Ironmen earn OT victory
“I told coach throw me the ball because I knew I had one-on-one coverage on the backside,” Strothers said. So, did he yell to Steele? “No, you can’t yell,” Strothers said, matter-offactly. “I just gave him a little signal, a sign.”
Steele said, “He tipped me off to say he was one-onone.”
Then Strothers went all basketball.
“I posted [the defender] up like I do in basketball,” Strothers said. “It was like I was getting a rebound.”
Strothers also caught a 71yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter from Karfelt to tie the score, 7-7. Strothers is an excellent defensive back also and has major-college scholarship offers.
“He’s a differencemaker,” Steele said. “At the high school level, any time you have a guy who can run a 4.4 or 4.5 in the 40 — and he’s electrifying.”
The loss was tough for Riverside to accept. When the teams met in the season opener, Steel Valley got a 4828 victory. This time, Riverside’s defense was tremendous, holding Steel Valley to two first downs in the second half. Steel Valley’s defense, led by standout linebacker Todd Hill, also was impressive, shutting down Riverside’s running game.
Although the Ironmen had only two first downs in the second half, they needed only one big play to tie the score — Strothers’ long touchdown reception.
Riverside held a 7-0 lead at halftime, moving 61 yards in seven plays for a score in the second quarter. A 15-yard facemask penalty helped the drive and the Panthers converted once on fourth-and-6 when Ben Hughes hit Austin Dambach with a short pass that turned into an 11-yard gain.
Two plays later, Hughes lofted a pass over a Steel Valley defensive back’s raised hands and into the arms of Marweg for a 20-yard touchdown play with 7:09 left in the half.
Steel Valley was penalized 20 times in the game, 11 times either for a false start or procedure. But Strothers made sure it didn’t matter in the end.