Citizen Staff Writer
TC VARSITY
BRYAN LEE
brylee@tucsoncitizen.com
IRONWOOD RIDGE 49 RINCON/UNIVERSITY 0
Tapering off before the big event is good for marathon runners, and also for players on the Ironwood Ridge football team.
That is, if you call scoring 28 points within the first seven minutes of a game tapering.
“It was good for us. We got some rest and we’ll be fresh for next week,” said Nighthawks coach Gary Minor after his team’s 49-0 victory over visiting Rincon/University in a Class 5A Southern-II game that had a running clock in the second half.
“Next week” for the Nighthawks is something they have waited 11 months for, as Minor reminded the players Friday night. It’s the clash at Sunnyside, a chance for redemption.
“We’ll be fired up,” Minor said. “We split with them last year and they beat us in the playoffs in a game in which we thought we should have won.”
Ironwood Ridge (7-1, 1-0) unveiled freshman running back Mitchell Fischer, younger brother of star linebacker/fullback Jake Fischer, against Rincon (2-6, 0-1).
The younger Fischer gained 90 yards on 12 carries and scored twice.
“He ran the wrong way a couple of times but he did well,” Minor said with a laugh.
The Rangers got just 18 yards rushing and didn’t complete a pass all night, misfiring on all seven attempts.
Ironwood Ridge’s defense outscored the Rincon offense, as defensive end Chad Dietrich recovered a fumble in the end zone in the second quarter to put the Nighthawks up 35-0.
Ironwood Ridge got the 42-point margin needed for the second-half mercy clock with no time left in the second quarter on a 2-yard Christopher Harris scoring plunge.
“We had to do what we were supposed to do,” Minor said.
The Nighthawks rolled up 177 rushing yards and 283 total yards in the win.