Ironton's Program - History

[victor creed]

I remember it and I guess it could have gone either way. It looked to me like he was celebrating the play not necessarily taunting the other kid I can’t remember if Ironton was behind or holding on to a slim lead at that point but it was in Hartleys own end and it was going to set ironton up with good field position so it really in my opinion had a direct outcome on the game. And I am pretty sure Hartley went on to score on that drive And they also went on to beat kettering altar and chagrin Falls to win the state championship The regular season loss to Ironton (and Elyria Catholic) was the only blemish on their record that year.

[MrFirstTake]

Yes your right victor creed I was at that game and thought we would win but after that penalty Bishop Hartley went down and scored on that drive and won the game Ironton had very little time if any after that my brother was A senior on that team

[MrFirstTake]

Hartley also lost to Elyria catholic that year

[victor creed]

That’s what I said first take. I won’t lie looked at Eitel to make sure and still missed it.

[MrFirstTake]

I’m pretty sure we were winning before that I don’t think it was tied at 20

[JTEK]

A few seem to want to Hijack the Ironton/Portsmouth thread to discuss Ironton's program. Mostly it's a few Burg fans which puzzles me. I don't know that I've seen Ironton fans attacking Burg's wonderful program. A few might but..it was mostly in self-defense

While I'm here though....

Who has the 13th most wins in all the state of Ohio? that would be IRONTON

Who has the 3rd most playoff appearances of all the schools in Ohio? that would be Ironton

Who has the 11th most playoff wins all time in the state of Ohio? that would be Ironton

What school had the coach with the most wins in the state of Ohio? that would be Ironton and Bob Lutz

What school in the state of Ohio had the longest unbeaten streak? that would be Ironton, 1977 - 1983

You haven’t followed the burg threads this year if you don’t think ironton fans have been attacking the burg program

[Tjhtygeverve]

A few seem to want to Hijack the Ironton/Portsmouth thread to discuss Ironton's program. Mostly it's a few Burg fans which puzzles me. I don't know that I've seen Ironton fans attacking Burg's wonderful program. A few might but..it was mostly in self-defense

While I'm here though....

Who has the 13th most wins in all the state of Ohio? that would be IRONTON

Who has the 3rd most playoff appearances of all the schools in Ohio? that would be Ironton

Who has the 11th most playoff wins all time in the state of Ohio? that would be Ironton

What school had the coach with the most wins in the state of Ohio? that would be Ironton and Bob Lutz

~What school in the state of Ohio had the longest unbeaten streak? that would be Ironton, 1977 - 1983~

This was an amazing streak to be apart of. It definitely let the rest of the STATE KNOW... “That River Water Has something “SPECIAL” in it!!!
It put IRONTON ON THE STATE FOOTBALL MAP!

Then, the runs through the nineties kept it alive. Now, the embers are aglow again.

Thanks to all putting in effort!

Gotigersgo!!!

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

I remember it and I guess it could have gone either way. It looked to me like he was celebrating the play not necessarily taunting the other kid I can’t remember if Ironton was behind or holding on to a slim lead at that point but it was in Hartleys own end and it was going to set ironton up with good field position so it really in my opinion had a direct outcome on the game. And I am pretty sure Hartley went on to score on that drive And they also went on to beat kettering altar and chagrin Falls to win the state championship The regular season loss to Ironton (and Elyria Catholic) was the only blemish on their record that year.

If i remember correctly ironton put together a good drive in the 4th quarter that would've sealed the deal but fumbled about 12 yards or so from the endzone. Hard to blame any loss on one play but that was a crucial turnover.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

The '99 team beat Germantown Valley View, who were undefeated and favored to win state, at Cincinnati Princeton Stadium. Their qb was all-state. Valley View was up by 2 scores and right before half I think it was Jason Harmon put a hit on their qb that sent him to the bench for the rest of the game. I want to say Harmon then took the second half opening kickoff to the house and we came back and beat them. I think Harmon returned a punt for a td too. We lost to Sandusky Perkins on a hail mary with about 30 seconds to play in the state finals. That 6-3 team was 30 seconds from being state champs.

