Collaboration: Statistical information from the game in this article was provided by Kris Mowry, Tony Van Duyne and Aidan Chandler with the Ashland Arrows Broadcasting Network, hosted by YouTube.
MARION – It wasn’t the smoothest sailing at times for the Ashland football team Friday night at Marion Harding.
But the Arrows found a way to keep some snazzy streaks alive.
Behind a 27-13 victory, Ashland not only retained the rivalry’s Erie Bell for the fifth straight season, but it started the year 2-0 for the fourth consecutive season as well.
“Defensively, early on, we got some stops and got the ball and we just didn’t finish some drives there in the first half that would have made a difference,” said Ashland head coach Scott Valentine, whose squad was hindered by seven penalties, a pair of turnovers and a pair of blocked kicks in the game.
“We’ve got to play at a higher level all the way through. There were some things that we worked on this week that we did better, but there are still a lot of things we’ve got to shore up.”
The meeting with the Presidents (1-1) was the 63rd for the Arrows, who now have a 25-34-4 record in the rivalry. And for the second straight week, they never trailed.
After Ashland junior quarterback Liam Hubacher ran in the game’s first score, a blocked punt gave Harding a short field for its first points to make it 7-6 in the second quarter.
But Ashland’s Carter Nelson came up with a 10-yard touchdown catch to send it into halftime at 14-6. The Arrows had a 21-6 lead in the third on a 4-yard score from senior running back Grayson Baith (19 carries for 90 yards).
Harding pulled within 21-13, but Ashland senior Jeff Hickey scooped up a fumble in the fourth quarter and ran it 20 yards to finish off the game’s scoring.
That capped a second straight solid week for the AHS defense, which had big nights from junior linebacker Bodie Smith, sophomore lineman Teagan Sauder (two sacks late in the game) and junior defensive back Brayten Stuart (interception for the second straight week).
Prexies sophomore quarterback Dez Feliciano was kept to just 7-of-22 passing for 84 yards, while the host’s top runner was Marcus McGary (11 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown).
Ashland’s offensive counter-punches were enough to cancel all that out.
A week after playing through a broken nose in the opener, Hubacher was 15-of-23 passing for 119 yards and a touchdown while also running it 13 times for 49 yards and a score.
“There were points in the game where I thought he looked more comfortable (than Week 1),” Valentine said, “but this is only his second start on Friday night. It takes longer than that to (settle in).”
Baith again was critical in the ground game, one week after clearing 1,000 rushing yards for his career, and senior Killian O’Brien was the game’s most clutch receiver.
A week after posting a career-high eight receptions at Bay, O’Brien re-set that mark with 10 catches for 87 yards against Harding.
The senior now has cleared 90 receptions and 1,600 receiving yards for his career.
“There’s no doubt he was a guy coming back that could make plays and we have to get him the ball,” Valentine said. “Then Grayson Baith running the ball for us – and even Liam running the ball – that puts some stress on defenses.”
The Arrows now have scored at least 27 points in 14 consecutive games and will turn their attention to Week 3.
They crack open their home schedule at Community Stadium when they welcome Clyde (1-1) to town. The Fliers have split their first two games, falling to Bellevue (42-0) before a win Friday over Toledo Start (33-6).
Of Ashland’s 10 wins last season, its 35-21 win over Clyde was the closest all year.
Valentine, now 197-123 in 30 seasons as a head coach, said the whole team is looking forward to finally hosting a game again.
“Opening up with two on the road, that’s usually pretty tough, and we had long trips on both of them,” he said. “To be able to return home, we have great support from our students, our band, the community and parents. To have them here and not having to travel should bring some excitement for the kids.”
