Ironmen have something special
DANVILLE — Some players shine the brightest when the lights come on.
For Danville's Bo Sheptock, that was the case in the Ironmen's 54-8 win over Central Columbia on Friday night.
Just as the field crew turned on Ironmen Stadium's lights, Sheptock took a designed run up the middle and ended up going down the left sideline thanks to two broken tackles en route to a 58-yard touchdown.
"He's the hardest working kid in the weight room and hardest working kid at practice. He practices like it's a game, and that's why he does what he does," Danville coach Carl Majer said. "He does everything we ask of him — on offense, defense and special teams. He's a special player."
His special night was far from over. The senior had a 2-yard touchdown run up the gut to begin the second quarter and added a 37-yard scoring scamper on the ensuing drive. But the final play of the first half was the most explosive.
In the waning seconds and having just gotten the ball back, Danville could have opted to go to a knee with a 33-point lead. Instead, the Ironmen handed the ball off to Sheptock, who took it down the left sideline for an 83-yard touchdown. Majer came calling with a challenge and the team answered, especially the running back's blockers.
"I said 'you have one play, make it last,' and they did," Majer said. "[Cameron] Kiersch made some incredible blocks in the open field and when you have some great blocks like that, you get a great run like that."
Sheptock was far from the lone offensive threat for the Ironmen. Quarterback Madden Patrick was in on the fun, throwing for 195 yards on 13 of 19 passing. He added three scores of his own — two in the air and one on the ground.
Both of his passing touchdowns found the hands of Cole Duffy with the pair's first scoring strike in the opening quarter being Patrick's longest completion of the night at 69 yards. The duo connected from 14 yards out in the third quarter.
Danville's last scoring play came with both teams' backups in. Wyatt Fowler hit Llliam Hagerman in stride for a 13-yard touchdown late in the fourth.
It was quite the turnaround for a squad that faced its first deficit of the season and some in-house hardships a week ago.
"Adversity helps a team out and we've grown leaps and bounds since last week," Majer said. "The kids came to play tonight and we played a lot of good football tonight."
Just as the Ironmen were thriving with the lights on them, Blue Jays coach EJ Smith says his team was more like deer in headlights.
"Their skill guys hurt us. We preached all week to gang tackle and keep [Sheptock] and [Patrick] and [Duffy] in check and we didn't do that," he said. "... I don't know if it a was deer in headlights or what, but we just didn't execute."
The quick deficit and Danville's defensive scheme forced Central to pass the ball more than it anticipated. Parker Day finished 4 of 20 — including a run of just 1-for-15 — for 31 yards. He was rushed in the pocket for much of the night, but he did throw it to where his guys could come down with it, including in some tight windows. Unfortunately, it kept falling to the turf.
"They had nine in the box and that's why we were struggling to run. Parker threw the ball well and put it where it had to go, we just didn't execute," Smith said. "They didn't do anything we didn't think they would do. We just didn't pull our end up."
The Blue Jays finished with 86 rushing yards, with Ty Regan accounting for 48 of those. Day, though, made the most of his legs on Central's touchdown drive.
After the Blue Jays recovered a fumble and got even better field position following a pass interference, Day called his number three times on the 16-yard drive. He capped it with a 2-yard keeper.
The Jays overcame one of their offensive woes on the drive with Day rushing for 10 yards on third-and-6. Overall, they went 3-for-12.
As for the Ironmen, Majer wants to see the team continue to grow and clean up its game. They finished with 12 penalties for 110 yards.
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