Portsmouth 20 @ Jackson 21 Final

[2old]

Great victory for the Ironmen. Keep winning. It will make the Logan-Jackson game like the old days.

[ocho stinko]

I think after this game some colleges will be asking about Hughes! Also, great game Huff. Who made the hit on the Portsmouth player that made him fumble?

[Philly]

You know it has been a few years since Portsmouth had any kind of a kicking game! Curt likes to go for 2. They really need to find a good kicker, it has hurt them many times.

[ironman02]

ocho stinko,

One of the reasons I really hated not being at the game tonight was getting the chance to watch Hughes play against Cadogen and Prior. Sounds like he had a very good showing against the two D1 commits.

Couldn't hear who made the hit on Myers to force the fumble in the 4th quarter. Dan and Dan were pretty excited and I was listening to the radio through the telephone. haha

[Ironman92]

I swear Hughes lined up vs Cadogen....took 1 step to the left and threw Cadogen down with his right hand.....no idea how...but I saw it.

Jackson overcame a lot of huge missed opportunities....and still prevailed.


Truely a great game and best of luck to Portsmouth.



Fantastic game....and in all honesty 02.....no way could you have handled it......and you would've been GREATLY out screamed on the fence line....someone was going crazy screaming after the great interception by Portsmouth in the 4th qtr.

[biggdowgg]

great great high school football game, it was a battle from word go.

I realy liked what I seen tonight out of our young trojans, they was in this game till the final tick on the clock, jackson has a great team, they looked to wear down a bit, but the backs run at you hard, looked like Jackson coaches decided to save Huff for the 4th quarter, he hardly touched the ball in the second and third, then he was running it down our throiat at one point in the 4th, picked up a couple of first downs, then Jackson passed for 3 o 4 downs in a row and turned it over on downs?


the kicker for jackson is awsome,,not many high school kickers can kick them in the endzone on kickoffs,,thats a big weapon.


heart breaking loss for us, but I think we found a few things ..esp with Jonathon Royster running the ball out of the back field...that kid can fly.

now ..on the 4th and goal from the 2,,,,,the game on the line,,,Cadogan just had two tacjkles on 2nd and 3rd and goal,,,on 4th and goal,,I look down,,and he is on our sideline????

congrats to Jackson on the win,I think they stand a good chance of being the south champs.

one last thing,,,,,the PA , announcer,,,,,I think he trys to hard

[boilermaker]

Congrats Ironmen

[ironman02]

Ironman92,

You know, you're probably right. Maybe it was better that I was not there. lol

Also, I'd like to meet the person that gets louder than me at a Jackson football game. That's a pretty big accomplishment for someone.

[footballfan456]

the hughes kid should be the one with the d-1 offers he is great!!! just an outstanding athlete he had a very good night against the d-1 kids in other words he dominated cadogan!!!i look for him to go big

[Ptown Playmaker]

As biggdowgg stated above: "now ..on the 4th and goal from the 2,,,,,the game on the line,,,Cadogan just had two tackles on 2nd and 3rd and goal,,,on 4th and goal,,I look down,,and he is on our sideline????"



..........Jackson scored winning touchdown thru the hole he was absent from..........

They (D1's as they're referred as ) did make a difference on defense when and I repeat WHEN.....they were in the game.......I believe they need to get in better shape..........after watching them come off numerous times, they looked as though they were ready to collapse.....?

WHY would the coaches not have him in there for the last play of the game.......two timeouts were called.......plenty of time to let him catch his breath?

[trojanofthepast]

Great football game to watch. Congrats to Jackson on a big win. As for the Trojans, young but getting better every week. Great times ahead for these young Trojans. Only thing besides losing the ball game was the PA announcer. Such a great facility and great people in Jackson and to have this guy be the voice for your community is terrible. It's ok to be a homer of some degree, but this guy had no class what so ever. Again great job by both teams, good luck to the Ironmen the rest of the way. And keep growing young Trojans it will come around eventually.

[Old*rocket]

Great win Ironmen..............

