This matchup features two teams aiming for big things this year. The Raceland Rams fell 28-7 at home in this game last year but find themselves still the talk of 1A as they enter the 2025 season.

Ashland’s season ended brutally to Corbin but they hope to build off of last year’s success to that point. 

The Rams held the Tomcats to under 100 rushing yards last year, forcing Ashland to be successful in the air.  LaBryant Strader finished with over 200 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. With him now gone, who will fill those shoes offensively? Will it still be an air-focused attack?

This one might be tighter than last year’s contest but Ashland at home will be hard to overcome all the same. 

This is a hard pick this year because there are some unknowns about Ashland and what they return while Raceland returns a lot. Ashby and Davis will be the primary work horses for the Tomcats, that is for certain. Stiltner, Waller, and Ison will be the work horses for the Rams. 

Because it is at Putnam, I am going 21-20, Tomcats in OT with the Rams going for two and failing. I think it can go either way, but my heart falls here. 

Putnam Stadium is a glorious venue, but it is tough to come out of there with a win for the visitors.   Games have a way of slipping away there.  I’ll be pulling for the Rams though and they have had more success there than my Pirates have.  

Raceland has a lot of offense back from last year and if Ashland's defense isn't in mid-season form, this game could get away from the Tomcats quick, fast and in a hurry.  Raceland will score points in this game.  The trouble for Ashland, they may have a little more trouble scoring points and they will be hoping for a defensive battle.  I think Raceland will be three touchdowns better than Ashland at Putnam, so.......

Raceland 28

Ashland 21

11 minutes ago, Ram said:

Raceland has a lot of offense back from last year and if Ashland's defense isn't in mid-season form, this game could get away from the Tomcats quick, fast and in a hurry.  Raceland will score points in this game.  The trouble for Ashland, they may have a little more trouble scoring points and they will be hoping for a defensive battle.  I think Raceland will be three touchdowns better than Ashland at Putnam, so.......

Raceland 28

Ashland 21

I really think this game could go either way. If this game were at Raceland, I would certainly lean to Raceland's favor. It should be a very good game. Exited to see it!

22 hours ago, Ram said:

Raceland has a lot of offense back from last year and if Ashland's defense isn't in mid-season form, this game could get away from the Tomcats quick, fast and in a hurry.  Raceland will score points in this game.  The trouble for Ashland, they may have a little more trouble scoring points and they will be hoping for a defensive battle.  I think Raceland will be three touchdowns better than Ashland at Putnam, so.......

Raceland 28

Ashland 21

Why, Ram.... are you implying that Ashland benefits from home cooking? That the officials live across the street? That the Tomcats need only break the plane of the five yard line to be credited with a touchdown? All of the above? ?

For anyone doubting my sincerity, the phantom touchdown at the five is a real thing that happened a couple of years ago. 

Cam Davis and Maverick Ashby are legit, but I'm not confident Ashland's offense will produce enough to beat the Rams. Too many questions. Strader was an all-timer at quarterback. It may take them a while to replace his command of the offense.

I think this is a rare season where Raceland enters as a road favorite at Putnam and has the goods to walk away with the win.

5 hours ago, DevilMayCare said:

Why, Ram.... are you implying that Ashland benefits from home cooking? That the officials live across the street? That the Tomcats need only break the plane of the five yard line to be credited with a touchdown? All of the above? ?

For anyone doubting my sincerity, the phantom touchdown at the five is a real thing that happened a couple of years ago. 

It, indeed, did occur. I saw it, with my own eyes. Couldn't but had to...

@Ram What’s your thoughts on this one?

This game is in our contest.

On 8/17/2025 at 7:25 PM, Ram said:

Raceland has a lot of offense back from last year and if Ashland's defense isn't in mid-season form, this game could get away from the Tomcats quick, fast and in a hurry.  Raceland will score points in this game.  The trouble for Ashland, they may have a little more trouble scoring points and they will be hoping for a defensive battle.  I think Raceland will be three touchdowns better than Ashland at Putnam, so.......

Raceland 28

Ashland 21

16 hours ago, Bac2369 said:

@Ram What’s your thoughts on this one?

Of course he is taking the Rams!

Bump.

On 8/18/2025 at 5:39 PM, DevilMayCare said:

Why, Ram.... are you implying that Ashland benefits from home cooking? That the officials live across the street? That the Tomcats need only break the plane of the five yard line to be credited with a touchdown? All of the above? ?

