Ashland Tomcats ?

2024 Outcome: 11-2, lost 42-7 to Corbin in the region finals

2025 Outlook: Seemingly always on the periphery of 4A contenders, Ashland will look to break through in what should be a deep and wide open field of brand name programs.

? LaBryant Strader (QB) | Braxton Jennings (RB/DB) | Adam Frame (OL/LB) | Ryland Kelley (LB)

Strader, Ashland's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, leaves behind substantial shoes to fill. Same goes for Jennings, an explosive all-purpose back who totaled over 1,600 yards from scrimmage and 25 touchdowns. Frame was the sturdy heartbeat in the middle of the defense. 

? Cam Davis (ATH) | Sam Lyons (WR/DB) | Dylan Duckwyler (WR/LB) | Maverick Ashby (RB/DB) | Keshawn Newman (LB) | JJ Keyes (LB) | Rieday Rucker (DL) 

Davis, Lyons, and Duckwyler provide versatility and experience to break in a new quarterback, and Ashby is primed for a breakout year as a primary ball carrier.

The Tomcats return multiple bodies at each level of the defense, which should be the strength of the team until the new trigger man settles in.

Once he does, Ashland could find itself inching toward the Top 5 of a crowded 4A class. In the meantime, look for Ashland to begin the season hanging around the back end of the Top 10.

The schedule opens with possible 1A #1 Raceland and closes with perennial 3A contender Lexington Catholic. Johnson Central, as they have for most of the last twenty years, highlights the battles in between. Last year's contest was one of the season's best games and the Golden Eagles are raring to get back at the Tomcats, this time in Paintsville. 

For those who are having a hard time making out the team names at the bottom of their schedule graphic there, even if you're wearing your "cheaters," lol...

Scrimmage 1: vs. Jackson (OH)
Scrimmage 2: vs. Huntington (WV)
Aug 22 vs. Raceland
Aug 29 at Tates Creek
Sep 5 at Lawrence County
Sep 12 vs. East Jessamine
Sep 19 at Russell
Sep 26 vs. Greenup County (District)
Oct 3 vs. Rowan County (District)
Oct 10 at Boyd County (District)
Oct 17 - BYE
Oct 24 at Johnson Central (District)
Oct 31 vs. Lexington Catholic

To me that is a fairly soft schedule with two tough games at the end.  Weird. 

14 hours ago, theguru said:

To me that is a fairly soft schedule with two tough games at the end.  Weird. 

I agree. Doing themselves no favors here.

At this point I have not looked into some of the new teams on the schedule (Although I know the reputation of schools like Lexington Catholic) but last season Ashland played Harvest Prep out of Ohio, who would be a 2A school in Kentucky that is tough. They would defeat Ashland 26-10. Had it been to a Kentucky team, that might have changed some things. That game alone did some damage to Ashland on the RPI and even if they would have won, would not have picked up as big of a boost.

I am not sure of the changes that have been made to the RPI since 2020. But that year coming into the 3A state championship game Ashland and Elizabethtown had comparable schedules with a couple of exceptions. Both had a top five team in their district. E-town with Bardstown and Ashland with Russell. The rest of their districts were mostly developing programs. The difference between the two is that E-town played a 2 win 6A Central Hardin team winning 20-14, beating 8th ranked 5A team North Bullitt 55-41, then 6A Meade County 36-6. Meade County finished 4-6. Ashland had a 1 win 4A team in Bourbon County, a regional finalist 3A team in Bell County, and a Rowan County team that was 4A and made the regional finals for the first time since the early 1980's. E-town finished with a .74000 RPI rating while Ashland finished with a .65900 rating. I feel like playing up in class, in state, makes a huge difference when it comes to the RPI.

It could have changed since 2020, but a lot of the grumblings I hear from programs are pertaining to out of state opponents and I anticipate that after multiple instances of having to play a road game in the playoffs due to an out of state opponent (whether that be win or loss) that is why Ashland is going with the schedule they have. Many Ironton (OH) and Ashland fans are enthusiastic about hopefully renewing their series one day, a series that was last played in 2019 where Ashland won 16-10 in overtime and didn't get much RPI help despite Ironton being a team that had only one loss in the season and made the state finals.

As for the team, they have some key losses. But also some key returning players. Athleticism won't be a problem. I think the QB position will be solid with multiple players that are capable of filling in and doing a good job. They have an impressive freshman class coming up. Strader and Jennings are special, no doubt. But I think Ashland will have some solid guys that step it up and fill the roles. Adam Frame had a high level IQ defensively - that is one that will be a big loss. 

On 1/30/2025 at 6:35 PM, theguru said:

To me that is a fairly soft schedule with two tough games at the end.  Weird. 

I'm definitely getting softer and my kids think I'm weird but I'm not sure those are descriptors for Ashland's schedule next year. The main difference the past couple years has been Ashland moving towards dropping the out of state teams. Most programs are trying to schedule higher class teams that they think they can beat which has nothing to do with wanting to schedule up or down. It has to do with our old RPI buddy. Ashland trying to fill the gaps (created by not playing out of state) in a relatively short period of time is not easy to do with many Kentucky teams having reciprocal contracts and very little wiggle room in their schedules.

