Collaboration
Statistical information from the game in this article was provided by Kris Mowry, Tony Van Duyne and Brandon Wells with the Ashland Arrows Broadcasting Network hosted by YouTube.
CLYDE – The Ashland football program has accomplished plenty since its breakthrough, state poll-winning season in 2006.
The list includes 13 playoff appearances and nine Ohio Cardinal Conference titles over that span.
But with a 35-21 win Friday night at Clyde, the Arrows accomplished something they haven’t done in nearly 75 years: start with a 3-0 record in back-to-back seasons.
Not since going undefeated in both 1951 and 1952 had Ashland accomplished that feat. But behind another balanced performance from quarterback Nathan Bernhard, big-play games from Killian O’Brien and Gabe Baith, and a bounce-back effort in the second half from the defense, the Arrows held off the Fliers (0-3).
“It’s always important to have good competition in your non-league games, and I think we do,” said Ashland head coach Scott Valentine, who picked up his 150th win in 20 seasons leading his alma mater. “That allows you to see where you’re at, so to be able to go 3-0 is big because that tells us we’re making progress.”
“It was tied at half (21-21) and that was a test of our character and how we were going to be as a team,” he said. “I thought we responded.”
Clyde entered the night with an 0-2 record for the first time since 2011. But that season, the Fliers won their next nine games en route to reaching the second round of the playoffs.
This time around, Ashland traded punches early with the hosts, who got all three of their touchdowns in the first half from senior running back Adam Young (32 carries, 122 yards).
“We missed some tackles, but that’s the first time we’ve seen a guy who can run it like that this season,” Valentine said of the physical Young. “He was able to break some tackles.”
Clyde also had a solid night from senior quarterback Jonny Lantz (21-of-32 passing for 277 yards) and junior receivers Hunter Thomas (6-92) and Dekin Crockett (5-74).
But the Arrows had answers at every turn.
Grayson Baith tied the game at 7-7 on a 6-yard run in the first quarter before Bernhard put AHS in front 14-7 with a 51-yard deep ball to O’Brien (4-89 receiving).
Young scored twice in the second quarter, but Bernhard’s first of two short rushing scores in the game helped send it into halftime tied at 21-21.
From there, the Ashland defense held things down, finding a way to string together a scoreless half for the third time this season.
O’Brien and Braden Donatini both had interceptions and the Arrows stonewalled a crucial fourth-and-1 stop on their own 3-yard line with less than six minutes to play.
A touchdown there would have cut the lead to 35-28, and the defense also got a big third-quarter play when O’Brien forced a Flier fumble into the AHS end zone after a 70-yard pass play. Arrows senior Tanner Wolfe fell on it for the turnover.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Lantz also was incomplete on a fourth-and-5 inside the Ashland 15.
“Our defense did a great job of coming up with some big plays in the second half and getting some big stops,” Valentine said.
Bernhard (10-of-16 passing for 265 yards) has now accounted for 12 touchdowns in three games. His 51-yard hook-up with O’Brien was his 50th career touchdown pass, and he got things rolling with Gabe Baith for the first time this season as well.
The senior speedster ran under a pass for a 48-yard touchdown to finish off the game’s scoring in the third quarter.
Baith finished with four catches for a game-high 126 yards receiving, and the touchdown was his first since returning the season’s opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD.
“They decided to play man-to-man and Gabe had a guy he could beat,” Valentine said. “… That led to a lot of big plays.”
The coach said Baith and O’Brien played well off each other all night in the receiving game.
O’Brien now has two interceptions and four receiving touchdowns in three games.
“We were able to get behind their defense and (Bernhard) put the ball right on those guys,” Valentine said. “We had a lot of long catches tonight.”
Carson O’Brien hit all five of hits PATs, staying perfect on the season at 16-for-16. He’s made at least five PATs in all three games.
The victory came with an additional milestone as well, with AHS stretching its regular-season win streak to 13 games. That run is tied for the second-longest in program history with the Ashland teams of 2005 through 2007, and stands behind only the 21-game win streak that lasted from the 1950 through 1952 seasons.
The Arrows stay on the road for Week 4 when they open up Ohio Cardinal Conference play at New Philadelphia (1-2). The Quakers began their OCC action in Week 3 with a 42-7 rout of Wooster (0-3, 0-1).
