Elite Jackson defense leads to a convincing victory over Wheelersburg
By: Dylan Paris
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WHEELERSBURG, Ohio (WOUB)– It was a hot night of football under the lights in Ed Miller Stadium. The Jackson Ironmen traveled to Wheelersburg to take on the Wheelersburg Pirates. Both teams were looking for their second victory of the season, but the Ironmen came up victorious with a 14-3 win over the Pirates.
The two programs made the run game a focal point tonight. Jackson starting quarterback, C.J. Crabtree, only threw the ball three times and completed one pass, which happened to be a touchdown. On the other side, Pirates quarterback Jack Doerr efficiently went 12-of-15 but only threw for 81 yards and no touchdowns.
Wheelersburg scored its only points on the first drive. The Pirates got off to a hot start, getting their receiving yards leader, Xavier Miller, involved early. Jackson couldn’t contain the Wheelersburg run game, leading to a few big chunks and ultimately to a Pirates’ field goal to put them up 3-0 with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
The second quarter was met with stellar defense from both sides, causing multiple three-and-outs and some excellent pass breakups, specifically from Ironmen defensive back Dayton Kallner, who broke up two deep balls from Doerr that could have gone for big gains.
With a minute remaining in the quarter, Jackson got into the red zone in no time, led by a big run from running back Israel Schindler. This is when Crabtree completed his only pass of the game and found his guy Hunter Long for a tough grab in the end zone to go up 7-3 at the end of the half.
Jackson’s defense dominated in the second half. The Pirates couldn’t get anything going on the ground or through the air, leading to many punts and turnovers on downs. The Ironmen took advantage of that, running the clock out and gaining solid yardage for the rest of the second half.
Head coach Andy Hall put his offense in a split T formation for most of the back half, using three halfbacks in the backfield lined up horizontally and seven offensive linemen up front with the quarterback under center. This caused Wheelersburg some confusion, and they couldn’t stop it at all. At the 5:00 minute mark, Schindler scored the second touchdown of the game, with a burst up the middle for six, tallying on to his 66 yards.
This is a statement win for the Ironmen (2-1) as they look to capture their third straight victory next week at home against Western Brown (1-2). The Pirates (1-2) will want a bounce-back game at Northwest (0-3) next Friday.