and 17 yards to set up a 1st and goal at the Tigers’ two-yard line.
Shamblin then found pay dirt for a second time and Fellure added a two-point conversion to tie the game at 22-22 with just 6:28 remaining.
Needing a score to take a late lead, the Tigers turned to their battering ram — Keyes — to take care of business. He carried them for an eight-play drive, finishing it off with a dive up the middle to give Ironton a seven-point advantage.
“He just makes plays,” Pendleton said of Keyes and his seniors. “Our seniors just know how to make plays and get things done. I told them they have to fight to win this one and if they fought to the end, good things would happen.”
Just when everyone thought the game would be put away, Gallia wasn’t done yet.
They marched to Ironton’s 32-yard line and, on fourth down, were bailed out by a defensive pass interference call that set up the epic ending.
Ironton’s defense came through and the Tigers clinched a share of the OVC title.
Ironton was led by Keyes, who had 14 totes for 56 yards and two scores. Wilson racked up 68 total yards on eight touches and a receiving touchdown. Bailey Thacker led the receiving corps with 69 yards on just two catches, and Carpenter was 13-of-16 passing, tallying 204 yards with a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown to his night.
Gallia was led by Shamblin, who had 69 yards and two scores, while Fellure scrambled for 91 yards on 15 carries and threw for a score.
Ironton will head to Portsmouth next week to try and win the OVC title outright while Gallia will play host to South Point, looking to gain momentum heading into Week 11.
“We have to keep getting better every week. We set our first goal to win the OVC and we’ll have to fight for that next week,” Pendleton said. “But we’re going to find where we can get better and keep fighting every single week.”
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