Friday, August 23, 2024, 7:30 PM

Ram Stadium – Raceland High School

First off, before jumping into the thread I would like to remind you – WE ARE ONE WEEK AWAY FROM FOOTBALL! Ahhhh the excitement!

And the first week will feature one of the great rivalries in Eastern Kentucky as the Ashland Tomcats travel to play the Rams of Raceland. This, in my opinion, will be the first, true, game that these two storied programs will have played at Raceland. The series was played only at Ashland for a number of years and although the two schools did play at Raceland in 2020, it was during the COVID era with a highly limited crowd due to the impact of the pandemic. In 2022 Raceland was in the process of having extensive maintenance work done on their field so the game was played on a Saturday night at Wheelersburg High School in Ohio where Raceland picked up their largest win in the series, 34-7.

Ashland went 10-2 last season, returning the bulk of their athletes from a team that reached the regional semifinals in a loaded 4A class, losing 35-28 to eventual state finalist Covington Catholic. Ashland returns players such as 3 star runningback Braxton Jennings along with QB LaBryant Strader, who likely by the end of this season will be one of the all time leading passers in the program. If they can replace some of their key departures such as lineman Cole Christian or

Raceland finished 11-4 with a tough schedule, making it all the way to the state finals for the second consecutive season before losing 21-0 to Pikeville. Raceland loses some key players such as QB Logan Lundy and Parker Fannin and are experimenting a bit finding a younger class to step up and replace what is considered by many the greatest senior class departing from Raceland.

This rivalry has a lot of great history to it as Raceland would pick up their first win in the series in 1991, 14-13 after a big goal line stand late in the game and even winning three in a row against the larger Ashland at one point from 2006 – 2008. Former Ashland Coach, 2020 state champion Tony Love would pick up his first win as a head coach against Raceland in a 35-34 overtime win that Ashland did not lead at any point in the game until the game winning two point conversion in overtime. I could go on and on with great moments. Point being, there has been a lot of excitement in the series and I expect this game to be no different.

Ashland won the most recent meeting at Putnam Stadium last season, 28-21 last season. What are your thoughts on the game this year?

The Tomcats hold a sizeable advantage in talent and experience. Raceland will be hyped up at home and you always have to take Week 1 miscues into account, but Ashland should run away with this one in the end. 

Agree with Devil, the Rams will hang around for a quarter or two, but eventually the Tomcats roll. 

Bump.

Raceland Rams (1A #4) | Ashland Tomcats (4A #6)

NEKY's Brand Names Hit The Fast Track In “Race"land

Player Spotlight 

R: Bryson Rowsey (WR/DB) - The Rams’ returning leader among receivers and defensive backs | Linden Sammons (DL) - 67 tackles and 7 TFL last season

A: LaBryant Strader (QB) - 20/1 touchdown to interception ratio last season | Braxton Jennings (RB) - 42 touchdowns over the last two years and multiple D1 offers

Series History: Ashland leads 24-10 all-time | Raceland had won two in a row before the Tomcats claimed last year's back and forth battle at Putnam Stadium 

On 8/17/2024 at 11:11 PM, DevilMayCare said:

The Tomcats hold a sizeable advantage in talent and experience. Raceland will be hyped up at home and you always have to take Week 1 miscues into account, but Ashland should run away with this one in the end. 

Spoken like a true Russell fan.  I remember similar comments before.  When does Russell play Raceland?

Raceland drives and stales in the orange zone. Punts to Ashland. 

Ashland run with no gain. 

Strader screen left. 3rd and 1 for Ashland. 

Jennings runs right. Hit immediately. 1st and 10

 

7 yards for strader 

 

No gain for Ashland. 3 rd and 3 Ashland 

Strader to Jennings. In Raceland territory. 1st and 10 Ashland 

Handoff Ashby for 3