TCR

Great idea for a thread. For me, being a super fan of Ashland goes far beyond wins, losses, or even one particular sport. My connection to Ashland athletics is rooted in the impact sports had on my personal development and the direction of my life. I played for Ashland and graduated in 2006, but my journey with athletics actually began with basketball, not football. At that time (late 1999) I was a kid who spent most of his time playing video games. Although I made good grades, I struggled socially in school and dealt with anger issues, much of which came after losing three grandparents within the span of a year, along with several elders at church whom I deeply admired. Something kept pulling at me when I read about basketball tryouts, so I decided to give it a chance. I had never played organized sports before and never expected to make the team - but I did. Looking back, that decision changed my life. I had started to develop a real love for athletics. Fast forward to my time as a freshman in high school, I was sitting in third-period science class when a friend encouraged me to come out for the freshman football team. The team had already gone through summer practice, but I joined anyway. After that season, I decided to continue on to the varsity level. I still remember my first max-out day in the weight room, when I could only squat 115 pounds. By the end of that offseason, I was squatting in the 300's. I was never a great player - honestly, I was not even a starter - but the lessons I learned were invaluable. After graduating in 2006, I went to college for accounting. At the time, I did not fully understand how much high school sports had taught me about discipline, commitment, teamwork, and professionalism. Playing high school sports, regardless of the sport, is a major commitment. In many ways, it is like working a part-time job. For me, it was also where I grew socially. In college, I went on to hold a couple of presidencies in honors organizations and continued to build on that foundation. In 2011, one of my former teammates from that grade school basketball team mentioned how much that season had impacted my social development and how it helped lead me toward the person I was becoming. That conversation caused me to reflect deeply on just how much of an impact sports had with my development. Sports helped me develop discipline. They helped me build social skills. They helped me grow from a selfish kid who mostly played video games into someone who understood what it meant to be part of a team. Over the years, I continued attending Ashland games. Then, in 2016, I had my first opportunity to announce. The Little League Softball State Tournament was being held in the area where I lived, and the managing partner at the accounting firm where I worked was also the league president. I announced the PA for that tournament and absolutely loved it. That experience gave me the confidence to accept a broadcasting position with a semi-pro football team, something I continued doing for three summers. At the beginning of 2019, my father passed away. That year, I started going back to all the Ashland games. Given where I was emotionally, I had no intention of getting into announcing high school sports. But later that year, during halftime of a basketball game, Dicky Martin walked by. We started talking about announcing, and he invited me to join him for an upcoming game. That first high school broadcast took place exactly one year to the date after my father passed away. It felt surreal. Before long, I was helping Dicky more often, working with My Town TV locally, and eventually traveling to Virginia to cover sports as well. One of the unexpected blessings of this journey has been building relationships - and even friendships - with people from opposing schools. One person who comes to mind is Philip Haywood from Belfry. We had only interacted briefly at first, but in his final year, he became both a life and business coach to me. I still think of him often. When Dicky passed away, our next game was at Johnson Central. Coach Jesse Peck and the Johnson Central staff were incredibly supportive. We lost that game 35-0, but the warmth and kindness shown by Johnson Central made those difficult weeks a little easier. At the end of the day, I am an Ashland fan first and foremost. I love my experience here. I love the fans. I will never forget how this community took me under its wing during a difficult season of life. I love our coaches, and I love seeing our athletes succeed on the field. But even more than that, I love seeing them succeed off the field. I love seeing them overcome challenges, grow as people, and become leaders. And when some of those athletes go on to become coaches themselves, that is incredibly rewarding. That is why I am a fan. For me, it has never been just about sports. It has been about growth, community, relationships, and the life lessons that athletics can provide.

