In their Ironton game, Chillicothe couldn’t keep from giving the ball to their opponent.

Friday night at Athens High School, the Cavs were takers but were still in a giving mood.

Both teams were forced to punt on their opening possessions. Chillicothe (0-4) was the first to make a big play. Jalen Jones intercepted a Josh Skinner pass at Cavalier 5 yard line and returned it 33 yards the other way. However a penalty on the return brought the ball back inside the Cavs’ 20 yard line. On the next play, Jones raced 44 yards into Athens territory, but coughed up the ball at the Athens 46.

Chillicothe’s Corey Wagner stopped the Bulldogs drive with a 53 yard interception return to the Athens 31. Athens got the ball back when a defender got to Julius Lee before he could reach a lateral from quarterback Ryan Mathis.

The Bulldogs gave it right back when Donald Turley scooped up a loose ball at the Athens and returned it to the 35. Six plays later, Mathis hooked up with Turley on a 19 yard pass to put the Cavaliers up 7-0.

Following another Athens punt and Chillicothe was facing its own 4th down in Athens territory. Zach Johnson took a direct snap on a fake and raced inside the 25. The Cavs drive was stopped in the end zone on an interception.

The Cavs defense held the Bulldogs late in the second quarter, but on the punt return, Johnson was separated from the ball at the Chillicothe 35. Athens got a touchdown from Devon Sharp on an 11 yard run. Chillicothe maintained a 7-6 halftime lead.

Forced to punt on its first possession of the second half, Chillicothe saw a different Athens team.

The Bulldogs scored two times in the third quarter on runs by Sharp and Chris Russell, then again following another interception put Athens at the Chillicothe 45.

Chillicothe did reach the end zone again on a 16 yard pass by Mathis to Johnson to finish the scoring at 28-14.

Chillicothe managed 205 yards offense led by the tandem of Jones and Tim Beard rushing for 69 and 68 yards respectively.   

Athens improved to 4-0 on the year and the Cavs slipped to 0-4 on the season.

Chillicothe will open SEOAL play this Friday at Portsmouth (0-4, 0-1). The Trojans fell to Warren Friday night 51-21.

Photos by Dana Cousins/wbex.com
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Chillicothe's trip to Ironton turned sour quickly.

The host Tigers scored early and often, capitalized on Cavalier mistakes to take a 28-0 first quarter lead.

After a five play 64 yard drive, capped by a three yard run by Trevor White, Chillicothe was forced to punt from deep in their territory. It set the Tigers up at the Cavs' 37 yard line. Ironton followed up with a one yard plunge by Tyler Hager to go ahead 14-0.

On their second possession, Chillicothe fumbled at their own 14 yard line. Ironton scored three plays later on a 2 yard run Tanner Schweikart for a 21-0 lead.

The Cavs best drive of the first half was wiped clean by another fumble at the Ironton 30. Chillicothe had reached the Ironton 23 when the exchange between Luke Barnes and Tim Beard hit the grass. The ball  made one bounce and landed into the hands of Aaron Stephens who raced 70 yards and the Cavs were down 28-0.

Chillicothe drove to the Ironton 27 but was turned away again on an interception at the Tiger's five. Ironton's White wrestled his way through the Cavs on an 82 yard run to go up 35-0, completing a three play series.

The pigskin slipped through Chillicothe hands again at midfield and Ironton used a five minute drive to round out the scoring on a one yard run by Laron Beach, 42-0.

Ironton gained 359 yards on 55 carries.

Tim Beard led the Cavs rushing on 16 carries for 59 yards and Jalen Jones caught 5 passes for 67 yards.

Chillicothe will continue their four game road schedule at Athens next Friday.

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The Ironton Tigers (2-0) had a close call with Russell, Kentucky last Friday, but kept their record clean following a 20-14 victory (read the report by WIRO here).

Ironton pounded rival Wheelersburg 42-13 in the season opener.

There's no secret as to what the Tigers do.

"I like that Ironton team", said Cavs Defensive Coordinator Jeff Arndt this week. "It's old school, you're gonna block, you're gonna tackle. You're gonna have to get your nose dirty, get down in there and get with 'em. There's nothing fancy about 'em."

Arndt was quick to note Ironton has four to five backs who will carry the ball.

And at Ironton, if you don't know how to block, you don't carry the ball.

Case in point, the Tigers know how to do their job.

Ironton gained 352 yards on the ground against the 'Burg in Week 1 and have more than 600 total yards in two games.

Tyler Hager has generated most of those yards with 208 on 33 carries.

Surprisingly, in 30 plus years coaching on both sides of the field, neither Cavs coach Ron Hinton or the Tigers' Bob Lutz have faced one another at Ironton... nor did one of Hinton's Amanda teams play at Tanks Memorial Stadium in the playoffs.

Still searching for its first win, Chillicothe has seen some improvement despite last week's lopsided game with Big Walnut (38-22 loss).

Players are also beginning to return from injuries that had them sidelined during camp. The Cavs will have their long snapper T. J. Daniels back, which may help what's been a shaky punting game.

