LEXINGTON — Grayson Steury had two of the best minutes of high school football in Ashland history Friday night.
Heck, maybe two of the best minutes any high school football player anywhere could have.
His late-game heroics on offense and special teams helped the Arrows to erase an 11-point deficit and claim a thrilling 36-34 win at Lexington, spoiling a Minutemen Homecoming night that they were just 120 seconds away from celebrating.
Let’s set the scene:
Lexington led 34-23 and and and was preparing to punt it away from its own end of the field, ready to ride a defense that had held Ashland to just a field goal in the second half.
Instead, the punt snap sailed over A.J. Young’s head and the Arrows recovered at the Lex 1-yard-line with 2:30 left to play.
On second down, junior QB Landon McFrederick connected with senior receiver Ashden Maffett for the touchdown. A two-point conversion failed, but the deficit was cut to 34-29 with still 1:53 left to play.
Enter Steury, a 5-11, 158-pound junior who saved his best for last.
Senior kicker Issac Roop delivered a masterful onside kick, which bounced high into the air and was plucked cleanly by Steury at the Lexington 35-yard line.
Two plays later, sophomore QB Luke Bryant found a streaking Steury open down the left sideline, good for 31 yards and a first-and-goal at the Minutemen 4-yard line.
The Lexington defense then rose to the occasion, sacking McFrederick on first down, limiting him to a one-yard gain on second and forcing an incompletion on third.
That left Ashland facing a fourth-and-goal at the Lexington 9-yard line with 28 seconds left.
Cue Steury.
McFrederick, who completed 20 of 35 passes for 300 yards and all five Ashland TDs, took the snap and rolled to his right, looking into the endzone as Lexington defenders pursued.
Nearing the sideline, McFrederick lofted the ball into the back of the endzone. Surrounded by Minutemen, Steury leaped into the air and pulled in the game-winning TD with 20 seconds left on the clock.
The win, the Arrows’ third in the last four weeks, improved Ashland to 3-5 overall and 3-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. It also keeps the Arrows in the hunt for a playoff spot with games remaining against unbeaten West Holmes (8-0) and Wooster (4-4).
The loss dropped Lexington to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.
A DIFFERENT WEEK
It was the antithesis of a week ago when the Arrows fell victim to a Mansfield Senior rally in the last seconds, losing 28-24.
Steury, perhaps still a bit stunned himself afterward, said he and his teammates never lost faith.
“The plan on the onside kick was to just go get it,” he said. “Roop had a great kick. It went right to me and we went from there. We just knew that if we kept playing hard, you know. The onside kick went our way and we knew when that happened we had a pretty good chance of coming back,” he said with a smile.
Steury said he couldn’t explain the winning TD.
“I don’t know. It was just all so exciting. It just happened. I honestly didn’t even realize I jumped,” he said.
A jubilant Ashland coach Sean Seder laughed when asked if Steury had just experienced the best two minutes ever for a player.
“He sure did. That’s what we were joking about. We said, ‘Hey, let’s let our players make plays.’ He showed up … the kid can jump. He went up and got that onside kick. He did a great job and the kids stepped up,” Seder said.
The key to a raucous post-game celebration was remaining calm in the face of adversity, Seder said.
“We try to be as even keel as possible. I know it’s easy to ride the rollercoaster of emotions, but you get too high or get too low, that’s usually when it gets the better of you,” Seder said.
“We told our kids in the pregame there are 48 minutes, give me everything you got every single second until it goes zeroes. They truly did that tonight. We could very easily have quit, but they kept playing, kept fighting. We got chances and we took advantage of it,” Seder said.
Perhaps it was as simple as the football gods evening the score for the Arrows?
“We have lost three games by less than seven points against really good opponents. We’re like, eventually have got to get that bounce. We told the kids not to wait for it to happen. Go make it happen. They went out there tonight and they made it happen,” Seder said.
TOUGH LOSS
In the home locker room, it was another tough loss for a Lexington team that earlier this season saw a 28-6 lead over Clear Fork evaporate into an overtime loss.
After the two teams battled to a 20-20 halftime tie, Lexington dominated most of the second half, pounding the Ashland defense with senior running backs Karson Berry (15 carries, 148 yards) and Corbin Green (five carries, 95 yards).
The Minutemen outgained the Arrows on the ground, 256 to 90, but failed on the possession that led to the ill-fated punt snap.
“It stings. It definitely stings,” Lexington assistant coach LeRoy Smith said. “We thought when we had the ball with four or five minutes left, we could control the ball on the ground because we had been running it so well. But we got behind the sticks a little. That cost us and we gave them an opportunity.”
Lexington has a young team, a roster that sports just eight seniors. Smith said the message to the players is they have another chance next week.
“We let one get away, but we can’t let it beat us. We get another opportunity. I told them, it ends for all of us at some point in time. For most of us, it ends before we want it to. So take advantage of the opportunities we have in front of us,” Smith said.
SCORING PLAYS
1ST QUARTER
LEXINGTON — Caden Eichler 14-yard pass from Cole Pauley (A.J. Young kick)
ASHLAND — Jonathan Metzger 14-yard pass from Landon McFrederick (Issac Roop kick)
2ND QUARTER
LEXINGTON — Karson Berry 33-yard run (Young kick)
ASHLAND — Ashden Maffett 13-yard pass from McFrederick (Roop kick)
LEXINGTON — Corbin Green 75-yard run (kick failed)
ASHLAND — Cayden Spotts 13-yard pass from McFrederick (kick failed)
3RD QUARTER
ASHLAND — Roop 30-yard field goal
LEXINGTON — Green 17-yard run (Young kick)
4TH QUARTER
LEXINGTON — Jordan Beireis 1-yard run (Young kick)
ASHLAND — Maffett 1-yard pass from McFrederick (run failed)
ASHLAND — Grayson Steury 9-yard pass from McFrederick (Roop kick)
