Coach Bob Lutz

The ultimate goal of anyone that is involved in high school athletics is to win a state championship. That is what you shoot for. I am fortunate to have been a part of two state titles while coaching football at Ironton High School during the past eighteen years.

I look back and think of the time and effort put forth by so many foorball players, coaches, and fans in order to achieve these titles, that it is overwhelming. The almost year around conditioning and work of the players, the preparation of the coaching staff and the following of the many fans of Tiger football has allowed the city of Ironton to bask in the sunlight of success.

The teams of 1979 and 1989 were very much alike, but at the same time, were different types of teams with their own personalities. Both teams had their own strong work ethic and great enthusiasm. They were different because the 1979 team was smaller and more basic than the 1989 team.

The 1979 team was the greatest bunch of overachievers that I have ever worked with in the eighteen years I have spent at Ironton. We had come off a super year the previous season with a team that had blown all teams away, but, had ironically failed to make the playoffs. It was a team loaded with size, speed and depth. Many of those players graduated and big things were not expected of the 1979 team. We struggled early in the season and were tied by a Washington Court House team that we should have beaten. Our game came together late in the year. Starting with the Jackson game at the end of the season, the team played three super games. With the win over Jackson to make the playoffs, the exciting victory over Hamilton Badin, and the come from behind win aagainst Akron St. Vincent, it was a great stretch run.

This team was blessed with great athletes in Brent Wilcoxen, Joe Fletcher, Tim Hodges and  Gabriel Lewis. It also had a group of linemen that accepted their roles and blended together beautifully, culminating  with the big upset of  Akron. This team will always remain special because it was our first state championship.

The 1989 team was also special. It followed a team that had come so close the year before only to fall short in the title game. The players that returned were instilled with the idea that if everyone gave their best efforts, we could again make a run for the title. This team had an exceptional season. They struggled early in the  season against strong competition and then put all the pieces together from the middle of the season on to the final conquest of the state championship. The 1989 team was blessed with great athletes such as Heath Brownstead, Delandual Conwell, and J.D. Coffman. This team was unique in that they were expected to win and they were able to do it.

I have been asked many times to compare teams and players down through the years. I have refused to make such comparisons because there have been so many fine players and teams. Each possessed unique qualities that they stand alone both as individuals and as teams. It takes a great deal to be a championship team and I think all of our teams through the years have been able to earn that label.

The 1979 and 1989 teams won state titles because they were able to put together their game coming down the stretch and playing as close to mistake free football as possible. I salute these two groups of young men for allowing us all to be part of two wonderful championships and for giving the Ironton Tiger fans a great collection of memories.       

Tim Hodges 

The king is dead. Long may his successor reign. With the aid of an outstanding team defensive effort and two clutch free throws by Dick James with 3 seconds  to play, the Ironton Tigers dethroned the defending state class AA champoin Portsmouth Trojans Saturday night 54-52 and thus captured the district title.

The game was close throughout with Portsmouth holding the biggest lead at seven while Ironton’s largest lead was five. James, a 6-4 senior and first team all-district player, took an inbound pass breaking toward the baseline with four seconds remaining and then wedged his way between two defenders and took the shot. The attempt missed but he was fouled and went to the line where he ended the Trojans’s 29 game win streak and hopes for back to back state titles.

Despite James heroics, Tiger coach Buddy Bell had nothing but praise for every one of his players and coaches. “The kids were just super,” smiled Bell. “I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of them. They all played their hearts out.” ”We got down a few times and we kept battling back,” continued Bell. “The coaches on the bench did a good job of helping the kids keep their heads. Everyone just did a super job.” 

A major key in the game was the second half performance of 6-6 senior center Robin Fitzpatrick who scored all nine of his points in the second half and held Trojan center Scot Taylor to just six markers. ”Robin just did a super job on Scot Taylor. It may have been the difference in the game,” noted Bell. ”But the defense was just tremendous. I can’t say enough of the effort Tim Hodges did on Craig Tubbs, or Dick James on Kirk McMahon, or Robin Fitzpatrick on Scot Taylor, or Keith Harvey on Jack Bendolph or Joe Fletcher on Scott Burrows. And Tom Gordon and Jeff Linn did a super job off the bench. I just couldn’t single anyone out.”   

