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The Ironton basketball season is just under two weeks away. Here is a look at the Fighting Tiger B-Ball schedule. All home games are in bold print.

12/6 Ashland Paul Blazer (KY)
12/9 @ Fairland
12/13 Manchester
12/16 Jackson
12/19 Chillicothe
12/22 Russell (KY)
12/23 Columbus Brookhaven
12/30 Wheelersburg
1/2 @ Gallia Academy
1/6 @ Chesapeake
1/9 Portsmouth
1/13 @ Jackson
1/16 Zanesville
1/20 @ Chillicothe
1/30 Logan
2/3 Gallia Academy
2/6 @ Marietta
2/10 @ Portsmouth
2/13 @ Warren
2/21 SEOAL Day of Champions (North Site)

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Bobby

I took a trip across the river Friday Night to see the Kentucky version of Friday Night Lights. I visited the Raceland Rams High School and watched the Rams take on Fairview High School in the Kentucky playoffs. As most of you know former coach Mark Lewis is an asst. coach at Raceland and I did notice one thing that looked very familiar during the game. When Fairview punted, lo and behold I saw the Ironton wall setup for the return. It may have been my imagination but it sure looked like something I’ve seen many Friday nights before. I talked with Coach Lewis a couple weeks ago at Tanks Stadium. He came to visit one of the Fighting Tigers practices and we talked for several minutes. He seems to really enjoy his job at Raceland. I am planning on going back this Friday night and watch as the Rams take on a very good Lexington Christian Academy.  This is the second time these two teams have met this year and Raceland won the first one in a very close game. Good luck to Coach Lewis and his Raceland Rams.

I hope everyone watched the Ohio State Michigan game and saw former Ironton standout Marcus Williams recover a fumble while playing special teams with the Bucks. Marcus also carried the ball 2 times in the final part of the games gaining about 12 yards in those couple of carries. It’s great to see these local guys do so well. Aaron Pettry of the aforementioned Raceland Rams also does the kicking off and the long field goals for the Buckeyes.

Well Thanksgiving is this week and Ironton Football Dot Com and the Sunday QB would like to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. Until next week, God bless you all and as always Go Tigers!

Joe

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Sorry.. ‘The Sunday Quarterback’ is a day late but I have been rather busy doing research on former Ironton football coaches. I thought I would have an easy time but after starting off on this journey into Ironton football history, I have found some very interesting pieces of info that I would like to pass on to those who enjoy reading about a bit of history.

I went to the site of The Ohio High School Coaches Football Hall of Fame to look at the list of honorees there. To my surprise, I found Ironton has had 3 coaches so honored. Bob Lutz in 2003; James J “Bear” Mains in 1995; and Richard “Dickey” Gallagher in 1971 were all so honored for their contributions to the game of football while coaching at Ironton. I thought I would start with Mr Gallagher after looking at all the info I found.

RICHARD F. “DICK” GALLAGHER

RICHARD F. “DICK” GALLAGHER

Born: 1909 - Died: 1995

Hometown: Ironton

Education: Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Career: A letterman in both football and basketball at Kentucky Wesleyan College, Gallagher played professional football with the Ironton Tanks for one season, then coached football at Ironton High School for nine seasons. His 1935 Ironton team, led by future Hall of Famer George McAfee, won the 1940 state championship. After coaching at William and Mary College, he worked with the Cleveland Browns (1947-49, 1955-60), Santa Clara University (1950-52) and Chicago Cardinals (1953). … Named Buffalo Bills general manager in 1961. Curator at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton 1968-1975

Personal: The Dick Gallagher Hall of Fame Trophy is presented annually to the winner of the Malone-Walsh college football game, and a scholarship is awarded in his name.

A few other tid bits I thought very interesting was the fact that Coach Gallagher brought a team of Pedro Redmen to Ironton in 1932 and upset the Ironton Tigers 8-0. The next year he was hired to coach the Tigers. He led the Ironton Tigers to their first undefeated season in 1935 as the Tigers went 9-0. If you look in the article above, it says Ironton was State Champs that year, something I didn’t know.  If this is the case, shoudn’t it have its own banner?

Another piece of trivia that might be of interest is that the late great Woody Hayes was also in Dickey Gallagher’s Ohio High School Hall of Fame Class back in 1971. Mr Gallagher was also the presenter for George McAfee when he entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

I’m sure I have missed something of interest since there is so much this man accomplished. I do know he was a Ironton Sport’s Day Honoree back in the day also. Stay tuned for more on former Ironton Football coaches.

With Thanksgiving very close, we all have so much to be thankful for, so to all who read the QB, God Bless you all and as always Go Tigers!

Joe

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As the curtain falls on the Ironton version of Friday Night Lights, Irontonfootball Dot Com and The Sunday Quarterback wants to thank all of those who give that extra effort in putting on this fine show. To all the players, coaches, cheerleaders, the band and its directors, the fans along with all those ticket takers and bus drivers, the chain gang, the announcer and those remarkable folks from WIRO,  a great big thank you for all that you do during the year. Also to you guys who brave the elements to take the best pictures of these young folks, Thank You from the bottom of our hearts.

