A brave new world is opening up for Ironton football this season.
After 10 seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Tigers left the conference to play football and are now forging their own path to independence.
And the team can’t wait to embark on this journey.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” said Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton. “Our kids are excited and ready to go.”
The move was made for several reasons, the most important being the performance discrepancy between Ironton and its OVC opponents, which often leads to one-sided results.
With the point difference came the fear of injuries that could occur if the Tigers were to compete with a less-equipped team, which is loaded with elite athletes, many of whom have offers from Division I colleges.
So Ironton enters a season with a schedule that lacks most of the OVC teams and faces a host of equally challenging opponents – teams that can’t wait to challenge the Tigers on the field.
With a tougher, more intense schedule, Ironton has changed its preparations for this season.
“Our preparation for this season looks a little different,” Pendleton said. “We have to manage the load on our kids and the physical load differently. We’re preparing them for several, several strenuous weeks in a row. But it’s going to be exciting.”
As for the design of the schedule this season, Pendleton said the team is looking for strong opponents who are willing to step up their game.
“I wish I could say it was more of a strategy,” Pendleton said. “But really we just tried to find games and play whoever wanted to play. We couldn’t be too picky.”
Ironton’s schedule includes matchups with last year’s Class A state champion Pikeville from Kentucky, 2023 Class AA runner-up St. Francis from New York and last year’s East Coast Power Prep League winner, Canada’s American high school football program, Clarkson North.
“We’re going to face some really tough opponents,” Pendleton said. “I think that’s the most exciting thing about what we’re going to do.”
Ironton will also face familiar teams this year. The Tigers have completed their schedule with games against Wheelersburg – a three-point game last season – and Portsmouth.
Pendleton believes part of the challenge of scheduling comes from realizing that teams already have a lot of work to do and that facing a top team like Ironton won’t necessarily make the path to a state title any easier.
“If you’re going to compete for a state championship, you have to prepare for a 16-week season,” Pendleton said. “A 16-week season is hard enough on your kids without adding in the fact that you have to play against teams that are physically demanding. That takes a toll on your body.”
“The teams from southeast Ohio are known for being tough, physical teams,” Pendleton added.
Playoff spots and rankings also impact scheduling. Pendleton says the impact on the playoffs and scheduling is a double-edged sword.
“I thought more teams making the playoffs would try to tighten up their schedules,” Pendleton said. “They don’t have to worry as much about scoring points because there are so many teams making the playoffs. And some teams have planned that way, but the other side of the coin is that when there are so many teams making the playoffs, people aren’t worried about scoring points, so they don’t have to tighten up their schedules.”
The departure from the OVC has drawn a lot of attention in the state of Ohio and beyond, but it hasn’t distracted the Tigers. They still have a shared goal of getting the job done when the lights come on.
“They just want to play football,” Pendleton said. “Our mantra is, ‘Anyone, anytime, anywhere.’ So as long as they’re playing football, they don’t care who we’re playing or where we’re playing. As long as they just put on the gear and go out there and play, they’re happy.”
“Now that football season has started, they are excited and ready to get started,” Pendleton added.
