After  two year hiatus, an in-county battle resumes as Ashland travels to Boyd County this week. Ashland (5-2) is rolling as they most recently blew out Rowan County 54-0. Boyd County (5-2) is also coming off a blow out victory, defeating Greenup County 49-7. Greenup is a common opponent of the two. Ashland defeated Greenup 35-21 in what was definitely their ugliest win thus far in terms of their own performance. 

Ashland last gave up double-digit points to Boyd in 2014 and has thoroughly decimated them in most matchups in the past couple decades, the exception being a couple low scoring slugfests. This year should be totally different. Boyd not only has a legitimate shot to win but there is a decent pathway to victory for them. Ashland has been prone to some defensive miscues. Jace Manning is a dual threat quarterback who may very well break a couple big plays against that Ashland defense.

On the other hand, Boyd has to come up with an answer for Cam Davis, one of the most dominant rushers in the state. If Ashland can get their yards on the ground and control the pace of the play, they may very well fend off Boyd's explosiveness.

This should be an incredibly fun game Friday.

Bump.

This rivalry has the potential to be NEKY's best if only the Lions could end the current 21 game hold Ashland has over them. These two get hot for each other in every other sport, but football remains the outlier.

The last two weeks suggest this could be the year for Boyd. They gave Johnson Central all they could handle before clubbing Greenup County last week. 

Cam Davis is always the standout name for Ashland as 4A's second leading scorer and one of the more dangerous playmakers in the class. He can score in a variety of ways and from any corner of the field. Boyd counters with linebacker Brody Castle, 4A's leader in tackles (102) and TFL (18).

On 10/4/2025 at 1:50 PM, se7ens said:

After two year hiatus, an in-county battle resumes as Ashland travels to Boyd County this week. Ashland (5-2) is rolling as they most recently blew out Rowan County 54-0. Boyd County (5-2) is also coming off a blow out victory, defeating Greenup County 49-7. Greenup is a common opponent of the two. Ashland defeated Greenup 35-21 in what was definitely their ugliest win thus far in terms of their own performance. 

Ashland last gave up double-digit points to Boyd in 2014 and has thoroughly decimated them in most matchups in the past couple decades, the exception being a couple low scoring slugfests. This year should be totally different. Boyd not only has a legitimate shot to win but there is a decent pathway to victory for them. Ashland has been prone to some defensive miscues. Jace Manning is a dual threat quarterback who may very well break a couple big plays against that Ashland defense.

On the other hand, Boyd has to come up with an answer for Cam Davis, one of the most dominant rushers in the state. If Ashland can get their yards on the ground and control the pace of the play, they may very well fend off Boyd's explosiveness.

This should be an incredibly fun game Friday.

They've played the last two years. Boyd probably wishes they could scrub those results, but they did play.

The Tomcats have literally looked like two different teams throughout the season. When they don’t turn it over they look like a contender. When they do, they look like a pretender. They have one bad loss against Lawrence County in which they had five turnovers. They also have an ugly win against Greenup in which they had four turnovers. Therefore a Tomcat blowout and a narrow loss are both on the table. But heck, maybe a first…a close win. Going with the Tomcats but your guess is as good as mine concerning the final score. 

Halftime 

Ashland 21

Boyd County 7

Cam Davis scored all three Tomcat touchdowns in the 2Q.

35-7 Ashland 

6:51 3Q

Looks like "good" Ashland has shown up tonight in Cannonsburg.

Ballgame. Ashland rolls, 48-7.