At first glance, the matchup between Ashland and Tates Creek feels like it should go in favor of the Tomcats. I believe a closer game can be expected Friday. 

Tates Creek comes off a 66 point performance in a history over Mercer County while Ashland found itself on the wrong end of a 17-14 slugfest against Raceland.

Which unit holds? Will Ashland’s defense be able to contain the Commodore offense? Can the Tomcats’ offense find more success? 

A win by Creek would only surge their momentum after their week 1 win while Ashland strains to right things after the narrow defeat to Raceland.

Ashland wins but it won’t be easy, as many would expect.

So a team that just lost to a 1A (albeit perennial 1A power) is supposed to beat a 6A team with a legit QB/WR/RB tandem that just put 66 points on somebody? 

This may be a game of the week candidate then.

1 hour ago, Hungover_in_Andover said:

So a team that just lost to a 1A (albeit perennial 1A power) is supposed to beat a 6A team with a legit QB/WR/RB tandem that just put 66 points on somebody? 

This may be a game of the week candidate then.

I tend to agree that it might be.

I'll go with Ashland since they probably have better defense.

Ashland may have lost in week one, but I think the Tomcats are going to surprise people this year. Hughes was learning his place last week and started to find his groove in the second half. He is going to be a nice duel threat for Ashland and teams are going to have trouble defending him. Ashland’s defense is sound and will cause offenses problems. 

This series has a neat history despite the two programs only meeting four times. The first time the two programs collided was in 1972 in the state championship game with Lexington Tates Creek winning 16-7. An interesting fact about that game is who was roaming the sidelines for Tates Creek - a young Philip Haywood, an assistant that would take his first head coaching job at Prestonsburg three years later. Tates Creek was coached by Roy Walton who had a spectacular coaching career, Philip Haywood being one of the many coaches he mentored. Ashland was coached by Herb Conley, who is also one of the best and very highly regarded in the profession. He would get an at-large state championship in 1975. Coach Haywood wrote about his interaction with Coach Conley after Ashland and Belfry met in the playoffs one year (This was after Conley was Ashland's head coach) and thought highly of him. Coach Conley saw in Coach Haywood what a lot of people did at that time, and encouraged him to stay the course as at that time Coach Haywood's teams were getting close to winning it all but falling short either in the championship game or a game or two before.

Ashland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the "JAWS" team, having won an at-large state championship behind a tough defense in that 1975 season. The following year Herb Conley's final game came against Tates Creek at Ashland where Tates Creek won 14-13 in overtime behind a controversial finish on a missed extra point call. The two programs would not meet again until 2015, when Ashland traveled to Tates Creek for the last game of the season. Tates Creek would win 41-22 and the next season would be the most recent meeting for the two programs, when a young Ashland team would pick up a 23-12 win at home. That would be a part of a run where they would reach the regional final for the first time since 2004.

Against Raceland last week Ashland improved throughout the game and overall were a bit ahead of where I expected them to be at this point. Hughes came along throughout the game. He has a cannon of an arm and excellent speed. Ashland ran several short pass plays against Raceland that were effective as he was able to get their ball there quickly. I also felt the offensive line for Ashland was ahead of where they were at this point last year. After having 63 rushing yards total at halftime, Ashland had around 120 in the second half getting a much better push up front. Defensively they had some strong moments too. Raceland had an experienced, talented offensive line with strong backs and after Ashland adjusted down 14-0 the only time Raceland moved the ball consistently came on the last drive where they kicked the game winning field goal. Ashland is known more for speed and ability to swarm the ball defensively to the outside, but this defense did an excellent job up front against a big, physical line.

Tates Creek will not be an easy win for Ashland at all. First, this was a 6-4 team last year and noting at a couple of their losses from last season. Frederick Douglass, state power. Bryan Station, 7-5 last season....but those losses come to the hands of Trinity, Boyle County, Bowling Green, Frederick Douglass, and a tight one against Madison Central in the state tournament. Tates Creek is just six years removed from a state semifinal appearance and has been in the regional semifinals more years than not over the last decade in 6A.

This is a senior-heavy Tates Creek team that has a nice QB back in Burnside, a back in Bryan Evans that ran for nearly 1,800 yards with 20 touchdowns, and both of their top receivers returning from last season. They lost some key players on the defensive side, but do return a few that are playmakers and I feel confident they will mix in some new players who will step it up and fill those voids. Historically, Tates Creek has always brought a lot of athleticism to the table and this matchup will be especially fun to watch with all the speed on the field on both sides. There are some similarities to their styles of play.

 

Very tough game to pick this early in the season. Pedigree suggests Ashland should win this, but Tates Creek's opener was impressive.

I will stick with Ashland in a pretty fun game where both teams get over the 30 mark.

NFHS Video.

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/tates-creek-high-school-lexington-ky/gama87e87722e

Ashland up 23-9 late in the 2nd quarter at Tates Creek.