Watch out Ironton & Burg: The Trojans have the best QB & offense

[SiderBlood]

I have seen Burg, Ironton, Waverly, Fairland, Portsmouth, and West. All atleast once in person, others several times. I hate to make big statements early on, so this is subject to change. So far, Waverly is the best overall. I think Fairland is the next best besides Jackson. I don't think Ironton is as impressive, especially on offense. But they found a way against both to squeak a win out and that's what matters. Portsmouth is not the Portsmouth of the last 10 years. They are explosive, and looked hungry on defense. I still am up in the air on my opinion on West and Burg. I know they are both good and capable. West had 5 turnovers in a loss to Portsmouth, and was still in a competitive game until late in the 4th. Had a win lined up against Fairland. We now know these teams are not slouches.

You say Ironton isn’t as impressive. But would any of these other teams still be undefeated if they hadn’t had their starting QB for all 3 games and missing other key pieces in other ball games including playing a Wr at RB. The Keyes kid is averaging over 10 yds a carry so when he comes back I’m sure he will be a focal point of the offense.

I'm saying with the expectations I had for them, no they are not as impressive as what I was imagining. You can include injuries and people not playing but that is part of the game. Other teams deal with it too. Yes, Keyes is a beast. I wondered why he wasn't more of a focal point in the games I watched, to me he is the workhorse. And I am not doubting their schedule at, it is brutal and I respect it and the fact that they have made it 3 games in without a loss. Their defense alone is enough to win in the playoffs. But its not perfect, and anyone in TigerTown who believes it is, or can't be criticized is delusional.

[SiderBlood]

I have seen Burg, Ironton, Waverly, Fairland, Portsmouth, and West. All atleast once in person, others several times. I hate to make big statements early on, so this is subject to change. So far, Waverly is the best overall. I think Fairland is the next best besides Jackson. I don't think Ironton is as impressive, especially on offense. But they found a way against both to squeak a win out and that's what matters. Portsmouth is not the Portsmouth of the last 10 years. They are explosive, and looked hungry on defense. I still am up in the air on my opinion on West and Burg. I know they are both good and capable. West had 5 turnovers in a loss to Portsmouth, and was still in a competitive game until late in the 4th. Had a win lined up against Fairland. We now know these teams are not slouches.

You say Ironton isn’t as impressive. But would any of these other teams still be undefeated if they hadn’t had their starting QB for all 3 games and missing other key pieces in other ball games including playing a Wr at RB. The Keyes kid is averaging over 10 yds a carry so when he comes back I’m sure he will be a focal point of the offense.

I think he means as impressive as he thought they might be and he’s correct. Ironton defense is really good though. Enough to go far in playoffs

Burg is a different team right now. Way better than week 1. How much better? Not sure yet but definitely better

And yes I watched Burg in week one with 3 or 4 turnovers in the first half. I don't think they are better than Ironton. But im sure they are better than they showed that night, no doubt. I'm trying to use the same gauge with West. 4 fumbles against ptown. Good teams do not turn the ball over like that, but I am not going to base my entire opinion on both teams over that.

[XandOs]

I have seen Burg, Ironton, Waverly, Fairland, Portsmouth, and West. All atleast once in person, others several times. I hate to make big statements early on, so this is subject to change. So far, Waverly is the best overall. I think Fairland is the next best besides Jackson. I don't think Ironton is as impressive, especially on offense. But they found a way against both to squeak a win out and that's what matters. Portsmouth is not the Portsmouth of the last 10 years. They are explosive, and looked hungry on defense. I still am up in the air on my opinion on West and Burg. I know they are both good and capable. West had 5 turnovers in a loss to Portsmouth, and was still in a competitive game until late in the 4th. Had a win lined up against Fairland. We now know these teams are not slouches.

You say Ironton isn’t as impressive. But would any of these other teams still be undefeated if they hadn’t had their starting QB for all 3 games and missing other key pieces in other ball games including playing a Wr at RB. The Keyes kid is averaging over 10 yds a carry so when he comes back I’m sure he will be a focal point of the offense.