What a game. This matchup reminded me a great deal of the 2020 meeting between these two programs, when they delivered a classic in the second round of the playoffs. Ashland had quite a week from a public relations and community-engagement standpoint. On Wednesday night, a parade brought the community together in a tremendous way, and on Friday morning, Joseph Payton of WSAZ visited the school for the Fired Up Friday pep rally. Both events were outstanding and reflected the strong support surrounding the program. At the same time, events like that can sometimes shift focus away from the game itself, so I was interested to see how Ashland would respond early. The Tomcats went three-and-out on their opening possession before punting, and just as it appeared they were beginning to find their rhythm, they turned the ball over near the Russell 22-yard line. The game went back and forth before Trevonte Taylor broke loose for a 76-yard touchdown run with 4:24 remaining in the second quarter. Taylor continued his impressive play at running back, finishing with nearly 200 yards, with much of that production coming in the first half on runs of 76 and 98 yards. He has made tremendous strides, and the biggest difference this season appears to be his ability to run through contact and shed tacklers. His commitment in the weight room is clearly paying off. I also want to give my highest compliments to Russell for both their toughness and sportsmanship. Their student section deserves recognition as well for cleaning up the entire area they occupied before leaving the stadium after the game. That is a tremendous reflection on their school and community. Russell came in with a clear game plan, similar in some ways to the 2020 playoff meeting, and executed it well. They managed the play clock, consistently ran Kaiden Benge up the middle, and complemented that approach with short passing patterns to move the chains. Hunter Williams is an impressive quarterback who does an excellent job setting his feet in the pocket. He has a quick release and a dependable group of receivers around him. Looking strictly at the official statistics, Benge finished with 52 yards on 21 carries, averaging fewer than three yards per attempt. However, this is a case where the numbers do not fully reflect his value to Russell's offense. On his 19th carry, Ashland tackled him in the backfield for a one-yard loss, but prior to that, I did not have him gaining fewer than two yards on any carry. His biggest impact may have been the way he forced Ashland's defense to consistently expend energy, often requiring four or five defenders to bring him down. I was especially impressed with Ashland's resilience late in the game. Russell was able to stop Ashland twice on drives that reached Russell territory in the second half. After Russell scored to cut Ashland's lead to 14-7, they followed with their second fourth-down stop. They continued to move the ball, drain the clock, and find a strong offensive rhythm, eventually driving inside the Ashland one-yard line. That is when J.J. Keyes and Luke McCoy delivered one of the biggest plays of the night, breaking through on third down for a crucial tackle for loss. Ashland's defense then held on fourth down, preserving the lead in a pivotal moment. Overall, this was an excellent win for Ashland. To defeat a Russell team that was playing well, executing its game plan, and carrying significant momentum in the second half says a lot about the Tomcats' toughness and composure. Great game, great atmosphere!

Congratulations to Lewis County. They continued to push despite the losses over the past couple of seasons and picked up a nice win. All the best to both teams this season.

Excellent basketball coach and he seems like a heck of a good dude. Great sense of humor as well. I thought SK got off to a really good start today. Against Ashland they had three attempts the entire first half from three point range and today they opened up the game with their first three field goals being three pointers. Had a big lead in the third quarter (24) but Owensboro Catholic is tough and they made a great comeback to cut the lead to 10. As a team, SK a lot of length and can shoot the ball well. Free throw shooting is a plus for them especially with a player like Pernell at around 88% on the season. Certainly capable of continuing this strong run. Congratulations to SK on the win and to Owensboro Catholic on a great season.

Did not expect this. Ashland may have had their best defensive performance of the year and it was definitely their best rebounding performance against the team ranked #2 in rebounds per game in the state. Ashland opened this one up converting two three pointers and a layup off of three Martin County turnovers on their first three possessions. Ashland would jump out to a 17-0 lead and while Martin County would cut it to 28-17 at the end of one, Ashland would push the lead to 48-25 in the second, leading 50-30 at halftime. They continued to keep their foot on the pedal from the start of the second half. It was just one of those tough nights for Martin County. This one game does not define them. Coach James has done an excellent job there. This is a coaching staff that has been together for years and in 2023 earned a trip to Rupp Arena after dropping eight games in a row to end the regular season. This program is used to winning at a high level and I am sure they will continue to improve.

Congratulations to Frederick Douglass on a nice win. This was my first time seeing Frederick Douglass play this season. They're fun to watch! They have all those athletes and then #30, Jimmy Dick, who can flat shoot the basketball. I am not sure how many points he had (he went off I would say) but it was enough to earn him honors as the player of the game. @4 Quarters I can provide some information on Expression Prep, having been around their program probably a handful of times. They have four teams: The national team (Mahogany21 posted about) The varsity team (This is the team that Frederick Douglass played) The postgraduate team (This team has players that have already graduated high school and plan on playing college basketball the next season.) The women's basketball team, which is new this season. They are connected with Expression Church out of Huntington, WV. For the first time this season they have a home court, the "Ex Dome" which has been a project a couple years in the making. The past couple of seasons they played on the road. The varsity team has played solid this year. They are a 9-14 team but it is more due to their schedule. It's not a long drive for them to get to the 16th region and they have played both Ashland and Boyd County, who have been the leaders in that region. Ashland defeated them 93-70 but Expression Prep was leading 55-53 in the third quarter before Ashland went on a big run to put it out of reach late. Boyd County, who also won the state 2A championship, defeated Expression Prep 77-73 in a hard fought game at the Ex Dome. Expression Prep has five seniors, pretty talented bunch including #10 Marc Brown who won player of the game for them. Brown has a lot of length and is more of a slasher. Causes problems from a defensive standpoint as well. #25 Alex Starcher does a good job in the middle for them, he stands around 6'5 and has some slithery moves inside. Also an outside shot that forces the defense to step out. Their leading scorer, #00 Mitch Cox, is only a sophomore, a nice athlete and the Frederick Douglass defense did a good job guarding him. Joel Frazier, #24, is an eighth grader and has shown the ability to handle situations involving high pressure at a young age. Joel has been ranked amongst the best in the class of 2030. Frederick Douglass has an impressive basketball team. This was my first time seeing them this season. Very athletic and I thought they communicated well verbally on the defensive end.