[grndma1]

Great football game to watch. Congrats to Jackson on a big win. As for the Trojans, young but getting better every week. Great times ahead for these young Trojans. Only thing besides losing the ball game was the PA announcer. Such a great facility and great people in Jackson and to have this guy be the voice for your community is terrible. It's ok to be a homer of some degree, but this guy had no class what so ever. Again great job by both teams, good luck to the Ironmen the rest of the way. And keep growing young Trojans it will come around eventually.

He is not only the voice for our community, he is also our Mayor. He does love the Ironmen. It was one of the best ball games that I have been to in a long time. Both teams fought right down to the last second of the game. It was nice visiting with biggdowgg at half time. Good game on both sides.

[sportsfan43]

the hughes kid should be the one with the d-1 offers he is great!!! just an outstanding athlete he had a very good night against the d-1 kids in other words he dominated cadogan!!!i look for him to go big

what grade is hughes in? \\if he is as good as you say, his offers will come.

word of advice, if you think he had a good game because he dominated Cadogan, I,ll let you in on a secret...EVERYONE has dominated Cadogan , sounds like he actualy had a better game against jackson, then all of his games this year.

[Portsmouth98]

I am happy with this one. I would have loved the win, but those will come for this group later. We're starting to figure out which of the young kids can play, and who can play consistently. I think hanging with a good team like Jackson will really go a long way for their confidence this season.

[Pol pot]

trojanofthepast: You call Jackson's announcer a homer? Have you ever listened to your own Skip Hickman???????

[biggdowgg]

Great football game to watch. Congrats to Jackson on a big win. As for the Trojans, young but getting better every week. Great times ahead for these young Trojans. Only thing besides losing the ball game was the PA announcer. Such a great facility and great people in Jackson and to have this guy be the voice for your community is terrible. It's ok to be a homer of some degree, but this guy had no class what so ever. Again great job by both teams, good luck to the Ironmen the rest of the way. And keep growing young Trojans it will come around eventually.

He is not only the voice for our community, he is also our Mayor. He does love the Ironmen. It was one of the best ball games that I have been to in a long time. Both teams fought right down to the last second of the game. It was nice visiting with biggdowgg at half time. Good game on both sides.

was good to see you grandma1.

the Mayor huh?

I will leave it at that

[biggdowgg]

grndma1: You call Jackson's announcer a homer? Have you ever listened to your own Skip Hickman???????

I think you are confused

Grandma is , and always has been a Jackson Ironman

[grndma1]

grndma1: You call Jackson's announcer a homer? Have you ever listened to your own Skip Hickman???????

Excuse me, I never called our announcer a homer. I love our announcer, Get the right people before you make comments.trojanofthepast wrote that thank you very much. And who is Skip Hickman????????? Thank you biggdowgg for setting the record straight.

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

Here is the game report which is in this weekend's Jackson County Times-Journal. I sent the PDT a box score and some other information, and talked to one of their writers, so what they do is strictly up to them. Enjoy.

Ironmen turn tables on Trojans

By PAUL BOGGS
Sports Editor

Two years later, turnabout — or turnover — turns out to be fair play.

For the past two seasons, the Jackson High School football team has been plagued by turnovers in its two losses to the Portsmouth Trojans.

In fact, it was a late Ironmen fumble two years ago which opened the door for a surprising 21-19 Trojan triumph in the final moments.

This time, on Friday night at Alumni Stadium, the Ironmen were on the right end of a late turnover and a subsequent game-winning score.

After recovering a Trojan fumble with four minutes remaining, the Ironmen capped off a 38-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-goal to prevail over Portsmouth 21-20 in a thrilling Southeastern Ohio Athletic League opener.

The fourth-and-goal touchdown, and subsequent extra point by junior Ryan Mullins with only 15 seconds remaining, gave the Ironmen their second and — most importantly — final lead of the night.

It also gave them their fourth victory in as many games this season, thus remaining undefeated as they face the next three tilts on the road.

Portsmouth, meanwhile, has lost its last three after a season-opening win over South Point.

Jackson’s victory is only the fourth all-time against the Trojans, and first since the 1985 season in which the Ironmen won 3-2.

Friday’s affair turned out to be a one-point Ironmen win as well.

On 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, and after a timeout by each team, Jackson senior tailback Cody Huff charged in on the left side to tie the game at 20-20.

Mullins, with 15 seconds remaining and after another Trojan timeout, drilled the extra point to put the Ironmen in front by one.

