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Congratulations are in order for two young men who made All-Ohio Division IV. Jon Monnig and Sam Cramblitt made First Team All Ohio. Monnig made it on Defense and Cramblit made it on Offense. Tres Wilks, Erin Edens and Robbie Webb made Special Mention and are also to be congratulated. Bob Lutz was also named Coach of the Year to go along with his record breaking year. What a very good year this has been for Coach Lutz and Ironton football.

I have been going back and reliving the last season by looking at the film that John shot at the games. He really has some fantastic footage. He also has 2003 film shot by Penny and Sam Heighton that he just put on the site and it is also of excellent quality. I have been very fortunate to have some of Penny and Sams work of the 1986 CAPE game and the 1989 State Championship game. If you’re looking for a gift for the man who has everything, see Penny and Sam, they’ll fix you up with some exciting video! (you can contact Sam and Penny about their tapes/dvd’s here)

Well this is State Championship week in Ohio football and I will be glued to my TV screen watching the final 12 teams fight it out for the big trophy. I will be very interested in the Division IV finals for obvious reasons. Most everyone is picking the Alter Knights to win it all again but looking at the schedule both these teams play, don’t count out Chagrin Falls. This looks to be a very good game.

I hope everyone had a very good Thanksgiving and until the next time, God Bless and as always,

Go Tigers!

Joe Holtzapfel

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UPDATE: I’ve been told that the 2009 DVD’s are now out and the cost is only 25 dollars, despite it being a two DVD set this year!  Again, you can contact the Heighton’s here to get this tape or any of the tapes they’ve produced in the past -  John

I have been asked to do an article on Ironton vs private schools. Most of the info I will use came from the records on the site.

The first private school that Ironton played was  Columbus St Thomas Aquinas in 1916. Ironton won that first game 25-0. Since that time, Ironton’s record against private schools is 23-32-2. Ironton has played just about all of the top private schools in Ohio. The following are some of the schools Ironton has met up with down through the years:

Akron St Vincent St Marys
Archbishop Carroll Washington DC
Ashland Holy Family
Cincinnati Elder
Cincinnnati Hughes
Cincinnnati St Xavier
Cincinnnati McNicholas
Cincinnnati Roger Bacon
Cleveland Benedictine
Columbus DeSales
Columbus Watterson
Columbus St Charles
Columbus St Thomas Aquinas
Hamilton Badin
Dayton Chaminade
Ironton St Joseph
Mentor Lake Catholic
Our Lady of Mr Carmel (Canada)
Portsmouth Catholic
Youngstown Mooney
St Thomas More (Canada)
Steubenville Central Catholic

I may have missed a few but I think I got just about all of them. There was also three colleges that appear on the Fighting Tigers list of teams played and they are Marshall, Rio Grande and St Edwards.

Ironton has appeared in the State Playoffs 27 times. This is tops for public schools. There are two teams who tops that total and both of them are private. Number 1 being Newark Catholic and number 2 being Cincinnnati Moeller.

Ironton’s all time record, up to date, is 621-314-44 The win total ranks 12th in the state for most wins.

Going through records writing this story, I found out that after many years of thinking that the Massillon Canton McKinley rivalry was the states longest, a teacher out of Mason Ohio has found records of a longer rivalry. Cincinnati Hughes and Cincinnati Woodward began playing each other in football in 1878. This is 16 years older than the Massillon McKinley first game which was played in 1894. Hughes and Woodward played each other 10 time between 1878 and 1894. Will wonders never cease? The Ironton Portmouth rivalry started in 1902.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving. Until next time, God bless and as always,

Go Tigers!

Joe Holtzapfel

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A famous man once said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and a devotion to the things you want to see most.” Well this can definitely be said of this bunch of Ironton Fighting Tigers. You could tell from the very beginning of the season that this group was going to be so very special. They possessed all the attributes needed to be a very successful group. I have said this all season how proud I am of all these young men. To the following players:

Zack Kriebel
Thomas Baker
Jonathan Norris
Taylor Barker
Erin Edens
Keith Wetzel
Jon Monnig
Ethan Preston
Casey Jones
J P Taylor
Sam Cramblit
Chris Warner
Ryan Sias
Josh Pancake
Josh Moore

How We'll Miss Our Seniors!

I personally want to thank all of you for the dedication, hard work and a devotion to the things you want to see most. The three things that make all men very successful. We will miss all of you more than you will know. You men have brought back a fire that hasn’t been seen for quite awhile at Dear Ole’ Ironton High. You set your sights high. Although things fell a little short, you set the bar high for  the next group that will follow you. I want all of you to remember to keep doing everything you do out of fear of being mediocre. From all of us here at Ironton Football Dot Com, Thank You for a great season!

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, boy do the Ironton fans know what that means. I don’t think I have a fingernail left. I live and die with these Ironton Fighting Tigers. I guess it’s what you call bleeding Orange. To all you men who come back next year, the weight room calls. Let’s make next year even better than this.

John sent me an e-mail and said he wants to rest for about 2 months. What do you guys think? You want us to continue keeping the blog going during the Winter and Spring? Let us know because I’m still pumped over this great year.

Until then God Bless all of you and thanks for letting us do what we do.

Go Tigers!

Joe Holtzapfel

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With the present football season quickly coming to a close, several of the post season awards are being announced and we thought we would pass some of those along and give some recognition to those players and coaches that were given awards.

