ASHLAND – A record-setting offensive onslaught came down to a final defensive stand for the Ashland Arrows to withstand a shootout with West Holmes at Community Stadium.
The Arrows thwarted the Knights’ two-point conversion with less than 30 seconds left to clinch a 49-48 Ohio Cardinal Conference victory, clinching at least a share of the conference crown. Knights quarterback Bridger Cline was sacked by Mitch Eckrich as he scrambled in the backfield looking for an open receiver to end West Holmes’ upset hopes.
“We talked about it all week that this was going to be a four-quarter game and that they had playmakers and we better be ready to keep going,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine said. “Their guys started making some plays, and we kept making plays, and it went right down to the end.”
The win guarantees Ashland (8-1, 6-0) control of its own destiny heading into its season finale at home next Friday against Wooster.
“I told our guys, ‘We got a share. Now do you want to share it or not?’” Valentine said. “We’ve got a lot of things to come back and work at, but we’re going to enjoy this one.”
The game started slowly with the teams trading punts on the first three drives of the game. But Ashland found a rhythm on its second drive as Owen Reef rushed in from 9 yards out, and then kicked the extra point to put the Arrows on top 7-0.
West Holmes answered when Cline hit Shane Jones for a 42-yard scoring strike. The extra point knotted the game at 7.
The Arrows struck again on their next drive. A 42-yard pass to Bryke Williams set up an Armitage 1-yard touchdown run.
Reef added another touchdown on a 20-yard scoring pass from Armitage to give Ashland a 21-7 halftime lead.
After managing just 143 yards of total offense in the first half, the Knights made some adjustments that brought their team to life after the break. In the second half, West Holmes (3-6, 2-3) scored touchdowns on five of its six possessions and also added a punt return touchdown.
“Our kids would run through a brick wall for us, and we challenged them to go out and make plays,” West Holmes coach Zach Gardner said.
Ashland came out after halftime and scored on three plays. After Armitage found Mitch Heilman for 60 yards, the quarterback took it in himself from one yard out for the score. A Reef extra point put Ashland on top, 28-7.
West Holmes answered quickly. Cline found junior Grady Hay on consecutive 27-yard pass plays to open the drive. After being sacked, Cline hit Chaney for a 15-yard scoring strike. The extra point cut the Arrow lead to 28-14.
After Ashland turned the ball over on downs at the West Holmes 18, the Knights quickly made another dent in the Arrow lead. Using just 1:26 on the clock, Gavin Sheldon rushed in from 8 yards out for the score. A 72-yard pass play to Jones set up the touchdown.
The Arrows and Knights traded turnovers on their next possessions. A 3-and-out forced Ashland to point from its own end zone. Armitage hit a booming punt that sailed over the head of Chaney who fielded it on the bounce with his back to the defense. Spinning away from the initial defenders, the speedy Chaney cut his way across the field and 81 yards later hit paydirt for his second touchdown. The extra point tied the game at 28.
A huge fourth-down conversion on the next drive led to Williams taking an Armitage screen pass and fighting through defenders for a 15-yard touchdown. Another Reef kick gave Ashland a 35-28 edge with 1:03 left in the third.
The Knights refused to give up though as they marched 65 yards on 10 plays, capped by a Sheldon run from 2 yards out. The extra point tied it again at 35 with 9:39 left.
Despite having a 78-yard touchdown called back by a penalty, Ashland quickly scored again when Armitage found Manny Langston for a 49-yard touchdown with 7:56 remaining.
Five plays later, West Holmes tied it when Cline found Chaney for this third touchdown of the night on a 9-yard pass with 6:03 left.
Ashland kept the ball on the ground to eat up nearly four minutes of clock on its next drive as Reef and Armitage moved the ball down the field, combined with one pass to Heilman of 18 yards to set up Reef’s 2-yard scoring run with 2:36 left on the clock.
With the way the teams were scoring in the second half, that was more than enough time for the Knights to score a final touchdown of their own. With 24.2 seconds on the clock, Cline found a leaping Jones in the left corner of the end zone to move the Knights to within one.
That was when West Holmes went for the win instead of the tie and the Arrows defense came up strong to seal the victory.
“That’s a testament to our kids. We’ve only got 35 kids and six seniors here, but our kids are bought in and invested in the program and they want to get West Holmes football back to what our community deserves. They’ve been on a mission. I can’t say enough about their attitude and their fight. I’m so proud of them,” Gardner said.
The two teams combined for more than 1,100 yards of offense, including 870 yards passing. Armitage threw for a school-record 477 yards, while his West Holmes counterpart Cline racked up 387, including 298 in the second half.
For Ashland, five receivers had more than 65 receiving yards. Langston grabbed six passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, Williams snagged nine balls for 96 yards and a touchdown, Kamrin Knowlton-Goings caught three passes for 77 yards, Heilman grabbed two passes for 78 yards and Reef had 66 yards and a score on six catches.
Reef added 98 yards on six carries and two touchdowns on the ground and Armitage contributed 76 yards and two scores.
For the Knights, Jones had a huge night receiving with 199 yards receiving and two scores on six catches. Chaney caught seven passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns and added the punt return touchdown.
Next week, Ashland hosts Wooster for an outright OCC title.
