Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CANTON — Ironton had the experience factor on Friday in its third trip to a state championship game in the last four seasons.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
However, South Range had execution on its side and had no issues finding holes within the Tigers’ defense.
The Raiders (16-0) racked up over 500 yards of total offense to claim their first state championship in program history with a 53-27 victory over Ironton (15-1) at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The loss ends a four-year stint where the Tigers’ seniors went 50-6 — believed to be the most winningest class in school history.
“I want to say how proud I am of these seniors, and some of the things they have battled through and overcome, year after year to get here again. It’s just so impressive,” Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton said. “The mentality that these guys have shown and the approach that they take to not only football, but work itself in the weight room, on the field or in the classroom. “I don’t think they realize the magnitude of what they’ve done. They will look back and should be proud of what they accomplished because I am very proud of them.”
Though an opening unsportsmanlike conduct penalty started South Range at its own 10, the Raiders marched right down the field.
Billy Skripac connected with Shane Lindsrom, who broke a pair of tackles for a 68-yard completion. Three plays later, Skirpac called his own number and scored on a seven-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders ahead 7-0.
Ironton, however, wasted no time answering.
On its first play of the Tigers’ opening drive, Tayden Carpenter completed a pop pass to Lincoln Barnes and Barnes broke a tackle before sprinting 66 yards to the end zone, tying the game at 7-7.
After both defenses came up with stops, South Range reached into its bag of tricks.
Following a 30-yard pass from Skirpac to Jake Starkey, the Raiders dialed up a double reverse pass and Skirpac hit J.D. Crouse on a 40-yard pass for a touchdown, putting South Range ahead 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Raiders’ defense then came up with a huge play, forcing a fumble and pouncing on it at Ironton’s 34-yard line. Skripac then hit Crouse for a 29-yard pass before calling his own number from five yards out for a 20-7 lead.
On their next drive, disaster struck the Tigers again when their punt attempt was blocked and the Raiders recovered on the eight-yard line. On the next play, Skripac collected his third rushing touchdown of the morning, extending the lead to 26-7.
“Those mistakes are hard to overcome. Anytime you are giving good teams great field position and extra possessions, that’s tough, especially when they capitalize on it and capture momentum like they did,” Pendleton said. “Hats off to South Range, they played a really good game. It wasn’t anything that we couldn’t overcome. Just unfortunately couldn’t do it today.”
Understanding the urgency needed, the Tigers picked up the tempo and began driving. After picking up a pair of third down conversions on their next drive, Carpenter found Ty Perkins wide open for a 31-yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to 26-14.
Despite giving up a burst of momentum, South Range bounced back quickly.
The Raiders ran five plays, all runs, to go 67 yards and found the end zone on a 31-yard scamper from Blake Ewert to extend the lead back to 32-14 — the eventual halftime count.
Both teams failed to convert fourth down conversions on their opening drives of the second half, but South Range’s Shane Lindsrom showed his skillset shortly after.
On the second play of the Raiders’ second drive, he caught a pass from Skripac, broke a tackle to stay inbounds, and then drug a pair of defenders with him, muscling his way into the end zone from 65 yards out and pushing the lead to 39-14.
Ironton knew it had to respond, and did so in four plays.
Carpenter completed four passes on the Tigers’ next drive, the final being a seven-yard pass to Amari Felder for a touchdown, which cut the deficit to 39-21 heading into the fourth.
Ironton still had a chance to fight back, but needed to make a stop. South Range didn’t let that happen.
On a fourth and goal play from the eight-yard line, Skripac found a wide open Dean Depizzo for a touchdown to put the Raiders ahead 46-21.
Ironton continued to fight as Carpenter threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day, a 28-yard strike to Perkins late in the fourth, but the Raiders tallied the final score of the day when Aiden Dominguez scored on a three-run plunge with less than three minutes left to put the icing on the cake.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Statistically, Carpenter finished 21-of-36 passing for 325 yards alongside four touchdowns and an interception. Perkins hauled in seven catches for 121 yards and a pair of scores and Landen Wilson had five receptions for 61 yards. Jaquez Keyes led the ground game with nine carries for 27 yards.
South Range was led by Skripac, who finished 13-of-25 through the air for 331 yards and three scores. He also added 59 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Ewert had himself a day, rushing 19 times for 143 yards and a score while Lindsrom caught six passes for 176 yards and a touchdown.
The win marks South Range’s first-ever state championship while it gives Ironton’s its ninth runner-up finish in school history.
“We just have to go back to work, roll up our sleeves, and find a way to get three-percent better. Unfortunately for us, we’re not going to be able to replace these 16 seniors,” Pendleton said. “It’s hard to replace a group like this. You can’t replace them. They all embody what it means to be an Ironton Fighting Tiger. These are very talented kids and very talented football players, but even better people. They’ve put this football program to be playing for state championships every year.”
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