Ironton jumped out to a 5-0 lead as James got a free throw and Fletcher got two more plus a baseline jumper. Tubbs netted a 15 footer but Hodges came up with a steal and converted it into a lay up at the 5:35 mark. But the Trojans showed why they were ranked number one in the state as they battled back to take a 12-11 first period lead on jumpers by Taylor and Tubbs. Two long range jumpers late in the second period by Taylor enabled Portsmouth to open up a six point bulge. Ironton managed to slice one off that lead and trailed 27-22 at the half. 

 Fitzpatrick opened the second half with two free throws and a short jumper as the lead shrank to 27-26 at the 7:02 mark. But 20 footers by McMahon and Bendolph  followed by a steal and a lay up by McMahon balooned the Trojan lead to 35-28 with 4:20 left in the quarter. But Ironton outscored the Trojans 9-6 the remainder of the period and the quarter ended with the Trojans holding a 41-37 lead.

Hodges hit a 20 footer and two free throws to start the final period and the score was tied. Things stayed tight until Harvey hit a free throw and James sank two more and Ironton had a 51-47 lead with 1:59 to play. Ironton, going into a four corner offense looking to freeze the ball and play for the lay up made two costly turnovers and Portsmouth tied the game at 52-52 with 21 seconds remaining as Tubbs hit a baseline jumper and two charity tosses. 

The Tigers played for the final shot but Portsmouth batted a pass out of bounds under the basket. Bell called a time out and set up the final shot. James set up under the basket then broke to the right at the baseline. The rest is history. “I felt I had to make them and I just felt great when I made them,” beamed James. ”We matured tonight,” commented Bell. “Portsmouth has a really fine team. Our kids knew they could play them. We felt we had to stay away from mistakes and for the most part we did.”

Tim Hodges

Trey Fletcher scores over Andy Stegman

Trey Fletcher, a 6’4″ Sophomore and son of former Fighting Tiger Joe “Bubby” Fletcher is in his first full season as a starter for the Ironton Fighting Tigers and is making quite an impression. He received significant playing time as a Freshman and has  stepped up his play in his role as a starter and is averaging 14.9 points per game. He has been  named Third Team All District, and along with his teammates, will battle Wheelersburg on 3-12-2011  at the convo for the district title.   My best to the young Tigers on a fine season thus far. Here is to another win to keep it going. 

Father Joe was a three year starter at IHS and it looks like Trey is following in his fathers’ footsteps. Looks to me like he leaps a little higher though.    

Go Tigers!

Tim Hodges

Ironton Football Coach Charlton "Shorty" Davies

After Shorty Davies starred at Ironton in high school he played for the Buckeyes of The Ohio State University. He was a running back and played behind the great Chic Harley, the 1st concesus All-American at OSU. Davies also moved on to West Virginia and played some running back for the Mountaineers. While at West Virginia he came to Ironton and played a very imoprtant game with the Ironton Tanks against arch rival Portsmouth Spartans. Here is the way it was reported in the paper.

The Portsmouth team which had been playing all fall, was accompanied to Ironton by 300 confident fans. Ironton fans were confident also, because they had an ace up their sleeve: T.C. “Shorty” Davies, a former Ironton High School star and a running back at Ohio State and West Virginia Universities, returned home to play for the Tanks in the big game. (Davies refused his share of the gate receipts so he could retain his college eligibility.)Davies proved to be an early problem for Portsmouth when three minutes into the game he carried the ball around right end and down the sideline for a spectacular 50-yard touchdown run. Portsmouth could never seem to get going against the strong defense, and the game ended. Ironton 12, Portsmouth 0.

The history and tradition that resides in Ironton is so incredible, I never get tired of writing about it. Coach Davies is just another part of that tradition.

