Ashland Arrows/Ohio Cardinal Conference News
Ashland
Must be Very Good
Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jason Hess
Ashland faces Toledo St. John’s in a division II district semifinal
at Toledo Central Catholic High School on Wednesday night.
The Arrows (14-8) shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with
Mansfield Senior, New Philadelphia and Dover.
Coach Jason Hess says making the two hour trip, while St. John’s is
going a few streets over, isn’t ideal, but they have to deal with it.
“There's a lot of things out of our control in this situation.
The location that the Northwest District, or state, chooses is one of
them. So, we have to go play the
game. We've talked to our guys a
lot all year about being able to control the controllables.
This is one of things that we can't control.
So, now it's just a matter of as coaches practice what we preach a
little bit and get our guys ready the best that we can and ready to go play
this game,” he said.
St. John’s (17-5) plays a very aggressive schedule.
They play in a league with Detroit area catholic schools.
In fact, their two losses to rival Toledo Central Catholic are the
only ones against teams from Ohio.
Hess says they are big and skilled.
“They are probably the best team, or second best team, we've seen
all year. Top one or two for
sure. We have not seen anything
really comparable as far as just the size and length that they have.
They start 6’8”, 6’6”, 6’6” with long arms and skilled.
They're very disciplined team. They
won't beat themselves and there's not a lot of weaknesses when you watch
them on film and with the way they play the game.
So, they're really good defensively.
Offensively they execute and they can make shots.
So, it's definitely going to be our biggest challenge of the year,”
said Hess.
Ashland has made more than 200 three point shots this season with
Reed Edmonds, Gabe Baith and leading scorer Paxon Ediger all making more
than 40 this year. Ediger
averages 23 ppg and had a school record 44 this year.
Hess the three pointer is the great equalizer.
“We've talked to our kids this week and about when you look at
“March Madness” and the upsets that happened in the NCAA tournament.
The 15th beating the twos and the 16th beating
the ones and all those things. The
mid major teams beat the major conference teams the one great equalizer
that's allowed all this to happen I think in the last 30 plus years, these
upsets in these tournaments. is the three-point line,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think for our team with our
ability to shoot the three and be able to space the space the floor a little
bit. We've got multiple guys
that can get hot and make shots. I
think it could be a fun game for us, but we're going to have to go up there
and really stick to our game plan and play our best game of the year.”
Published 3/03/26
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Ashland
Must Rebound
Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Ashland meets Norwalk, the
“SBC” Lake runnerup, in a division III district semifinal at Buckeye
Central High School on Tuesday.
The winner of this game will play either Defiance or Elida on
Saturday night at Columbus Grove High School in a district final.
The Lady Arrows beat Norwalk (58-44) in a district final last year.
They smoked Sandusky (79-31) in a sectional final last week.
Coach Renee Holt says they came out and did what they needed to do to
win. “I thought we came out
and we really executed what we've been talking about this past week.
We shot the ball well, we played defense, we're doing the right
things at the right time,” said Holt.
Ashland (20-3), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll, tangles with Norwalk (17-6), #4 in our poll, for the second
straight year.
The Lady Truckers buried Mansfield Senior (69-17) in their sectional
final last Thursday.
Holt says they have players all over the floor.
“They're going to be tough. They’re
a great program, great coach, just strong kids.
They have post players, they have a strong point guard, and it's
going to be a tough competition. I
think my girls are going to rise up rise up to the challenge and battle it
out for the district semis,” she said.
When it comes to keys, Holt says they had to defend, but first and
foremost they have rebound the basketball.
“I think overall we have to get the first rebound.
Those second chance points I think Norwalk kills teams on the second
chance points with those post players down low,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We just have to play great
defense. Play Ashland
basketball. What we've preached
about all season. Just putting
things together and of course we got to shoot the ball well.”
Published 2/24/26
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Ashland
Tips Off Tournament With Sandusky
Ashland, the defending district champion, plays at home on Thursday
night against Sandusky in a division III sectional final.
If they win, they will likely play “SBC” Lake runnerup Norwalk
next week in the district semifinal. They
beat the Lady Truckers last year.
Last week, they lost two games to outstanding teams in Harvest Prep
(68-55) and Dresden Tri-Valley (68-57) in non-conference action.
Coach Renee Holt says that could end up being a plus for them.
“I told the girls even though we lost these past two games I think
we really won in the long run. It's
setting us up for a tournament run hopefully.
We have the opportunity to host Sandusky (Thursday) and we're excited
and we're ready. We're ready to
rise up to the challenge,” said Holt.
Ashland (19-3), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Sandusky (3-18) on Thursday
at Arrow Arena.
Holt says they can do a lot of things with the ball.
“They're run and gun, brick and board, but we can't take them
lightly. A girl just came off, I
think she had seven threes a couple games ago.
So, we got to be willing to guard the three point line, but also
great drivers. So, we just have
to play Ashland basketball,” she said.
Ashland returns a lot of talent from last year’s regional run and
that’s a plus, Holt says they will miss a key component.
“I am really excited, we do have our core back.
We're still missing one of our main scorers, Madison Hoffman.
She played the first 10 games and tore her “ACL,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “She was averaging 14 points for
us. We’re still trying to
figure out how to play without her, filling in those gaps of her scoring and
then pushing the pace. I think
we're starting to gel together at a perfect time to start tournaments.”
Published 2/19/26
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Ashland
Can Earn a Share
Ashland can get at least a piece of the Ohio Cardinal Conference
title with a win at Lexington on Friday night.
They would win it outright if New Philadelphia beats Dover.
Coach Jason Hess says it feels good to control their own destiny.
“At this point of the year with one conference game remaining for
us it is nice to know that we've got a chance to get at least a share of the
conference championship. It's
always a big game to go to Lexington. They've
been the top of the class for the “OCC” here for the last couple of
years. So, if you want to win a
championship you have got to beat the champion,” said Hess.
Hess says winning on the road is never easy for anyone in the “OCC”.
“We found out that last week down at West Holmes.
It was a game that West Holmes came out and shot the ball really well
in the first quarter. We trailed
by as many as 10 points early. So,
everybody seems to play better at home.
We have done the same this year, so it's always a challenge when you
go on the road in this conference as competitive as it is.
You have got to bring your “A” game to get wins on the road,”
he said.
The Arrows beat West Holmes (78-57) last week.
Ashland (13-7,10-3) is down at Lexington (7-12,4-8) on Friday night.
Lexington is coming off a (79-58) win over West Holmes on Tuesday
night.
Hess says the Minutemen have kind of found their identity.
“They're a team that's had their fair share of adversity this year.
They're really starting to play their best basketball.
Those young guys that they were kind of forced into action early in
the year, some freshmen and some sophomores, that have grown up a lot and
are our varsity basketball players now,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “They have got used to the speed and the physicalness
that it takes to play at the varsity level.
They've kind of found out what works for them and they've kind of
found their new identity at this point in the year and they're playing some
pretty good basketball. They
have got a few wins here in the last couple of weeks.”
Part of what the Minutemen have wanted to do is push the ball a
little bit, but Hess against them you must execute in halfcourt situations.
“Playing up tempo game definitely fits our style of play with our
guards and the way that our kids work out and the way that we emphasize
pushing the basketball, So, we
are looking forward to that aspect of things, but it's still whenever you're
playing Lexington you're going to have to find a way to be able to execute
in the halfcourt because they're so good at halfcourt defense,” said Hess.
Published 2/11/26
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Must
Win for Ashland
Ashland, a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays on the
road at West Holmes on Friday night.
They fell out of a share of first place when New Philadelphia beat
them (60-44) last week.
Coach Jason Hess says the Quakers are not a good matchup for them,
plus they struggled to make open shots.
“New Philadelphia is really good and I think I might even have said
on this program earlier in the year that they were kind of my pencil
favorites to be at the top of our league this year and have the best chance
to win the league with who they had coming back off of last year's team.
They are a difficult matchup for us because of their size,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Unfortunately for us, it was a
night that we needed to shoot the ball well from the perimeter.
We had some really good looks, especially I thought in the first
half, first quarter that we did not make.
If we were able to make a couple of those and maybe go into halftime
with the lead, I think it could be a different basketball game. New Philly
is really good about controlling the tempo, being very deliberate
offensively and capitalizing on any mistakes you make defensively. They were
able to get a lead early and play with the lead that forced us to kind of
gamble and get ourselves out of position and we were playing catch up all
night and unfortunately, we came up a little short on the scoreboard.”
Ashland (11-7,9-3) is at West Holmes (4-13,1-9) on Friday night.
The Knights carry a six game losing streak, including a (64-47) loss
to Lexington last Friday in “OCC” play.
The Arrows won the first meeting in this series (77-62) on January 9.
Hess says they need to set the tone defensively.
“They're at the bottom of our league, but they're very talented as
well with some of their younger players getting more experience as the year
goes on. They have got some good
length on the perimeter. They
played much better at home. So,
anytime you go on the road in the league it’s extremely important to get
off to a good start and be able to get some confidence going early and not
allow the other team to see the ball go through the basket.
So, I think we're going to have to make sure defensively we're able
to get some stops, put some pressure on their ball handlers, and force them
to shoot contested shots,” said Hess.
Hess says they understand a win Friday night, and next week against
Lexington, is a must. “Both of
our remaining conference games are must wins.
They're both on the road and we'll take them one at a time, but we
definitely have got to be locked in (Friday) night and hope our guys are
coming in focused with a lot of energy and ready to play our best
basketball. Hopefully, this time
of the year you're playing your best basketball and you know putting our
best effort out there on the court,” he said.
Published 2/06/26
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Ashland
Has to Control Momentum
Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Ashland will be at Mansfield
Senior to tangle with the Tygers in a key “OCC” game on Tuesday night,
weather permitting.
Right now, Ashland shares the lead in the “OCC” with Dover.
Mansfield Senior a game back.
Ashland held serve last Friday with a (62-43) win at Wooster in
conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says they played well out of the gate.
“We got off to a good start over at Wooster and we're able to hang
on I guess towards the end. Really
the start was what kind of propelled us to that victory.
Getting a big lead in the first quarter.
We had some guys in foul trouble in the first half, which kind of
slowed us down a little bit. I
was really happy with the defensive effort especially and we were able to
make enough shots to win,” he said.
Ashland (9-6,8-2) is at Mansfield Senior (11-5,7-3), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Tuesday. The Tygers
smoked West Holmes (75-54) in league play last Friday.
They outscored Sandusky (85-80) on Saturday.
In a game that came down to the end, Ashland edged Mansfield Senior
(70-65) in at Arrow Arena on December 19.
Hess says you can’t let the Tygers get on their patented runs.
“Mansfield's very dangerous. They've
got multiple guys that can go off for 30 points or more and a game.
It's a really talented team that can score in a lot of different
ways. They can get going and
score in bunches. When you look
at some of their scores, they've put up a lot of points some nights.
So, it's going to be extremely important for us to control the tempo
a little bit and try to slow them down to keep them from getting that
momentum going where they can put up 10 to 12 points in a short amount of
time,” said Hess.
At the same time, Hess says they have to take advantage of their
opportunities to score. “The
way our teams built, the way we practice, we emphasize offense is playing
fast as well, but it's a matter of dictating the tempo and knowing when we
can go fast and when we need to slow down. When we haven’t a scored for a
few possessions understanding the momentum of the game and kind of have a
feel for it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “That's one
of things we've kind of worked with our kids and trying to get them to
understand. It's easier said
than done, but hopefully our kids at this point in the year with the senior
leadership we have are starting to understand the flow of the game and are
able to make those decisions and to be able to control the game the way we
need to try to steal one over at Mansfield.”
Hess says they know a win on the road against a contender will be
huge. “Anytime we play
Mansfield it's always a big game, but this year means a little more than
usual because of the conference standings and how closely we are to each
other,” he said.
Published 1/27/26
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Ashland
Not Thinking Ahead
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader, plays at Wooster in
an “OCC” game on Friday night.
They share first place with Dover, a game in front of both Mansfield
Senior and New Philadelphia.
They smoked Madison (65-44) in league play on Tuesday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they were very unselfish.
“I thought offensively, especially we were extremely efficient.
We did an excellent job of sharing the basketball.
I think it's probably a first for us where we had over 20 assists and
only seven turnovers. Our assist
to turnover ratio was 3-1, which is pretty darn good for any high school
game. So, it was exciting to see
the way the guys were passing the basketball and sharing and being
unselfish,” said Hess.
Ashland (8-6,7-2) takes the bus to Wooster (6-9,3-6) on Friday night.
The Generals fell (44-31) to Dover on Tuesday night in a league game.
The Arrows won the first contest between the two (63-50) on December
5.
Hess says they feature a lot of depth, but they are dangerous.
