ASHLAND – It’s starting to look like the Ashland football team is teasing its opponents.
For the third straight week, the Arrows gave hope to the team on the opposite sideline by trailing in the first quarter.
But for the third straight week, Ashland didn’t let that joy last long.
This time around, the Arrows scored the final 42 points in Friday’s 42-7 drubbing of visiting Dover on Military Appreciation Night at Community Stadium.
With the defense forcing four more turnovers and quarterback Nathan Bernhard accounting for five more touchdowns, Ashland hit the halfway point of its regular season with a perfect 5-0 record.
The Arrows now have outscored their opponents 145-21 after the first quarter this year.
“There are a couple times we’ve gotten a little bit lucky with turnovers in big spots,” senior defensive back Tanner Wolfe said. “But there are other times where we’re just flying to the football and we’re playing aggressive and (defensive coordinator Ryan Stackhouse) is setting us up in really, really great spots.”
Both Wolfe and Jordan Ferguson had fumble recoveries in the win, while Bodie Smith and Jeff Hickey added interceptions for the Arrows.
The first two turnovers led to rushing touchdowns for Bernhard and a 21-7 lead late in the second quarter.
Both were critical in re-setting the tone in a game that saw Dover (1-4) put up roughly 300 yards of offense – most of it through the air.
Sophomore quarterback Dieter Weber (24-of-33, 275 yards passing) threw for nine first downs in the first half and had a constant connection in the hurry-up screen game with shifty sophomore receiver Dante Clark (11 catches for 148 yards).
But Ashland scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions after the first quarter to ground the Crimson Tornadoes.
Additional defensive stalwarts Gunner Lacey and Budda Martin were in on a variety of big hits for AHS.
“When you see a team that’s well-coached, then you throw in some toughness and the fact that they’re a hard-nosed team … they’re gonna be tough to beat,” first-year Dover head coach Matt Rees said.
With a steady wind at his back in the second and third quarters, AHS kicker Carson O’Brien (6-for-6 on PATs) continuously hammered his kickoffs through the end zone. Dover didn’t start a single drive after the first quarter beyond its own 20-yard line.
“Carson does a great job, not only extra points, but kickoff-wise,” said Arrows head coach Scott Valentine, who notched the 190th win of his 29-year coaching career. “He gives us an opportunity (to win field position).”
Offensively, the eye-opener of the night came via the connection between Bernhard and receiver Braden Donatini.
The senior entered Week 5 without a catch all season, but Bernhard found him down the middle of the field three times for 93 yards against the Tornadoes.
Donatini’s first catch went for 49 yards to set up the first of three rushing touchdowns in the game for Bernhard (64 yards on 17 carries).
The senior duo then linked up for scoring strikes of 24 and 20 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively.
“I didn’t throw him the ball at all in the first four games … so I don’t think (Dover) thought I would throw the ball to him (Friday),” Bernhard said. “They left the middle of the field wide open and we just attacked that; the safeties were bailing to our other weapons.”
Bernhard finished his game 17-of-26 through the air for 230 yards. His first completion went to Killian O’Brien (5 catches, 38 yards) and was the 500th completion of his career.
The Appalachian State commit also found senior Gabe Baith five times for 56 yards and hit Grayson Baith – who had a rushing TD for the fifth straight game – four times for 37 yards.
He lauded the various playmakers he has at his disposal.
“You can’t have just one guy to throw the ball to because teams can really gear in on that and they can shut that down,” Bernhard said. “So having five legitimate options is huge.”
The 6-foot-6 senior posted his 11th consecutive game without an interception – a stretch of more than 200 passes – while also surpassing 8,600 career yards of offense and reaching 96 career touchdowns (passing and rushing combined).
Bernhard even had a few key tackles on defense early.
Rees said watching film on the physical quarterback is an altogether different kind of week of preparation.
“I remember when we came up here and scrimmaged Ashland when he was a freshman and I said, ‘That kid’s gonna be special,’” Rees said. “Obviously, he is.
“You want to try to find where is the weakness and a quarterback like that doesn’t have any weaknesses.”
For its part, Dover scored on its second offensive play of the game when Weber hit Liam Mast for a 49-yard touchdown. But that was all the scoring for a team that entered this season with seven consecutive playoff appearances.
While Friday’s result was a runaway, Valentine said he expects the Tornadoes to be a very solid challenge when they join the Ohio Cardinal Conference next fall.
The two schools were rivals in the former Cardinal Conference and Dover still has a 23-13 record in the all-time series.
“They’re a good program, great coaching staff ,” he said. “I know they’re off to a rough start, but they’ve had a good non-league schedule.”
Ashland, meanwhile, returns to Community Stadium for OCC play in Week 6 to host Madison for its Homecoming game. The Rams (2-3, 1-1) were toppled 35-0 Friday night at home by West Holmes (4-1, 2-0), which has won four straight.