ASHLAND – The Arrow defense didn’t feel like giving St. Charles any breathing room in their Division II first-round playoff game Friday.
And on a brisk November night – hosting a postseason game for the first time since 2020 at Community Stadium – Ashland didn’t feel like giving the Cardinals any points, either.
Collecting three turnovers while also forcing St. Charles to try to cover long fields the entire game, the Arrows smothered their way to a 42-0 victory.
It was the first shutout in 27 postseason contests for undefeated Ashland, which snapped a three-game playoff losing streak and became just the fourth team in program history to win 11 games.
(These photos were taken by Doug Haidet)
The overwhelming outcome also tied for the largest margin of victory in an AHS playoff game (the Arrows beat Tallmadge 49-7 in 2010).
“You never expect (a shutout) but it’s always nice when it comes,” said Arrows senior lineman Cooper Smith, who was in on multiple sacks during the rout. “It’s that mentality that this could be (the last game) and everybody wants it more than ever.”
“We just prepared all week in practice like they were the best team we’re going to see and it translated to the field tonight,” added senior defensive back Tyler Sauder, who had an interception for the third straight week.
The Arrows (11-0), seeded fourth in Division II, Region 7, advance to take on perennial Ohio powerhouse and fifth-seeded St. Francis DeSales (9-2), which was a 48-28 winner Friday over 12th-seeded New Albany.
That game will be next Friday, back at Community Stadium, where Ashland now is 7-2 all-time in the playoffs.
“It’s a great feeling having somebody like them coming here to play against us,” Sauder said. “It’s going to be a great game.”
St. Charles (4-7) drove into Ashland on Friday having lost the final six games of their regular season, but all six of those teams finished with winning records and made the playoffs.
But after allowing the Cardinals a first down on their second offensive play of the game, the Ashland defense suffocated the visitors’ efforts from there.
By the time St. Charles collected its next first down – late in the second quarter – the Arrows had a 27-0 lead behind two touchdown runs each from quarterback Nathan Bernhard (15 carries for 83 yards) and running back Grayson Baith (12 carries for 93 yards and three TDs).
Sauder nearly had a pick-6 for the third consecutive game late in the first quarter. The junior, who likely surpassed 300 career tackles Friday, reeled in a tipped pass near midfield and returned it all the way to the St. Charles 3-yard line – flipping end-over-end on a tackle just short of the goal-line to set up Ashland’s third touchdown.
Classmate Jayden Goings snagged his first interception of the season when he picked off Cardinals quarterback Ryan Mooney in the AHS end zone just before halftime.
St. Charles had doubled its offensive yardage for the half on that drive, moving the ball 50 yards to the Ashland 15 before the turnover.
The Arrows now have 15 interceptions this season from a combined seven different players.
They collected another turnover Friday when a Hayden DiPuccio sack forced a fumble that JJ Beverly recovered in the fourth quarter. Joey Isenhart and Gavin Hoffman also were in on sacks.
“Our kids are playing with some confidence (on defense) and they’re seeing things well,” Valentine said. “As long as we do the little things right and know our assignments, we can be pretty good.”
Mooney managed just 42 yards on 5-of-16 passing and the Cardinals narrowly surpassed 100 yards overall for the game.
Joey Schmidt had 56 of those on seven carries, but St. Charles started its first six drives at or inside its own 20-yard line.
First-year Cardinals coach Anthony Colucci was the head coach at NCAA Division III Birmingham-Southern College last fall, but the school closed its doors and he returned to his home state.
The Ashtabula native and Capital University graduate is trying to build a deeper tradition at St. Charles, which has yet to win a playoff game (0-8).
“When you look at the records of the teams we played, the quality of their wins, the second half of the schedule was a beast,” Colucci said. “We knew (Ashland was) a great opponent and we weren’t taking them lightly. They had an undefeated season for a reason.”
The Arrows offense didn’t take any time to get rolling Friday, either.
On their first drive, Bernhard hit sophomore Killian O’Brien for a diving, one-handed catch that covered 22 yards and helped set up Baith’s 8-yard touchdown run.
Ashland’s second drive then was highlighted by a Bernhard-to-Gabe Baith 43-yard catch in stride down the middle of the field. That was Baith’s 100th career reception and the junior capped his night late in the second quarter when Bernhard found him deep down the right sideline on third-and-long for a 79-yard touchdown strike.
Bernhard finished 5-of-10 for 154 yards, pushing him over 2,400 yards passing for the season. His 83 yards on the ground also made him the first AHS quarterback to ever clear the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a season.
“We were a little sloppy on offense, but we had some great field position and were able to make up for it with some big plays,” the junior said.
The Arrows’ path forward gets much tougher from here. In St. Francis DeSales next week, Ashland will be taking on a program with 31 playoff qualifications (63-27 postseason record), nine state championship appearances and three state titles.
The Stallions had an eight-game winning streak before losing 44-7 in Week 10 to Bishop Watterson, the No. 1-ranked team in Division III.
DeSales held five teams to six or fewer points this season and had a 28-0 shutout of St. Charles in Week 6, when the Cardinals gained just 44 yards on offense.
“(DeSales) is a good, physical team and they’re pretty strong up front,” Colucci said. “But I think (Ashland) poses a unique matchup for anyone they come up against, just the style of defense they play, the style of offense they play.”
The Stallions feature sophomore quarterback RJ Day, the son of Ohio State football coach Ryan Day.
Bernhard said he has met the sophomore before and said DeSales has a great team this season, so he’s excited they have to come to Ashland.
Of the Stallions’ nine wins, six are by at least 20 points.
“They’ve got a great tradition,” Valentine said. “They’re a really good program and we’re going to have to do the same thing we did this week – get ready for a four-quarter battle.”
Also in the OCC
Ashland was one of four Ohio Cardinal Conference teams to make the playoffs, and the only one to host a first-round game Friday.
The other three OCC teams in action were West Holmes (28-21 win at Unioto), Lexington (28-14 win at Maumee) and New Philadelphia (21-14 loss at Jackson).
(Photos were provided by Lukas Christian)