“They are a team that's kind of been like a lot of the rest of the
league, up and down. They've had
a couple of really good wins. Down
at New Philadelphia on the road and that's one that I don't think anybody
else in the league can stake claim to other than Wooster,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They're playing some young kids
still and when you're playing young guys you have some growing pains and you
have got some inconsistencies. They've
definitely been putting some good basketball on the floor, so it's going to
be a challenge going on the road over there Friday night.”
Ashland plays both Mansfield Senior and New Philadelphia next week
and Hess says they can’t afford to look past Wooster.
“We've been talking to our guys about that for the last week or so
now. Just taking it one game at
a time. We're in a position that
we're pretty excited about being up at the top of the conference, in a tie
with Dover, but there's a lot of work to be done.
We have got a pretty challenging schedule ahead of us with four of
our last five conference games are going to be on the road,” he said.
Published 1/22/26
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Ashland
Wants to be Fast
Ashland will be at home for Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Dover on
Friday night for a conference game.
They will move into a share of first place with the Tornadoes with a
win on Friday night.
Ashland (6-5,5-2) downed West Holmes (77-62) in an “OCC” game
last Friday and then added a (74-61) win over Sandusky in non-conference
play on Saturday afternoon.
Coach Jason Hess was pretty happy.
“The conference game Friday night with West Holmes it's always
important to win those Friday night conference games, especially the home
ones. I think Saturday at
Sandusky was our best road win of the year thus far.
We have not had a lot of success when we get on the bus.
So, it was nice to be able to go to Sandusky and play a pretty solid
basketball game and shoot the ball well and come away with the victory,”
said Hess.
Dover (8-5,6-1) lost for the first time in the “OCC” when
Mansfield Senior beat them (62-55) last Friday night.
They also lost to talented Berlin Hiland (36-30) on Saturday.
In their first meeting, Dover got past the Arrows (52-46) on December
12.
Hess says Dover is very disciplined and very good.
“They are in first place in our league after the first time through
everybody playing everybody once. So,
first year in the league and they're sitting at the top of it,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They definitely are very similar to
New Philadelphia as far as controlling the tempo and forcing teams to be
very disciplined on defense and be able to play defense for long
stretches.’
This is going to be a battle for tempo.
Hess says they want the pace of the game to be quicker than it was
the first time they played this season.
“If we had our say in it and we're going to try to be able to force
the tempo to be a little quicker. We'd
like to see the game up in the 60s and 70s, that's just a little more
comfortable with the style of play that we play, but as good as Dover is at
being disciplined and controlling the tempo, that's easier said than
done,” he said.
Published 1/14/26
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Ashland
Has to Get Better Shots
Ashland plays at home on Friday night against West Holmes in an Ohio
Cardinal Conference game.
They play at Sandusky in a non-league game on Saturday.
They were smoked by New Philadelphia (63-37) in an “OCC” game on
Friday night and lost (65-60) to unbeaten Ontario on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they have to start making more shots.
“It's a shot makers game and this weekend we didn't make shots.
We shot pretty poorly from behind the three-point line.
The way our team is built it’s kind of a live and die on the
three-point shot and this weekend we died on it.
So, some of the things we looked at in film and we're going to go
over (Monday) in practice is trying to figure out how to get our shooters
better shots. Better looks at
the rim because I don't think we have any issues with our shooters.
We've got plenty of shooters and guys that can take shots and make
shots. We have just got to be
able to step up and knock them in. We
did not do that in in a good enough percentage on Saturday.
It's tough to win when you're not shooting the ball well for us,”
said Hess.
Hess says those making a few more perimeter shots makes a big
difference to a team like the Arrows. “We
were able to do it last year at a pretty high mark and we got a lot of guys
coming back and we expected kind of the same this year.
Unfortunately, at times this year it has kind of eluded us to be able
to knock down shots when we needed to. Saturday was a perfect example of a
game were we’re right there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “When you look at the percentage of shots on the three-point
line especially I think in the fourth quarter that's the difference between
winning and losing. You look
back at the games that we've lost this year, our three-point percentage has
been below 25% and the games that we've won it's been up to 40%.
With the amount of shots we're taking that's the difference between
about 12 to 15 points a game. So,
you give us an extra 12 or 15 points we've got a completely different
record. Wishes and could’ves
and should’ves don't get wins for us.
So, we've got to do some things to try to get better the rest of the
season.”
Ashland (4-5,4-2) plays at home against West Holmes (3-5,1-4) on
Friday night. They beat
Loudonville (59-26) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Hess says they have some big guards and that could be a problem for
them. “Well, West Holmes is a
much improved team. They play
again (Tuesday) night and there is a good chance they'll be coming up here
at .500 or pretty close to it with some of the wins that they've been able
to pick up here lately. They've
got a lot of guys, even though they’re mostly juniors, that played a lot
of varsity basketball last year. So,
they’ve got a good length at the guard position, which could be a little
bit of a difficult matchup for us because we've got some undersized guards.
So, we're going to have to do a good job of being able to pressure
them and dictate the tempo and get out and make their guards uncomfortable,
but also find a way, like we were talking before, about getting our shooters
some good looks at the rim. With
their length that could be a little bit of challenge at times,” he said.
Published 1/06/26
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Ashland
With Two Different Challenges
Ashland travels to New Philadelphia for an Ohio Cardinal Conference
game on Friday night and then hosts Ontario in non-league play on Saturday
night.
The beat Lexington (65-63) in an “OCC” game on December 23 in
exciting fashion.
Coach Jason Hess says they made some good adjustments.
“We had an exciting win there at home just before Christmas.
We were able to sneak one out at the buzzer.
The big difference in that game was we were able to get some
defensive stops there in the fourth quarter. I
believe we had seven stops in a row after we were trailing and were able to
come back and make enough plays offensively.
Our guys did a nice job figuring things out there in the fourth
quarter. Being able to space the
game a little bit and get to the basket and make shots,” he said.
Ashland (4-3,4-1), a game behind Dover, is at New Philadelphia
(6-3,2-3) on Friday night. The
Quakers beat Zanesville (59-46) on Tuesday in a non-conference game.
Hess says they are very good and they are very disciplined.
“New Philadelphia is really good at home.
We struggled down there the last couple of years that they've been in
the league and we've had to make that trip.
It's a long road trip and it's a different gym and it's a struggle to
play there. You add in to that
just their style of play versus our style of play.
We're on two opposite ends of the spectrum as far as style goes.
We really struggled playing down there the last couple of years.
So, we're going to have to do a really good job being able to adjust
and hopefully we can get the game going the pace of play that we want to
play,” he told Swankonspots.com on Wednesday afternoon, “That's easier
said than done with the way they control tempo and the discipline that they
have, so it's going to be a big challenge for us. I
think New Philly is one of those teams that is better than their record
right now. I think I talked to
you earlier this season about I thought they were one of the favorites to
win the league, so they've got a few losses right now in the league, but I'm
sure as wide open as is our conferences is, and as competitive as it is,
they still think they have a chance to win.
They've got their backs up against the wall, so they've got to make
sure they win these home games for them.”
They turn right around and play unbeaten Ontario (9-0) on Saturday
night.
Hess says it will be a quick turnaround for them against a really
good team. “We have got two
contrasting games this weekend. An
hour and a half road trip to play a very disciplined half court oriented
team in New Philadelphia on Friday. It
will be a late night and then we have got to turn around and play a very
good team in Ontario. Possibly
the best team in the area with an undefeated record right now.
So, we're going to have to make sure you know we've got our legs
underneath us and we do what we need to do off the court as far as getting
rest and eating right and the nutrition we need to have our energy.
Saturday is going to be an up and down game, more of a track meet,
which fits our style of play. We've
got to make sure we're focused in so that we don't make mental mistakes and
turnovers that allows Ontario to get out and get easy buckets,” said Hess
Published 1/01/26
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Ashland
Faces Challenge in Lexington
Ashland plays at home against Lexington in another big game in the
Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night.
On Friday night, Paxon Ediger scored an Ashland record 44 points in
the Arrows (70-65) win over Mansfield Senior in “OCC” play.
Coach Jason Hess says it was a big win for them.
“It was a really good win. I
mean anytime you can beat Mansfield it's always a good win, especially you
know with the conference implications and as tight as the top of the
conference is right now with one loss separating handful of teams.
So, getting that win was a big win and just another step in us being
able to get out and accomplish our goals this season,” he said.
Hess added that Ediger’s teammates realized that he was hot and did
a very good job of getting him the ball.
Ashland (3-3,3-1) entertains Lexington (4-1,2-1) on Tuesday night.
The Minuteman also beat Mansfield Senior (63-61) in their last game
last Tuesday at home. Both trail
Dover by a game in the “OCC” standings.
Hess says they seem to get better every time they play.
“I see a team that comes in here with one loss and that's playing
much better basketball now than they were earlier in the year.
They are playing some younger kids, some freshmen, some sophomores,
and you're starting to see on film that these guys are starting to figure it
out and starting to realize that they belong at the varsity level and are
being very competitive,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon.
“They're led by a senior guard that's you know is an all league player and
just really one of the best better players in our league that's capable of
going off and scoring points in bunches as we saw earlier this year against
Sandusky when he scored 45.”
Hess says they know they have to get the ball out of the hands of
Seven Allen, but’s that is very hard to do.
“Well, the difficult thing with him is he's so good off the dribble
and he's so good in transition and so quick from baseline to baseline and he
can make his own shot and not only does he create his own shot and can make
those shots, but he also create shots and scoring opportunities for the rest
of the teams. So, we need to
focus in and slow him down and make him take a lot of shots to get his
points, but we also can't fall asleep on the other guys that are capable of
scoring as well,” said Hess.
Published 12/23/25
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Ashland
Can’t Give Up Easy Ones
Ashland entertains the Mansfield Senior Tygers in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night at Arrow Arena.
Both the Arrows and the Tygers are in a long jam in second place in
the league, a game behind Dover.
Tuesday night, they had a big fourth quarter and beat Madison (66-43)
in conference play.
Coach Jason Hess was happy with the intensity he saw from his guys in
the game. “Tuesday, I thought
our boys did a great job of just coming out and playing with a lot of energy
and with a little more intensity on the defensive side of the ball then we
have had the last couple games. So,
that was a really nice thing to see. It
wasn't pretty at times early. Madison
did a really good job of hanging around and overcoming some turnovers that
they committed early, but kept the game close.
Finally in the fourth quarter. we were able to make a little bit of
run there and pull away,” said Hess.
Ashland (2-3,2-1) plays host Mansfield Senior (4-1,2-1) on Friday
night. The Tygers lost for the
first time all year when Lexington scored in the final seconds to beat them
(63-61) on Tuesday.
Hess says as always you cannot allow Mansfield Senor to get easy
opportunities to score. “Mansfield's
got a very dangerous team. They're
capable of scoring points in bunches and really turning up the pressure on
defense. It's going to be
extremely important for us, just like any other time we play Mansfield, that
we limit their easy basket opportunities.
They get so many points off of their defense by getting steals and
forcing turnovers and getting out and running in transition. We're going to
have to make sure we take care of the basketball.
Value those possessions every time we get the ball and also our
transition defense. We've got to
get back and not let them get easy buckets in transition.”
Hess says what hurts you against Mansfield is their ability to score
in bunches. He says that can’t
happen Friday night. “Those
live ball turnovers will just kill you because not only is it turnover, but
it seems like it just also feeds the momentum for Mansfield and they can
turn a you know a two or four point game into about 12 or 15 before you even
get a chance to call a timeout and catch your breath,” he said.
Published 12/19/25
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Ashland
Working to Get Better
Ashland will be at home at Arrow Arena to face Lexington in an Ohio
Cardinal Conference game on Wednesday night.
They began defense of their “OCC” title last week with easy wins
over Mansfield Senior (64-18) and Wooster (59-34) on Saturday.
Coach Renee Holt says she is pretty pleased with how they have been
playing. “We've had two pretty
big wins against conference teams this past week, so I'm pretty happy about
where we're sitting, but we have two big games this week,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We know not to lose to Lex. I
think that's a new thing I'm picking up on here at Ashland.
You just don't lose to Lex and then we’ll see New Philly at the end
of the week.”
Holt says she thinks there is still a lot of room for improvement
with the Lady Arrows, especially on defense.
“No matter what I'm going to say defense. I'm
going to say our defense. We
have just got to buckle down and we have got to do those fundamental things
right because in the end defense wins championships.
So, every day we can improve our defense,” said Holt.
Ashland (4-0,2-0) hosts Lexington (0-4,0-2) on Wednesday.
Lady Lex lost to Madison (47-30) and Dover (36-29) in their “OCC”
games last week.
Holt says they do not take any wins for granted.
“We can't take any team lightly and I've been preaching that to the
girls you know one game at a time. I
think headed into Wednesday really focus on what we can do and how we can
take that next step,” she said.
