Ironton (OH) at Pikeville Predictions/Updates

[Mountain Football 606]

Pikeville welcomes Ohio power Ironton Friday night. The Panthers are coming off an impressive win against GRC on Saturday afternoon. Who wins this matchup?

[theguru]

Who can tell us about Ironton (OH) this year?

[gchs_uk9]

This is a really good Ironton team. They are ranked at the top of Division V with a 5-1 record. Their only loss is to a team from Canada while they have five blowout wins. Calpreps says Ironton wins 42-3. It might not be that wide but Pikeville will absolutely have their work cut out.

[TCR]

Having been around Ironton, I can share a lot of information pertaining to their program. Ironton is in Division 5 in Ohio. I'm just guessing that they would be around the size of a 2A school in Kentucky. In Ohio there are seven divisions, but go the other way from Kentucky pertaining to size. By this I mean to say that Division 1 is the largest division and the Division 7 is the smallest. Whereas in Kentucky 6A is the largest division while 1A is the smallest division.

If Pikeville pulls this off it would be a massive win for their program. Ironton has played a national schedule this year, one of those wins being a 56-19 win against St. Francis of New York, who this week happened to defeat national power, #19 Erie Cathedral Prep 35-21. 

Ironton picked up their first loss Friday against Clarkson North, a 28-27 loss where Ironton went for on a touchdown with about a minute remaining and didn't convert. Clarkson North plays a national schedule and is considered the best program in Canada, with their offensive line looking like an NFL team's line. Across the front the average height is 6'5 and average weight is 294. Ironton was a major underdog, especially with Clarkson North having different players on offense, defense, and special teams. 

Ironton has come short in three trips to the state championship game in 2019, 2020, and 2022. This year they are optimistic about being able to pull it off. They dropped out of the Ohio Valley Conference in football which allowed them to schedule teams like Clarkson North and St. Francis, NY.

This will be a tough one, but if anybody could pull it off Pikeville could do so. Amazing things have happened at this program and this could be where that tough schedule begins to pay off. The George Rogers Clark game has to be a good sign that the team is improving and again looking to be a threat to win it all in 1A.

Leading Ironton is Shaun Terry. With the nickname "Scary Terry," Shaun is an electrifying player that can score on any given play. Shaun has had numerous plays like this, which came against Clarkson North.

 

[NeuroColonel]

Sad that Ashland and Ironton aren’t playing yearly anymore. Great rivalry.

[Tigerpride94]

Ironton has a Calpreps rating of 37.5 and Pikeville has a rating of 8.6 so looks like could be a 28 point win for Ironton. I'll be pulling for Pikeville to get the upset though.

[Carlito]

Ironton opened on a drive against Clarkson North that saw them having to punt for only the second time in the first five games of the season. They've played a pretty tough schedule and Clarkson North being one of them. As previously mentioned, Clarkson did look like an NFL team, HUGE across the front! Ironton losing by only one point to a team like that speaks volumes. To say I'm cautiously optimistic for a Pikeville win would be putting it mildly. Lol!

[theguru]

24 minutes ago, Carlito said:

Ironton opened on a drive against Clarkson North that saw them having to punt for only the second time in the first five games of the season. They've played a pretty tough schedule and Clarkson North being one of them. As previously mentioned, Clarkson did look like an NFL team, HUGE across the front! Ironton losing by only one point to a team like that speaks volumes. To say I'm cautiously optimistic for a Pikeville win would be putting it mildly. Lol!

This is from Clarkson North's website, wow:

Vision
The goal of Football North is to be the best student-athlete based football program in Canada. In the pursuit of excellence, the student-athletes will be leaders in the classroom, community, and on the football field. Continually focused on education, teamwork, innovation and competition, Football North’s financially sustainable model will allow investment into elite and safe coaching techniques, in-season and off-season player development, and competition against the top United States high school programs. The program will strive to become a top 100 ranked high school football team in North America.

https://clarksonfootballnorth.ca/

Ironton has dominated the rest of their schedule. 

Pikeville is really stepping up this week. 

[Paul Dean]

Don’t if Pikeville has enough horses to pull this off.

[gchs_uk9]

2 hours ago, theguru said:

This is from Clarkson North's website, wow:

Vision
The goal of Football North is to be the best student-athlete based football program in Canada. In the pursuit of excellence, the student-athletes will be leaders in the classroom, community, and on the football field. Continually focused on education, teamwork, innovation and competition, Football North’s financially sustainable model will allow investment into elite and safe coaching techniques, in-season and off-season player development, and competition against the top United States high school programs. The program will strive to become a top 100 ranked high school football team in North America.

https://clarksonfootballnorth.ca/

Kind of has an "IMG of Canada" feel.

[1Professorky2]

I have relatives on both sides of the Ohio River, Russell/Ironton.

