Second half frenzy helps Ironton move to regional championship
By: Charlie Lusk
Posted on:
WAVERLY, Ohio (WOUB) —- In the region 19 semi-finals, the Ironton Tigers met the Harvest Prep Warriors in Waverly. These two teams played in the regional semifinals last year ending in a Harvest Prep 20 to 14 victory. The Tigers, being eliminated by the Warriors last year, were eager for revenge along with a spot in the Region 19 championship game.
Harvest Prep opened the scoring on the third play from scrimmage when Warriors’ quarterback Collin Boff threw the ball over middle to Tidan Sall, who took the ball to the 5-yard line. He eventually punched the ball in within 4 minutes. The Ironton offense was unable to make real progress against Harvest Prep’s daunted defense throughout the first quarter. They eventually did get to the red zone, but a Shaun Terry catch was just short of the goal line on fourth down.
The Tigers would not get on the scoreboard until their special teams made a play. A blocked Harvest Prep punt was recovered in the end zone by Braylon Sturgill. After that play, the momentum that was on Harvest Prep’s side early shifted towards Ironton and never came back.
Following a Shaun Terry interception on the next drive, the Tigers drove down the field being capped off by a 20 yard passing touchdown to Zayne Williams. Ironton went into the half leading 14-7 in a defensive affair up to that point.
As the second half started, Shaun Terry took over. Following a second half stalemate on offensive by both teams, Braden Schreck passed the ball to Terry who made several defenders miss on route to a 40-yard receiving touchdown and earn the first score of the second half. After a Zayne Williams touchdown on the last offensive drive, Shaun Terry clinched the game for the Tigers with a 79-yard receiving touchdown to make the score 34-7.
Collin Boff threw one more touchdown pass before the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough for Harvest Prep to come back from Ironton’s second half explosion.
The Ironton Tigers beat the Harvest Prep Warriors 41-13 in the regional semifinals. Ironton will face off next week in the Region 19 championship against Wheelersburg in a Week 1 rematch.