Published 12/10/25
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Ashland
Will need to be Disciplined
Ashland will play two more games this weekend as they travel to Dover
to play the Crimson Tornadoes on Friday in “OCC” play and they meet
Painesville Riverside at Massillon on Saturday.
They opened up by beating Wooster (63-50) in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference last Friday and then lost (79-75) at Clyde in a non-league game
on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they did some good things.
“It's always nice to start off with a win.
It would have been great to be able to get two, but unfortunately we
weren't able to close that one out Saturday night.
We had a couple balls that just didn't bounce our way there very end.
We were a couple plays here there away from having a 2-0 start.
We got the conference win, which is probably the more important one
of the weekend anyway. So,
hopefully we can turn Saturday’s disappointment into something positive
here and be able to watch the film and break it down a little bit and learn
what we need to do differently to be able to close out these post basketball
games going forward,” said Hess.
Hess says they have some things this week to work on in practice and
they have some time. “It's
nice to be able to have a stretch here of four days to be able to get some
practice in that we can spend some time and really do some teaching because
we do have half of our guys that are getting significant varsity minutes
have never played varsity basketball before.
So, this last weekend we threw them into the fire in a conference
game and then a long road trip up to Clyde.
So, I think it'll turn out to be a good learning experience for us
coming off this weekend and hopefully we can make some big strides here
going on the second weekend,” he said.
Ashland (1-1,1-0) will be at Dover (2-0,1-0) on Friday night.
The Crimson Tornadoes beat Lexington (50-45) in their first ever
“OCC” game last Friday.
Hess says they are going to force them to be disciplined.
“They have had a really good program down there.
The coach (Matt) Von Kaenel, this is the younger Von Kaenel that's
not been there as long as his dad was, but they do things pretty similarly.
They run lot of slower paced offensive sets and continuity that was
able to give Lexington some trouble last weekend,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think they've got two really
good scores. I think they are
both averaging over 20 points a game at this point early in the season.
So, we're going to have to really focus in to try to slow those guys
down and also just make sure that our guys don't start getting lost on
defense because they're very good at back cuts and taking advantage of
whatever the defense gives them.”
Published 12/09/25
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Ashland
Getting Good Leadership
Ashland has a double weekend this week to start the boys’
basketball season as they host Wooster in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game
on Friday night and travel to Clyde for a non-league game on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they have been getting consistent effort from
their kids and that’s key. “Well
at this point, I don't know that you're ever really ready.
It's hard to say that you got everything in and your kids are ready
to go. Part of it is you keep
kind of thinking about where we were a year ago at the end of the season and
you can't really compare the start of the next season here to the end of
last season just because you have so many losses and trying to change things
and learn. So, the main thing
for an opener is to be able to go out there and get the effort.
When it comes to effort, I think our kids are ready to go.
We've been very fortunate this year in our scrimmages and our
practices that our kids are giving good effort, so we don't have to really
prod them along. They're ready
to compete,” said Hess.
Hess says they have good leaders on the team and that’s a plus.
He expects them to be ready to play.
“I told them this week we were practicing our pregame warm up
routine just so when Friday night comes around, we've gone through every
step and we've come covered everything that we could cover to get kids ready
and to limit the nerves and anxiety and the unknowns.
I said guys we got 15 minutes of pregame warmups, but what comes
before the pregame warm up is what you individually need to do to get
yourself ready to play that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “It's not going to be some rah rah speech from a coach that
you're hear once in a while. You've
got to figure out what it takes to get yourself ready to play.
Not only as an individual, but also collectively as a team.
Fortunately, when you talk about leadership, we do have a nice core
group of seniors that got quite a bit of varsity experience.
So, we're really going to be leaning on them heavily for leadership
this year and so far they have been providing it.
So, we're really looking forward to seeing what this group can do.”
Wooster won their opener last Sunday in beating Cleveland JFK (56-41)
on Sunday at Wooster.
Hess says they are going to push the tempo and play a lot of guys.
“Well, Wooster is little bit of an unknown at this point.
They've played one game. They
won their first game last weekend and they've are playing a lot of guys.
I was able to get that game film and watch it and you know I think
they ran 12, 13 guys out there. They
are a very balanced team. They're
pressuring defensively full court, extending out.
So, they're playing an up tempo aggressive defense.
They're a team that has got some younger guys playing and so
sometimes that's good and it can be bad because they don't know what they
don't know. So, you have got
these young guys out there playing with a lot of energy and excited to be
out there on the varsity level and making things happen,” he said.
Published 12/03/25
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Ashland
Putting Puzzle Together
Ashland is team that is a mix of seniors and younger players this
year and they have the ability to be pretty good.
Nathan Bernhard will not play basketball this year due to his
commitment to play football at Appalachian State.
He is graduating early.
Coach Jason Hess says they have some quality experience, especially
with their guards. “We bring
back a couple guards that'll be four year lettermen in Gabe Baith and Paxon
Ediger. We also return two other
guards that saw significant time last year in Reed Emmons and Garrett Davis.
We've got those four returners that really are the core of our group
this year and we're going to build around them.
Then after that it's going to be a bunch of new faces.
Some of the guys are coming off the JV team.
Some of the guys haven't played for a couple years are actually
coming off the football field. So,
we've been trying to do a lot of teaching and coaching and trying to get
everybody on the same page here in the last couple of weeks.
It's really been a challenge for us just with the new groups of kids
and trying to get chemistry and get a little familiarity with the kids as
well since some of them have not played for two or three years.
We have got a good group of kids to really want to work hard and have
been coachable, so we're excited about what's to come,” said Hess.
Ashland actually has not had a scrimmage yet this year, but Hess says
he has seen progress in practice. “We
we've seen improvement. We
actually haven't scrimmaged yet. We'll
have our first scrimmage on Saturday. We
got a little bit of a late start with the extra couple weeks for the
football team. So, we did not
schedule any early scrimmages because we were anticipating that, so we've
got three scrimmages coming up yet and we're not opening until December 5.
We planned that as well just because what we anticipated with
football,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We've got a couple of scrimmages
coming up and we're looking forward to that.
The kids have been doing a great job of picking up things in
practice. Sometimes we're moving
a little slower than what we would have done in the past because we've got
so many new guys, but we think it's important just for them to be able to
get the concepts and be able to grasp what we're doing.
The effort has been there and that's the important thing.
As long as we'd have to coach effort, we're excited and we can coach
X's and O's and we can tweak things along the way, but when the kids are
giving us good effort we can build on that.”
Hess says they definitely have talent.
It just a matter of how to put it all together.
“It's a puzzle and it seems like it's a moving puzzle because it
doesn't always stay the same. One
day you think one thing, the next day you think another.
We have even been revamping the way we structure practices this year
different than we've done in the past. We're
looking at practicing some with our freshman team more than we've done in
the past just because of what personnel groups are and what we think is
going to make our practice the most competitive.
It will not only benefit us to get our varsity guys ready for this
year, but also to get guys ready for the next couple of years.
One of the things with these new guys that we've got coming out.
Most of them are seniors, so we're going to have seven seniors on our
roster this year and that's going to be a lot of places to fill for next
year,” said Hess.
Published 11/20/25
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Ashland
Ready to Roll
Ashland is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference girls’ basketball
champions and they open the season on Friday night against Dalton in the
Smithville Barn Ball Classic.
Coach Renee Holt says its hard to believe that game week is already
here. “I can't believe it's
already here. I’m a teacher
and the kids at school are talking about Thanksgiving break already and that
means basketball season is ready to start,” she told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “Our preseason has been up and down battling some
injuries, but I think we'll be healthy by this Friday.
I think we're ready to go. We've
had some tough scrimmages. One
was against Bellevue. They are
reining state champs. So, we've
had some good up and down scrimmages and I think we're ready to roll.”
Coming off a year when they won their first ever “OCC” title,
Holt says expectations are high at Ashland.
“We are excited, we pretty much have almost our whole team back.
It's funny you say that some expectations are looming.
I keep trying to tell the girls last year has no impact on what will
happen this year. So, it's a
different feeling for this team and this program, but it's a cool feeling.
I think we're ready to take on the challenge,” said Holt.
It being the first week of the season and all it can be difficult to
know a lot about the opponent, but Holt believes Dalton will play them
tough. “I've never played that
team, that school, but I know coming from the Wayne County League they're
tough, they're physical, they're ready to run and gun, they're going to beat
us up down low. So, I think
they're just all around physical and it'll be a competitive match up in the
Barn Ball Classic down at Smithville,” she said.
Published 11/19/25
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Ashland
Has Done it Before
Ashland will be in the capital city on Friday night for a division II
regional quarterfinal against Columbus DeSales.
The Arrows (10-1) sprinted past Mt. Vernon (56-21) last week in a
first round game at home at Community Stadium.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were ready to play.
“Definitely in the playoffs and especially after the week before
where we had a tough loss there our kids came out to ready to get the job
done and they I really felt they did,” he said.
They had lost the week before (43-35) to Lexington in Ohio Cardinal
Conference championship game.
Quarterback Nathan Bernhard had another big game last week.
He has thrown for 2,164 yards and 22 scores this year.
The Appalachian State signee has also ran for 477 yards and 19
touchdowns.
DeSales (8-2) is the number two seed in region 7.
Valentine says they have weapons.
“They’ve got a running back that’s going to Michigan, so he's
definitely a good runner, hard runner and strong and we're going to have get
a lot of people to the ball and get him down,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday afternoon, “They've got R.J. Day at quarterback and he does a
good job of reading things and getting the ball out of his hands.
So, again defensively we're going to have to be sound what we do and
be good tacklers. Then
defensively, they mix it up a little bit with some different things coverage
wise. So, again that’s
something that we're going to have to prepare for this week.”
Yes, R.J. is the son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day.
Valentine says on defense they have to communicate and be in the
right place. “That's the
thing, you've really got to communicate how you're doing things so that you
don't give them any big plays. So,
that's a definite emphasis this week,” he said.
Now, last year, Ashland beat DeSales (27-14) and Valentine feels that
is plus for them going into Friday night.
“Anytime you talk about the big city schools there's some
perception out there sometimes. So,
for us to have beaten them last year I think that's something that our guys
aren't as big eyes as they might be when you're going into that environment.
So, I think that that is a plus for us,” said Valentine.
Published 11/05/25
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Ashland
Plays Former “OCC” Rival
Ashland faces an old rival on Friday night as they host Mt. Vernon in
the first round of the division II football playoffs.
The Arrows (9-1) lost their first game of the season last week when
Lexington outscored them (43-35) to claim the outright Ohio Cardinal
Conference title.
Coach Scott Valenetine says they just didn’t make enough plays.
“We knew going in there it was going to be four quarter battle and
a great game, great high school football game.
Our kids battled and we came up short on a couple plays.
They made a few more plays than we did.
Again, our kids gave great effort.
We talked about it on Saturday morning.
No time to feel sorry for yourself now you have got to get ready to
play week 11, which is always exciting, a new season,” said Valentine.
Ashland and Mt. Vernon met every year in “OCC” play between 2016
and 2023 and the Arrows won all eight of those games, many times by
significant margin. However,
this is a new era for the Yellow Jackets.
Coach Mark Weber has led them to a (6-4) record this year, including
an overtime win over talented Johnstown-Monroe.
Valentine says they do a lot things on both sides of the ball.
“They have got a new coach, it’s his second year there.
He's done a nice job and their kids are playing hard.
They give you a lot of different looks on offense, so defensively we
have got to make our adjustments and be aware of what they're trying to do
and just be physical and make sure we tackle well,” he told
Swanksports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Their defense, they give you a
lot of different looks rush wise. They
bring a guy off the edge quite a bit and then cover wise give you a few
different coverages. So, again
we have just got to execute what we do offensively to help us be
successful.”
Valentine says they have to make good reads on Friday night.
“You are always looking at what do they do and what schemes are
they running and how are we going to attack those schemes and within the
realm of our defense. So, those
are things we're trying to get done during the week here to give our guys a
look at all the things they try to do,” he said.
Published 10/30/25
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Ashland
Plays Lex for Outright Title
Ashland travels to Lexington on Friday night and at stake is the
outright title in Ohio Cardinal Conference.
The Arrows have won nine football titles since the league began play
in the fall of 2003, five of those have been outright, including last year,
eight of those have been under the leadership of current coach Scott
Valentine. That’s more than
any other school. Wooster has
won eight.
It’s a big game for both sides, but Valentine says you can’t get
so keyed up that you don’t execute. “Well,
I think you're definitely going to be excited and you want to, but we talked
about how we've got to do all those things that we've been doing at a higher
level now because of the opponent that you have and everything like that.
You can't get so hyped up that you're making mental mistakes and
things like that” said Valentine
Lexington (8-1,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, has scored more than 30 points in all of
their games this season, with the exception of a (37-13) loss to unbeaten
Shelby on week two.