Looking specifically at the schedule differences to try to justify "soft" or "weird":  West Jessamine was replaced with East Jessamine (East beat West last year), Bardstown was replaced with Lawrence County (probably about a parallel move), Harvest Prep was replaced with Tates Creek (a move down but very smart from an RPI perspective), and Simon Kenton was replaced with Lexington Catholic (a probable step up but not a great RPI move). Their first game is against Raceland who will be a rare favorite in this game next year. This is the game that I have always said makes no sense for the Tomcats. I follow both teams and I am glad they play but this is a game where year after year the Tomcats have little to gain and everything to lose. Also, Johnson Central should be stronger and Ashland will most likely be weaker relative to the teams they each fielded this past season. 

The only "soft" I could possibly see in this schedule versus last year is Harvest Prep being replaced with Tates Creek which is, as I said earlier, a very smart move from an RPI perspective. In my opinion Ashland is just trying to move to a schedule that doesn't handicap their team. Period. Nothing soft or weird about that, especially with a young team in a rebuilding year. 

7 minutes ago, rerun said:

I'm definitely getting softer and my kids think I'm weird but I'm not sure those are descriptors for Ashland's schedule next year. The main difference the past couple years has been Ashland moving towards dropping the out of state teams. Most programs are trying to schedule higher class teams that they think they can beat which has nothing to do with wanting to schedule up or down. It has to do with our old RPI buddy. Ashland trying to fill the gaps created by not playing out of state in a relatively short period of time is not easy to do with many Kentucky teams having reciprocal contracts and very little wiggle room in their schedules.

Looking specifically at the schedule differences to try to justify "soft" or "weird":  West Jessamine was replaced with East Jessamine (East beat West last year), Bardstown was replaced with Lawrence County (probably about a parallel move), Harvest Prep was replaced with Tates Creek (a move down but very smart from an RPI perspective), and Simon Kenton was replaced with Lexington Catholic (a probable step up but not a great RPI move). Their first game is against Raceland who will be a rare favorite in this game next year. This is the game that I have always said makes no sense for the Tomcats. I follow both teams and I am glad they play but this is a game where year after year the Tomcats have little to gain and everything to lose. Also, Johnson Central should be stronger and Ashland will most likely be weaker relative to the teams they each fielded this past season. 

The only "soft" I could possibly see in this schedule versus last year is Harvest Prep being replaced with Tates Creek which is, as I said earlier, a very smart move from an RPI perspective. In my opinion Ashland is just trying to move to a schedule that doesn't handicap their team. Period. Nothing soft or weird about that, especially with a young team in a rebuilding year. 

I agree with most of what you're saying except that East is very much a parallel move to West. A big reason for West being scheduled was because of Marsh's ties to Ashland. East barely beat out West (who was not very good this year either). It doesn't help Ashland's RPI. In no way will that be a beneficial game for either team. And this being a new cycle for most teams, it shouldn't have been that hard to find the competition.   

5 minutes ago, JagNation said:

I agree with most of what you're saying except that East is very much a parallel move to West. A big reason for West being scheduled was because of Marsh's ties to Ashland. East barely beat out West (who was not very good this year either). It doesn't help Ashland's RPI. In no way will that be a beneficial game for either team. And this being a new cycle for most teams, it shouldn't have been that hard to find the competition.   

Right, other than the Marsh connection I know little about East or West Jessamine. I would rather have kept Simon Kenton or found another 5A or 6A team for the West Jessamine void. I'm sure they tried but there are always factors that we don't see on the outside looking in. 

It's rise and grind for Maverick Ashby. This is a name to watch for next season. ?

On 2/3/2025 at 9:54 AM, JagNation said:

I agree with most of what you're saying except that East is very much a parallel move to West. A big reason for West being scheduled was because of Marsh's ties to Ashland. East barely beat out West (who was not very good this year either). It doesn't help Ashland's RPI. In no way will that be a beneficial game for either team. And this being a new cycle for most teams, it shouldn't have been that hard to find the competition.   

Please be sure to consider also that East “barely beat” West, but it’s usually been a very intense in county rivalry game, East had a completely revamped staff, new offense, etc. Still quite a few misses where they should have been better (and should have won this game going away if we are being honest), but I dismiss generally rivalry games because they tend to be pretty emotional. I think overall Ashland adding East to replace West is definitely an upgrade. East will be better this year IMO. 

5 minutes ago, Old606Guy said:

Please be sure to consider also that East “barely beat” West, but it’s usually been a very intense in county rivalry game, East had a completely revamped staff, new offense, etc. Still quite a few misses where they should have been better (and should have won this game going away if we are being honest), but I dismiss generally rivalry games because they tend to be pretty emotional. I think overall Ashland adding East to replace West is definitely an upgrade. East will be better this year IMO. 

I'm from the community and very well versed with both programs. I believe that East will be better than West and should have a great and competitive season from looking at their schedule. That group coming up has a lot of potential solid pieces. I just don't think they are at the level (praying I'm wrong) to compete with Ashland. 

41 minutes ago, JagNation said:

I'm from the community and very well versed with both programs. I believe that East will be better than West and should have a great and competitive season from looking at their schedule. That group coming up has a lot of potential solid pieces. I just don't think they are at the level (praying I'm wrong) to compete with Ashland. 

Oh I agree it is a step up in competition for East but you don’t get better playing weaker programs. I think they did well to schedule Ashland. I was simply pointing out East is an upgrade over West for Ashland IMO. Can’t wait to watch this game. Never been to Ashlands home field. 

Photo credit to Mark Maynard.

On 5/31/2025 at 3:00 PM, theguru said:

Photo credit to Mark Maynard.