I'm saying with the expectations I had for them, no they are not as impressive as what I was imagining. You can include injuries and people not playing but that is part of the game. Other teams deal with it too. Yes, Keyes is a beast. I wondered why he wasn't more of a focal point in the games I watched, to me he is the workhorse. And I am not doubting their schedule at, it is brutal and I respect it and the fact that they have made it 3 games in without a loss. Their defense alone is enough to win in the playoffs. But its not perfect, and anyone in TigerTown who believes it is, or can't be criticized is delusional.

I agree with your assessment. They have no passing game right now and one of their better Wrs is playing QB. When Carpenter is back they will have Keyes and Duncan in backfield, Perkins, Wylie, Masters, Wilson and others in passing game. When offense does start clicking and they can stretch the field what happens to running game. Right now everyone is loading LOS on Ironton to stop the run. Fairland didn’t even have a safety and played most of the game man to man defense. When Ironton gets everyone healthy abs offense starts clicking and defense continues to do what they’ve been doing and they start winning big again will you feel different. Emotion plays a lot into HS sports. Ironton physcially whipped Burg week 1 and was told it would be close and it wasn’t. So naturally they have a big letdown week 2 coming off rivalry game and to a team they have handled the last 2 years in scrimmages. Then they come to Fairland off an emotional win the week before in a war and play as poorly as they have in awhile. Is that because they may have been looking ahead to Moeller and Fairland is pretty good. I think so. Last time these two teams played it was 49-7 Ironton at half time two years ago so you know that’s in the back of a HS kids mind especially with Moeller coming to town. We will see though. I may be completely wrong. We will soon find out. By the way Ironton has their hands full this week. This is the best team to come to The Tank in a long long time. This game will make Ironton better though. Glad to see the staff and program stepping up and challenging themselves against a team many fear.

[superblue]

There first real test might be the Gallia game next week...

[BigOof]

Trojans haven't played anyone with a defense yet and regardless, defense wins championships and Trojans don't have that.

Are we forgetting that Portsmouth's starting defense has only given up 10 points this season so far? They may not have championship winning caliber defense, and no one is claiming they do, but they definitely have OVC and possibly first round Playoff winning defense. So many teams in SEO run A LOT and the Trojans have done pretty well stopping running offenses from scoring. Their D-Line isn't huge or anything, but they are strong and fast. They're D-line is too fast, and they're secondary is way too fast for probably almost all SEO teams except for Waverly. If these stats are correct, West had a total of 294 yds against Fairland vs Ironton's 247 yds. West had more rushing and passing yards than Ironton against Fairland and look what Portsmouth's defense did to West's Offense. Of course, assuming these stats are right.

[greygoose]

Trojans haven't played anyone with a defense yet and regardless, defense wins championships and Trojans don't have that.

Nobody expects them to win a championship lmao, silly comment. Maybe you haven’t watched them, but their defense is actually vastly improved. It’s not the best in the area, I could name a dozen better. But for Portsmouth it’s pretty darn good compared to the last 12 or so years. Seems to me you maybe are caught up on the past and can’t root for this team that could be the best they’ve had in quite some time. I think football in southern Ohio is better when Portsmouth is better.

My comments were purely based on the subject headline and if you can't agree with everything I said as factual then you honestly are blinded by the 3-0 record. Is Portsmouth better this year than they have been, absolutely a lot of talent on that offense, but I'm just not going to sit here and say dang look at what they're doing when they simply haven't played a anyone the non-league schedule wasn't strong at all. I watched their final scrimmage against Waverly because I was curious about the Trojans what I seen was an offense that could score but a defense that was absolutely shredded giving up 42 points in the the 1st half. Why would I get caught up with teams of the past?? That means nothing to what this years team can be, have they've beat the teams they should've beaten and if we're comparing to recent years that wasn't always the case. They're improved yes, but no they do not have the best QB or offense in SEO and no they don't have a defense anywhere on par with the top teams in the area, just simple facts. Not knocking the team at all on it they've made improvements but again goes back to the headline of the article.

[trojandave]

Our Trojans are doing just fine on the gridiron. We're just looking to have to a winning season, do well in the OVC, make the playoffs and possibly advance into the 2nd or 3rd round. I think all 3 of those things are very possible. And if we do accomplish those goals, we've had a very good season.