Valetine says with players like Caudill, Fogle, Allen, and Martin, to
name a few, the Minutemen are going to make big plays.
“They've got a lot of playmakers there.
You're looking at situations and kind of who they like to go to and
what they like to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“Defensively, our staff has put together a game plan.
With good teams like that you're not going to stop them completely,
but you have got to limit any big plays and things like that.”
Ashland (9-0,5-0), #2 in our poll, has won their last 19 regular
season games. Their last loss
came at Lexington (24-14) on week ten of the 2023 season.
Ashland won the game (30-21) last year at their place.
Valentine says Lexington has some aggressive players on defense too.
“Well, I think they've got linebackers that really come downhill.
A lot of the same guys that are on offense that are athletic and out
in the field, so they're good in space and making plays.
Again, we're just going to have to execute at a high level,” he
said.
Valentine says when you have an opportunity like this you have to
embrace it. “We talked to the
kids all the time about you put in all the work all year long, in the off
season, and everything like that and these are the games you want to be in.
So, you got to enjoy that, you have got to get out and compete and
you go out and play the best you can,” said Valentine.
Published 10/23/25
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Ashland
Has Goals This Week
It looks very much like it will be Ashland or Lexington that wins the
Ohio Cardinal Conference football title, but this week the Arrows will host
Wooster at Community Stadium.
They play at Lexington next week.
The Minutemen are at Madison on Friday night.
Last week, Ashland ran all over the West Holmes Knights (40-7) in
“OCC” play.
Coach Scott Valentine says he was pleased by their performance.
“I felt our guys really played well.
They prepared the way they needed to during the week and then came
out and were able to do a really good job,” he said.
They are now at the top of their division II region and are winners
of 18 straight regular season games.
Valentine says he likes the way they prepare for games.
“I think it is it's about preparation. I
think during the week, I think our guys early in the year, I'm not sure we
did what we needed to do to make sure we are ready.
I think that as we've gone through the year, they found out the
things you do during the week come out on Friday night show up on video.
So, that's where I think we've had our greatest growth,” said
Valentine.
Ashland (8-0,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at home against the Wooster Generals
(0-8,0-5) on Friday night. Mansfield
Senior beat them (34-21) last week.
There is still a spirt of lang standing rivalry here and Valentine
says the Generals still have some athletes.
“Well, I think like always they've got some good athletes and big
lineman. I know they're doing a
lot of things and improving each week and so for us we have got to make sure
we're ready to go out and play four quarters this week,” he said.
Valentine says they can’t be thinking about playing Lexington but
rather beating Wooster. “It's
our senior’s last game on our home field in the regular season.
So, I think that's the point of emphasis for us.
We've got to get ready to go out and do the job and end up our home
season with our seniors on their last night at home,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Again, go out and keep getting
better and showing that we're getting better on video in doing our
things.”
Published 10/16/25
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Ashland
Has to Win up Front
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader, will host the West
Holmes Knights in a big one of Friday night in the “OCC”.
Ashland and Lexington lead West Holmes by a game in the “OCC”
standings.
Last week, Nathan Bernhard threw three more TD passes and the Arrows
blew out Mansfield Senior (48-19) in a league game.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to get out in front and
play well last week. “I think
that was one of the things that we talked about that we had to get out and
make some plays early and I thought we did that.
Then defensively we were able to limit them play wise.
So, we got the good start and then we're able to get that win,” he
said.
Ashland (7-0,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, hosts West Holmes (5-2,3-1) on Friday night.
The Knights had a five game winning streak snapped (41-7) by
Lexington last week.
Valentine says he expects the Knights to play well Friday night.
“Well, I think sometimes you have those games like last week's
game. Lexington got after them
and got it, but before that they've been playing good football.
So, again they're going to bounce back.
I know their coaching staff does a great job and their kids have a
lot of competitive spirit, so we anticipate them coming up here ready to
go,” said Valentine.
Valentine says West Holmes likes to be a power run team, but they can
do other things too. “They
have got two guys can run the ball hard.
They run it hard and if you're not ready to physically tackle them
they're just going to run through your tackles,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday afternoon. “That's going to be our challenge.
They've got a nice offensive line up front.
They do good job blocking and then they throw the screen passes.
Do a great job on screens and slip screens and things like that, so
they're multifaceted, but definitely like to run the ball.”
Valentine says on defense West Holmes likes to pressure you into some
mistakes. “Defensively, they
like to bring a lot of pressure. They
like to bring their linebackers and linebackers cover the field and run
sideline to sideline and make tackles and are very physical.
So, again up front we're going to have to be ready for a physical
game on Friday,” he said.
Published 10/10/25
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Ashland
Prepares For Mansfield Senior
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference tri-leader, is over at
Mansfield Senior against the Tygers in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
The Arrows share the “OCC” lead with West Holmes and Lexington
and they play both of those schools over the last month of the season.
They are the defending conference champs.
They smoked Madison (38-7) last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says again they were able to diagnose what they
were seeing on the field and make the right adjustments.
“I thought that we saw a lot of things.
They were trying to get pressure on us and for our kids we adapted to
that we're able to get good protection to give our quarterback time to throw
the ball,” said Valentine.
Quarterback Nathan Bernhard accounted for five touchdowns last week
and Valentine says they were able to get receivers open against Madison.
“Our guys outside were able to win one-on-one and anytime you can
win one-on-one in those situations that really allows the quarterback to get
the ball out of his hands,” he said.
Ashland (6-0,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at Mansfield Senior (0-6,0-3) on Friday
night. Lexington beat the Tygers
(48-0) last Friday in “OCC” play.
Valentine says there is some flavor of a rivalry here.
“I think like anything that when you're where they're at with the
losses, but you see them improving in different areas.
Again, I know the way our rivalry has been with them we're going to
get the best version of their team,” he said.
Now, Ashland does play West Holmes next week and Valentine says they
must avoid this being a trap game for them.
“Well, we hope not. We
said every game in the league very important and this is the next one and
we've got to be ready to play four quarters on Friday,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “That's what we're building towards
with our kids.”
Published 10/01/25
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Ashland
Has to Play 48 Minutes
Ashland will be at home at Community Stadium for the Madison Rams in
Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.
Last week, the Arrows spotted Dover a one score lead and then blasted
the Crimson Tornadoes (42-7) on Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says they had to make some adjustments.
“We knew coming in they were going to be aggressive.
They scored the first one and stopped us a couple times there in the
first quarter. They did a few
different things that we didn't expect them to do, so we had to make some
adjustments on both sides. Then
our kids were able to go out and execute it the rest of the game,” said
Valentine.
Ashland (5-0,1-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, will entertain Mansfield Madison (2-3,1-1) on
Friday night in league play. Madison
is coming off a (35-0) loss to West Holmes last week.
Valentine says on film the Rams are getting better every week.
“Well, I think they keep improving each week and so I think that's
the thing. Like anything with
league games they're so important,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “That's one thing we've stressed with our kids is the
improvement Madison has made over the first five weeks and for us to make
sure we keep improving. Then
again, the league games are very important.”
Last season, on their way to the “OCC” title and an unbeaten
regular season the Arrows survived at Madison (33-27) in triple overtime.
Nathan Bernhard’s plunge from the one on fourth down the
difference.
Valentine says they remember that.
“There is no doubt I think our kids have kind of talked about that
in the off season about how in that game we were fortunate to get out of
there. So, we're going to have
to play a good four quarter game to be able to get that win,” he said.
Published 9/25/25
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Ashland
to Host Dover
Ashland is at home for Dover in a non-conference game Friday night at
Community Stadium.
Next year, this becomes a “OCC” game when Dover joins the
conference for football. They
are already in it in the other sports.
Last week, the Arrows (4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the league school division, forced five turnovers and beat
New Philadelphia (34-7) in a league game.
Coach Scott Valentine says they came out in the second half and took
control of the game. “I think
defensively we came out in the second half and made some adjustments there
and the kids went out and executed them and got themselves in position to
get some turnovers and give us a short field to help us get some scores,”
said Valentine.
Nathan Bernhard thew two TD passes to Gabe Baith and ran for another
for the Arrows.
Ashland outscored New Philly (21-0) in the second half and Valentine
says you have to take advantage of situations.
“We always tell our kids, we don't want three, yeah we'll take
three, but we want to make sure when we get that short field that we can get
that ball in the end zone,” he said.
Dover (1-3) lost (40-34) in double overtime to Columbus Academy.
They had lost (28-7) to West Holmes of the “OCC” on week three.
Valentine says this is a team that is showing improvement.
“I think the same thing, traditionally they're really good football
team. They have played a good
non league schedule here. You
can see that their coaching staff does a great job.
They've gotten better each game and so we're going to expect a tough
four quarter battle again,” said Valentine.
Ashland has now won 14 regular season games in a row.
Valentine says their goal is to continue to get better.
“We've got lots of things to get better.
Looking at the video and all week in practice there's a lot of things
we've got to keep getting better or you become stagnant,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monay afternoon, “You're either getting better or
you're getting worse and we don't want to get worse.
We are going to work on those things this week.”
Published 9/16/25
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Ashland
Has to Match New Philly’s Intensity
Ashland begins defense of their Ohio Cardinal Conference title on
Friday night at W.W. Hayes Field in New Philadelphia against the Quakers.
The Arrows (3-0,0-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, went to Clyde and beat the Fliers
(35-21) in a non-league game last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to score on some big plays,
but they have to be better tacklers. “We
went in and we were able to make some big plays offensively and got us some
scores. They were much improved
and did a lot of different things on offense as far as motions and shifts
and we're able to sustain some drives. We
have just got to be able to tackle a little better and then keep making
plays,” said Valentine.
Valentine has been in coaching almost 40 years and he says it still
comes down to blocking and tackling. “For
us, we had some guys there and we just didn't get off some blocks either.
So, I mean those are the big keys.
Defensively, getting off blocks and tackling and offensively if you
don't block anybody, you're not going to get anything done,” he said.
New Philadelphia (1-2,1-0) whipped Wooster (42-7) in an “OCC”
game last week. Limiting the
Generals to 155 total yards in the process.
Valentine says this is a good team that has gotten better.
“They've had a strong non league schedule.
They've gotten better. They've
beat Wooster pretty good last week doing a lot of different things.
They are very well coached and real sound and what they do,” he
told Swankonsports.com, “Again, it's going to be a four quarter battle and
we're going to have to get things done.”
Ashland won (17-14) last year on their way to the “OCC” title and
Valentine says this is going to be a key game for them again.
“Any league game is big and this one and like you said they don't
get a lot of notoriety up here because of where they're at, but they have a
very strong traditional football program.
Their kids play hard and again that's something we're going to have
to match,” he said.
Published 9/11/25
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Ashland
to Play Physical Clyde
Ashland will be up at Clyde in a game between traditional powers on
Friday night in non-conference play.
The Arrows are now (2-0) after a (42-7) whipping of Marion Harding
last week at Community Stadium.
Coach Scott Valentine says they continue to move in the right
direction. “We had talked
about how we had to make some improvement.
I thought we didn't have nearly as many mental mistakes as we've had
week one. I thought we did a lot
better job tackling and blocking. So,
those were good things to see,” said Valentine.
They have won their last 12 regular season meetings in a row.
Football is a physical game, but Valentine says mental mistakes are
going to kill you. “I mean
mental mistakes you'll get beat if you make a lot of them.
Certain things are going to happen you have just got to try to
minimize those as much as possible,” he said.
Clyde (0-2) is off to an uncharacteristic slow start after a (30-13)
loss at Toledo Start last week.
Valentine says they continue to show improvement.
“I think that their a team that is similar in that they keep
getting better. You could see
the improvement from week one to week two,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday evening, “Again we're going to have to be ready to play a good,
sound football game.”
Clyde has the reputation of being a physical team on both sides of
the football. Valentine says
they have to be ready for that. “That's
the thing. Going up there we
said that you know I mean they're physical.
They are a physical football team every year.
So, we're going to have to be ready to play a physical type of
football game,” he said.
Published 9/03/25
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Ashland
Making Progress
Ashland will host Marion Harding on Friday night at Community Stadium
in non-conference play.
The Arrows belted Bay (43-10) last week in their opener.
Coach Scott Valentine says they got better as that game went along.
“Well, I think there were things that we did very well, we
executed. Our inexperienced guys
got some experience. I think we
really saw improvement in the second half of the game from the first half.
A lot of mental mistakes and things like that which can happen in the
first game. So, I was happy with
that, but still have got a lot of improvement to do,” said Valentine.
Quarterback Nathan Bernhard threw for 158 yards and score and ran for
two TD’s.
Valentine feels they have made some progress this week in practice.
“Well, I think coaching wise that's something that you know we look
at the tape and position wise we attack those things that we felt were
weaknesses coming out of it. I
think our kids have worked hard to try to improve those things, but now it
will come down to what we do on game night,” he said.
