Ironton Scheduling problems?

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

if you build it, they will come. every high school has open enrollment. it's like a high school transfer portal. if ironton were doing things that the ohsaa would not allow. then they'd get in terrible trouble. and have games and titles stripped. and that's obviously not the case. any high school could do the same. it's just that ironton is mad about football. where they buy season tickets to tiger games for christmas presents. they've always played anybody, anywhere. not affraid of a loss to ruin a perfect season. but to play anybody that wants to play, that will improve ironton's experience enough to make deep playoff runs. if you don't you get gobsmacked by other playoff teams. and it's not good for anybody. let's face it. ironton is likely to stay out of a league from now on. unless something good is created. there will always be scheduling issues. but trevon pendleton is doing an amazing job as a.d. and coach in finding these marqee matchups from everywhere. it's not a phase , it's completely needed. ytb.

Not every high school has open borders, and some of the best small schools have few to no transfers or players outside the school district.

you'll get that sometimes hoss.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

Who is the week one opponent?

Who all has been picked up for their schedule?

IRONTON
1 @ Shelby Valley (KY)
2
3 (H) Akron Manchester
4
5 (H) Jackson
6 @ Wheelersburg
7 @ Cabell Midland (WV)
8 (H) Fairland
9 @ Gallia Academy
10 (H) Portsmouth

It is hard to believe that Ironton picks up a small Kentucky school who was 5-7 last year. I was told that this school is similar to the student number at Symmes Valley for comparison. I guess when you almost get beat by Pikeville then you schedule their little brother to play instead.

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

[TigerBob]

Interesting that both Ironton and Indian Valley both have week 2 openings. DIV vs. DV state champ would be a great game.

Does Indian Valley have a little brother who was sub-.500 last year?? They need wins to make the playoffs.

Maybe one day Ironton can find a weak enough schedule to make the playoffs. They haven’t made it since 2024, and even then they played a weak schedule in the playoffs. Won the regional final 55-0, and the weak schedule came back to bite them when they barely squeaked by Liberty Center to win the state championship.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

Interesting that both Ironton and Indian Valley both have week 2 openings. DIV vs. DV state champ would be a great game.

Does Indian Valley have a little brother who was sub-.500 last year?? They need wins to make the playoffs.

Maybe one day Ironton can find a weak enough schedule to make the playoffs. They haven’t made it since 2024, and even then they played a weak schedule in the playoffs. Won the regional final 55-0, and the weak schedule came back to bite them when they barely squeaked by Liberty Center to win the state championship.

hey tiger, most have no idea what it takes to even get to a state championship game. much less win a title game. which breeds contempt and accusations of cheating. same ole, same ole. ironton has always proved their willingness to schedule anyone that makes sense. one only needs to look at the fighting tiger schedule this past year. and that should qwell that argument. i have never seen a schedule like that for d5 team. anywhere.

[RBH23]

IRONTON
1 @ Shelby Valley (KY)
2
3 (H) Akron Manchester
4
5 (H) Jackson
6 @ Wheelersburg
7 @ Cabell Midland (WV)
8 (H) Fairland
9 @ Gallia Academy
10 (H) Portsmouth

It is hard to believe that Ironton picks up a small Kentucky school who was 5-7 last year. I was told that this school is similar to the student number at Symmes Valley for comparison. I guess when you almost get beat by Pikeville then you schedule their little brother to play instead.

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

Burg decided they wanted to change the rules, hence why the game is week 6 and being played in Burg again.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

and i wanna say this. i'm proud of fairland, portsmouth and gahs for continuing to play us. if anybody falls from that, i'd say the blue devils. but i'd love to see ironton still keep these series going strong.

[RBH23]

Does Indian Valley have a little brother who was sub-.500 last year?? They need wins to make the playoffs.

Maybe one day Ironton can find a weak enough schedule to make the playoffs. They haven’t made it since 2024, and even then they played a weak schedule in the playoffs. Won the regional final 55-0, and the weak schedule came back to bite them when they barely squeaked by Liberty Center to win the state championship.

hey tiger, most have no idea what it takes to even get to a state championship game. much less win a title game. which breeds contempt and accusations of cheating. same ole, same ole. ironton has always proved their willingness to schedule anyone that makes sense. one only needs to look at the fighting tiger schedule this past year. and that should qwell that argument. i have never seen a schedule like that for d5 team. anywhere.