GO TROJANS!!!

[BuckeyeBlood]

[quote=BuckeyeBlood post_id=<a href="tel:1948651">1948651</a> time=<a href="tel:1631074641">1631074641</a> user_id=14346]
[quote=greygoose post_id=<a href="tel:1948645">1948645</a> time=<a href="tel:1631071563">1631071563</a> user_id=542]
Trojans haven't played anyone with a defense yet and regardless, defense wins championships and Trojans don't have that.

Nobody expects them to win a championship lmao, silly comment. Maybe you haven’t watched them, but their defense is actually vastly improved. It’s not the best in the area, I could name a dozen better. But for Portsmouth it’s pretty darn good compared to the last 12 or so years. Seems to me you maybe are caught up on the past and can’t root for this team that could be the best they’ve had in quite some time. I think football in southern Ohio is better when Portsmouth is better.
[/quote]

My comments were purely based on the subject headline and if you can't agree with everything I said as factual then you honestly are blinded by the 3-0 record. Is Portsmouth better this year than they have been, absolutely a lot of talent on that offense, but I'm just not going to sit here and say dang look at what they're doing when they simply haven't played a anyone the non-league schedule wasn't strong at all. I watched their final scrimmage against Waverly because I was curious about the Trojans what I seen was an offense that could score but a defense that was absolutely shredded giving up 42 points in the the 1st half. Why would I get caught up with teams of the past?? That means nothing to what this years team can be, have they've beat the teams they should've beaten and if we're comparing to recent years that wasn't always the case. They're improved yes, but no they do not have the best QB or offense in SEO and no they don't have a defense anywhere on par with the top teams in the area, just simple facts. Not knocking the team at all on it they've made improvements but again goes back to the headline of the article.
[/quote]

You’re going off the headline off the article talking about defense winning championships when the headline doesn’t mention the defense at all, nor did anyone mention a championship until you did so lol. The non conference is always going to be the same. Valley and West have turned into county rivals, then you have the 3rd game that seems to be a revolving door. Deer Park isn’t a Cincinnati powerhouse, but I mean it sure is a step up from River Valley, so I actually think it was fine. Not everyone can schedule Moller. Some teams don’t have the depth and don’t care solely about the gate. Also you said it yourself, you took in s scrimmage. Not an actual game but a scrimmage. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Waverly would likely beat Portsmouth by 3 TD’s, as they should. But you seem to be quite negative over the direction of the program, very hesitant to give credit to Roe and the offense. I’m far from blinded by a 3-0 start. I figured 1-2, maybe 5 wins on the season. But the improved defense to go along with one of the best offenses & QB’s in the area have changed my outlook a bit.

[FightingTiger99]

Trojans haven't played anyone with a defense yet and regardless, defense wins championships and Trojans don't have that.

Nobody expects them to win a championship lmao, silly comment. Maybe you haven’t watched them, but their defense is actually vastly improved. It’s not the best in the area, I could name a dozen better. But for Portsmouth it’s pretty darn good compared to the last 12 or so years. Seems to me you maybe are caught up on the past and can’t root for this team that could be the best they’ve had in quite some time. I think football in southern Ohio is better when Portsmouth is better.

My comments were purely based on the subject headline and if you can't agree with everything I said as factual then you honestly are blinded by the 3-0 record. Is Portsmouth better this year than they have been, absolutely a lot of talent on that offense, but I'm just not going to sit here and say dang look at what they're doing when they simply haven't played a anyone the non-league schedule wasn't strong at all. I watched their final scrimmage against Waverly because I was curious about the Trojans what I seen was an offense that could score but a defense that was absolutely shredded giving up 42 points in the the 1st half. Why would I get caught up with teams of the past?? That means nothing to what this years team can be, have they've beat the teams they should've beaten and if we're comparing to recent years that wasn't always the case. They're improved yes, but no they do not have the best QB or offense in SEO and no they don't have a defense anywhere on par with the top teams in the area, just simple facts. Not knocking the team at all on it they've made improvements but again goes back to the headline of the article.

The headline ( op) compared 3 teams. Not all of seo.