Coach Hinton says the kicking of Noah Valentine hasn't been the problem, it's been the getting him the ball comfortably and the special teams' coverage. The first two weeks, Valentine has been kicking under duress just fielding the snap.
Meanwhile, Hamilton Township had two punt returns for touchdowns while Big Walnut had a return of their own for a score and capitalized on a high snap for another six points.

Coverage on 1490 WBEX-AM begins at 6:05pm with "Up Close with the Cavs" and "Game Night with the Cavs" starts at 7:05pm from Ironton.

When he was at the Cavs' home opener two weeks ago, Ohio State placekick Drew Basil was sporting a brace on his left wrist to protect his hand which had been injured on a tackle during the Buckeyes' Kick Scrimmage.

An x-ray the following Monday revealed a broken bone in Basil's left hand, which is why he was  fitted for a protective cast for last Saturday's Akron game.

This week, a screw was surgically placed in the bone to help speed up the healing process.

Basil will not miss any action due to the injury and the projection is he'll be healed by the time the Buckeyes head to Lincoln for Ohio State's battle with Nebraska.

Basil, who's never shied away from sticking his nose in on a special teams tackle may have to hope his 10 other teammates can keep him from being the last line of defense on kickoffs.

Photo by Dana Cousins/wbex.com

When he was at the Cavs' home opener two weeks ago, Ohio State placekick Drew Basil was sporting a brace on his left wrist to protect his hand which had been injured on a tackle during the Buckeyes' Kick Scrimmage.

An x-ray the following Monday revealed a broken bone in Basil's left hand, which is why he was  fitted for a protective cast for last Saturday's Akron game.

This week, a screw was surgically placed in the bone to help speed up the healing process.

Basil will not miss any action due to the injury and the projection is he'll be healed by the time the Buckeyes head to Lincoln for Ohio State's battle with Nebraska.

Basil, who's never shied away from sticking his nose in on a special teams tackle may have to hope his 10 other teammates can keep him from being the last line of defense on kickoffs.

Photo by Dana Cousins/wbex.com

Our Dana Cousins has a keen shutter eye. Check out his pictures from Friday's Cavs game with Big Walnut here, and the pics he took at the Ohio State game Saturday. Pictures of former Cavalier Drew Basil and his teammates in the 42-0 win over Akron.

Like last week, late arrivals to Herrnstein Field found the home team with an early lead before the spectators could take a seat.

Winning the coin toss, Big Walnut deferred to the second half. 15 seconds into the game, Chillicothe took a 7-0 lead on an 87 yard kickoff return by Jalen Jones.

It was the first of four special team scores between the two teams.

Then the Cavaliers saw Big Walnut score the next 38 points over the first three quarters.

Eagles kicker Cory Gibson put a 43 yard field goal in the books at 8:43 in the first period. Big Walnut forced the Cavs to punt. The snap to punter Noah Valentine went over his head and into the end zone and was recovered for an Eagles touchdown.

Big Walnut's Seth Myers tacked on an 89 yard punt return for another TD to put his team ahead 17-7 to close out the quarter.

Chillicothe stalled a drive inside the Birds' 30 when a  Valentine field goal missed the left upright.

Quarterback Tyler Beam ran 80 yards on the next play to put Big Walnut ahead 24-7.

Alex Clark punched in a final first half td just before halftime.

Following a 3rd quarter 5 yard touchdown run by Lucas Garcia, the Cavs scored back-to-back td's of their own in the 4th quarter. Ryan Mathis hit Zach Johnson for a score from 44 yards out and Markel Cain charged ahead 35 yards to round out the scoring.

After being out gained by their opponent last week, Big Walnut amassed 305 yards total offense to Chillicothe's 182.

Timmy Beard was the leading Cavs rusher for 82 yards on 17 carries. 

Chillicothe had some bright spots on the evening, but as Coach Ron Hinton talked in his review of the Week 1, the Cavs struggled to find consistency. Chillicothe used Luke Barnes and Mathis to quarterback their offensive scheme.

The Cavs head to Ironton next Friday. The Tigers (2-0) were 21-14 winners over Russell, Kentucky.

Photos by Dana Cousins/wbex.com 

NOTES: School officials delayed the start of the game 30 minutes due to the extreme heat... Caleb Conley had the Monroe's Collision Big Collision of the Game... Big Walnut now leads their series with Chillicothe 5-1... Next Friday's trip to Ironton will be the first of four straight road games, followed by Athens, Portsmouth and Hillsboro... Chillicothe hasn't faced Hillsboro on the gridiron since 1938.

In their last two games, Chillicothe is 1-1 while the Big Walnut Golden Eagles are 0-2.

While It's factual, it's a misleading story line.

However, the two teams had very different seasons.

Chillicothe finished the season 4-6 following an 0-4 start.

The Birds went 10-3 in 2010 with their ride ending in a 42-14 loss to Uniontown Lake in the D II Regional Final.

Last weekend, both teams dropped their season openers. While Chillicothe was a victim of a second half collapse (see Rangers Stun Cavs 27-23 below), Big Walnut fell 27-16 to Westerville Central in Week 1.