I do agree Ironton has scheduled or tries to schedule bigger schools. Kudos to Pendleton for doing this.

That said, it also brings challenges and will make scheduling games in the future. Big schools don’t have a lot of desire to travel to nowhere Ohio to play a D5 school; even a good one. Not worth the cost or time.

Lose Pendleton, and scheduling could get even harder.

[RBH23]

and i wanna say this. i'm proud of fairland, portsmouth and gahs for continuing to play us. if anybody falls from that, i'd say the blue devils. but i'd love to see ironton still keep these series going strong.

Agree, GAHS will be the first to go.

Jackson and Portsmouth are solid, but Burg, GAHS, and Fairland could be off the schedule in 3-5 years, making a 10 game schedule nearly impossible to fill.

[Jeaux Burreaux]

Doubt the week 2 game with Indian Valley happens. Supposedly Huntington Prep is going to have a high school football team. And that they will be playing Indian Valley. At least according to another forum

[RBH23]

I’m the one that doesn’t respect whiny softies. Burgs had plenty of kids playing for them that transferred in or live in adjoining school districts. Just like Ironton , Ashland, Raceland and many other successful programs.

May want to avoid the mirror if that’s the case.

[meatswinger]

It is hard to believe that Ironton picks up a small Kentucky school who was 5-7 last year. I was told that this school is similar to the student number at Symmes Valley for comparison. I guess when you almost get beat by Pikeville then you schedule their little brother to play instead.

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

Burg decided they wanted to change the rules, hence why the game is week 6 and being played in Burg again.

No doubt Burg was hoping Ironton would say “no” to week 6. LOL

[Larry Fine]

and i wanna say this. i'm proud of fairland, portsmouth and gahs for continuing to play us. if anybody falls from that, i'd say the blue devils. but i'd love to see ironton still keep these series going strong.

Agree, GAHS will be the first to go.

Jackson and Portsmouth are solid, but Burg, GAHS, and Fairland could be off the schedule in 3-5 years, making a 10 game schedule nearly impossible to fill.

Jackson will NOT cut and run , not sure about Portsmouth, the other 3 you mentioned are definitely running scared

[artisgilmore]

Maybe one day Ironton can find a weak enough schedule to make the playoffs. They haven’t made it since 2024, and even then they played a weak schedule in the playoffs. Won the regional final 55-0, and the weak schedule came back to bite them when they barely squeaked by Liberty Center to win the state championship.

hey tiger, most have no idea what it takes to even get to a state championship game. much less win a title game. which breeds contempt and accusations of cheating. same ole, same ole. ironton has always proved their willingness to schedule anyone that makes sense. one only needs to look at the fighting tiger schedule this past year. and that should qwell that argument. i have never seen a schedule like that for d5 team. anywhere.

I do agree Ironton has scheduled or tries to schedule bigger schools. Kudos to Pendleton for doing this.

That said, it also brings challenges and will make scheduling games in the future. Big schools don’t have a lot of desire to travel to nowhere Ohio to play a D5 school; even a good one. Not worth the cost or time.

Lose Pendleton, and scheduling could get even harder.

Cost is not the issue.They would make money coming to Ironton to play.

[RBH23]

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

Burg decided they wanted to change the rules, hence why the game is week 6 and being played in Burg again.

No doubt Burg was hoping Ironton would say “no” to week 6. LOL

If Burg didn’t want to play Ironton next year, they simply would have dropped them. Burg was not under contract to play them in 2025.

But nice try with your comment. LOL!

[RBH23]

hey tiger, most have no idea what it takes to even get to a state championship game. much less win a title game. which breeds contempt and accusations of cheating. same ole, same ole. ironton has always proved their willingness to schedule anyone that makes sense. one only needs to look at the fighting tiger schedule this past year. and that should qwell that argument. i have never seen a schedule like that for d5 team. anywhere.