C.J. Westler, at Marion Pleasant the last few years, has returned to
him alma mater as coach.
The Presidents beat Mt. Vernon (21-14) to open the year.
Valentine says they are athletic and do a lot of different things on
both sides of the football. “Well,
I think that they have got a new coach.
You can see they're always athletic.
They're doing lots of different things on offense.
Giving you a lot of different looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “They are running a lot of trick plays.
So, those are things that you really have to be disciplined on.
So, defensively we will have to be disciplined.
Defensively, they're playing like a 3-3-5 type of defense and giving
you different looks. So, those
are things that we have been preparing for this week.”
Published 8/29/25
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Ashland
Must be Physical
Ashland is the defending champion in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and
they open the season on Friday night against Bay Village at Community
Stadium in non-conference play.
Veteran head coach Scott Valentine says he has seen some improvement
in his team this month. “I
think we've made some strides. The
big thing is us competing against each other in practice.
I thought we made some strides from where we were first scrimmage to
second scrimmage. So, I think
we're making some strides, but you know like always you have got things you
have got to get ironed out,” said Valentine.
There has been some talk about Ashland being the “OCC” favorite
again, and other such predictions, but Valentine knows none of that stuff
really matters. “Each year's
different and you're going. We
talk about with us being the defending champs that you're going to get
everyone's best and it was where you're at.
So, those things don't matter once it gets going on Friday night,”
he said.
Valentine says he believes the Rockets are going to come down to
Ashland and try to out physical them. “Well,
I know they're traditionally a good football team.
They've been in the playoffs. They
were in playoffs last year. They
have a new head coach, who was an assistant on the staff,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They play in a very physical
football league. I told our guys
they're going to come down here thinking we don't play in the physical
league as they do and so I think they're going to try to come at us.
So, we have got to be ready to meet that challenge.”
Valentine says a key for them on defense is to be able to get off
blocks and get to the ball carrier. “Defensively
you have got to get off blocks and be able to make tackles and with physical
football teams sometimes the struggle is are you able to get off their
physical blocking and so that's going to be a key for us,” he said.
Published 8/21/25
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Ashland
Dealing With Expectations
Ashland is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference football champion
and certainly have the talent to be a very good team again this season on
the gridiron.
However, veteran coach Scott Valentine says they a lot of things to
prove. “We still have got a
lot to find out. I'll tell you a
lot of that goes back to the group we put together last year, the team we
had. So, there's the
expectations of the guys we have coming back,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday afternoon, “We have got a good core, but I tell them, remind
them all the time, this group here hasn't accomplished anything, so we've
got to keep putting in work every day.”
Valentine says they have done some good things this summer, and in
the off season, but now it’s time to move forward.
“I've been happy, like I said I this group has worked hard.
They worked hard in the off season and coming through the summer.
So, we put in put in some good work, but we talked about seven on
sevens, tap football, we have got to start becoming a physical football team
here starting this week,” said Valentine.
Ashland starts the regular season August 22 against Bay Village.
Their first test comes Friday against North Canton Hoover in a
scrimmage and Valentine feels that’s important.
“You find out a lot and especially after that first scrimmage comes
around. We’ve got North Canton
Hoover on Friday night and I know they're supposed to be pretty good.
So, hopefully we'll get a good look at where we're at and a lot of
the things we need to get better at,” he said.
Ashland scored a lot of points last season, but they also played good
defense and Valentine says they have to find some players there.
“We had a good group of seniors on both sides of the ball, but a
lot of those guys were defensive guys for us.
So, there's guys who have some experience coming back.
We got our mic linebacker Gunner Lacey back.
So, now we're trying to put the other pieces together.
Like I said, Friday's probably going to be the first time we see
those guys play together and then try to figure out where we're going,”
said Valentine.
Published 8/06/25
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Ashland
outlasts Lexington
Ashland held off Lexington (9-7) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on
Tuesday night.
The win keeps the Arrows (9-6,3-3) in “OCC” race.
Coach Rick Gough says they had to made some clutch plays on defense
to secure the win. “The game
ended with Lexington having bases loaded in the top of the seven.
We were able to get a couple ground balls and get out of the inning.
So, it was a battle,” said Gough.
Gough says you always want your kids to want the ball hit to them in
a critical situation. “That's
what you want our kids to think sometimes they don’t always, but (Tuesday)
night our kids were able to make the plays when they needed to make them,”
he said.
New Philadelphia is undefeated in the “OCC” and Wooster has one
loss. Gough knows they have work
to do. “We've still got eight
league games to go. Right now, I
think New Philly and Wooster are at the top, but we're going to find a way
hopefully to battle back and make things interesting,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “It's definitely a race.
We're two games off the pace right now so we're going to do our
best.”
Published 4/30/25
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Ashland
Smokes Mansfield Senior
Ashland got the lumber out on Tuesday and they belted Mansfield
Senior (16-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game played at Arlin Field.
Coach Rick Gough says sometimes it’s not easy to hit on nights like
Tuesday, but they did and it was all through the order.
“Top to bottom we hit the ball well (Tuesday) night.
We ended up with 14 hits and I'm just about everybody in the lineup
got at least one hit. So, I'm
very pleased with that,” said Gough.
Gough now has 502 wins in his career as a high baseball coach.
He says if they can get the kind of balance they did on Tuesday they
can be a good team. “If we can
definitely hit one through nine, we're a much tougher ball team.
Over the weekend our bottom of the order did well in the two previous
games before (Tuesday) night. (Tuesday)
night everybody joined the hit parade,” he said.
Gough says their pitching was not that good on Tuesday.
He says going forward they have to have better command.
“It was a tough night. I
mean we didn't give up a lot of runs, but we threw a lot of pitches, we
weren't sharp,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I think we
were probably somewhere close to 150 pitches for the night and that's too
many. We have got to get a
little sharper there, but we did what we needed to do.”
Published 4/02/25
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Ashland
With Deep Pitching Staff
Ashland is looking for some hitters, but their pitching looks pretty
good as we get ready to start the high school baseball season in less than
two weeks.
The Arrows first game is a non-conference contest against Tiffin
Columbian on March 29. Their
first Ohio Cardinal Conference series is April 1 and 2 when they take on
Mansfield Senior.
Coach Rich Gough says they have been able to find some things out.
“We've been lucky enough to get the two scrimmages in so far.
We've went down to Mount Vernon last week and we got to play
Hillsdale (Tuesday) night and so far we've seen a lot of good things and
some things we need to work on,” said Gough.
Right now, a concern for the Arrows is finding some guys that can get
hits off varsity pitching, according to Gough.
“I've got seven returning Letterman, six starters and as a whole we
should be solid defensively. We
lost a lot of good kids. Actually,
we lost about 62% of our offense. So,
right now the focus is trying to find some kids that can deliver on the
offensive side,” said Gough.
Although their top two pitchers from a year ago graduated, Gough says
they have a lot of depth on the mound. “Well,
I've got last year's number three in Tyler Holt.
He bumps up to number one and so far he's done well.
We stretched him out a little bit (Tuesday). He
threw about 50 pitches and things look good.
Other than that, I've got three sophomores that have shown a lot of
potential,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Miles
Farnsworth was my number four last year.
He had four pitching wins. He'll
take over the number two spot. Then
I've got two other sophomores. One
played JV that will man the third and fourth.
Evan Dahinden will man third spot and Noah Merrill will man the
fourth spot. So, I think we're
pretty solid one through four. Then
we've got some returning relievers in senior Michael Franz, senior Alex
Grissinger senior and Justtin Kyser. So,
pitching wise I feel pretty confident in what we have.”
Published 3/19/25
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Lexington
Rolls Over Ashland
Lexington guards Seven Allen, Gavin Husty and Jakob Legron combined
to make nine threes and score 48 points and the Lexington Minutemen smoked
Ashland (69-48) in a division III district semifinal on Tuesday night at
Willard High School.
The Minutemen (20-3) return Friday night to Willard to play Sandusky
(16-7) for a district title. The
Blue Streaks beat Mansfield Senior (72-58) in the nightcap.
Ashland is a team that lives and dies on perimeter shots, but
Lexington was better from beyond the arch on Tuesday night making (10-23)
chances while Ashland was (7-18) on threes.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says it was a goal to score from the
perimeter. “It's something for
them we were concerned about because that's how they score their points.
Then for us, we were hoping that we could get a guy in rhythm, get a
guy or two in rhythm and take advantage of some open perimeter action.
We knew we had an advantage inside.
We had to make some adjustments with about a minute 1:25 of the first
quarter when one of big guys picks up his second foul.
I thought the guys handled it well, build up a little bit of lead, we
went to the locker room at the halftime I told the guys we survived in the
first half with one of our starters on the bench we just have got to go out
and finish it,” said Hamilton.
Against the Minutemen you have to give up some things and Ashland
coach Jason Hess says the Minutemen made a lot of outside shots are key
times. “When you look at it
with the 10 threes they made, that's one of the things that makes it really
tough to guard. I thought we did
a nice job of defending inside the paint, we rebounded well, we limited
turnovers, but it's a shot making game and (Tuesday) night they made shots
and we didn’t,” said Hess.
One of Lexington’s big guys Joe Caudill was saddled with early foul
trouble and played only 12 minutes and Hamilton says they made the decision
to keep him out almost the entire first half.
“We discussed it a little bit about putting him in the first half,
but as long as we were in control of the game, we thought we would let it
ride out,” he said.
Lexington never trailed in the game.
They led (7-2) early, with Allen scoring five of the seven points.
They expanded their lead to (19-11) after one quarter of play.
The Arrows (11-11) had their most success offensively in the second
quarter getting it as close as (32-28) after a Paxon Ediger three point
basket with 1:57 left in the half and then again following an Ediger hoop
with :31 left which made it (34-30) at the half.
A key may have been three first three minutes when Ashland needed to
continue to play well and did not. A
Reed Emmons three with 6:37 left in the third cut the Lexington lead
(34-33), but the Arrows could never take the lead.
The Arrows would count only two Gabe Baith free throws over the next
five minutes of play as they Minutemen built their lead to (50-33) after a
(16-0) run that pretty much put the game away.
Hamilton says they understood the Arrows were going to come out with
fire in their eyes and they responded. “We
knew that they were going to come and try to punch us in the mouth. We knew
the third quarter was big for them. We
knew they wanted to play very well coming out of the half, so we told the
guys we have to defend them. We
have to be in attack mode,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win,
“The tempo has to be in our favor. We
were sprinting back or trying to sprint back on defense and cut out any of
the transition. In the last game
that we played before (Tuesday) night they had 18 points in transition or
off of second chance opportunities in the paint.
We definitely wanted to limit that this time.”
Hess says Lexington made some adjustments to their zone offense, but
more than anything the Arrows just didn’t make any shots.
“I thought they made some adjustments to the zone we were playing.
They were cutting to the basket and that freed up some things, so
they were able to get some really good looks and layups there to start.
We quit making shots and that was a big difference there the second
half, we really struggled to score,” said Hess.
Allen led Lexington with 21, making (9-12) shots.
Legron converted five of nine threes and ended up with 17.
Ediger and Baith both had 11 for the Arrows.
Basketball is game of matchups and Hamilton says they were able to
take advantage. “We were
really trying to take advantage of they took (Nathan) Bernhard out they were
extra small and we tried to take advantage of that.
So, we knew that Bernhard wasn't going to be out much.
We knew he had tired legs there,” he said.
In a surprising stat, with Lexington’s offensive rebounding ability
on the record, Ashland outrebounded them on the offensive glass 11-8.
The decisive stat however was the Minutemen made (29-49) shots for
59% and the Arrows (18-44) for 41%.
Published 2/26/25
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Ashland
Must Compete With a Bigger Lexington
Ashland plays Lexington in a division III district semifinal at
Willard High School on Tuesday night.
It will be the first semifinal on the card to be followed by
Mansfield Senior and Sandusky.
It will be third meeting this season between the two teams.
The Minutemen, the Ohio Cardinal Conference winner, won both (71-54)
January 3 in Lexington and (59-58) at Arrow Arena on February 7.
Ashland coach Jason Hess says there will be no secrets.
“We've already played twice this year.
We've played twice every year for a number of years now with being in
the same league as us and coach (Scott) Hamilton being in the opposite
coaching box for longer than I've been in this one.
So, it should be a highly contested match up, very close, with really
no secrets,” said Hess.
Lexington (19-3) has athleticism and Hess says they have size too.
“They’re athletic game and they're big.
It's not just they're athleticism, but also their size with what they
have inside to be able to protect the basket, protect the paint and be able
to have the athletes to get out and pressure your guards that make them such
a difficult team to score on. Then
their athleticism and size also gives them an advantage on the offensive end
as well,” he said.
