This is a photo of the Kingsbury Building, circa 1905. Named after the first superintendent of Ironton City Schools, it is the building where kids in

Ironton attended high school before the structure on South 7th Street was constructed.

This is a page out of a 1946 Ironton football program. Coach Davies is in the middle on the right side. On the far right in the photo is Eric Shattuck,

line coach.

(L) Members of the 1946 team no longer had a world war to distract their studies. Football was as much combat as they would see during their

school years. (R) This is a page from the game program when the Tigers travelled to Portsmouth on November 8, 1946. Before a homecoming

crowd of 6,853 fans, Ironton High School defeated the Trojans 25 to 13.

The Carlyle sisters are two of the most revered and well-known educators in the long history of Ironton High School. During their lengthy tenure,

their academic standards raised the didactic bar at Ironton High School. These photos are from a 1947 Gryphon.

This is a 1960 image of Ironton High School. The old Beechwood Park baseball field and nearby swimming pool are in the upper left corner of the

image. The running track that circled in front of the football stadium and ran through the baseball field can also be seen in the image. The building

on the left where Central Christian Church now stands is the old Marting Garage.

A new gym changed the look of the campus at Ironton High School. It rapidly became a highly-utilized facility.

Despite Jim Heady’s 20 points, the Tigers notched their 11th win in a row with a 43-38 win over Athens. Two tip-ins during the final minutes of play

by Dean Fitzpatrick secured the Ironton win on opening night for the Ironton Sports Center. Eddie Howard was Ironton’s top scorer against

Athens with ten points. Entering the game, Ironton was ranked 5th in the state (A.P. poll).

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This is a photo of the new gym in 2001. The interior looked almost like it did the day the gym saw its first game. Interior featured the same wood

bleachers, tartan floor and wall colors. The gym seated 3,000 fans.

The 1979 football team utilized the weight room that was upstairs behind the scoreboard. A huge room ran the length of the gym’s back wall.

(Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Despite some skepticism, the new gym at Ironton High School was successfully turned into a dance floor in 1980. My junior class was the first to

utilize the space to host a prom. Prior to that year, sites such as the Ironton Elks Club were rented out.

The decision to not rent a private space greatly reduced costs. Our class had enough prom funds left over to buy some expensive equipment for the

auditorium before we graduated.

After our class proved it could be done, the new gym routinely hosted the prom at Ironton High School.

Rod Rowley, a West Ironton Elementary graduate, escorted the 1980 prom queen, Lauren Triplett, to the big dance in 1980. The prom was only

open to juniors and seniors that attended Ironton High School. Triplett, a junior, was an outstanding student-athlete. She was a key member of

the basketball team that made the state semifinals in 1980. Rod and Lauren graduated from Ironton High School in 1981.

Starting with the 1978 football season, football assemblies shifted from the auditorium to the new gym. The Ironton Sports Center, now the Conley

Center, provided more space for skits and activities.

This photo is from a 1979 football assembly. During the assembly, a tug-of-war between the four high school grades provided entertainment.

Participants were selected in advance to represent each grade.

Jim Lewis, my freshman football teammate, was an excellent choice to represent my junior class. Lewis is shown here in glasses at the front. Ken

Joseph was positioned directly behind him.

Industry, such as the Ironton Malleable and Ironton Coke Plant, were vital to the city’s economy in 1979.

The downtown business had a plethora of small businesses in the 1970s. Students from Ironton High School posed in front of Edelson’s in 1972.

Marty Weill, store proprietor, joined them.

This writer would be remiss if he did not credit the physicians that took care of the 1979 football team. Dr. John Dole (left), a 1931 graduate of

Ironton High School, and Dr. John Leach (right), a 1957 graduate of Ironton High School, did an outstanding job in keeping the players healthy and

ready to play. Beginning in 1965, Dr. Dole served as team physician for all Ironton sports teams. Dr. Dole was a locally-based eye, ear, nose and

throat specialist. Starting in 1972, Dr. Leach, a Columbus-based orthopedic surgeon, travelled home on football Fridays to offer his medical

services to his alma mater. (Images courtesy of Craig Thomas)

“I somehow got connected with Doc Dole and worked for him doing lawn maintenance,” said Steve Sutton in 2018. “He was a gentle guy with a good

sense of humor, and I learned a bit about hard work from him too. I remember one time he asked me to do some edging for his yard which I had

never done before. This was before the day of weed whackers. When I went back to tell him I was done, he looked at my work and told me it was

a “piss-poor job”. That was not easy to hear of course, but it was a valuable lesson for a high school kid. In the locker room, I could sense the

respect and admiration that the coaches had for him too, as they knew he was a wise and proud person.”

“Patton Riffe and I were hurt (I had a swollen knee which occurred in the Jackson game.), and we went to Columbus to see Dr. Leach,” recalled

Steve Sutton in 2018. “He (Dr. Leach) was a quiet and gentle, yet big man. He seemed quite interested in helping me as he knew I was from his

alma mater. He wanted to help me get back on the field as soon as possible.”