Joe Holtzapfel

Team celebrate's Fletcher's winning TD

We were not expected to accomplish much after the success of the ’78 team. The lone remaining starter on the offensive line was Bubby Fletcher and  the returning starters in the backfield were Gabriel Lewis and Terry Royal. We survived the first game of the season against Ashland thanks to a heads up defensive play by Fletcher during a goal line stand. He stripped the Ashland quarterback of the football that we recovered to preserve a 6-0 victory.  

We welcomed Portsmouth to the Tank for our first home game of the season. We found ourselves without the services of our quarterback, Brent Wilcoxon, lineman Joe Hacker and Gabriel Lewis. We went up early with two touchdowns only to see Portsmouth come back and score three. For the first time that year we were behind and with few minutes left to go in the game. 

We pulled it out. Steve Sutton hit Fletcher with a perfect past to defeat Portsmouth with less than a minute to go. This game, to me, set the course for the rest of the season. Had we lost, we would possibly have become the team we were predicted to be. Tradition means something at Ironton. We weren’t going to let pre-season predictions get between us and what we desired to accomplish on the field, win a state championship.

Ironton Tribune Article

Tim Hodges

Charles Kautz Ironton Football Coach 1956-1960

From 1956 to 1960, the Ironton head football coach was Mr Charles Kautz. Coach Kautz was only 31 when he took over the reigns of the Fighting Tiger program at Ironton. He had previously been head coach at C-K and Rock Hill. He was a 1943 graduate of Huntington High School. From there he moved on to Marshall where he earned his BA and MA in Education.

Coach Kautz’s record was 26-19-1 at Ironton. HIs best year as head coach at Ironton was in 1959 when he went 7-2. I remember this year well as I don’t think I missed a game that year. Coach Kautz spent one more year at Ironton and then moved on to his old Alma Mater Marshall in 1961 as Asst Football Coach.

In 1969 He became the Athletic Director for the Thundering Herd. He inherited a program with deteriorating facilities and started immediately on restoring old Fairfield Stadium with new everything, including the newest thing in sports Astroturf.

When things looked like they were about to turn around at the Huntington school, a tragedy of heart wrenching proportions hit the University and everyone in the Tri-State Area. Marshall had to travel to East Carolina for an away game and on the return flight, in very foggy and rainy weather. Southern Airlines Flight 932, carrying the Marshall Football Team, it’s coaches and many of it’s avid supporters, along with AD Charles Kautz crashed in the hills of Wayne County killing all aboard.

I remember the game very well as I listened to Keith Morehouse’s dad do the play by play. When I heard that the plane had crashed we went up to the site but of course wasn’t allowed close to the crash. We were told there were no surviors and like all of the rest of the folks standing around there in the rain, wept very unashamed. It was the worst sports tragedy to hit NCAA football.

Charles Kautz was 45 years old. Just like other men who had been fortunate enough to coach at Ironton, he had made his mark in sports at the collegiate level. It’s no telling just how far he would have went with his career if this great tragedy hadn’t happened.

Coach Kautz is just another piece in the long history and tradition of Ironton Football. There just aren’t many high schools in Ohio who can claim a tradition like the Ironton Fighting Tigers, their coaches and fans.

Joe Holtzapfel

Brad Spoljaric Signs with Kentucky Christian

Another in a long line of Ironton football players has signed to play at the next level. Brad Spoljaric has decided to join his fellow player Robbie Webb at Kentucky Christian to play football and to continue his education.

I’ve been watching Brad since grade school and have always liked what I saw. Brad is one of the best at playing defense from sideline to sideline. Maybe that is why he thinks he can help the Knights better on defense rather than on the offensive side of the ball. He and Robbie were always side by side when they played on the offensive line at Ironton. So be it offense or defense. Brad will be a tremendous help no matter where he plays.

Brad is quick to thank Coach Bob Lutz for what he has taught him. He says that Coach Lutz is responsible for helping him get to the next level. Brad says that Coach Lutz gets you ready physically as well as teaching you the techniques needed to play the game. It’s nice to see these players give credit where credit is due.

With the addition of these two athletes, I’m sure Kentucky Christian will be visiting Ironton in the near fruture looking for others players to fill those holes made by graduation.

Congratulation to Brad and we certainly wish him the best of luck at KCU.

Joe Holtzapfel