For anyone doubting my sincerity, the phantom touchdown at the five is a real thing that happened a couple of years ago. 

That was a playoff game that Ashland won by a bunch. The officials were from a "galaxy far, far away". Coach Tackett told them it wasn't a TD but it was a moot point. I just wrote a book sized response and then deleted it but...long story short...my Stats classes over the years collected data and tried to find statistical significance to justify home cooking at many local schools but we just couldn't find anything to support it. We would manipulate values to try to get some type of ordering at very low levels of significance and Blazer usually fell mid-pack. Which means nothing given the manipulation. When we lose it's human nature to find a reason and officials are at the front lines of the blame game. There isn't a school out there that hasn't had a memorable big call go against them, and just like with the example here, the official made the incompetent call due to...incompetence...not favoritism. Is it always incompetence? No, just human error, and from the data we collected, consistent and non-directed human error.

And hey, I got Raceland in this one. Ashland just has too many issues at the QB position. Both young men in the running for the starting job are great kids and both will make fine QB's but it's just too much pressure this early. 

 

Lots of excitement in this one. Always a great game between two fantastic programs!

I meant to post sooner about Ashland's scrimmage last week against Huntington High (WV) and how that ties in before I jump into the game analysis. Huntington High is a great school with a state championship in the last five years (2022) and has consistently been in contention. They have a LOT of athleticism with two D1 linemen and QB Tayveon Wilson who is committed to Clemson. Like with the first scrimmage against Jackson, I felt like both teams accomplished what they needed to. Neither scored in the two sets of ten plays (Although both moved the ball), Ashland won the two sets of ten plays on JV, and the lone score of the entire varsity game came for Ashland when the two teams opened it up to full game play. Mason Wolfe stripped the ball from a player who caught a screen pass, going 20 yards for the defensive score. Mason has had an outstanding couple of scrimmages on both sides of the ball. Huntington had loads of athleticism and looked like a team that will be a real threat this year. It is worth noting that with Tayveon Wilson's leg being injured in the winter, Huntington did not run him one time out of precaution - which certainly won't be case the case in the regular season.

All in all, a good scrimmage and Huntington's backs remind me of the type that Raceland will send.

As to this game, I feel like in one particular way it is similar to the prior year except the roles are flipped. Ashland had LaBryant Strader at QB last year, a generational talent who had two seasons starting under his belt already. Raceland was still working kinks at the QB position and it took until later in the season before they hit their stride. This year Raceland returns the efficient Waller who completed a whopping 72% of his passes last season including 7/10 in the state semifinal and 13/15 in the state championship game. So Raceland has the experience coming back. Ashland has two talented young quarterbacks on their roster in Stutler and Hughes, but both are young and it will take some time to get them acclimated to the varsity level. However, both are very talented and will be strong leaders for their team.

Whichever direction Ashland goes, they have a lot of speed and athletes like Cam Davis or Mason Wolfe could be the difference maker for them. The difference with this Ashland team, from a running perspective, is the incredible amount of depth they have at the RB position. There are several guys on that team who can flat out run the football. Defensively Ashland looked impressive in both scrimmages. As usual, they have a lot of speed to the outside and their line had a couple of impressive pass rushes against Huntington High. I expect we will see Ashland try to attack with the run and utilize that to set up the pass. Defensively, I expect they will see a heavy load of Marushi and Stiltner while having to defend the occasional pass from Waller. One problem with defending Raceland is how they make you defend the whole field. They do a great job with those WR screen passes and I anticipate there will be a few of those tonight, especially if Ashland starts to key on Stiltner and Marushi.

As for Raceland, they had a couple of solid scrimmages and that experience on both sides of the ball can go a long way. Offensively, it seems like the teams that have had the best success against Ashland over the years have been the ones that run right at them. Given Raceland's offense with two backs like Stiltner and Marushi, they will likely get the ball early and often. They return a lot of from a defense that held Ashland under 100 yards on the ground last year, and it's likely they will be defending heavily against the run. The challenging part about defending Ashland is, as mentioned before, the depth at the RB position. Cam Davis is a breakaway player and they can utilize him in many different ways, including the jet sweep. Mav Ashby and Rieday Rucker are powerful runners. Ashland will likely send several players at Raceland.

It should be a fun atmosphere. Excited to get the season started!