“No one has had a greater love for the athletes of Ironton than I have,” said Dr. John Dole at the 1977 Ironton Sports Day that honored him.

“The Tigers have never had a truer friend,” said Mike Burcham about Dr. Dole at the 1977 Ironton Sports Day. “I hope everyone else appreciates

him as much as we do at Ironton.”

“As long as I can come back, I’ll be seen on the sidelines,” said Dr. John Leach at the 1985 Ironton Sports Day that honored him.

“John Leach is just an old Ironton boy who became successful and never forgot his roots,” said Terry Parker to a Columbus Dispatch reporter in

2004 about the former Fighting Tiger starting quarterback. “More people should be like him.”

Rick Mayne (left) was photographed with Bob Bruney in 2012. Coach Bruney was back at Ironton High School as the special guest of Mike

Burcham for the 40th anniversary celebration of Ironton’s state title in baseball. (Photo courtesy of Rick Mayne)

“Many of his (Bruney’s) star football players contributed greatly to Mr. Burcham’s state championship baseball season,” said Rick Mayne in 2018.

It was either Anderson Pizza Pub or Bob’s Pizza after the game in 1979. Both restaurants were locally owned and operated. These two

advertisements ran in the 1979 football program. (Images courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Patty Rase (left) and Leigh Barnes (right) were proud members of the Million Dollar Marching Band in 1979. This photo was taken at the

homecoming game in 1981. (Photo courtesy of Lorie Wyant)

A guitar was always in Larry Lambert’s hands during the 1979 - 1980 school year.

“I used to go to his house sometimes after school to play guitar,” recalled Tim Hodges in a 2011 interview. “He did a good job on Dust In The Wind,

at the time.”

“He is a very good guitar player,” said Hodges in 2017. “I used to enjoy playing with him.”

Whenever the Fighting Tigers hit the road, the magisterial Scenicruiser became the emblem of Ironton High School. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

This is the program for the 1979 Ohio football playoffs. (Image courtesy of Tim Hodges)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

This is the scouting report for the state championship game. Ironton’s advanced scouts compiled the information. The players were handed these to

study in preparation for the game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Prior to the 1978 football season, Tim Hodges (directly to the left of the basketball) was just a basketball player. Tim had not played organized

football since junior high school. After the opening of the new gym in 1976, basketball quickly became a second marque sport at Ironton.

Clockwise, starting with Tim, are Tom Gordon, David Lutz, Bobby Williams, Dick James, Jeff Linn, Robin Fitzpatrick, Mark Erwin, Keith Harvey,

Joe Fletcher, Juan Thomas and Brian Beckett. Head coach was Buddy Bell. Interestingly, the Wilson plant in Ironton made the Jet basketball

during the 1970s. (Image courtesy of Tim Hodges)

With a state championship ring in football on their fingers, Fletcher, Hodges and Lewis joined the basketball team for the 1979-1980 season. They

joined seniors, Tom Gordon and Carlos Gleichauf, on a talented Ironton basketball squad.

Dan Hieronimus, the pilot that flew the banner over the Rubber Bowl encouraging the Tigers forward, was on the ballot in November 1980 for the

position of sheriff. Dan would win the office. He served as the county’s top law enforcement official from 1981 through 1993. His stadium

flyovers became a tradition whenever the Tigers made the title game. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

The future sheriff was nearly killed in December 1978 when a light plane he was piloting, a Cherokee Warrior, crashed on takeoff from the

Lawrence County Airport. The plane landed upside down in the nearby Burlington Elementary playground. He ended up in a Huntington

hospital with shoulder and possible head injuries where he was listed as in fair condition.

Coach Bob Lutz helped make Tanks Memorial Stadium the place to be on Friday nights during football season. Good seats on the home side were

at a premium, especially against a rival like the Ashland Tomcats in 2002. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

This is Tanks Memorial Stadium on a gameday in 2002. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Coach Bob Lutz, photographed here in 2007, guided the Tigers to state titles in 1979 and 1989. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

This is the program for the 1990 Ironton Sports Day that honored Ironton’s two football championship squads. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Coach Bob Lutz offered instruction to his players during the 2007 football season. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Teachers at Ironton supported the Fighting Tigers. Bob Vaughn posed with his former Ironton teachers, Margaret McMillan and Mary Roberts,

before the Portsmouth West game in 2001. (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Mrs. McMillan, my junior high science teacher, missed only a handful of football games over many decades. Wherever the Tigers were playing, she

was going to be there.

“Mike Smith is often overlooked as far as an example of quality student-athletes Ironton produced,” said Rick Mayne in 2018. “His journey

through the Naval Academy and subsequent naval service somewhat took him out of the mainstream. An athletic career at an Ohio State, Ohio

University, University of Kentucky, or for sure, at Marshall, would have kept Mike on more people’s radar.

