WOOSTER – Penalties and turnovers were a costly combination for the Ashland Arrows Friday night.
Coughing up three fumbles, including one in the end zone, was too much to overcome as Massillon topped the Arrows 28-7 in the Division II, Region 7 semifinal at Wooster’s Follis Field.
“When you’re playing good people in these situations, you can’t turn the ball over, you can’t have as many penalties as we had,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine said. “Our kids laid it on the line. I’m proud of their effort, these things just hurt us.”
The Tigers scored the only points of the first half when Jamir Thomas ran in from 8 yards out with 11:38 left in the half.
Ashland threatened on the next possession, driving 73 yards on 13 plays before Owen Reef fumbled the ball into the end zone and Massillon recovered.
The Tigers went 74 yards on 13 plays before missing a 24-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the first half.
On the opening drive of the second half, Massillon threatened to score again before Ashland’s Ross Garrison punched the ball away from Austin Kuscher at the 2-yard line. The ball rolled out of bounds in the end zone, giving the Arrows the ball at the 20 on a touchback.
After forcing a three-and-out the Tigers, found the end zone again when Thomas rushed in for a 4-yard touchdown. That made it 14-0.
The Arrows fumbled on the first play of their next possession and the Tigers made them pay when Thomas scored again four plays later, this time from 27 yards out to give Massillon a 21-0 advantage with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Arrows finally got on the board with 7:33 remaining when Keagan Armitage connected with Bryke Williams over the middle on fourth-and-21 for a 27-yard touchdown strike.
But it was too little, too late, as the Arrows were unable to stop the Tigers on their next possession. Thomas scored his fourth touchdown of the night to give Massillon the final 28-7 advantage.
Thomas rushed for 196 yards and four scores for the Tigers.
“We knew he was good, as time went on he broke some runs,” Valentine said. “I was proud of our defense the way they played, especially in the first half and even in the second half as far as containing some of that stuff.”
In his final game as an Arrow, Armitage completed 17-of-32 passes for 129 yards and added 87 more on the ground. Fellow senior Williams grabbed 10 passes for 78 yards and a score.
Valentine had high praise for his seniors, who made the playoffs all four years of their high school careers.
“I can’t say enough about how these kids have kept battling,” Valentine said. “Last week to come back the way we did and then get to the second round. The way we came out and battled, we had great leadership from our senior group and that’s something that hopefully will carry over into the next year.
“They are a group of guys that led by example, worked hard every day in practice, helped us get better each week as we went through the season. I’m just proud of them and what they’ve been able to accomplish over their careers.”