So now where do we go from here? I understand that there will be a change coming to irontonfootball.com. It may be that we will become football all year round on this site.  A new look maybe, who knows what the bossman has in mind. Stay turned to this site and see what is in store for us.

I would like to give a near and dear friend of mine, Billy Bruce, a plug if that be OK. Billy is starting his own site and it will be filled with stories of some of our own local folks. I can’t wait to get a look at what he has in mind. Billy does excellent work for the Lawrence County version of the Huntington Herald Dispatch. He has written some of the most moving and compelling stories about many of our local people. As soon as I get the link I will post it for all to see. Do go over and take a look, you won’t be sorry.

I received a few comments on last week’s Sunday Quarterback about things you would like to see. I am taking those ideas into consideration and hope to come up with a few stories of years gone by. If you have something you would like to see, put it in the comment section of The Sunday Quarterback and we’ll do our best to come up with an interesting story. Thanks to those who have taken the time to read our blog. We will continue to keep you entertained with the news and trivia about the best football tradition in high school sports. Until next time God Bless and as always Go Tigers!

Joe

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Since we are playing the New Lexington Panthers tonight, I thought it might be nice to see what I could dig up on former Ironton Head Basketball Coach and Asst Football Coach Jim Rockwell. From time to time I will try and put a story on the blog about some of Ironton former head coaches and asst coaches.

Here is an article I found from a New Lexington Site about Coach Rockwell. This was written when he was inducted into the New Lexington Sports Hall of Fame. It explains Jim Rockwell’s accomplishments better than I could ever do.

1951 - Gene James, TC Davies and Jim Rockwell

Mr. Jim Rockwell, Sr.

Coach Rockwell coached New Lexington football to a 144-27-8 record from 1959 to 1976. He coached the 1970 and 1976 teams to the Class AA AP/UPI poll state titles. Coach Rockwell also coached unbeaten teams in 1961, 1964 and 1974. He coached 10 Muskingum Valley League championship teams, including eight straight from 1969 to 1976. Coach Rockwell was named Southeastern Ohio Coach of the year six times and coaches in the North-South game in 1971.  He also coached basketball from 1959 to 1964, was head track coach from 1959 to 1973 and guided the Panthers to 12 consecutive MVL track titles.  He was also New Lexington High Athletic Director from 1965 to 1976 and was inducted into the Ohio Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 1984. Also in 1984, the school’s football stadium was named after him.  In 1942, he graduated from Washington, Pa. High School, where he participated in football, basketball and track. He played in the Big 33 all-star football game and went on to play at Marshall University, helping the Thundering Herd win the 1948 Mid-American Conference Championship.  He was head basketball and assistant football coach at Ironton from 1951 to 1955 and Wellston from 1955 to 1959. Coach Rockwell was named Southeastern Ohio Athletic League basketball coach of the year in 1957.

Joe

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The game Friday night was a show that will long be in everyone’s memory bank. Talk about a fireworks display, this one was as good as it gets!  D J Kain, of the Westfall Mustangs, had footballs flying all over the lot. In the first half alone he accounted for 221 yards of total offense. He threw two TD passes and ran for one in the first half. And, after the Fighting Tigers turned the ball over on a fumble and with Westfall holding a 28-14 lead having scored on every offensive possession, it looked like the fat lady was getting ready to uncork her version of the Nah Nah song. But then things began to change. Was it The Tank Tradition that brought the crowd to life or was it the defense of the Tigers that caused the complete turn around? From that point on, the Tigers controlled the scoreboard and they outscored the Mustangs by a 27-3 margin. In the end it was the Tigers line play, the running of the three Ironton backs and the pass defense with their two interceptions that turned the tide.

Now it is on to New Lexington, a team that seems to always be in these State Playoffs. Where we play is yet to be determined by the OSHAA. As soon as we find out we will put it up on Irontonfootball Dot Com. New Lex beat a very good Meigs team 42-14 to advance to the next level. I’ll do my best to get a scouting report on this team and bring it to you later on in the week.

Friday was a very long day for this Sunday QB but it was well worth the wait. We arrived at The Tank at 8:00 AM to help get the field ready for play. We were more or less finished at 11:30 and I headed for the house to get that much needed shower. At 12:30 I went back down to the stadium to sit in line with Tigers fans, like we have done for many years. Some of these loyal fans are no longer with us but I know they had better seats than us for this game. Ralph, I know you must be up there smiling. Why 5 hours before the game? We have always done this for quite some time and we want to keep the tradition alive.

Until next week, when hopefully we will be talking about a sweet victory over New Lexington, I’ll be looking for all of you at where ever we play. Get out and support these young people. They work extremely hard to do what they do. Before I forget I want to send out a big congrats to the Ironton Million Dollar Marching Band and their directors. Gang, you did the finest job I have seen in years this past Friday Night. You guys were absolutely awesome. God Bless all of you and as always, Go Tigers!

Joe

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