ASHLAND — Friday night is judgement night for the Arrows.
Ashland visits Lexington for a Week 10 showdown rife with Division III, Region 10 playoff implications.
The Arrows are currently 12th in the regional rankings, while the Minutemen are 20th. The top 16 teams in the regional qualify for the postseason.
Ashland controls its own destiny in the chase for the playoffs. A win Friday will secure a top-16 finish in the region. A loss wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the Arrows from playoff contention, but the path forward would be less certain.
Ashland is trying to join Hillsdale, Crestview and Mapleton in the playoffs. The Falcons, Cougars and Mounties already have locked up playoff berths, while Loudonville would need a win at Northmor and some help to get in.
Ashland (5-4, 3-3) at Lexington (4-5, 3-3): The Arrows kept their playoff hopes alive with a 34-0 win over Wooster. Running back Cayden Spotts rushed for 196 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries, including an 85-yarder midway through the third quarter. Quarterback Nathan Bernhard completed all four of his pass attempts for 115 yards and a 57-yard touchdown pass to Michael Franz, who has eight TD grabs on the year. Meanwhile, Ashland’s defense pitched its first shutout since Week 6 of the 2018 season, a span of 53 games. Josh Pancake had 2.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Gunner Lacey recovered a fumble and Gavin Hoffman intercepted a pass.
The Minutemen stayed in playoff contention with a come-from-behind 31-21 win over Madison. Quarterback Joe Caudill threw for 151 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 112 yards and a score, helping Lex overcome a 13-6 halftime deficit. Mason Green and Markale Martin each rushed for a TD. Seven Allen caught a 28-yard TD pass.
Crestview (4-5, 3-2) at Mapleton (4-5, 2-3): The Cougars secured their fifth straight trip to the playoffs with last week’s 27-26 win over Western Reserve. Quarterback Liam Kuhn tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Ringler with 1:19 remaining to complete the comeback. Kuhn also tossed a 41-yard TD pass to Nolan Moore and running back Ayden Reymer rushed for a pair of TDs. Reymer has rushed for 1,305 yards and 14 touchdowns on 202 carries. Kuhn has completed 73-of-136 passes for 1,177 yards and 10 TDs, while Ringler has 30 catches for 477 yards and three scores. Karter Goon has 19 grabs for 329 yards and three TDs. Dylan Burge leads the defense with 107 tackles, while Gavin Barker has 93 stops. Caleb Cunningham tops the team with 25 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
The Mounties have dropped two straight after last week’s 40-12 loss to Indian Creek, but will play in the postseason regardless of what happens Friday. Dual-threat quarterback Kollin Cline rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown in the loss and has 1,293 yards and 13 TDs on the season. Luke Pryor has rumbled for 527 yards and 12 scores on 97 carries. Logan Conroy leads the team with 14 catches for 231 yards and five touchdowns. Mark Miller leads the defense with 56 tackles, nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Cline has 53 stops and three interceptions.
Loudonville (3-6, 2-4) at Northmor (7-2, 5-1): The Redbirds have lost four of their last five games, including last week’s 42-28 setback at East Knox. Dual-threat quarterback Mathew Sprang is one of the most prolific playmakers in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference. He has rushed for a team-high 776 yards and nine touchdowns on 175 carries and completed 108-of-195 passes for 1,329 yards and 12 TDs. Loudonville boasts three of the top five pass-catchers in the KMAC. Camdyn Beachy leads the way with 35 catches for 456 yards and three touchdowns. Baylor Weiser has 27 catches for 381 yards and five TDs, while Josiah Hershberger has 25 receptions for 256 yards and two scores. Weiser leads the league with 114 tackles and ranks second with 17 tackles for loss. Sprang has a pair of interceptions.
Northmor quarterback A.J. Bower ranks among the most accurate passers in the state, completing 79.9% of his attempts (123-154) for 1,819 yards and 28 touchdowns. Receivers Jax Wenger and Bo Landon share the KMAC lead with 11 touchdown receptions apiece. Wenger has 31 catches for 616 yards while Landon has 23 grabs for 560 yards and a KMAC-best 24.3 yards per catch average. Hunter Fulk leads the KMAC with six interceptions. Paul Cramer has five interceptions. Cameron Goldbach ranks among KMAC leads with seven sacks.