Ironton steamrolls Ridgeville in return to OHSAA playoffs
By: Seth Lee
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IRONTON, OH (WOUB) — The Ironton Fighting Tigers hosted the Ridgeville Generals to kickstart their 2026 playoff campaign. The Fighting Tigers dominated the Generals 42-0.
Ironton returned to the OHSAA playoffs after a one-year hiatus, and they put Region 19 on watch.
After deferring the coin toss, Ironton’s defense would stunt the Generals’ offense, forcing a quick three-and-out and a less-than-ideal punt that found the Fighting Tigers in Ridgeville territory. The Generals matched the Fighting Tigers’ intensity with a big fourth-down stop to end a promising Ironton drive.
The defense’s momentum continued to be the driving force, as the Fighting Tigers forced back-to-back punts and gave the Ironton offense even better positioning. Easton Caudill would cap off a successful Ironton drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown to open scoring. Ironton leads 7-0.
The theme for the Ridgeville offense would be stalling out, as they would be stopped for the third time in the first quarter. The second quarter saw Tyson Harvey find paydirt on a 36-yard touchdown catch after making a couple of defenders miss for another Fighting Tiger score, 14-0.
Ridgeville continued to struggle on offense and turned the ball over on downs for yet another failed drive. Caudill would get into the end zone again, this time from 36 yards out on a designed run to send this game to the half, 21-0. Ironton ‘s defense was smothering the General offense all half long.
The second half would be quick as two quick Ironton touchdowns from Kaden Edwards and Tyson Harvey sent the game to a running clock, 35-0. Easton Caudill sent the game home with a 15-yard carry into the endzone to make it 42-0.
Ironton will look to stay hot against rival Wheelersburg in the regional semifinals next week, Nov. 14.