JAYTON — One win will not make a season, but Ira may have one of its most important wins in recent years. No. 21 Ira used a balanced offensive attack in a 41-32 win over No. 10 Happy at the Jayton Gridiron Classic Saturday.
Running back Anthony Coy rushed for 180 yards on 29 carries and scored two touchdowns. Quarterback Nathan Goodwin completed 3-of-4 passes for 100 yards, including two touchdowns to Karson Valentine.
Head coach Toby Goodwin, who won his 180th game and is now ranked 18th in wins among six-man coaches, said the win ranks as one of the highlights of his career. “It was a very big win because of how far this group of players has come during the past year,” Goodwin said. “But this is not about me, but the players. I believe our pride and work ethic helped us in the second half. We overcame adversity at times, but the players kept fighting.” Goodwin said he planned to utilize Coy’s skill and the running game against Happy, which advanced to the state semifinals the past two seasons. “We planned to use Anthony and hit them right in the mouth,” Goodwin said. “Anthony is the type of player who will remember the two fumbles, not the yards and touchdowns. That is why Anthony is a good player and keeps improving every game.” Coy downplayed his role in Saturday’s game and said his objective was to help the team win. “I got tired in the heat, but I knew that I had to keep going and do my best for the team,” he said.
“Happy is a very tough team. We made some mistakes, but all that matters is we got the win. Coach believed in me, so I wanted to do my job. The heat was bad, but we showed our mental toughness and defeated a team like Happy. We want to keep it going.”
Goodwin said he liked his team’s mental toughness. “I told the players all week to expect the heat,” he said. “We had great mental toughness. That is one of things we learned during the preseason.” Ira kept Happy’s Jackson Davis under control for most of the game. Davis was limited to 42 yards rushing and two touchdowns. “The defense focused on stopping No. 11 (Davis), who is a great player,” Goodwin said. “Happy had to change its offensive game plan. We did what was needed and knew Happy wanted to get the ball to No. 11. We played well on defense. Seniors Garrett Hafer and Ben Fonville led the way, but freshmen Cody McCowen and Ike Weaver contributed, too.”
Ira took the initial lead when Goodwin connected on a 57- yard touchdown pass to Valentine with 8:39 left in the first quarter. Happy tied the game at 8-8 on Davis’ 31-yard touchdown run. Late in the first quarter, Goodwin completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Valentine to give the Bulldogs a 16-8 lead. In the second quarter, Matthew Brazil scored on a 38-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 22-8. Happy responded on its next drive on Justin Bressler’s 49-yard touchdown run. Ira struck again before halftime when Coy scored on a 6-yard run. Carter Roberson caught a pass from Brazil for the one-point conversion to give Ira the 29-16 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, Brazil finished a drive by scoring from the 1-yard line. Ira led 35-16 with 8:32 remaining in the game. Happy added a 9-yard touchdown pass from Cy Middleton to Stetson Jamison, but Ira answered on the next series when Coy scored on a 16-yard run. Davis scored on a 1-yard dive with 57 seconds left in the game to complete the scoring.
“We didn’t like giving up those touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but we scored a touchdown to put the game away,” Goodwin said. “Happy will be a playoff team again.”
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.
