Ashland had two touchdowns called back, and gave Wheelersburg a touchdown on a muffed punt. Ashland was the better team, but the better team doesn't always win, especially when you cross the Ohio river.
I agree with you that the Pirates seem to be a little down from the past few years, but if Ashland goes over there and gets beat then we can probably say that Russell may be favored to win the district with how well they played at Ironton this past week.
Ashland is actually on the road this week, and that makes a huge difference, playing in Ohio. I believe this week will give us a much better idea of exactly what kind of team the Tomcats have this year.
Ashland rushed for 269 yards (Hester 26-174, Pittman 13-83) while holding George Washington to minus 3 yards rushing, and passed for 148 yards compared to GW's 250 yards passing.
This game was 41-0 and a running clock at halftime. Boyd County seems to be improved this year. I hope they can get their football program back to competitive again. I really miss the old days when these two teams battled it out. Ashland has won the last 17 meetings between the two schools.