The Trojans would have one last chance, but a well-executed squib kick by Mullins resulted in only a six-yard return to the Portsmouth 38.

The squibber took five seconds off the clock, and two Trojan pass attempts in desperation fell incomplete.

Cornerback Lukas Lindamood nearly intercepted the first, and defensive ends Ryan Hughes and Ryan Klingaman pressured Portsmouth quarterback Josh Myers into a wounded duck on the second.

With that, the Ironmen stormed the field in celebration.

For this time, the Red and White had turned the tables on the Trojans with a big turnover.

Afterward, in his postgame media interview, Jackson head coach Shane Wolford breathed a sigh of relief amid the sweltering heat of the Alumni Stadium press box.

“We’re definitely glad that it ended the way that it did,” said Wolford. “I made a couple of bonehead calls there, but the kids came back and saved their coach. I love them.”

Actually, what saved the Ironmen from the jaws of defeat was the jarring hit delivered by Lindamood and Derrik Meredith on Myers with four minutes to go.

With Portsmouth leading 20-14, and having just taken over after Jackson stalled out on downs, Myers tried to pick up some additional yardage on a keeper around the right side.

From the 31, he gained about seven yards before he was leveled by an Ironmen helmet which popped the pigskin loose.

“Someone put a big hit on him and we were able to come up with it,” said Wolford. “Bad things happened to us all night, but our kids were able to overcome everything. We forced a turnover when we needed it.”

At the bottom of the pile, Jackson’s Brandon Trace somehow recovered the football, as Lindamood and Meredith were credited with the bonecrushing hit on Myers.

It was actually Lindamood’s helmet that jarred the ball away.

With that, Jackson now had the ball just 38 yards from a tie or a win, and sliced the distance in half on the first play of the drive.

Huff ran for 19 yards up the middle, then followed suit with gains of eight and three yards to set up 1st-and-goal.

After runs of two, one and three yards to the Trojan two, the Ironmen faced fourth-and-goal with the game on the line.

The Ironmen let the clock wind down to 18 seconds before calling a timeout, followed by a Trojan timeout immediately afterward.

When play finally did resume, Huff hit the small hole hard and across the goal-line for a 2-yard touchdown run.

For Huff, it was his second two-yard touchdown run of the night, and the second that tied the game.

His 2-yard plunge with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the first quarter, and Mullins’ first of three successful extra points, made it 7-7.

“On that last drive, we did what we do,” said Wolford. “On the touchdown, something came over me and I thought let’s run it right up the gut. We had been running off tackle a lot, and they were probably looking for the off-tackle play.”

Of Jackson’s 234 rushing yards on 49 carries, Huff amassed 188 yards on 28 totes.

But Wolford said that Huff’s final carry for the 2-yard touchdown was his best.

The coach explained that the senior tailback “ran his guts out.”

“If you guys would have been down there….,” said Wolford of Huff’s performance despite a vomiting bout along the sideline. “But he kept going. When I went out there in the huddle that final time, I asked them who wants the ball. And Cody said ‘Give it to me coach and I’m going to score.’ I hate to say it, but I didn’t have much of a doubt that was he was going to get in there (end zone). He probably ran the ball harder on that play than he did all night if that is possible.”

Klay Arthur added 52 yards on 17 carries, including his go-ahead 4-yard touchdown run halfway through the second quarter.

Mullins’ PAT kick made it 14-7 with 7:24 remaining before halftime.

The Trojans had an answer, though, in the form of sophomore Jonathon Royster.

Royster rushed for 94 yards on only six carries, including a dazzling 69-yard dash which made it 20-14 with only eight minutes to play.

With two minutes remaining in the first half, Royster raced in from five yards out on a pitch sweep to the right to make it 14-13.

Justin Smith’s second of two made extra points made it 14-14 heading into the half.

However, it was Smith’s missed extra point following Royster’s long touchdown run that came back to haunt Portsmouth.

The Ironmen, trailing 20-14, marched seven plays inside the Trojan 30-yard-line.

But the drive stalled out on downs, as two Tyler Boggs passes resulted in incompletions.

The first on 3rd-and-4 was dropped, and Boggs was hit as he threw on the 4th-down attempt.