Ashland (11-10) has been able to at least compete with everyone on
its schedule this season and their level of competitiveness has been based
on their ability to make outside shots.
Hess says they must make perimeter shots on Tuesday.
“We've been fortunate enough this year at different times to shoot
the ball really well from the perimeter and that's one of the things that's
really going to be key for us to be able to continue to knock down those
shots and find a way to get some open looks good looks to get our shooters
into rhythm early in the game there Tuesday to kind of get the confidence
going that we can shoot the ball from the perimeter,” said Hess.
With Brayden Fogle and Joe Caudill especially, the Minutemen as a
team, are great offensive rebounders. Hess
says must compete on the glass. “With
their size and athleticism like we talked about.
They do such a nice job of just crashing the glass.
They have got multiple guys that could go after and get those
rebounds and put them back and they finished all around the room,” he told
Swankonsports.com, “We're going to do a really good job of boxing out.
We've got one big to their two. It's
going to be up to our smaller guys if they can get physical enough and get
tough enough to keep Lexington's bigger athletes off the glass.”
Published 2/25/25
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Ashland
Must Rebound
Ashland plays at Mansfield Madison Friday night in Ohio Cardinal
Conference action.
On Monday night, Ashland fell (68-64) to Shelby in a non-conference
game.
Coach Jason Hess says they just dug too deep of a hole.
“Monday when you look at the game from a distance it really is a
four quarter game and unfortunately we only played about the last 12 minutes
of the ball game. So, it's tough
to get a win against a quality team like Shelby.
We were down 23 points at one point during the third quarter and just
we're not playing very well. Did
not have a lot of effort there defensively and shots weren't falling.
We were able to kick it in gear a little bit, but it was just a
little bit too little too late,” said Hess.
Ashland (10-9,5-6) makes the short trip to Madison (4-16,1-10) on
Friday night. The Rams are
coming off a (56-45) loss to New Philadelphia in an “OCC” game last
Friday.
Hess says they have some good players, they’re just looking for
more consistency. “They've got
some kids that are very capable of making some shots and get going.
Unfortunately for them, they have not been as consistent I'm sure as
their coaches would like. They
have not been able to get as many wins in the win column as they would like.
They are definitely a dangerous team and they've played some of the
top teams in our league very tough and a lot of competitive games with them
this year,” he said.
Ashland will play either Madison or the top seed “OCC” champion
Lexington in the division III tournament in 10 days.
Hess says they need to be better rebounders.
“One of the big points of emphasis we've been trying to make in the
last couple of weeks is our defensive rebounding.
We've struggled at times, especially at critical points in the ball
game, of being able to secure that defensive rebound and be able to get off
the defensive end of the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “Allowing teams to get two and three shots.
When you're playing in a district game and against some of the
quality opponents that we have here on the schedule you're in a lot of
trouble and really going to be hurting if they're getting two or three shots
every trip down the floor.”
Published 2/14/25
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Ashland
Finding it
Ashland faces a pair of games going into Sunday’s tournament draw
this week as they play at Clear Fork in a non-conference game on Tuesday and
at home against “OCC” leader Lexington in and Ohio Cardinal Conference
game on Friday night.
Coach Jason Hess liked the way they played in an “OCC” win over
Wooster (69-56) on Tuesday and a loss to Massillon (86-81) in non-conference
play on Saturday. “We actually
both games last week Tuesday and Saturday.
We played some of our best basketball of the year.
It's been exciting here the last couple of weeks to see our guys
continue to improve and to get better and play really good team basketball.
We've had three and four guys in double figures the last couple games
which makes it a lot tougher for opponents to guard us,” he said.
Clear Fork (5-12) have lost their last four games.
However, Hess says Garrett Hotz is a problem for them.
“They've got one big senior there that's really carrying the load
for them. He scores a lot.
He can score inside and outside.
It's going to be a little bit of a tough matchup because most of the
teams we've been playing lately are really guard oriented.
So, we've got just a short prep week this week, one day to prepare.
We're going to have to kind of change gears in order to start working
on guarding the post a little bit more than we have the last few weeks,”
said Hess.
Ashland (9-7,5-5) hosts Lexington (16-3,10-1), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. The
Minutemen smoked Mansfield Senior (84-64) last Tuesday to take the “OCC”
lead and earned no less than co-title with a (63-49) win over Madison on
Friday. They win it outright if
they beat Ashland.
Hess says they must handle the pressure defense and compete on the
boards. “There's a reason why
they're at the top of the league. They've
got a very talented group of kids that have multiple weapons that can beat
you inside and out. One of the
things that jumps out just every time you watch them play is how hard they
play defense. How much they
pressure and disrupt things you want to do offensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Taking care of the basketball,
valuing the basketball is going to be extremely important.
Hopefully, we were able to learn and get some experience with that
last week against Massillon. The
other thing that's going to be key is if we can keep them off the offensive
glass. Our guys are going to
really have do a good job boxing out and rebounding there on the defensive
end.”
Lexington won the first meeting (71-54) on January 3.
Right now, Ashland stands in fourth in the RPI standings in their
division III district. Hess says
these are important wins for them. “We
have got these two games and then our draw is next Sunday.
So, it's exciting for us to have an opportunity here at division III
to maybe bump up one spot, but at least solidify that number four spot in
the district where we should be able to get a home game possibly for that
first round. It's just an
exciting time of the year. Like
I said earlier, it's exciting to see our guys playing their best basketball
here in February,” said Hess.
Published 2/04/25
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Ashland
and Wooster are Similar
Ashland entertains Wooster in one of these Tuesday night games in the
Ohio Cardinal Conference this week.
The Arrows (8-6,4-5) are coming off a tough (72-71) loss in overtime
to conference co-leader Mansfield Senior last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says really they played as about as well as they
have all season last Friday. “I
thought we played one of our better ball games of the year.
Unfortunately, Mansfield made some plays down the stretch and hit
their free throws. We didn't
capitalize on some opportunities we had to score in the overtime and kind of
went cold shooting from the field. Overall,
I thought the effort wise our kids really put out a great effort.
Like I said, one of the better efforts we put out all season for a
complete game,” said Hess.
Wooster (7-7,5-3) lost last Friday to the other co-leader in the
“OCC” (74-68) to Lexington.
The Generals won the first meeting in this series (67-62) on December
20.
Hess says they need to just a little more than they got last week.
“They're a team that we played a very competitive game with over at
their place back in December. It
seems like it's been a long time ago since we were over there.
I think it's a team that we match up fairly well with.
Hopefully, we'll be able to have another great effort like we did
Friday night at Mansfield and get a different outcome this time around,”
he said.
Both teams have very good guard play and Hess says perimeter defense,
and who plays it well, is going to have an impact on this game.
“It's going to be extremely important.
They've got a couple good senior guards that do a nice job shooting
the basketball and score really well. That's
kind of their basic offense that they're going for is their perimeter guys.
I think we're very similar built in the same manner where we're
relying a lot on our guard play to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “It should be a very good basketball game.
Like I said, over there in December when we were at Wooster it was a
back and forth game for a while. We
had a lead there and they were able to come back and make the plays down the
stretch and pull that one out. I
expect to be a similar type game where it's up and down fairly high scoring
and a lot of guard play.”
Published 1/28/25
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Ashland
Starting to Shoot
Ashland plays at Mansfield Senior against the “OCC” co-leading on
Tygers at Pete Henry Gym Friday night.
A non-conference game with Shelby on Tuesday has been postponed due
to anticipated cold temperatures.
The Arrows (8-5,4-4) smoked West Holmes (84-57) on Friday night in an
“OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says they shot the ball very well from the
perimeter. “Offensively we
played really well. We were able
to make a lot of shots. We hit
15 threes, which is the most we have made in the game all year.
So, obviously when the ball is going in the basket it makes you feel
pretty good about yourself. When
we were able to put up the number of points we did that also helps getting
the victory,” said Hess.
Mansfield Senior (9-4,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has lost three of
their last four, all non-conference games.
They won their “OCC” game last Friday in beating rival Madison
(68-42) at home.
The Tygers won the first game between the two (66-59) on December 17
at Arrow Arena.
Hess says they need to play a full 32 minutes this time.
“Mansfield is right at the top of our league, tied it in first
place in the league standings. So,
it is going to be a challenge for us to go over to Mansfield on Friday, but
I'm looking forward to it, I think we've improved.
Hopefully, we've learned some things from that first time on what was
effective against them. Hopefully,
we'll be able to implement those strategies for the entirety of the game as
opposed to just late in game when we we're behind.”
The Tygers share first place in the league with Lexington.
Ashland trails by three games.
Hess says it would be great if they could shoot from the outside like
they did last week. “Hopefully.
we'll be able to continue to make shots like we did last Friday and give
ourselves a chance to win that basketball game,” he said.
Published 1/21/25
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Ashland
Still Looking for Consistency
Ashland returns to action on Friday night as they are at home for
West Holmes for a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Last Saturday, they dropped a (63-49) decision at New Philadelphia in
a conference game.
Coach Jason Hess says they are still looking to find rhythm in games
and in their season. “When you
watch the film after Saturday night. It
was just one of those nights we didn't get a good rhythm.
We didn't play well. We
put a little bit of a fight there at the end, but too little too late and we
came up on the short end of the stick. That's
one of the things we're struggling with right now trying to get a rhythm.
Some of these weather delays and cancellations make it difficult for
our guys just to get into that basketball rhythm.
Basketball is such a game of rhythm and feel.
We're really struggling right now just trying to get that back and
trying to get a roll going here as we get ready to start the second half of
the season,” said Hess.
Hess says they still have a lot of potential.
“We're very excited and still very happy with our group.
We just have to find a way to get the sum of our team to be greater
than the individual parts. Right
now, we haven't got that to click yet, but we've still got a lot of
basketball left. Hopefully this
week have a good week of practice and we're able to get that straightened
out and get some momentum going here as we start stretch run of the
season,” he said.
Ashland (7-5,3-4) is at home for West Holmes (0-9,0-6) on Friday
night. The Arrows won the first
meeting (60-48) on December 13.
Hess says while West Holmes is young, they are still dangerous.
“They're definitely young, but they're a team that's got a lot of
potential. I know that when we
saw them there early in the season it was just the second weekend and you
know their coach was extremely excited about his group.
He's got a lot of sophomores and juniors playing.
He doesn't have a single senior on the roster,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He's definitely continuing to
build what he's got going with these young guys counting not only on the end
of this year trying to get some success and some wins, but getting things
ready to get momentum going into next season with everybody coming back for
them. They're a dangerous team
because they play hard even though they've had a hard time coming up with
wins this year they're playing in some close games and they don't quit they
just keep competing the entire time.”
Published 1/15/25
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Ashland
Looking for More Consistency
Ashland will be at home for Mansfield Madison in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Tuesday night.
The Arrows (6-4,2-3) are two games back in the “OCC” race with
the first half wrapping up on Tuesday. They
can’t afford any more losses in order to win the “OCC” title.
They lost (71-54) to Lexington in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they really only played less than a quarter of
good basketball. “We just have
not been really consistent playing basketball here the entire season.
We've had really good glimpses in some games.
Put together some really good minutes and unfortunately for Friday we
only played about four or five minutes of that game.
It's hard to beat a really good team like Lexington when you don't
play the full 32 minutes,” said Hess.
They beat Ontario (59-46) in a non-league game on Saturday night.
Hess says their effort was a little better only Saturday.
“Saturday, we played a little better stretch.
We were able to compete and get some stops and play pretty good
defense there and make some shots about the last 10 minutes of the game
after we found ourselves down by seven points there midway through the
third,” he said.
Madison (4-7,1-4) has won three of its last six.
They did lose (57-32) at New Philadelphia in their last league game
on Friday.
Hess due to who the Rams put on the floor, that can be an issue for
them. “Madison is a team that
has got a few wins this year. They're
playing a little different style than what matches us as far as they're not
putting any post players in there, so we were just talking (Monday) at
practice kind of how we're going to match up with them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “It's going to be a little bit
difficult for us having to get our big guy Nathan Bernhard away from basket
a little bit more than we would like defensively.
We've got to be able to do that to get out on their shooters.
So, it's a little bit of a challenge for us to go that way, but then
at the same time they've got to find a way to match up with us on the other
end.”
Published
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Ashland
Must Handle the Ball Against Lex
Ashland plays at Lexington in a battle between good teams in Ohio
Cardinal Conference play on Friday night.
Last week, the Arrows grabbed two wins by downing New Philadelphia
(49-43) in “OCC” play on Friday and future “OCC” member Dover
(58-42) on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they were really good on defense.
“Anytime you get two wins on a weekend it's a good weekend.
The longer you're in this business even though you don't necessarily
play your best basketball or win pretty, anytime you can get a win, you
cherish those moments and enjoy it. I
thought we did a lot of good things last weekend, especially defensively. I
thought we had some of our better defensive efforts last week,” he said.