First of all the All SEOAL awards were announced and the players receiving awards were as follows:

All SEOAL
Sam Cramblit
Erin Edens
Jon Monnig
Robbie Webb
Keith Wetzel
Tres Wilks
Honorable Mention
Ethan Preston
Brian Warner

Next the Associated Press All District Team
1st Team Offense
Sam Cramblit
Robbie Webb
Tres Wilks
1st Team Defense
Jon Monnig
Erin Edens
Honorable Mention
J P Taylor
Ethan Preston
Brian Warner
Keith Wetzel

Defensive Player of the Year: Jon Monnig
Coach of the Year: Bob Lutz

Ironton Football Dot Com would like to extend its congratulations out to all these deserving winners. Saturday will be here before you know it. We have made the trip to Nelsonville before so we know how to get there. Be very careful as there are a lot of deer being seen and they and a car just don’t get along well. The Regional Semi-final sites have been announced I think I’ll wait until next week to discuss that. Let’s just play these games one at a time. We’ll worry about next week at the appropriate time. Right now the only game that matters is those pesky Coshocton Redskins.

As we move on to the next game in the sequence to the State Championship, let’s get out and support these kids in their quest to achieve a very difficult task. I knew when we started physical fitness, we had a group who had their sites set in the right direction. I am so proud of these young men. Be sure and get those tickets early. Let’s be loud, be proud and keep on believing!

Until the next time, God Bless and as always, Go Tigers!

Joe Holtzapfel

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Before I get into a game recap, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the fine folks at Nelsonville-York High School on the job they did this week with the two playoff games they held at Boston Field. Those people did an outstanding job and are to be commended. If  I were the OHSAA, I wouldn’t hesitate to hold any type of playoff game at this very fine venue. Again, on behalf of the fans of Ironton, a great big Thank You on a job well done.

All I can say is WOW!. That Ironton-Heath game  was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Why is it we seem to bring out the very best in every team we play. It has to be the tradition and reputation that we have around the State in football. That so called target on the back just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Still I must give kudos to the Heath  Bulldogs on the fight they put up. Now to the  Cardiac Kids of Ironton, we live to fight another day. I said last week that at this stage in the playoffs, there are no easy games. Every team you play has earned the right to be where they are. Now it’s on to the Redskins of Coshocton. Will they be tough? You can bet your sweet bippy that they will be fired and ready for the Tigers. Ironton will have to bring their “A” game if they want to put on their dancing shoes.

Speaking of the Ironton-Heath game. John has a video of the winning TD by Keith Wetzel. How do I know? He gave me a sneak peek after the game. You guys just don’t know how close we came to not having any pictures or videos but we survived and now we all can look at the finished product that John does such an excellent job with. I can’t wait to see the pics and videos.

Our Tigers Walked Away With A Very Hard Fought 20-14 OT Victory!

I kind of played around with the Ironton schedule and came up with some amazing stats. Ironton has now won 7 games in a row. The schedule of those teams when played was 42-9. If someone had told you who you had left on your schedule and what their record was, you would probably hope to win half of those games. Yet the Tigers won them all.The last 6 teams all finished the season with winning records. Well it’s time to keep this train rolling. We play another team with a couple of fast backs. If we intend on moving on we will have to find a way to contain these backs. I don’t know about
you but I can’t wait until Saturday. Should be another barn-burner. You have to BELIEVE!

Until midweek when I have more on Coshocton and where we will meet. God bless and as always,

Go Tigers!

Joe Holtzapfel

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Forty-eight minutes wasn’t enough to decide which team would advance to the Regional Championship Game. The Heath Bulldogs scored first on a 9 play drive that covered 75 yards. After the missed extra point Heath led 6-0.

Tigers & Bulldogs Meeting In Center Field Before Game

Ironton would also score on their first drive of game in just 3 plays that covered 75 yards. Ethan Preston broke loose for a 70 yard scamper, the EP was good and Ironton jumped up in front 7-6. Heath would go 3 and out on their next possession and then both teams would turn the ball over on downs. Ironton would get their offense moving on their next drive. Keith Wetzel would score his first TD of the night from 4 yards out, capping off a 9 play 74 yard drive. The EP was good and Ironton would take the 14-6 lead into halftime. Ironton would receive the 2nd half kickoff , but couldn’t get anything going and punted after just 3 plays.  Heath on the other hand moved the ball at will. Gresham would find the endzone on a 33 yard run after 9 plays and 77 yards. Gresham came into the game with 1,875 yards rushing and 30 TD’s. The Bulldogs went for the 2 point conversion and just like that the game was tied at 14.

Senior Erin Edens Tackles A Heath RB

Ironton would fumble the ball away on their very next play at their own 47 yard line. It was Ironton’s first turnover since week 8 of the regular season against Portsmouth. Ironton defense stood tall after the mishap and forced Heath to punt after three plays.

Ironton would then do what they do best, run the clock. After 20 plays, four 3rd down conversions, a 4th down conversion, and almost 12 minutes, Ironton would fall short on a 4th and 2 from the 10 yard line. Heath would take over from there and quickly drove down the field. Disaster struck the Bulldogs as they fumble the ball away on the 5 yard line with just over 3 minutes to play.

Ironton would find themselves punting again after 3 plays and Heath would take over on the 47 yards line. With time running out Heath would get within field goal range but miss a 27 yarder. Ironton would then take a knee and send the game into overtime.

Ironton would win the toss and elect to play defense first and Heath would start the OT on the 20 yard line. On the third play of the series the Bulldogs tried a little trickery on 3rd and long only for it to backfire as Ryan Sias would intercept a pass from Heath fullback Scott.

Ironton would finish the game on their first play of overtime when Keith Wetzel broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and took it to the house.

Final Score: Ironton- 20 Heath- 14

Ironton Rushing

Preston 10-103 TD

Wetzel 12-87  2TD

Taylor 14-74

Wilks 7-31

Warner 4-18

Hager 2-5

Heath Rushing:

Gresham 19-121 TD

Scott 15-81 TD

Benner 3-67

Ironton will play Coschocton in the Regional Championship Game next Saturday at a site to be determined!!

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