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JACKSON — Two minutes.
That was roughly all the time the Jackson Ironmen needed to put Friday night’s game to bed.
Coming off the two toughest games on its schedule — Ironton and Wheelersburg — Jackson (3-1) was looking to make a statement early in its matchup with Western Brown, hoping for a fast start.
It only took 77 seconds for Nolan Johnson to do so, putting up video game numbers against the Broncos’ defense. In that time span, the Army commit carried the ball three times for 83 yards and two scores, setting the tone for what would be a dominant performance as the Ironmen cruised to a 49-14 win.
“Nolan Johnson had another great night tonight. He can run the football, and he’s a brute. Our offensive line gave him some holes and let him get into the secondary quickly,” Jackson head coach Andy Hall said. “He’s a warrior. He’s shared carries the last two years with Cade Wolford, who’s playing at Kent State now. He knows this is his year to be the featured back and he’s really taken pride in that. He made some great runs tonight and refused to go down several times. That toughness is what our team prides itself on.”
Western Brown (3-1) attempted a squib kick on the opening kickoff, which gave the Ironmen possession at their own 38-yard line to start. Johnson made the Broncos pay the price for that decision, carrying the ball 62 yards to the end zone on the first play from scrimmage, making it 7-0 early.
Things didn’t get much better for the Broncos from there.
Western Brown muffed the ensuing kickoff and gave possession back to the Ironmen at the 21-yard line. When Jackson’s offense came back out, Johnson went back for more, running for a 19-yard score on the second play of the drive, expanding the lead to 14-0 with 10:43 left.
Jackson’s defense forced a turnover on downs on the following drive, giving its offense the ball back at the Western Brown 29-yard line, where the Ironmen then turned to the passing game to add to the fireworks.
Bodhi Wolford found Ryan Seimetz for a 29-yard touchdown toss to give the Ironmen a 21-0 edge with 10:08 remaining in the quarter.
Not even two minutes in, all hope that Western Brown had coming in seemed lost and Jackson wanted to keep it that way.
After forcing Western Brown to punt, Jackson’s offense again moved into the red zone. From there, Wolford went to his cannon once again as he found a wide open Gaven Jones for a 17-yard touchdown, making it a 28-0 lead, one that would hold to the end of the quarter.
The Ironmen couldn’t have scripted a better start, and they didn’t stop there.
The connection between Wolford and Seimetz was all the more present in the second quarter as the two connected for a 13-yard touchdown at the 9:17 mark. In the half’s final seconds, Seimetz hauled in a six-yard pass for another score to send Jackson into the break with a commanding 42-0 lead.
“We’re trying to get the ball out to some different guys, but we’re able to move Ryan around a lot,” coach Hall said. “He made some great plays tonight because we had a lot of time to throw the football.”
“I think that was really the goal tonight; coming out and hitting them in the mouth early. We talked about it all week. We had to come out with good energy, and I think that showed,” Seimetz said. “We came out with good energy, scored quick, and put them away early.”
Although the Broncos were able to show signs of life in the second half, highlighted by a pair of rushing touchdowns from Justin Morgan, the night already had the Ironmen written all over it.
Jackson added one more score to the tally as Tucker Williams ran it in from 27 yards out as the Ironmen cruised to a 49-14 victory on their home turf.
“Playing Ironton and Wheelersburg back-to-back is not easy. I’m really happy with the way we came out early in this game. It’s usually a shootout,” coach Hall said. “Last year, 104 [combined] points were scored. We didn’t want to get in a shootout with these guys. We wanted to score often, but we also wanted to get stops. I thought we did that tonight. I’m so proud of our defense. Even if they completed passes, we took them down quickly.”
Statistically, Wolford finished the night 12-of-14 passing for 186 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those scores were thrown to Seimetz, who hauled in eight catches for 122 yards. Gaven Jones was also on the receiving end of a 17-yard touchdown pass.
On the ground, Johnson ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, all of which came in the first half. Tucker Williams also reached the end zone on the ground with a 27-yard carry.
Both squads will hit the road next week. Western Brown faces yet another FAC foe in Miami Trace while the Ironmen make a long road trip to Hamilton Ross.
“Last year, we got on [Hamilton Ross] early, but they were a really good football team. The score didn’t indicate that,” coach Hall said. “They’re going to look for revenge. This is the last game of our two-year contract with them, so they’re going to be full of energy. We’re going to have our hands full, but I think our guys will handle it well.”
“It’s definitely a confidence booster. We try to take things week by week. Ironton was a big loss, and obviously it really hurt us, but I think it was good for us to have that,” Seimetz said. “[Hamilton Ross] is a really big run team and they don’t throw the ball very often. I think our coaches are going to have a good game plan for us coming up.”
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