That is a good point and here are my notes pertaining to Ashland's shooting, as they have made some strides there. In the first three games especially Ashland struggled from three point range. Outside of Drew Smith, Ashland's starters were 4/22 from downtown opening up. Over the last five games (Prior to Montgomery County) Ashland has shot almost 44% from outside. Justin Hughes, especially, has made significant strides. First 12 games: 7/24 from downtown for 29.2%. Did not hit more than one three pointer in a game. Last 5 games: 12/20 from downtown. This does not include Montgomery County where he hit one. Has been working hard on his shooting form, getting up a lot of shots. His release has made significant strides and it shows as the free throw line as well. 9/14 in his first 12 games, 5/5 in the last five. Did not go to the line against Montgomery County. Elijah Neel: A total of 13 three pointers on the season coming into the Boyd County game. Hit 6 against the Lions. Hit 2 three pointers against Montgomery County.

Coach Varney did an incredible job in his first season at the helm and showed top notch leadership through a tough offseason. Belfry shined in game one against an East Carter team that has made tremendous strides over the last decade and continued being a strong contender, reaching the state semifinals for the fourth time in this decade. Key players graduating QB Chase Varney: 1,335 passing yards, 19 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions. RB/WR Ace Caudill: 676 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns to go along with 12 receptions, 308 yards and 3 touchdowns. WR Cayden Varney: 13 receptions for 400 yards and 9 touchdowns. Varney was also a threat on kick returns, running one back for a touchdown. Defensively, he picked off 3 passes. LB Keaton Deskins: Nearly 100 tackles for the Pirates last season. Kicker Nick Savage: Went 76/79 on PATs, missing only three on the entire season. Key players returning RB/WR J.B. Woolum: Led the team in both rushing and receiving. 1,066 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns while catching 24 passes for 520 yards and 6 touchdowns. Also had 4 interceptions defensively. RB Dante Davis: 898 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. LB Jameson Chaffin: Led the team with 123 tackles and 9 tackles for losses. DB Eli Caudill: 6 interceptions for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns\ LB Tristan Chapman: Had 52 tackles and led the team in sacks with 4. Belfry has an extremely disciplined football program and I expect that they will continue to be a threat to go all the way. They execute their system so well and have nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns returning between J.B. Woolum and Dante Davis. Defensively, they return seven of their ten leading tacklers. There are some key graduations for the Pirates, but Coach Varney has to be excited knowing the talent he has coming back this season.

Louisville Male, from 2019 - 2022.

I think it will be a great game. Boyle County is Boyle County, they are a tough out for anybody and have been on an incredible run. Franklin County is impressive and in my opinion an underrated squad. Hopefully we'll see another exciting matchup like the 2020 championship where these two programs went to overtime.

LCA now just has to take a couple knees.

LCA gets an INT and 3rd and 5. Sammy Pearson gets his third interception of the year, drops to a knee. Looks like it was tipped.

Woolum dropped behind the line of scrimmage. 3rd and 5.

B 1st and 10 from own 28. Davis gains 7, 2nd and 3 from own 35.

LCA to punt. High kick. Lands about the Belfry 28 yard line.

Whelan left side, gain of 4. My mistake, I thought Belfry was out of timeouts. L 4th and 5 from own 48. Belfry uses their last timeout. 1:49 to go 4th quarter LCA leading 34-29.

Hood right side, gain of one. L 3rd and 9 from own 44. Belfry's using their last timeout. 1:56 to go fourth quarter. LCA leading 34-29.

Whelan gains 1 up the middle. L 2nd and 10 from own 43. Timeout Belfry.

Goes to David Hood right side, he powers his way up for five and a first down. Had to fight his way through tacklers to get there.

LCA going for it. Power formation.

Whelan in shotgun. 5 guys lined up side by side behind him. They break huddle. Whelan gets stopped before getting the first down, gain of 2. LCA 4th and 2 from own 38. Coming out to punt. 2:55 to go in 4th. LCA up 34-29.

Timeout LCA 3:38 to go in 4th LCA 3rd and 4 from own 36 leading 34-29.

Hood gains three more. L 3rd and 4 from own 36. 4 minutes to go, clock continuing to run.

LCA 1st and 10 from own 30. Coming out in power formation. Hood gets three. L 2nd and 7 from own 33.

Belfry up the middle...fumble, and LCA recovers. LCA leading 34-29 5:08 to go fourth quarter. Whelan making a big play at the line of scrimmage.