I do agree Ironton has scheduled or tries to schedule bigger schools. Kudos to Pendleton for doing this.

That said, it also brings challenges and will make scheduling games in the future. Big schools don’t have a lot of desire to travel to nowhere Ohio to play a D5 school; even a good one. Not worth the cost or time.

Lose Pendleton, and scheduling could get even harder.

Cost is not the issue.They would make money coming to Ironton to play.

I think cost is more of an issue than most think. Top football programs make a ton of money with their programs. The problem is that this football money has to pay for all of the other sports. And even with football money, most schools, even wealthy schools, have a pay to play. Example: Springboro, a D1 school and one of the wealthiest towns in the country (household income around $160k), charges $260 per student for pay to play.

[artisgilmore]

I do agree Ironton has scheduled or tries to schedule bigger schools. Kudos to Pendleton for doing this.

That said, it also brings challenges and will make scheduling games in the future. Big schools don’t have a lot of desire to travel to nowhere Ohio to play a D5 school; even a good one. Not worth the cost or time.

Lose Pendleton, and scheduling could get even harder.

Cost is not the issue.They would make money coming to Ironton to play.

I think cost is more of an issue than most think. Top football programs make a ton of money with their programs. The problem is that this football money has to pay for all of the other sports. And even with football money, most schools, even wealthy schools, have a pay to play. Example: Springboro, a D1 school and one of the wealthiest towns in the country (household income around $160k), charges $260 per student for pay to play.

What’s Springboro got to do with anything ?

[RBH23]

Cost is not the issue.They would make money coming to Ironton to play.

I think cost is more of an issue than most think. Top football programs make a ton of money with their programs. The problem is that this football money has to pay for all of the other sports. And even with football money, most schools, even wealthy schools, have a pay to play. Example: Springboro, a D1 school and one of the wealthiest towns in the country (household income around $160k), charges $260 per student for pay to play.

What’s Springboro got to do with anything ?

Seriously??

You stated “cost is not an issue” for teams coming to Ironton to play. I was trying to show how cost is an issue when considering the entire athletic department, even for a wealthy school like Springboro where money is not nearly as tight.

[TigerBob]

Having the richest community doesn’t mean much if your athletic department budget is driven by ticket sales. If the millionaires aren’t paying for $7 tickets, that’s a lot less money than us poor Irontonians who do buy them.

Bottom line is it will take work on a yearly basis for Ironton to fill out their schedule. This is a good thing, not a bad one. Outside of the MAC, it’s almost impossible for a small school to put together the kind of schedule that will allow you to compete for championships. That Ironton is willing to try is awesome.

[BurgFan43]

IRONTON
1 @ Shelby Valley (KY)
2
3 (H) Akron Manchester
4
5 (H) Jackson
6 @ Wheelersburg
7 @ Cabell Midland (WV)
8 (H) Fairland
9 @ Gallia Academy
10 (H) Portsmouth

It is hard to believe that Ironton picks up a small Kentucky school who was 5-7 last year. I was told that this school is similar to the student number at Symmes Valley for comparison. I guess when you almost get beat by Pikeville then you schedule their little brother to play instead.

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

No, the contract ran out and was renegotiated to play the game week 6. As with any contract, you have to follow the terms agreed upon by both teams and that is why it is week 6 in 2025 @ Burg. If your AD didn’t like it then he didn’t have to accept the new contract. Don’t complain until you know the facts.

[meatswinger]

It is hard to believe that Ironton picks up a small Kentucky school who was 5-7 last year. I was told that this school is similar to the student number at Symmes Valley for comparison. I guess when you almost get beat by Pikeville then you schedule their little brother to play instead.

sometimes burg, you gotta do what you gotta do. come to think of it we were scheduled to play burg game 1 wasn't we.ytb.

No, the contract ran out and was renegotiated to play the game week 6. As with any contract, you have to follow the terms agreed upon by both teams and that is why it is week 6 in 2025 @ Burg. If your AD didn’t like it then he didn’t have to accept the new contract. Don’t complain until you know the facts.

And you can bet Burg was hoping Ironton’s AD wouldn’t accept it so they wouldn’t have to take that aszwhipping again.