[greygoose]

So when I said Portsmouth is better this year than they have been and they have a lot of talent on offense obviously meant nothing to the conversation. Because you literally said I was hesitant to give credit when I did. Is it an improved defense?? Only legit offense they faced was Waverly in a scrimmage and they gave up 42 first half points or on pace for 84 for a game. So yeah call me very hesitant to believe the defense is vastly improved. Good news though they don't really face any competition until Fairland and Ironton.

[SWHITE2002]

Irontons backup quarterback threw a 50 plus yard touchdown for the first score Friday. Last 2 years they had athletes and Quarterbacks and when they played good teams it was still Carrico left and Carrico right. It isn’t the athletes it’s a scheme problem

[FightingTiger99]

You say Ironton isn’t as impressive. But would any of these other teams still be undefeated if they hadn’t had their starting QB for all 3 games and missing other key pieces in other ball games including playing a Wr at RB. The Keyes kid is averaging over 10 yds a carry so when he comes back I’m sure he will be a focal point of the offense.

I'm saying with the expectations I had for them, no they are not as impressive as what I was imagining. You can include injuries and people not playing but that is part of the game. Other teams deal with it too. Yes, Keyes is a beast. I wondered why he wasn't more of a focal point in the games I watched, to me he is the workhorse. And I am not doubting their schedule at, it is brutal and I respect it and the fact that they have made it 3 games in without a loss. Their defense alone is enough to win in the playoffs. But its not perfect, and anyone in TigerTown who believes it is, or can't be criticized is delusional.

I agree with your assessment. They have no passing game right now and one of their better Wrs is playing QB. When Carpenter is back they will have Keyes and Duncan in backfield, Perkins, Wylie, Masters, Wilson and others in passing game. When offense does start clicking and they can stretch the field what happens to running game. Right now everyone is loading LOS on Ironton to stop the run. Fairland didn’t even have a safety and played most of the game man to man defense. When Ironton gets everyone healthy abs offense starts clicking and defense continues to do what they’ve been doing and they start winning big again will you feel different. Emotion plays a lot into HS sports. Ironton physcially whipped Burg week 1 and was told it would be close and it wasn’t. So naturally they have a big letdown week 2 coming off rivalry game and to a team they have handled the last 2 years in scrimmages. Then they come to Fairland off an emotional win the week before in a war and play as poorly as they have in awhile. Is that because they may have been looking ahead to Moeller and Fairland is pretty good. I think so. Last time these two teams played it was 49-7 Ironton at half time two years ago so you know that’s in the back of a HS kids mind especially with Moeller coming to town. We will see though. I may be completely wrong. We will soon find out. By the way Ironton has their hands full this week. This is the best team to come to The Tank in a long long time. This game will make Ironton better though. Glad to see the staff and program stepping up and challenging themselves against a team many fear.

Duncan hasn't showed much offensively. I also question if it's as simple as just plugging in Carpenter & Keyes. Irontons offense also struggles w penalties and the O line isn't dominating the los at all.

[FightingTiger99]

Irontons backup quarterback threw a 50 plus yard touchdown for the first score Friday. Last 2 years they had athletes and Quarterbacks and when they played good teams it was still Carrico left and Carrico right. It isn’t the athletes it’s a scheme problem

Maybe. But Irontons qb has also thrown more picks than tds thus far.

[FightingTiger99]

Drew Roe is the catalyst for Portsmouth’s offense:

Roughly a 62% passing completion
Right around 850 passing yards
10 passing touchdowns

That’s highly impressive through 3 games no matter the level of competition.

Def the best qb/leader between the 3 schools mentioned.

