A ? | Ashland runs the clock on the previously unbeaten Red Devils. The Tomcats owned every phase of this game.

The score surprised me. I thought this was a tossup. Ashland has looked like a different team the last two weeks. Russell gets a reality check but has a chance to regroup the next three weeks before playing a physical East Carter team. 

Ouch!

A gut punch for Russell in this rivalry.  Speed and athleticism is the difference between these two programs.  I too thought this would be closer and definitely did not see the running clock.

Well this didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. Ashland took Russell to the woodshed on this one. The way Russell was playing it looked like they had a  chance. Great game on Ashlands part!

On 9/20/2025 at 10:57 AM, citycat said:

A gut punch for Russell in this rivalry. Speed and athleticism is the difference between these two programs.  I too thought this would be closer and definitely did not see the running clock.

Russell probably has more speed and athleticism than it has in years and Ashland lost the likes of Braxton Jennings and Maverick Ashby, but the gap was still noticeable, in particular with Ashland's defense. There was nowhere for Russell to go with the ball. 

At this point, I think it's also a mental thing for the Devils. It felt as if they were beaten before the opening kick-off. The best thing they can do is scrub this and move on. They'll have three weeks to build back some confidence before East Carter pays them a visit in a probable district championship game. 

Ashland is +120 on the scoreboard over the last three years. This is the most lopsided the series has been since the first three games the two schools ever played. 

Definitely now third in the pecking order in the county.