ASHLAND – No one can say the 2025 Ashland football team didn’t leave a lasting impression.
With one of the most talented senior classes in AHS history playing its final home game Friday night, the Arrows scorched their way into the school record books in a scintillating, 56-21 playoff rout of Mount Vernon.
The Ashland fans who braved the chillier temperatures at Community Stadium might want to save their ticket stubs.
The Arrows’ offensive explosion marked their most points ever scored in a playoff game, as they built a 42-13 lead by halftime in the Division II, Region 7 opening-round contest.
The history didn’t end there. Consider the individual milestones Ashland also garnered:
- Senior receiver Gabe Baith set a new school record for career receptions (now 167) on a career-defining night. He had eight catches for 163 yards, a career-high three receiving touchdowns and an 87-yard kickoff return for a score.
- Senior quarterback Nathan Bernhard scored the 50th rushing touchdown of his career and tied a school record with six touchdown passes. He was 18-of-24 for 327 yards, also surpassing 600 career completions and 10,500 career yards of offense.
- Senior linebacker Gunner Lacey cleared 400 career tackles after breaking the school record in that category in Week 10.
- Senior kicker Carson O’Brien tied a school record by hitting all eight of his PAT kicks.
The victory also stretched Ashland’s home winning streak to 15 games and came on the heels of one of the team’s most heart-wrenching losses – a 43-35 defeat at Lexington that cost the Arrows a second straight perfect regular season and an Ohio Cardinal Conference crown.
“It was an unfortunate loss (at Lexington), but we’ve got an opportunity to play more football,” said Bernhard, who also tied former All-Ohioan Taylor Housewright for the most career wins by an AHS starting quarterback (29). “We knew we could come out and get the job done and we did.”
“The big talking point (last) Saturday morning was that we’ve got an opportunity to move forward,” Ashland head coach Scott Valentine said, “and sometimes you don’t have that opportunity.”
The seventh-seeded Arrows (10-1) advance to play second-seeded Columbus St. Francis DeSales (8-2) on the road next week. It will be a second-round rematch from last season, when Ashland knocked off the Stallions at Community Stadium, 27-14.
To get back there, the Arrows put on a show Friday against the 10th-seeded Yellow Jackets (6-5), who qualified to the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Ashland forced a fumble on the game’s third offensive play that senior Tanner Wolfe scooped up, and one play later, Bernhard hit Killian O’Brien down the left side for a 27-yard touchdown.
“I think it definitely set the tone and we just kept building confidence after that and never looked back,” Wolfe said of the quick-strike turnover.
“The biggest part of the game is always who can make the first hit to really get the momentum going first,” Lacey added.
Mount Vernon standout senior quarterback Mason Richards broke through the line for a 71-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 on the ensuing drive.
But the Arrows – ranked No. 9 in the final Associated Press state poll – outscored the Yellow Jackets 35-6 over the final 20 minutes of the first half behind Bernhard and his speedy receiving corps.
“(Bernhard is) going to be right up there at the top (in the running for) Mr. Football,” Mount Vernon head coach Mark Weber said. “You don’t play those kids every year.
“He’s just a class kid and that’s the type of kid you’d want your town to rally behind. We’ve seen some good runners this year but we haven’t seen passers like that.”
The 6-foot-6 Appalachian State commit had nearly 350 yards of offense by halftime and also finished with a touchdown and 80 yards on 13 carries.
Now with 48 touchdowns this season, Friday’s seven total scores for Bernhard were second only to his historic, eight-touchdown game at West Holmes in 2024.
“Straight and simple, we had better athletes and we just beat them,” Bernhard said. “… They tried everything and nothing worked, and we were able to do whatever we wanted.”
Baith also was a wrecking ball in his Community Stadium send-off. The senior scored on catches of 12, 56 and 32 yards – all in the second quarter – a week after a 10-catch, 148-yard, two-TD game at Lexington.
“They went a lot of man (defense) and I think man-on-man, I think I have the advantage,” Baith said.
From Week 8 against West Holmes through halftime Friday night, the senior totaled 28 catches for 525 yards and five touchdowns in just 14 quarters.
His school-record-breaking 161st career reception Friday sent him past former All-Ohioan Jon Metzger (2020-22).
“I think (getting the record) will probably hit me at the end of the season,” Baith said. “But it’s nice to do it at home and do it in front of the home crowd.”
After Mount Vernon senior Lane Mussard forced a Bernhard fumble that junior Cash Ewers recovered, Richards punched in a 1-yard touchdown to cut the score to 28-13 with 3:50 left in the first half.
Richards’ 120 yards on 14 carries Friday put him over 1,500 rushing yards for his senior season.
Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Ashland squeezed two more touchdowns into the final 67 seconds of the first half on Bernhard throws to Baith and O’Brien.
The ladder touchdown went for 17 yards to O’Brien, who reached high into the air and pulled down a one-handed grab near the middle of the end zone.
It was the highlight-reel play of a night loaded with highlights.
“When we were practicing in warm-ups, he had been catching some stuff one-handed and he said, ‘I’m catching everything one-handed.’ And then he does that,” Valentine said with a laugh.
“Now he’ll think he can go one-hand everything. I’ll have to get on him in practice when he drops one. It was a great catch, no doubt.”
That made it 42-13 at halftime and the Arrows were able to force a running clock a few minutes into the third quarter when Bernhard hit Braden Donatini for a 10-yard scoring strike.
Mount Vernon got its final points of the season late in the third when Richards hit Zach Busenburg for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
Jackets running back Jake Hubbard surpassed 500 rushing yards for his freshman year on the night, collecting 81 on 12 carries, but Mount Vernon had no answers for the Ashland onslaught.
The Arrows were even missing top running back Grayson Baith, who was injured in Week 10 at Lexington.
Still, Weber said his program has plenty to build on moving forward.
Mount Vernon’s tie for second in the LCL Buckeye Division was its best finish in any league since 2010, and Weber said he likes the talent he’s got returning.
This year marked just the fifth winning record since 2003 for the Yellow Jackets, who were 2-8 last season.
Meanwhile, though Ashland’s offense was the showstopper of the night, the AHS defense was a swarming unit much of the game.
Wolfe, Lacey, Budda Martin, Jordan Ferguson and Liam Hubacher were top tacklers, and Jeff Hickey turned in his sixth interception of the season.
“Getting one more game at home and being able to show out in front of the amazing fans that have followed us everywhere,” Wolfe said, “it means everything to be able to ball out for them.”
The Arrows improved to 9-2 all-time in home playoff games. Now they will head to St. Francis DeSales next Friday for a showdown Bernhard expects to be a doozy.
“Obviously, they’re looking out for us, they want to beat us,” Bernhard said. “We beat them here at our place and we’ve got to go down to their place and they’re looking to get back at us for last year.”