[BuckeyeBlood]

So when I said Portsmouth is better this year than they have been and they have a lot of talent on offense obviously meant nothing to the conversation. Because you literally said I was hesitant to give credit when I did. Is it an improved defense?? Only legit offense they faced was Waverly in a scrimmage and they gave up 42 first half points or on pace for 84 for a game. So yeah call me very hesitant to believe the defense is vastly improved. Good news though they don't really face any competition until Fairland and Ironton.
[/quote

Improved night and day. You must be the one who is blind. Deer Park offense wasn’t great, but they were fast. Would put up points on many local schools. West has a really solid offense, they sure did put up 27 on Fairland. But you’re right let’s base it on a scrimmage. The meaningless half of football where most teams try to come away with no injuries and stay very vanilla. 84-28 Waverly would handle Portsmouth no doubt about it. This piss poor defense Portsmouth has might even give up 100 since they haven’t played an offense yet. You can clearly look and see it’s a different defense. They are flying around to the ball, forcing a lot of turnovers, wrapping up, not making a ton of mistakes, making good reads and the secondary is decent. So yeah after years of the above mentioned not being a thing, I think it’s safe to say the defense is improved, to match a very dangerous offense and QB that you felt the need to say aren’t the best in the area, I don’t disagree but once again you not giving much credit where it’s due.

[FightingTiger99]

I have seen Burg, Ironton, Waverly, Fairland, Portsmouth, and West. All atleast once in person, others several times. I hate to make big statements early on, so this is subject to change. So far, Waverly is the best overall. I think Fairland is the next best besides Jackson. I don't think Ironton is as impressive, especially on offense. But they found a way against both to squeak a win out and that's what matters. Portsmouth is not the Portsmouth of the last 10 years. They are explosive, and looked hungry on defense. I still am up in the air on my opinion on West and Burg. I know they are both good and capable. West had 5 turnovers in a loss to Portsmouth, and was still in a competitive game until late in the 4th. Had a win lined up against Fairland. We now know these teams are not slouches.

You say Ironton isn’t as impressive. But would any of these other teams still be undefeated if they hadn’t had their starting QB for all 3 games and missing other key pieces in other ball games including playing a Wr at RB. The Keyes kid is averaging over 10 yds a carry so when he comes back I’m sure he will be a focal point of the offense.

I'm saying with the expectations I had for them, no they are not as impressive as what I was imagining. You can include injuries and people not playing but that is part of the game. Other teams deal with it too. Yes, Keyes is a beast. I wondered why he wasn't more of a focal point in the games I watched, to me he is the workhorse. And I am not doubting their schedule at, it is brutal and I respect it and the fact that they have made it 3 games in without a loss. Their defense alone is enough to win in the playoffs. But its not perfect, and anyone in TigerTown who believes it is, or can't be criticized is delusional.

A d6 team took them to overtime in their house.

Show of hands. Who believes Fairland could take Kirtland, Ridgewood or Harvest Prep to ot in their houses?

[FightingTiger99]

Our Trojans are doing just fine on the gridiron. We're just looking to have to a winning season, do well in the OVC, make the playoffs and possibly advance into the 2nd or 3rd round. I think all 3 of those things are very possible. And if we do accomplish those goals, we've had a very good season.

GO TROJANS!!!

Having a good, experienced QB1 goes a long way. It's something Ironton & Burg do not have. Portsmouths makes less mistakes right now.

[ohbuckeye2]

Our Trojans are doing just fine on the gridiron. We're just looking to have to a winning season, do well in the OVC, make the playoffs and possibly advance into the 2nd or 3rd round. I think all 3 of those things are very possible. And if we do accomplish those goals, we've had a very good season.

GO TROJANS!!!

Having a good, experienced QB1 goes a long way. It's something Ironton & Burg do not have. Portsmouths makes less mistakes right now.

Irontons QB1 and QB2 are pretty dang good IMO. I believe we’ll be much better now after seeing what Wilson can do at RB and now that Keyes is back.

[ohbuckeye2]

$5 the OP is SpeedKillz..

any takers?

He has so many names on here now he could field a football team all be his self.

[FightingTiger99]

Our Trojans are doing just fine on the gridiron. We're just looking to have to a winning season, do well in the OVC, make the playoffs and possibly advance into the 2nd or 3rd round. I think all 3 of those things are very possible. And if we do accomplish those goals, we've had a very good season.

GO TROJANS!!!

Having a good, experienced QB1 goes a long way. It's something Ironton & Burg do not have. Portsmouths makes less mistakes right now.

Irontons QB1 and QB2 are pretty dang good IMO. I believe we’ll be much better now after seeing what Wilson can do at RB and now that Keyes is back.

There's a ton of potential for sure.