The Eagles scored on big plays, a 52 yard run by quarterback Tyler Beam and a 60 yard pass from Beam to Jordan Stimmel in the final period.

For the Cavs to succeed, the defense will need to be stingy and force turnovers as it did in the first half against Hamilton Township. The three Chillicothe touchdowns were results of the Rangers inability to hang on to the pigskin. Even the 45 yard field goal by Noah Valentine was set up by a poor Hamilton snap.

It's no secret to those who saw the game at Herrnstein Field last Friday, the Cavs hurt themselves in the second half by not acquiring first downs. Big Walnut allowed 414 yards last week, perhaps the Cavs can find some openings.

But, as coaches have said year after year, the biggest improvement in their teams is between their first two games.

Coverage begins with "Up Close with the Cavs" at 6:05pm which will include audio from the season debut of "Coach's Corner with Ron Hinton" TV show.

NOTES: Big Walnut beat the Cavs at Sunbury last season 28-7. Chillicothe held a 7-0 halftime lead on an 88 yard touchdown run by QB Max Corcoran... The Eagles lead the series 4-1, with the Cavs' lone victory (24-20) in 2008... A statistical correction to Tim Beard's totals from last week. wbex.com reported Beard rushed for 86 yards when he actually carried for 103 yards... WBEX color analyst Pat Highland is on assignment. Lou Postage, co-host of 94 Country's Vallery Ford Scoreboard Show, will fill in.

Former Cavalier coach John Sines once explained "There are three phases to a game, offense, defense and special teams."

The message was, a team has to make plays in all three areas to be effective.

For Hamilton Township, it was the punting game.

Aaron Williams scored two touchdowns returning two punts. The last was good for 77 yards and what became the winning touchdown in a 27-23 season opening victory at Herrnstein Field.

With seven minutes to play, Chillicothe had a 23-6 lead, then came a 65 yard pass play for a touchdown and back to back punt returns to score the win.

The game's first play dictated the night would not be a normal one. Chillicothe, beginning its season with a bevy of untested talent, jumped out to a 6-0 lead when a Rangers snap sailed over quarterback Zack Thompson's head and was recovered by the Cavs' Derrick Milliken for a quick touchdown.

Shortly thereafter, Caylib Holt recovered a Hamilton fumble and a few plays later Julius Lee was running in for a touchdown to put the Cavs ahead 13-0.

Suddenly, the upstart Cavaliers were looking like the favored team. Tim Beard tacked on a 31 yard run breaking free to make it 19-0. The Cavs capitalized on nearly every opportunity the Rangers handed to them.

Following another snap over Thompson's reach, Chillicothe was set up inside the Hamilton 40. While the Cavs failed to record another touchdown, Noah Valentine pushed a 45 yard field just over the cross bar as the first half expired.

With a 23-0 lead at the half, the Cavs were beaming with confidence.

Whatever magic Chillicothe had in the first half, swayed to the opposite sideline.

The Rangers took advantage of a couple of punts which sailed to the sideline in Chillicothe territory. The first was a short run by P.J. Ansell to get Hamilton on the scoreboard (23-6). Another set up a 39 yard field goal (23-9) and a 65 yard td pass (23-15) and then came the two returns by Williams.

Hamilton thought they'd also scored a safety on blocked punt which Brian Ray blocked into and out of the end zone. Following a lengthy discussion, the block was ruled a touchback, and despite kicking the ball away, the Cavs retained possession at their 20 yard line.

Hamilton didn't get the two points they were looking for, but the night was far from over.

Chillicothe failed to convert on the ensuing possession and was forced to punt. That's the play that lead to the winning touchdown.

Valentine got a good kick away that sailed over the head of Williams at the Rangers' 40 yard line. Williams picked up the ball at the 23 and raced to the far sideline. His move to the Hamilton sideline proved advantageous. Once Williams found a lane in front of the Rangers bench, he and five other Rangers escorted him to the end zone for the decisive score.

Beard was Chillicothe's most productive ball carrier with 17 carries and 86 of the Cavs' 112 yards on the night.

After the game, Chillicothe coach Ron Hinton said "They started playing harder on the line of scrimmage and we didn't respond to that... We started losing confidence and we started making a ton of mental mistakes... We just didn't close the deal."

Despite the surrendering the 27 second half points, Coach Hinton was upbeat.

"We still have 9 games to play, I think we're heading in the right direction. I'm disappointed, but I'm proud of my kids."

The Cavs will host Big Walnut Friday.

NOTES: Before the game, Herrnstein Auto Group and Chrysler gave the Chillicothe Touchdown Club a $2,000 shot in the arm. Cavalier fans could take a test drive in one of three vehicles. For each, the Club earned $20 for each driver... Chillicothe's Stefan Hinty had a couple of impressive hits, one for a quarterback sack to grant him the season's first Monroe Collision "Big Collision of the Game".

Photos by Dana Cousins, wbex.com.

HEAR the Cavs-Hamilton Twp PODCAST HERE.