Ashland (5-2,2-2) plays at Lexington (8-1,4-1), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. They
have won their last four.
Hess says the Minutemen do a lot of things very well.
“Everybody knew coming into the season on paper Lexington returned
a lot of talent from last year's team that was conference champions and was
kind of the team to beat. Yes,
they're missing one of their pieces, a big piece of what they were planning
on doing, however they haven't missed a beat at this point.
They still have got a lot of talent on their roster.
They shoot the ball extremely well, they have got a nice inside
presence, their guard play is really good and defensively they really
pressure and get after you,” said Hess.
Lexington will get up in you on defense and Hess says you can’t
afford a lot of live ball turnovers. “It’s
definitely easier said than done to be able to handle that pressure and to
be able to get good shots and to be able to control the tempo because
Lexington's a team that can get going and they can put up points in a hurry,
especially in transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “That's where handling the basketball is something that’s
extremely important for us. Just
to kind of limit their opportunities to run out in transition and score.
We need to make sure we handle the basketball and they have to earn
every point they get. Not give
them freebies just by getting run out layups.”
Ontario (2-7) lost (68-59) to Shelby in a Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference game on Thursday night.
Hess says they will pressure you hard.
“Ontario is playing a lot of young guys and they're really trying
to find themselves. At times
this year, they've been very competitive.
They played a lot of close games.
When you have got those young guys they're still trying to figure it
out on the varsity level. They
will pressure you and they've got good athletes and it'll be a good contest
for us. The important one here
is first one Friday night. You
have got to come out do the best we can Friday night and then we'll worry
about Ontario when Saturday comes around,” said Hess.
Published 1/03/25
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Ashland
Must be Fundamental
Ashland hosts New Philadelphia in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night.
Trailing by two games in the “OCC” standings, it seems like a
must win for the Arrows.
Last week, they lost two close game to good teams in “OCC” play
in Mansfield Senior (66-59) on Tuesday and Wooster (67-62) on Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they had a chance to win both games.
“Last week was a tough week for us.
Tuesday night with Mansfield we competed we were right there several
times with an opportunity to tie the ball game late in the game.
We were down by four and had some chances to tie it maybe even take
the lead if we execute everything correctly.
We kind of shot ourselves in the foot with a couple turnovers that
really hurt us and allowed Mansfield to extend the lead and kind of have a
comfortable lead there to the finish. Friday
night, I thought we actually played our best basketball this year for about
three quarters. Halfway through
the first through the start of the fourth and looked really good.
Unfortunately, then we had some self-inflicted errors and mistakes
there in the last six and half minutes and Wooster made plays and hit some
big shots and they got to win there Friday night,” said Hess.
Ashland (3-3,1-2) is at New Philadelphia (4-4,1-2) on Friday night.
Hess says the Quakers execute their stuff very well.
“They're going to execute well.
They're going to play really good half court defense.
They're going to make you earn all of the points you get.
We're going to have to really stay fundamental defensively and not
get careless and even try to get too noisy at times because any breakdowns
we have they would definitely capitalize on get easy buckets,” he said.
Hess you don’t want to play a half court game against New Philly,
but it almost always seems to work that way.
“That's not really the way we want to play, but they're so good at
what they do. They're able to
stay very true to themselves and their identity about making it a half court
game, a half court grind and not allowing you to get a lot of easy buckets
transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They take
care of the basketball, have long possessions on offense, so it's definitely
one of those games that is a little different than what we saw last week
with Mansfield and Wooster. We're
going to have a few days here to get ready for them and fortunately for us
this week as far as prep goes Dover plays a similar style, so we were able
to kind of gear up for both games this weekend.”
Published 12/24/24
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Ashland
Can’t Give up Runs
Ashland plays host to Mansfield Senior in a key early season battle
in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night.
In their “OCC” opener on Friday night they downed West Holmes
(60-48) on the road.
Coach Jason Hess says they won without playing their best.
“We were able to get away with a conference win at West Holmes.
It was not necessarily our best game of the year, although we've only
played four to this point. We
did some good things defensively. We
definitely struggled to rebound the basketball. We didn't shoot the ball
very well. Most importantly we
were able to come away with the win on the road, which I guess is ultimately
the most important thing, but you want to just keep getting better each
game. So, we definitely have
things we need to work on here to get ready for Mansfield,” said Hess.
Ashland (3-1,1-0), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for
Mansfield Senior (4-0,2-0), #1 in that poll, on Tuesday night in “OCC”
play. Mansfield Senior outscored
Madison (85-69) on Friday night.
Hess says this is a similar Mansfield Senior team with a notable
exception. “It's a very
similar game plan most years going into the Mansfield Senior game. Although
I do feel like this year they are shooting both from the perimeter a little
better than they have in the past. They've
got a couple guys that are very capable of putting up a lot of points from
behind the arc. So, the way we
have to guard them we have to extend down and make sure we're contesting
some of those perimeter shots that in the past was not necessarily as much
of a priority as it will be (Tuesday) night,” he said.
Hess says a key to success against Mansfield Senior is being able to
limit their runs. “They're
just relentless with their effort and how hard they play.
They just keep coming at you. They're
able to sub and play a lot of guys and put pressure that you can't relax at
all throughout the whole 32 minute game.
The one time you relax and throw a little bit of a lazy pass they run
through and they get a layup or a dunk at the other end,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “If you get a little sloppy
dribbling the basketball they pick your pocket it turns into a layup of dunk
at the other end. Those six to
eight point runs are the ones that just kill you because they play such good
defense, put so much pressure on the ball you have to work so hard to score
and it’s just a really back breaking.
You can’t give up those six, eight point runs when you're having to
work so hard to score on your end.”
Published 12/17/24
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Ashland
Wants Quick Start
Ashland opens play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night
with a visit to West Holmes to take on the Knights.
They won a pair of games last week in beating Norwalk (50-47) on
Friday and outscoring Clyde (90-82) on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they won two different kinds of games.
“It was nice to be able to see two different opponents to get us
ready for league play starting this week because we have such different
styles of play in our league. From
the pressure and run and gun of Mansfield Senior and other teams to a slower
more deliberate pace of a New Philadelphia.
It was nice to be able to see those two types of opponents over the
weekend and even nicer to be able to come out with the wins.
Give our guys a lot of credit with a short preseason to just show up
and be ready to compete and be able to fight through that extra fatigue and
stuff on their legs there Saturday night to get that went with the up and
down game with Clyde,” said Hess.
Ashland (2-0,0-0) is at West Holmes (0-3,0-0) on Friday night.
The Knights lost (74-39) to Orrville on Tuesday night.
Hess they are an inexperienced team this year.
“West Holmes is a young team. They're
starting four sophomores and a junior. They
don't have a senior on the roster. So,
they're definitely getting better week by week and it's typically that big
jump between the first week and second week of game time,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I expect this to be very
competitive with a well coached team. They
have got some young guys that are just excited and hungry to play basketball
and compete at the varsity level. You
just never know going on the road in a first conference game our guys are
going to have to be ready to play.”
Road games, especially in league play, are never easy and Hess says
they have to be focused. “You
have got the crowd, you got the bus ride, it just seems like winning road
games in the league is always a challenge at any level in any conference.
You just look around in athletics all in general how much of an
advantage there is to play at home. So,
it's going to be extremely important for us to get off to a good start at
West Holmes and to try to silence the crowd and just get into a good rhythm
and be able to play,” he said.
Published 12/11/24
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Ashland
Doing the Right Things
Ashland opens the season with two games this weekend against teams
out of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference as they at Norwalk
on Friday and host Clyde on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they want to get out and see what they can do.
“Our guys are really anxious to get going as is the coaching staff.
In fact, most of the coaching staff has been doing this several weeks
longer than what the players have with the late football run.
I think it was good we've had enough of a break in time between the
football season and into basketball to get them ready for basketball.
There are still some things as far as the conditioning goes and a
little bit of other things we would like to improve on between now and
Friday night. Overall, our guys
are playing with a lot of energy. They're
excited to be here and that's the most important thing right now is just
coming with that energy and playing hard with a positive attitude and
wanting to get better,” said Hess.
Hess they are still refining their basketball skills, but he says he
really likes the way they carry themselves.
“There's so many guys that we have coming out of football some of
the feel, some of the touch may not be there, but yet there's just a
chemistry and a little bit of swagger that these guys bring with them after
that successful football season and that long playoff run,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “That that extra confidence and I
think with just the year older maturity wise from a basketball standpoint
than we were a season ago. Hopefully,
we are prepared now to make some of the plays that we need to make down the
stretch of games to win some of those games that that we lost early in the
season last year.”
Norwalk (1-0) beat Oregon Clay (55-45) last Friday in their first
game of the season.
Hess says Norwalk has a solid program with some experienced and
talented players. “Well, they
got a good win last weekend to open their season.
They've got one game under their belt.
That one game of experience does mean a lot compared to a first game.
It's always nice to get that first one out of the way and find a way
to win it. Like I mentioned with
football kind of building that winning culture.
Norwalk has had some success in recent years.
They return a good group of seniors that have been playing varsity
for three years plus. So, I
expect them to be well coached and prepared for anything that we can throw
at them. It should be a tight
match up, just like it has been in the last two seasons,” he said.
Published 12/04/24
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Ashland
Getting Prepared
It has been a different preseason for the Ashland Arrows as they had
their first practice on Tuesday with a lot of guys that are going to be
major parts of their team this year.
The Arrows football season just ended last Friday with a loss in the
regional semifinals.
Coach Jason Hess says they have been forced to be creative.
“It's exciting to see the success of our football program here this
fall. The undefeated regular
season and making the third round of the playoffs, but it has thrown a
little bit of a wrinkle in our plans for basketball.
We got started the same as everybody else did November 1, but when it
comes to the varsity players we were missing two thirds of our team that
were still playing football on that Friday night.
So, we've had to make do, we've had to kind of get a little creative
with our practice plans in order to keep our guys engaged and continue to
get better with the guys we had,” he said.
Hess says this month has been an opportunity for those non football
players to show what they can do. “We
told them that first week after the football team won and was advancing in
the playoffs that these guys that were coming to practice have an
opportunity to do a little bit more and develop skills and be farther ahead
than those football guys. Even
though we are one team, we need to have that competitiveness within our team
to push ourselves to get better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “I think our guys have done a pretty good job of embracing the
opportunity that they were given and making the most of opportunity.
We didn't get to do the five on five and scrimmages to this point
that other schools have done, but we have been able to work on our skill
level and hopefully take some time to break some things down with some guys
that we haven't been able to do in the past.”
Ashland will open the season December 6 at Norwalk.
Their first Ohio Cardinal Conference game is December 13 at West
Holmes.
Hess says they are now trying to get those football players in
basketball shape. “We get
better real fast, but that comes with some other challenges because now we
have got these guys coming out of football and the conditioning to play
football game is completely different than that of a basketball game.
So, one of the things that is a challenge for us right off the bat is
getting these guys in shape in such a short amount of time and also keeping
them from getting injured and overused or doing something that they're not
typically used to. Being patient
with them to get their stamina up and to get back in that feel of basketball
having the round ball in their hands instead of the oblong one,” said
Hess.
Published 11/20/24
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Ashland
to Meet Physical Big Walnut
Ashland locks horns with Big Walnut in a regional semifinal in
division II Friday night at Marion Harding Stadium.
To advance last week, the Arrows (12-0) downed Columbus DeSales
(27-14) in quarterfinal play.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to shutdown the Stallions
running game. “I thought our
coaches had a great game plan and again our kids went out and they knew they
were going to have to be physical because they were a physical team up
front. So, that's something that
we had to make sure we did and the kids did that,” said Valentine.
There aren’t many teams left playing football, just over 50
statewide, and Valentine says it’s great to still be working.
“We're excited with what we’ve done.
We still feel we have got a lot to do and our kids are working this
week to get ready for Friday,” he said.
Big Walnut (11-1) is riding an 11 game winning streak.
Their only loss coming week one of the regular season (20-0) to
Columbus Bishop Watterson.
Valentine says again they will be facing a football team that is very
physical. “I think they're a
similar team to what we saw last week with the DeSales.
They are physical up front, they run the football.
They have a good running back/tailback that runs the ball for them
and then they execute some play action passes there,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Defensively, similar thing,
they run to the ball and they're physical up front.
So, again it's going to be another physical battle this week.”
Big Walnut beat Massillon Perry (35-24) last week.
The Ashland coach says they must compete up front or it’s going to
be a long night. “If you
don't, then they'll just control the ball and move it down the field and go
in and score. That's something
that our kids understand what they've got to be ready for,” he said.
Valentine says the opportunity to play in games like this is always
fun for the players. “We had a
great crowd here at home last week. I
told our kids you enjoy this because high school football only lasts for
those years in high school and then you're going to go in different
directions. This week's another
opportunity to get out there and enjoy playing against a good football
team,” said Valentine.