I have watched Ironton since the mid 1970's.  Maybe not size wise but execution and athleticism, this may be the best team at Ironton in years.    They will pound Pikeville.  I am originally from Lawrence County, Ky, so I am familiar with both programs.

[theguru]

Welcome to BGP @1Professorky2!

[DevilMayCare]

Pikeville can make a game of this if they can establish the run. I think that is a must. Ironton's secondary is very good, with Louisville commit Josh Johnson patrolling the back end and Terry playing corner when called upon.

Both programs are built on fundamentals and a competitive edge, so Pikeville won't roll over. They'll at least meet the Tigers halfway.

The ease with which Ironton has dispatched really good teams this season makes them an easy pick. At some point, be it through offense or special teams, Terry will make his presence felt. I've seen him utilized throwing the ball and Ironton doesn't shy away from trick plays.

It'll be fun seeing those two schools sharing the same field. 

[TCR]

27 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

Pikeville can make a game of this if they can establish the run. I think that is a must. Ironton's secondary is very good, with Louisville commit Josh Johnson patrolling the back end and Terry playing corner when called upon.

Both programs are built on fundamentals and a competitive edge, so Pikeville won't roll over. They'll at least meet the Tigers halfway.

The ease with which Ironton has dispatched really good teams this season makes them an easy pick. At some point, be it through offense or special teams, Terry will make his presence felt. I've seen him utilized throwing the ball and Ironton doesn't shy away from trick plays.

It'll be fun seeing those two schools sharing the same field. 

That's a good point to bring up. Ironton can be unpredictable sometimes. Until this year they were in the Ohio Valley conference and although they do have respectable teams that are a solid representation of Southern Ohio, Ironton has their sights set on winning the state title and has set up a national schedule. In the past when they played OVC teams they would almost always open up with a trick play or different formation and a lot of times they would find themselves up in 1-2 plays, putting themselves in a position to blow the game away and get a running clock early. What I admire about the program is how they take their opponent seriously whether it's a top notch, three-time defending state champion like Pikeville or a team that is 0-10. Against Cincinnati Moeller a couple of seasons ago they would lose that game 25-6 with a touchdown late, but opened up in an entirely different formation that confused Moeller for a few series and Ironton was a shoestrong tackle on the first play after a 40 yard gain from taking it all the way. 

This is also a good area to talk about Ironton's coaching staff since I did not mention them in the prior post. They are coached by Trevon Pendleton who was a football star at Portsmouth West in Ohio and then would go on to Michigan State to play fullback. Having played under Mark Dantonio, Trevon had the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl in a 2013 win over Stanford, even scoring on a touchdown reception as Michigan State finished the season #3 in the country. What is so impressive about Coach Pendleton is his enthusiasm, discipline, and how he networks. Throughout his time in college he had a strong relationship with Michigan State but was also able to build bridges throughout the Big Ten Conference, later utilizing that when he took the Ironton Job in 2018 at age 25. Practices are often filled with many college coaches, including the Power conferences. Ironton has become a marketing machine and I think what sets them apart is that in addition running a great program, they do a great job plastering their events and contacts all over social media, highlighting the number of players they have been able to send to the next level. Ironton has added summer events and camps, and recently started the Ironton Classic for football where schools such as DeMatha Catholic, Mallard Creek, and other powers have had the opportunity to play in an all-day three game event that has attracted national attention. It feels like every year Ironton has something new they bring to the table that enhances the marketability of the game throughout the tri-state area.

The whole Pendleton family is deeply involved in the process and to top that off several players from the Bob Lutz era are on board. Having competed against Jerrod Pendleton who came through Portsmouth West prior to Trevon, he was a great player and is also a big part of this staff. Jerrod was a freshman in 2002 when Portsmouth West made the state championship game. Coach "Papaw" Pendleton is the Father of Trevon and Jerrod and assisted at Portsmouth West in many of their their deep runs, including the one making the state championship game. Daniel Murphy, who played under Ohio's all-time winningest football coach in Bob Lutz, has coached at the semi-professional level, with an 8-3 record as the head coach of the River City Buccaneers and there are others that have made tremendous impacts.

Having competed against Ironton in the past, interviewed Ironton's players and coaches while also working alongside them on various events, I have much more experience with their program than I do Pikeville, but with that being said Coach McNamee has done a fantastic job keeping Pikeville a top tier program in Kentucky and the EKY area is certainly appreciative to have a team like Pikeville that has been a fantastic representative across the state. To win state championships three years in a row (also being in contention this year) is remarkable and to defeat powers like Belfry (Twice during state championship seasons), LCA, and Johnson Central says a lot about the program. I'm sure they will be prepared and we will be in for an exciting matchup between two great programs!

[theguru]

Bump.