Ironmen roll past McClain

After having the game canceled Friday night and rescheduled for Saturday at noon, the Jackson Ironmen and McClain Tigers battled on a slippery and sloppy field for four quarters with the defending Frontier Athletic Conference champion Ironmen coming out on top, 55-0.

Despite the lopsided final score, the game was really played a lot closer than that, especially over the first quarter and for almost half of the second quarter when the Tigers trailed by just a 14-0 score at the 7:10 mark of the second period.

“I thought for the first quarter and a half, we played really well,” said McClain head coach Keith Penwell. “We controlled the ball and had it more than they did, and that’s what you have to do against a team like Jackson.

“We moved the ball pretty well, too, just couldn’t score.”

McClain took the opening kickoff, and on their third play from scrimmage, Jackson’s Eli Ray intercepted a pass on the Tigers’ 33-yard line.  But the usually powerful Ironmen running attack was stifled by the McClain defense when they stopped their first offensive possession after allowing just eight yards gained on four running plays.

After a three-and-out on McClain’s next offensive series forced an Owen Sykes punt, the Ironmen’s Ryan Seimetz returned the kick 50 yards for a touchdown, giving Jackson an early 7-0 lead with 6:59 left in the opening quarter.

The Tigers were able to move the ball some their second offensive possession, mainly behind the running of Sykes, who led MHS with 16 rushes for 36 yards. McClain took the ball deep into Jackson territory with a 10-play drive to the 30-yard line, but the scoring threat stalled after an incomplete pass on fourth down.

McClain’s defense continued to play well the rest of the period, as the horn sounded with Jackson leading just 7-0.

The Ironmen increased their advantage to 14-0 after quarterback Bodhi Wolford hit Ray for a 21-yard touchdown pass and another successful PAT kick with 11:54 showing on the second-quarter clock.

McClain was able to move the ball some on offense, and their defense continued to play well over the next several minutes, until Jackson scored their third touchdown of the game at the 7:30 mark on an 11-yard run by Nolan Johnson when he was untouched.

Despite trailing 21-0, the McClain defense continued fighting and kept the Ironmen out of the end zone until just 1:11 was left in the opening half when Bryce Dulaney scored on a 1-yard run, making it 28-0.

Jackson played add-on just before the half when they used their three timeouts to stop the clock forcing a McClain punt with only 49 seconds left. After a short kick, the Ironmen added another touchdown three plays later on a 12-yard pass from Wolford to Charlie Woodard to make the halftime score 35-0.

“I’m proud of our kids, especially in that first quarter and a half,” Penwell said. “It was only 7-0 after one quarter and only 14-0 halfway into the second. I think down there last year we were down 35-0 after one quarter.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that have to play both ways (offense and defense), and that can really weigh on you, but I thought our kids played really hard. Noah Sponcil and Conner Frazier played their tails off out there, and they always are on the field.

“Noah (Sponcil) has a motor and when he comes off the field, he’s really tired, but he puts everything he’s got into it,” Penwell continued. “He and those other guys in the middle take a pounding and give some poundings. They’re physical and strong and have been playing very well for us.”

Jackson added two more touchdowns in the third quarter (on a four-yard rush by Tucker Williams and a 45-yard score by Dayton Kallner) and another in the fourth (a two-yard rush) to close out the scoring in the game. Over the final quarter, both coaches played almost all of their younger players.

“I thought Owen (Sykes) ran the ball hard and our offensive line did a really good job in the first half of getting off the ball and making some lanes for to run in,” Penwell said. “I don’t know if we just got tired or what. Jackson is Jackson, and they have a lot of kids that they can rotate to keeping people fresh.

“We had some positives today, just have to play four quarters. We’ll get back at it tomorrow and start preparing for Miami Trace, who is another good football team.”

Other offensive leaders for MHS were Kolton Lamb with three rushes for 15 yards and Riley Cummins with nine rushes for 12 yards.

On defense, Jhett Watson had three and half tackles. Noah Sponcil had three tackles and a sack. Keaton Beucler also had three tackles, while Conner Frazier made two. Andrew Roeder had 1.5 tackles and a sack, and also with 1.5 tackles each were TD Matesic and Dalton Rowland.

Jackson improves to 3-2 with the win while McClain slips to 1-4 on the season. The Tigers will travel to Miami Trace next Friday, Oct. 4 to play the Panthers in another tough FAC matchup.

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