I remember that season well. Strange thing about that season was the Pirates had irontons number...if they were pirates ironton was in trouble. Ironton lost to all 3 pirate teams they played that season. Lost to Burg , lost to Belfry at belfry , and the perkins pirates on the hail mary...when the kid threw it he was around the 45 yard line. In playoffs game 1 ironton played #1 seed Cincinnati wyoming cowboys and beat the by about 21. Game 2 was Cincinnati Indian hill and beat them by about 21 . Game 3 was heavily favored Valley View and ironton was losing 27-0 at halftime and pulled off the biggest come from behind victory I've ever witnessed in highschool football. Ironton came out the 2nd half and put Henry and Harmon at defensive ends and sent them both after the Qb the 1st play of the 2nd half and they each grabbed a leg and lifted the QB up and slammed him and broke his leg. The backup QB went backwards every play and that game was history! 4th game was against #1 in the state Youngstown Mooney and ironton was trailing 7-0 at halftime and wore them out the 2nd half with the running game and took a 14-7 lead if i remember correctly and ran fullback Henry on a big 4th and 1 to get the 1st down and run out the clock. 5th playoff game in state championship was vs perkins pirates and ironton had the lead and consistently did what they had done all season and went for it on 4th and 1 with fullback Henry and got a bad spot and perkins threw the bomb...heartbreaker. it was a great playoff run by ironton and i enjoyed following and watching it. Ironton had a lot of injuries that season that contributed to the 6-3 record but was healthy when it counted for playoffs.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

Best ironton teams that i have personally watched are: 1986 ,1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999. If i had to pick one I'd take the 1989 team. 1989 had the most dominant line in highschool football I've ever seen.

[vladimir]

Top small school So. Ohio football programs as of now.
1) Clinton-Massie
2)Ironton
3)Wheelersburg
4)Trimble

Historically:
1)Ironton
2)Clinton-Massie
3)Wheelersburg
4)Trimble

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports ... /93796650/

Hard to keep the 1986 Tigers off the list after beating this Cape team with Clark and Snow 21-14. The only game in Carlos Snows highschool career that he did not score a touchdown in and 1 of only 3 losses in his 4 years of highschool. I was in attendance for this game and what a game it was.... also this Cape team defeated Wheelersburg 37-8 in 1st round of playoffs on their way to a second straight state championship.

[burgfella69]

I reckon Ironton has lost the state championship game in just about every way imaginable.

[Paulcrew]

I’d go with this as top ironton teams in modern era

1981
1978
1989
1982
1979
1973
1975
1986

[Paulcrew]

Kantucky. I am sure you know so asking for confirmation, I have heard several times that game was originally supposed to be played on Friday night (which was clear and sunny all day) and clairsville got the Ohsaa to change the date to Saturday night because of the travel on a school night. And the weather moved in and it poured all day Saturday and thru the game. Their tailback was a kid named Tim Spencer (not the one at osu) who was great in that game by the way. And our kids looked like we had the wrong shoes on or something I can’t help but think we would have met cape in the shoe had we gotten good weather all thru the playoffs. But that’s Ohio football in November

The St Clairsville running back in 1986 was named John Spencer. He and the Vincent kid ran it down Ironton’s throat that night

[Paulcrew]

The 78 team was probably the best ever to come out of Ironton and the strike in Logan that year (1978) cost the Tigers dearly as they could not play their game.........

I keep hearing this, but unless the points system has DRASTICALLY changed, I don't think it's true.

Logan was going to be a very bad football team in 1978. They were 0-1-1 in the only two games they played, and many Chieftain observers think it might have been Logan's only winless season ever if they had played all 10 games.

Even if Logan had snuck a win over Waverly, Jackson, or Gallia - that would have had no impact on the Tigers as they would have beaten both teams.



I don't think the Harbin points have changed THAT much over the years. My guess is lowering Ironton's divisor to 92 (from 100) got the Tigers MORE points than beating an (at best) 1-8-1 Logan team.

I think
logan would have win more seoal games than that.

[victor creed]

Kantucky. I am sure you know so asking for confirmation, I have heard several times that game was originally supposed to be played on Friday night (which was clear and sunny all day) and clairsville got the Ohsaa to change the date to Saturday night because of the travel on a school night. And the weather moved in and it poured all day Saturday and thru the game. Their tailback was a kid named Tim Spencer (not the one at osu) who was great in that game by the way. And our kids looked like we had the wrong shoes on or something I can’t help but think we would have met cape in the shoe had we gotten good weather all thru the playoffs. But that’s Ohio football in November

The St Clairsville running back in 1986 was named John Spencer. He and the Vincent kid ran it down Ironton’s throat that night

Paulcrew. My bad I thought it was Tim all this time. And yeah it was painful to watch

[victor creed]

The '99 team beat Germantown Valley View, who were undefeated and favored to win state, at Cincinnati Princeton Stadium. Their qb was all-state. Valley View was up by 2 scores and right before half I think it was Jason Harmon put a hit on their qb that sent him to the bench for the rest of the game. I want to say Harmon then took the second half opening kickoff to the house and we came back and beat them. I think Harmon returned a punt for a td too. We lost to Sandusky Perkins on a hail mary with about 30 seconds to play in the state finals. That 6-3 team was 30 seconds from being state champs.

