ASHLAND — Ashland coach Sean Seder couldn’t have asked for anything more.

His Arrows gave themselves a chance to win.

Ashland may have come up short in last week’s 27-20 loss to Mansfield Senior, but Seder couldn’t have been more encouraged by the resolve his Arrows showed late in the game. Ashland trailed 27-13 with less than three minutes to play and nearly forced overtime before Senior High sealed the win with a sack on fourth-and-goal with two seconds remaining.

“We had an opportunity late,” Seder said afterward. “We just weren’t able to convert, but we went toe-to-toe with them.”

The Arrows face an even bigger challenge this week, heading for Millersburg to take on Ohio Cardinal Conference leader West Holmes. The Knights have outscored their four OCC opponents 189-27.

“Hopefully we can figure something out,” Seder said. “We’ve been playing pretty well recently. Hopefully we can turn the corner.”

Ashland (4-3, 2-2) at West Holmes (7-0, 4-0): The Arrows turned the ball over three times in last week’s 27-20 loss to Mansfield Senior, but forced four turnovers and had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. Quarterback Luke Bryant completed 14-of-30 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 26 yards and a score. Cayden Spotts rushed for 65 yards on 13 carries, while Grayson Steury caught five passes for 41 yards. Landon McFrederick caught a touchdown pass and threw a touchdown pass. Jonathan Metzger became Ashland’s career leader in receptions and had a TD grab among his three catches.

The Knights thundered to a 48-14 win at Lexington behind the powerful running of Sam Williams-Dixon and the steady quarterback play of first-year starter Mason Wolfe. Going into last week’s game, Wolfe had completed 78-of-108 passes for 1,571 yards and 18 touchdowns with just one interception. Kyle Maltarich has been Wolfe’s favorite target with 27 catches for 623 yards and 11 TDs going into last week. Williams-Dixon, a Division I college prospect, had a 74-yard touchdown run against the Minutemen. The Knights average more than 48 points a game and haven’t given up more than 14 points in a game through the first seven weeks.

Crestview (7-0, 3-0) at Plymouth (3-4, 1-3): Crestview remained unbeaten with a workmanlike 37-7 win over South Central. Running back Adison Reymer had 11 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown and now has 827 yards and 15 TDs on 134 carries this season. Quarterback Hayden Kuhn completed 6-of-his 9 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown and is 61-for-107 for 812 yards and six TDs. Owen Barker has 16 catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns while Tyson Ringler and Caden Cunningham each have 13 catches on the year. Defensively, the Cougars allow just 8.9 points a game. Reymer leads the way with 66 tackles and a pair of interceptions, while Barker has 47 tackles and nine sacks and Shawn Bailey has 45 stops.

The Big Red got into a shootout with Mapleton, falling 54-43. Mapleton quarterback Kollin Cline rushed for 261 yards and five touchdowns as the Mounties piled up 458 yards on the ground on 47 attempts. Plymouth quarterback Trace McVey led the Big Red with 90 rushing yards on 10 carries while completing 11-of-18 passes for 149 yards. Layne Bushey had six catches for 90 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score.

Loudonville (3-4, 1-3) at Cardington-Lincoln (1-6, 0-4): The Redbirds picked up their first Knox Morrow Athletic Conference victory last week and got back into the playoff hunt, upsetting Fredericktown 38-35 despite 221 yards rushing by Teegan Ruhl. Loudonville quarterback Matt Sprang completed 17-of-28 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown and has thrown for 1,125 yards and nine TDs on the season while completing 91-of-164 passes. Zach Frankford leads the KMAC with 41 receptions for 478 yards and has two TDs. Micah Simpson has 19 catches for 253 yards and three scores. Defensively, Aidan Wolford made 15 tackles last week and has 73 stops and two interceptions on the season. Baylor Weiser has 64 tackles and Simpson has six sacks.

The Pirates made things interesting before falling 28-20 to KMAC co-leader Danville. Wyatt Denney rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while quarterback Kaiden Beach completed 6-of-7 passes for 53 yards and rushed for a touchdown. Kaylin Briggs had five catches for 86 yards. Colin McAvoy had 11 more tackles against Danville and leads the KMAC with 80 stops and six tackles for loss. Denney has 63 tackles and four TFLs.