But two plays later, the defense made the big hit on Myers to force the fumble.

“Anytime that you have a lot of bad things happen to you throughout the game, and the kids are able to just keep coming back, that says a lot about their character,” said Wolford. “At that point (following fumble recovery), I felt like our kids felt like we were going to win the game. Things just happened for us tonight when we needed it.”

While Myers made the lone turnover for the Trojans, his starting counterpart — Jackson’s Josh Brown — threw two interceptions on his only two pass attempts.

The first one, with nine-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter, was returned for a 37-yard touchdown by Portsmouth’s Ryan Jordan.

Smith’s extra point gave the Trojans an early 7-0 advantage.

For the most part after that, Boggs took over under center for the Ironmen, and completed 8-of-11 passes for 49 yards.

Lindamood and Kevin Speakman caught three passes apiece, as all three of Speakman’s catches came in the first half for 37 yards.

The Ironmen held an 18-11 advantage in first downs, ran 62 plays from scrimmage compared to Portsmouth’s 40, and outgained the Red, White and Blue by a count of 318-251.

Myers was 8-of-19 for 109 yards for the Trojans, and added 31 rushing yards on seven attempts.

Royster caught three passes for 60 yards.

Jackson also won the important special teams battle, as Mullins made three extra points, punted three times for an average of 39 yards, and booted two touchbacks.

Only a 38-yard missed field goal by about a foot-and-a-half to the right kept Mullins from an even better night.

“We didn’t have any missed assignments on special teams tonight, and Ryan kicked the ball exactly as we wanted,” said Wolford. “He had two touchbacks, that was a perfect squib kick there at the end and his field goal just barely missed. And at the end of the game, that’s a lot of pressure on a kid to make that extra point. Not just him, but everyone involved. That’s a lot of pressure and they came through.”

And, as a result, the Ironmen come through this weekend still undefeated.

“That’s a good football team that we beat tonight. We’re extremely proud of our kids and we’re glad to be standing here at 4-0,” said Wolford.

Jackson is off to its best start since 2004, the year before Wolford took over.

The Ironmen will take their perfect record to Gallipolis next week for their annual grudge match against rival Gallia Academy.

* *

Portsmouth 7 7 0 6 — 20

Jackson 7 7 0 7 — 21

P — Ryan Jordan, 37-yard interception return (Justin Smith kick), 9:31, 1st (7-0 P)

J — Cody Huff, 2-yard run (Ryan Mullins kick), 1:26, 1st (7-7 tie)

J — Klay Arthur, 4-yard run (Ryan Mullins kick), 7:24, 2nd (14-7 J)

P — Jonathon Royster, 5-yard run (Justin Smith kick), 1:56, 2nd (14-14 tie)

P — Jonathon Royster, 69-yard run (kick failed), 7:54, 4th (20-14 P)

P — Cody Huff, 2-yard run (Ryan Mullins kick), :15, 4th (21-20 J)

TEAM STATISTICS

P J

First Downs 11 18

Scrimmage Plays 40 62

Rushing (No.-Yds) 21-142 49-234

Passing (Cmp.-Att.-Int.) 8-19-0 8-13-2

Passing Yards 109 84

Total Yards 251 318

Fumbles (No.-Lost) 2-1 0-0

Penalties (No.-Yds) 5-50 3-20

Punts (No.-Ave.) 4-35.75 3-39

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING

Portsmouth: Jonathon Royster 6-94 2TD, Josh Myers 7-31, Forrest Johnson 4-17, Ryan Jordan 2-0, Angelo Jackson 1-4, Team 1-(-4); Jackson: Cody Huff 28-188 2TD, Klay Arthur 17-52 TD, Tyler Boggs 3-(-5), Josh Brown 1(-1)

PASSING

Portsmouth: Josh Myers 8-19-0-109; Jackson: Tyler Boggs 8-11-0-84, Josh Brown 0-2-2-0

RECEIVING
Portsmouth: Jonathon Royster 3-60, Forrest Johnson 3-34, Ryan Jordan 1-8, Malik White 1-7; Jackson: Kevin Speakman 3-37, Lukas Lindamood 3-12, Eric Landrum 1-27, Josh Brown 1-8

[email protected]