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The Fighting Tigers (2-0) used speed on both sides of the ball to dominate their foe from Lynchburg, Virginia, Saturday night in the Ironton Gridiron Classic at Tanks Memorial Stadium.

Earlier in the day, Chicago Mount Carmel scored on the final play to edge Cincinnati Moeller 43-42, and Columbus Watterson nipped Middletown (Delaware) 14-13.

Jett Johnson put Liberty Christian on the scoreboard with a 31-yard field goal at 3:51 of the first quarter. Ironton needed merely 1:03 to erase that deficit, using three big plays -- a 30-yard kickoff return by Maddix Markel, an 18-yard run by Zayne Williams and a 37-yard touchdown run by Edwards.

Edwards, a junior quarterback, broke two tackles and juked another pair of defenders on his way to the end zone. Beckham Waginger kicked the extra point to make it 7-3.

"We got out of the gate pretty well and it looked like we were going to play with them," Bulldogs coach Frank Rocco said. "We're very inexperienced. It reared its ugly head. Even when we scored and looked like we could play head-to-head with them, we were making mistakes and stupid things. We're a very undisciplined team. It's a shame."

Edwards displayed similar moves with 5:48 left until halftime when he raced 53 yards for a TD. Brycen Mullins passed to Markel for the 2-point conversion to put the Tigers up 15-3.

Ironton made it 22-3 when with 45 seconds left in the second quarter, facing fourth-and-8, Edwards hit Braydon Baker with an 18-yard scoring strike. Waginger followed with the extra point.

After drives of six and eight plays on its first two possessions, Liberty Christian went three-and-out on five consecutive trips before halftime.

"The kids responded well," Ironton coach Trevon Pendleton said. "I can't say enough about them. They work hard and they appreciate opportunities like this. I'm very pleased with the way they responded."

Part of the Bulldogs' struggles came because of a fierce Ironton pass rush. Mason Wheeler sacked quarterback Luke Gaither twice and Braiden Linn and Easton Caudill each dropped Gaither once.

The Tigers outgained Liberty Christian 347-78 and held the Bulldogs to 29 rushing yards on 25 carries. Edwards led the way with 115 yards rushing on 10 attempts. 

Kylan Grace and Tyson Harvey tacked on 1-yard scoring plunges in the third quarter as the Tigers boosted their lead to 35-3. Edwards threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Markel with 7:14 remaining in the game for a 42-3 advantage.

LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 3 0 0 0 -- 3  

IRONTON 7 15 13 7 -- 42 

LC -- Johnson FG 31

I -- Edwards 37 run (Waginger kick)

I -- Edwards 53 run (Markel pass from Mullins)

I -- Baker 29 pass from Edwards (Waginger kick)

I -- Grace 1 run (Waginger kick)

I -- Harvey 1 run (kick blocked)

I -- Markel 29 pass from Edwards (Waginger kick)

Team statistics

LC I

First downs 7 11 

Rushes-yards 25-29 32-227

Passes 8-17-1 8-14-1

Passing yards 49 120

Total yards 78 347

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-57 11-105

Punts 7-32.2 2-38.5

Individual statistics

Rushing

Liberty Christian -- Gaither 6-(minus-38), Nesselrotte 6-13, Cowart 7-28, Tremblay 4-13, Maier 2-13; Ironton -- Edwards 10-115, Williams 8-45, Grace 7-39, Biggs 1-1, Mullins 1-18, Carmon 1-2, Harvey 1-1, Caudill 2-8, Kerns 1-(minus-2). 

Passing

Liberty Christian -- Gaither 8-17-1, 49 yards; Ironton -- Edwards 7-12-1, 84 yards, Biggs 0-1-0, Mullins 1-1-0, 36 yards. 

Receiving

Liberty Christian -- Davis 2-6, Burns 2-19, Cowart 1-16, Tremblay 1-1, Team 1-(minus-2), Aronson 1-9; Ironton -- Baker 2-32, Harvey 1-8, Mullins 2-4, Markel 2-52, Williams 1-24.