Navigating through the tough academic requirements of Annapolis and playing intercollegiate football is a remarkable achievement by any standard-

with his years with the Ironton program as bedrock.”

Mike Smith played more than football at Ironton. He was also an outstanding baseball player. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Gabriel Lewis went on to play football at Eastern Kentucky University. (Image courtesy of Gabriel Lewis)

Joe Fletcher was an incredible basketball player at Ironton High School. (Image courtesy of Tim Hodges)

Joe Fletcher was starting at guard for Ohio University when the Bobcats visited Bowling Green on Septemeber 4, 1982.

After competing against each other in the 1979 Ohio football championship game, Tim Hodges (47) and Dan Sutter (57) went on to play middle

guard at Akron University. The two men were photographed together in Orlando, Florida during a 2015 Disney trip made by Tim Hodges and his

family. “We were friends from the time we met (in college),” said Tim Hodges in 2017. (Images courtesy of Tim Hodges and Dan Sutter)

“Dan was the only two- way player for St. Vincent-St. Mary,” said Tim Hodges in 2017. “He was the best player I ever played against. We went at

each other several times in that (state championship) game.”

“The first time I met Tim was on the 50-yard line at the coin flip of the AA state Championship game,” said Dan Sutter in 2017.

“We later played together at Akron University and even lived in the same townhouse for a year.”

Young boys in Ironton, like Tim Hodges (left) and John Moritz (right), dreamed about becoming football stars at Ironton High School. John

Moritz’s twin sister, Mary, is also in the photo. Tim and John were starters on the 1979 state title team. (Image courtesy of Tim Hodges)

Fritz was named to Scholastic Magazine’s Top 100 in 1975. It was a prodigious achievement.

Logan’s newspaper proudly announced that Fritz had signed to play football at Ohio State.

Ken Fritz became was an All-American at Ohio State in 1979. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

The program for the 1980 Rose Bowl, a game with a national championship on the line, listed Ironton’s Ken Fritz as the starting right guard. A

one-yard run by Charles White in the closing minutes of the game gave USC a 17 to 16 win over the Buckeyes. OSU entered the contest ranked at

the top of the A.P. poll.

Terry Royal looks for running space in a 1980 game, as Darwin Conwell (60) and Brent Wilcoxon (9) provide blocks. The three Ironton seniors

helped take the Fighting Tigers back to the playoffs.

The 1980 Ironton team made the expanded Ohio playoff system which bolstered the number of participating schools from 12 to 40. In a Division III

playoff game played at Tanks Memorial Stadium, Ironton lost 20 to 7. Ironton was twice stopped inside the 10-yard line on possible scoring drives.

Terry Royal scored on a 20-yard pass from Brent Wilcoxon in the final quarter.

Please note that Washington Court House, Ironton’s only schedule blemish in 1979, was in contention for a playoff spot in 1980.

This is the final U.P.I. poll in 1980. The new divisions made the historic poll system a strange concoction with teams in different divisions ranked

under the old three-division system.

The 1980 Ironton staff had some changes. Jim Payne and Lynn Schrickel departed from the football staff following the glorious 1979 season.

Gene Jones joined the coaching staff. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Coach Schrickel left Ironton to become head football coach at Napoleon High School. He was named Northwest Ohio Coach of the Year in 1986.

After winning a state title in his second year of coaching, Jim Payne elected to never coach again. He moved into administration and was named

superintendent at Ironton City Schools.

The 1980 Ironton football team would make the expanded, five-division Ohio playoffs. (Image courtesy of Craig Thomas)

Special thanks to Coach Lynn Schrickel, Coach Mark Lewis, Ken Fritz, Rodney Boykin, Tim Hodges, Brent Wilcoxon, Steve Sutton,

Mark Dickess, Jimmy Morris, Craig Thomas, Joe Fletcher, Gabriel Lewis, Brian Jenkins, Dave Berry, Rick Howard, Rick Mayne,

Dan Sutter, Brian Dodds, Lorie Wyant, Tim Hickman, Tim Thomas and Joe Holtzapfel for their assistance with this article.

Interviews with the above participants were conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Article is an educational tribute to a hometown legend, the 1979 Ironton High School football team. Written and researched by Jim

Ridgeway. Research conducted at Briggs Library, Boyd County Public Library, Carnegie Public Library and other sources. The

efforts of the staff at these libraries were greatly appreciated. Another special thank you goes to the staff at the Lillian E. Jones

Museum in Jackson, Ohio for their assistance. This story is dedicated to three 1979 team members- Joe Hacker, Kraig Koerper and

John Moritz- who left us too soon, and my freshman football teammate and friend, Darrell Harris, who died only a few months

before the 1979 season started.

This is the end of the bonus section.

Please click on the next pdf to read

the amazing story about the 1979

Ironton High football team.

Tanks Memorial Stadium (Photo by Jim Ridgeway)

Copyright Jim Ridgeway 2019.

All rights reserved. Republication, reproduction and/or modification expressly prohibited without prior written consent of author.