Best Lineman at Ironton Over the Years

[I-town-90]

There is a Best Backs thread, so I thought I would start a BEST LINEMEN Thread. I guess we may have to specify O-Line and D-Line because I can remember some great D-Linmen that weren't necessarily great O-Linemen and vice versa.

To start, just off of the top of my head, I going to go with .....................

Coy Bacon
Kenny Fritz
JD Cyrus
JD Coffman
Steve Willis
Walt Delong
Chris Wright - D-Line
Mike Southers
Tank Whaley
Roman Fry
Rick Ferguson
I am sure I missed a bunch, but those come to mind quickly...................Who Else?

[RiverRatRay]

Joe Hacker-1979

[ohbuckeye2]

Here's a couple tough ones from the 78 Team, I remember Clay getting stiches in his lip on the sidelines and went right back in the game.

Robert Clay
Daryll Womack

[eccedomusscientiae]

The 1982 team sported some good lineman:
Craig Adams
Bruce Roach
Vince Murdock
Steve Willis
Chris Parsons
Brian Sherer
Rick Ferguson
I also think the 1989 team had a heck of a line with Cyrus, Coffman and Neal just to name a few.

[BigCarlito72]

Here's a couple tough ones from the 78 Team, I remember Clay getting stiches in his lip on the sidelines and went right back in the game.

Robert Clay
Daryll Womack

Robert Clay for sure, heck of a player, my cuz and part of an undersized unit that defeated a HUGE Akron St. Vincents St. Marys team!

[BigCarlito72]

The 89 line was possibly the best ever!

[Gray Fighting Tiger]

class of 66 Bill Fisher - All COL at a time when Ironton had some pretty bad teams
class of 68 Mike Derifield - I think played college ball in Arizona
class of 68 Walt Delong - the father of Walt Delong of the 90s

Joe Leith - played alongside the later Walt Delong

[hoot]

Howard Rogers
Vance Williams

[Charley Hustle]

Jack Stowers........1955 went on to the Cincy Bearcats........

[BubbleGumTiger]

1959.........Ron Hammond--------Charlie Lovejoy.

[henrysteele]

Harold Rolph IHS Class of 1925

[zebra77]

These are opinions from the fans, ask Coach Lutz who were the best linemen he has coached over the years and you'll get a true idea of who they really were.

[I-town-90]

These are opinions from the fans, ask Coach Lutz who were the best linemen he has coached over the years and you'll get a true idea of who they really were.

Some of us aren't just fans but played with some of the players mentioned. I have actually heard Lutz talk of some of the best linemen he has coached, and several have been mentioned here. I once heard him tell JD Cyrus that he had the best feet of any o-lineman he had coached, better than Steve Willis who he thought had the best feet up until that point. Just one example. That was before some of the younger fellas came along like Roman Fry. I know Lutz is a HUGE Roman Fry fan, as am I. His motor never stopped.

[Titletown TVC]

Coy Bacon, period.

[black76]

Kenny Fritz was the read deal; pulling guard Keith Parker, Merril Triplett; '89 line; noseguard Terry Parker; Boykin, Bacon, '73 line, to name a few

[Frank Reagan]

Gary Lowe. Maniac on the field.

[98jettakeoff]

Mike Akers, tough as nails and looked like he could
still suit up and hit somebody long after his playing
days (late 1960's).

Craig Thomas, actually a defensive back, but who
long snapped and did not have a miscue in three
years as long snapper, including the 1979 'AA'
State Champs (and that all important 'second'
Joe Fletcher extra point kick at Akron).

Speaking of Joe Fletcher, good sized all around athlete
who could catch the ball just fine (over the shoulder
catch in '79 sparked winning TD drive in Akron),
but could block down with the best of them at
tight end. Played at Ohio University.

Reggie Arden in the late 1990's and Troy Sands
in the mid 1990s were a couple of very stout
high school linemen who could rap you pretty
good. You had to know where they were if
you lined up against them. Arden to Ohio State
and Sands to Ohio University.

More willl come to mind if I clock back a bit.

[I-town-90]

I will tell this story about a lineman that hasn't been mentioned.

In 88 we played Urbana in the state semi's at OSU. Urbana had a D-lineman named Chad Moxley that was all state as a Jr. He was an animal. He spent more time in the backfield in the first half than me or Conwell. He lined up across from Scott McClellan, who was a pretty dang good lineman himself, and he was eating Scott's lunch. The second half, Lutz made an adjustment and put Jerry Rowe on him. Jerry came off the ball hard and low and got in Moxley's feet and legs and moved him where ever he wanted to and we had huge holes to run in the second half.

The next year at the North-South game, Moxley was on the team with Conwell, Cyrus, and myself. We had three huge linemen, one going to OSU, one to Michigan, and one to Michgan State, all over 6'5" 300+. Moxley was only 5"11 280lb but he benched 460. He threw every lineman around like rag dolls that year.

Moxley was a modest kid, and he told us that in three years of playing high school, he was never blocked by anyone, with one exception. He asked us who #60 was for Ironton the previous year. He said that was the only cat to ever block him, and he laughed and said that SOB got in my legs and I couldn't get him off.

So there you go, add Jerry Rowe to the list.

Also, the 89 line IMHO was the best line that ever played at Ironton. Now, I haven't seen a lot of lines pre 89, but all of those guys could block. Little noticed, but Dickie Neal was unbelievable at downfield blocking. I can't tell you how many times Dickie would hustle his big butt 25 or 30 yards downfield and run interference for a cut back. If you watch the films you see it. He was the backside tackle most of the time as we ran behind Cyrus and Coffman, and Dickie was always downfield making the Saftey's life miserable.

[toosmooth]

Kenny Fritz !