Collaboration
Statistical information from the game in this article was provided by Kris Mowry and Tony Van Duyne with the Ashland Arrows Broadcasting Network hosted by YouTube.
CALEDONIA – It took the Ashland football team overtime in Week 1 last season to knock off River Valley in the teams’ first-ever meeting, and it looked like it might be headed there again Friday night.
But the Arrows used a go-ahead receiving touchdown from Gabe Baith on a 5-yard pass from Nathan Bernhard with 1:48 left, then added a 10-yard Bernhard rushing score after a crucial interception from Gunner Lacey to knock off the Vikings, 41-27.
It was more points than Ashland scored in any game last season and it came against returning All-Ohio quarterback Chase Ebert.
“I was happy the way our kids competed for four quarters and ended up finishing the game out,” said Arrows head coach Scott Valentine, whose program began its 118th season.
“We knew it was going to be that way the way their quarterback can play. He’s a great player and we just made more plays than they did in the end.”
Bernhard delivered big on a night where he kicked off what could be one of the most consequential junior seasons in the history of Ashland-area football.
The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder standout entered Week 1 with double-digit offers from Division I college football programs and recently was named by Sports Illustrated as the No. 1 quarterback recruit among all junior QBs in Ohio.
He finished Friday with 205 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 22-of-31 passing, helping him eclipse 3,000 passing yards for his career.
On the ground, meanwhile, Bernhard totaled 95 yards on 21 carries to go along with his late TD.
Senior Michael Franz had a busy night as well, rushing for 71 yards and two scores on seven carries while also reeling in four catches for 23 yards.
In last year’s opener, he had 10 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns, but Valentine said that receiving role has flipped to lean more toward being a ball-carrying gamebreaker.
“We’ve got him in a little bit different position and he made me look like a good coach because he made a lot of plays there tonight,” Valentine said.
“They were trying to take away the passing game, so we had to run it more in the second half because they were giving us that.”
Baith finished with nine catches for 79 yards and a touchdown, while junior Dakota Kruty also had four catches for 52 yards and a score in a contest that saw both teams finish just under 400 total yards of offense each.
Ebert (25 of 47, 293 yards passing) totaled the same amount of completions as he had in last year’s meeting and connected with three different receivers for touchdowns. That group was led by Carter Park (9-96-1).
Ebert also was essentially all of River Valley’s run game, with 93 yards on 18 carries.
Ashland, which returned 10 starters on defense, did enough to hold back the Vikings late, outscoring them 28-14 in the second half after a 13-13 deadlock at the break.
“Anytime you have experience, your kids know how to handle situations better,” Valentine said. “Even though it was a tight game, they kept battling and kept doing the little things that made the difference in the end.”
Lacey was joined by Gavin Hoffman in the interception category for AHS, and Valentine pointed out a critical onside-kick recovery by Gage Bowman. The junior scrapped for the ball when the Vikings tried the trick play after tying the game at 27-27 in the fourth.
Ashland heads back out on the road next week when it travels to Marion Harding. The Arrows edged the Presidents last season, 14-6.