I remember that season well. Strange thing about that season was the Pirates had irontons number...if they were pirates ironton was in trouble. Ironton lost to all 3 pirate teams they played that season. Lost to Burg , lost to Belfry at belfry , and the perkins pirates on the hail mary...when the kid threw it he was around the 45 yard line. In playoffs game 1 ironton played #1 seed Cincinnati wyoming cowboys and beat the by about 21. Game 2 was Cincinnati Indian hill and beat them by about 21 . Game 3 was heavily favored Valley View and ironton was losing 27-0 at halftime and pulled off the biggest come from behind victory I've ever witnessed in highschool football. Ironton came out the 2nd half and put Henry and Harmon at defensive ends and sent them both after the Qb the 1st play of the 2nd half and they each grabbed a leg and lifted the QB up and slammed him and broke his leg. The backup QB went backwards every play and that game was history! 4th game was against #1 in the state Youngstown Mooney and ironton was trailing 7-0 at halftime and wore them out the 2nd half with the running game and took a 14-7 lead if i remember correctly and ran fullback Henry on a big 4th and 1 to get the 1st down and run out the clock. 5th playoff game in state championship was vs perkins pirates and ironton had the lead and consistently did what they had done all season and went for it on 4th and 1 with fullback Henry and got a bad spot and perkins threw the bomb...heartbreaker. it was a great playoff run by ironton and i enjoyed following and watching it. Ironton had a lot of injuries that season that contributed to the 6-3 record but was healthy when it counted for playoffs.

Great story on the Mooney game, after the game in the locker room, lutz has everyone down on a knee and is addressing the team. He holds out his hand flat kinda under his chin and says (and I am paraphraseing) men, from about chillocothe on up, they hate our guts. The last thing in the world they wanted to see was us to win this game tonite, cause now they gotta deal with our ass ONE MORE TIME! Locker room went crazy. Apparently there was not much love lost between lutz and company and the Ohsaa people.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

The '99 team beat Germantown Valley View, who were undefeated and favored to win state, at Cincinnati Princeton Stadium. Their qb was all-state. Valley View was up by 2 scores and right before half I think it was Jason Harmon put a hit on their qb that sent him to the bench for the rest of the game. I want to say Harmon then took the second half opening kickoff to the house and we came back and beat them. I think Harmon returned a punt for a td too. We lost to Sandusky Perkins on a hail mary with about 30 seconds to play in the state finals. That 6-3 team was 30 seconds from being state champs.

I remember that season well. Strange thing about that season was the Pirates had irontons number...if they were pirates ironton was in trouble. Ironton lost to all 3 pirate teams they played that season. Lost to Burg , lost to Belfry at belfry , and the perkins pirates on the hail mary...when the kid threw it he was around the 45 yard line. In playoffs game 1 ironton played #1 seed Cincinnati wyoming cowboys and beat the by about 21. Game 2 was Cincinnati Indian hill and beat them by about 21 . Game 3 was heavily favored Valley View and ironton was losing 27-0 at halftime and pulled off the biggest come from behind victory I've ever witnessed in highschool football. Ironton came out the 2nd half and put Henry and Harmon at defensive ends and sent them both after the Qb the 1st play of the 2nd half and they each grabbed a leg and lifted the QB up and slammed him and broke his leg. The backup QB went backwards every play and that game was history! 4th game was against #1 in the state Youngstown Mooney and ironton was trailing 7-0 at halftime and wore them out the 2nd half with the running game and took a 14-7 lead if i remember correctly and ran fullback Henry on a big 4th and 1 to get the 1st down and run out the clock. 5th playoff game in state championship was vs perkins pirates and ironton had the lead and consistently did what they had done all season and went for it on 4th and 1 with fullback Henry and got a bad spot and perkins threw the bomb...heartbreaker. it was a great playoff run by ironton and i enjoyed following and watching it. Ironton had a lot of injuries that season that contributed to the 6-3 record but was healthy when it counted for playoffs.

Great story on the Mooney game, after the game in the locker room, lutz has everyone down on a knee and is addressing the team. He holds out his hand flat kinda under his chin and says (and I am paraphraseing) men, from about chillocothe on up, they hate our guts. The last thing in the world they wanted to see was us to win this game tonite, cause now they gotta deal with our ass ONE MORE TIME! Locker room went crazy. Apparently there was not much love lost between lutz and company and the Ohsaa people.

Good story, thanks for Sharing! That was a memorable season and a great playoff run.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

Who'd have won between the 1989 ironton team vs 1989 burg team? Opinions?