Published 11/14/24
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Ashland
to Play DeSales
Ashland, the
Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, hosts Columbus DeSales in a division II
regional quarterfinal on Friday night at Community Stadium.
In their postseason opener, the Arrows belted another catholic school
in Columbus in St. Charles (42-0) last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says they came out ready to play.
“You just never know how your kids are going to react in those
situations. I really thought our
kids had a good week of practice and then we were able to go out on the
field and play a good football game,” he said.
Valentine has been a head since the 1990’s, this is second stint at
his alma mater, and he says they try to prepare the kids for the pressures
of playoff football. “We talk
about it all the time that when you’re in heat the battle your body's
going to do what it's done over and over and so doing the little things
right all week lends to performing under the pressure of Friday night.
So, we try to emphasize that, it doesn't always work that way, but
that's what we try to emphasize,” said Valentine.
Ashland (11-0) is at home for DeSales (9-2) on Friday night.
The Stallions outscored New Albany (48-28) last week.
In terms of score comparison, they beat St. Charles (28-0) in a
regular season game.
Valentine says they are a very solid team.
“They're one of those traditional powers down there.
They've been very good football program for a lot of years.
They play good hardnosed football, they run downhill at you, do some
things throwing the ball and then defensively their a physical football
team. So, again it's a challenge
and a test and we've got to be ready to go,” he said.
When it comes to x’s and o’s, Valentine says DeSales does some
different things and they will have to be ready for those.
“I think it's a little bit of a different animal just because of
what they do. We’ve seen
different formations, but when they get in those running sets, they like
using their “H-Back” as a puller up in there and so offensively they
present a few different problems than anybody we've seen,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Defensively, they remind me a lot
of the teams in our league that are aggressive and have good pass coverage
and good skill guys. So, again
just a few different challenges there.”
Published 11/06/24
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Ashland
to Host St. Charles
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, will at home at
Community Stadium against Columbus St. Charles in a first round playoff game
in division II on Friday night.
They won the “OCC” outright with a (30-21) win over Lexington
last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says their defense got a couple big scores in
the game. “Our defensive staff
had a good game plan and our kids went out and they got opportunities to get
some interceptions and then went ahead and took them in for touchdowns.
That was a big part of our game last week,” said Valentine.
Valentine says when you get those defensive scores it can really give
you some momentum. “It just
propels your team and gets everybody excited.
Momentum is the thing that that you need to have on your side as you
go through the game,” he said.
Ashland (10-0), #3 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, plays host to St. Charles (4-6), a loser
of their last six in a row.
Valentine says they got a great start to the season, but then were
hurt by some injuries. “Early
on they had a lot of success and then I got into a couple games and their
starting quarterback got hurt, which hurt them a little bit.
Now, I think he came back and they started scoring some more
points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They play a
tough schedule down there in the Columbus area.
So, again when you get to this point everybody's going to be good, so
you got to be ready to play.”
Valentine says they use the tight end more than a lot of teams do and
they will come at you with a couple of different defensive fronts.
“I think they are multiple in what they do, like everybody right
now. They have some good runners
and do some things with tight ends, which sometimes you don't see.
We see that little bit in our league. So,
those are some differences there. Defensively,
they are a four man front, three man front and play a lot of different
coverages. So, those are things
we again have to be ready for,” said Valentine.
Published 10/31/24
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Ashland
Not in Sharing Mood
Ashland already has a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title and
they can win their first outright title since 2011 by beating Lexington on
Friday night at Community Stadium.
If they lose the game, they will have to share it with the Minutemen.
They put themselves in a position to win the outright title by
beating Wooster (24-14) last Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says they played good complementary football.
“Anytime you're going through a season you've got to make sure in
the end that you take care of plays and make plays when you need to.
I thought special teams wise we got a field goal that they put us out
there. Then offensively we were
able to drive the ball in the fourth quarter and get another score.
Defensively, we made a couple interceptions and got some picks.
So, it was a good all round team game,” said Valentine.
Ashland (9-0,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, hosts Lexington (5-4,4-1) on Friday night.
The Minutemen beat Madison (14-7) last week.
Valentine says Lexington has a big play offense and they tackle well
in space. “Well, I think
they're a very athletic team. The
thing that's scary about them is they've got guys who can make plays and
defensively you've got to try to limit their plays.
You have got to be great tacklers in space because that's something
that they do well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“Defensively they haven't given up a lot of points.
They keep you in front of them. They
tackle in the open field. So,
we've got to find some ways to make some plays.”
Sometimes you have to be patient against teams like Lexington and
Valentine says that’s his job. “You
try to tell your kids, but sometimes that’s tough, so as the coach you
have got to try to make calls that keep you patient.
In the end I think overall our guys understand that we've got to take
out and play how the defense is playing us and so hopefully that we can do
that,” said Valentine.
Ashland has won outright or shared eight “OCC” titles and
Valentine says they want this one to themselves.
“It's one of those games that you want to get out.
You always want to be playing in these types of games.
It’s our senior night for our kids, so our seniors are going to be
excited about their last regular season game here.
So, it's something that you don't want to share it with anybody, you
want to try to have it by yourself,” he said.
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Ashland
Can Earn a Share
Ashland can get no less than a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference
football title with a win at Wooster on Friday night.
They lead Lexington by a game with two to play.
They play Lex on week 10.
They hammered West Holmes (56-28) in an “OCC” game last Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says they took care of business.
“The thing is we told them every game here out is very important
championship wise. If we want to
win the championship, we have got to keep winning.
So, I thought we had a good week of practice and focused in and then
we were able to make some plays some on Friday night,” said Valentine.
Against West Holmes, Arrow quarterback Nathan Bernhart accounted for
eight touchdowns on the night. Valentine
says he is just very good. “Those
type of guys make you look like a good coach.
He had a great night,” he said.
Ashland (8-0,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, is at Wooster (2-6,1-5).
The Generals are coming off their first “OCC” win of the season,
(42-24) over Mansfield Senior last week.
Valentine says they are going to be aggressive on defense.
“They have got some guys on offense that will make plays and score
points. Defensively, that's
going to have to be our focus. They
give you a lot of different looks, so we're going to have to be able to
adjust to different looks and try to contain them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Offensively, we've got to attack
their defense. They're similar
to the last two teams we have played. They're
going to bring some pressure and so we'll have to handle that.”
Last week, Wooster’s Julius Franklin ran for 203 yards and two
scores against Mansfield.
Valentine says they have to be good tacklers, which has been an issue
for them at times. “We've
talked about that, we've got to keep getting better at tackling.
We missed some tackles the other night that we can't miss.
He’s a guy that will make you pay,” he said.
There has already been some talk about the matchup with Lexington
next week, but Valentine says their focus has to be on Wooster.
“I told our kids on Saturday morning, they are fortunate they put
themselves in a position, but this week about getting the conference
championship. If you don't win
this one, you can't win it outright. So,
this is one you want to get at least a share this week.
So, there better be a lot of focus this week for us to get the job
done on Friday,” said Valentine.
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Ashland
Defense Will be Stressed
Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Ashland will be down at West Holmes
against the Knights in a big “OCC” game on Friday night.
Right now, Ashland shares the conference lead with Lexington.
West Holmes is just a game back.
Lexington plays at New Philadelphia on Friday night.
Last week, the Arrows (7-0,3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, walloped Mansfield Senior (35-3)
in “OCC” play.
Veteran coach Scott Valentine says they made a lot of plays all over
the field. “I think we
definitely played well on in all three phases because they're explosive on
offense and even special teams they can make big plays.
We were able to contain them there.
Then offensively we were able to handle they started bringing some
pressure and we were able to handle pressure and make some big plays.
So, we executed on all three phases,” said Valentine.
West Holmes (4-3,3-1) fell out of a share of the “OCC” lead when
Lexington scored with less than a minute to play last week and beat them
(19-13) on Friday.
Valentine says they are going to be aggressive on defense.
“They are similar to Mansfield Senior, they like to bring a lot of
pressure, so we're going to have to be ready to handle pressure again this
week. Their quarterback does a
great job of moving the ball around,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “Their staff does a good job of giving you a lot of
different problems for formation wise, so defensively we have got to be able
to see the different formations and then then read our keys and make
plays.”
Knights quarterback Morgan Smith is a playmaker and Valentine says
they must contain him. He says
they can’t give him running lanes or he’ll burn them.
“Anytime you face somebody like that, that's always a concern.
You have just got to make sure you stay in your lanes and then react
to where he's at. He's going to
make some plays you just got to try to hopefully keep him from making a lot
of big ones,” he said.
Published 10/11/24
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Ashland
Must Tackle in Space
Ashland, unbeaten in Ohio Cardinal Conference play, will be at home
for the rival Mansfield Senior Tygers in a conference game on Friday night
at Community Stadium.
Right now, West Holmes is (3-0) in the “OCC” while both Ashland
and Lexington carry (2-0) conference records.
Mansfield Senior is the defending conference champion.
Last week, the Arrows (6-0,2-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, survived beating Madison (33-27)
in triple overtime. Nathan
Bernhard scored the deciding touchdown.
He also tied the game in the first overtime when he scored on fourth
and goal at the one.
Coach Scott Valentine says his kids persevered.
“I give credit to our kids for keep battling keep battling and then
finding and making some plays in the end for us to get the win,” he said.
Valentine says you must continue to try and make plays.
“In those situations, you just have got to keep trying to make
plays. We did that on defense
and gave ourselves the opportunity there and then we got a score in that
last overtime,” said Valentine.
Mansfield Senior (1-5,1-2) has struggled this year on offense.
They have scored on 61 points all season and four of those scores are
on special teams or by the defense. They
lost (19-6) to Lexington last week.
Still, Valentine says they have the potential to make the big play.
“Well, it's a normal Mansfield Senior team,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They are quick, they're very
athletic, their lineman do a good job of moving and blocking.
So, they can present you with different problems than you may have
seen in different weeks.”
Valentine says when playing the Tygers you have to be good tacklers
and you can’t be out of position. “Well,
I think for us defensively we're going to tackle guys in space because with
their athleticism, so our tackling is got to be really good. I
think we have got to be really good with our assignments.
I think we've tried to stress that.
We've had some mental mistakes in the past couple weeks, so try to
get on that. Then offensively
when the opportunities present themselves we've got to be able to make the
plays when they do,” said Valentine.
Published 10/03/24
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Ashland
Has to Get off the Field
Ashland plays down U.S. route 42 at Mansfield Madison in an Ohio
Cardinal Conference football game on Friday night.
They beat Maple Heights (37-20) in a non-league game last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says thy were able to make enough plays on both
sides of the football. “Well,
I think going into that game we thought they probably would try to man us up
defensively and we were going to have to be able to make plays on
offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We're able to
get some big plays. We had a big
play defensively, Killian O'Brien picked one off and took it back for a
touchdown. So, that was a big
play for us. We were able to
make enough plays and kept them defensively from doing things that to get a
lot of big plays.”
Ashland (5-0,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at Madison (1-4,1-1) on Friday night.
The Rams beat Wooster (35-34) two weeks ago and lost at the horn
(23-21) to West Holmes last week.
Valentine says the Rams are playing well.
“There's no doubt they're playing good football and had
opportunities to win last week and just missed.
So, that's something that definitely you can see on videotape.
They're playing good football, so we're going to be ready to play a
good four quarter game,” he said.
Valentine says Madison wants to be a physical football team and they
have the players to do that. “Up
front they have some good size on the offensive line and their backs are
running hard. So, again if
you're not ready to tackle them and use your shoulder pads they're going to
run through and break tackles and that's a big part of their game right
now,” said Valentine.
Ashland has averaged five touchdowns a game this season and Valentine
Believes Madison is going to do its best to keep them off the field.
“Because they want to use the clock and limit the amount of
possessions you have. So,
definitely defensively we've got to be able to get stops and get the ball
back,” he said.
Published 9/24/24
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Ashland
to Face Athletic Maple Heights
Ashland takes a break from play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference to
face Maple Heights in a non-conference game on Friday night.
They took a big step towards a possible conference title with a
(17-14) win over New Philadelphia last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says they played a good overall game and they
played for 48 minutes. “I
thought defensively we had a great game plan.
Our kids went out and executed against them and kept them from
getting a lot of big plays. We
talked about in big games special teams wise that was a big part of it and
we were we able to get some plays there,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “Then offensively we executed and just missed on a
couple things in the first half. I
thought overall we played four quarters, which we knew we were going to have
to do.”
Valentine says they have to build on last week and not rest on their
success against the Quakers. “Everybody
talks about that 24 hour or 48 hour rule.
We always tell our kids you have got to come back on Monday and get
ready for next week. I thought
that we've got to that point and we had a pretty good week of practice,”
he said.
Ashland (4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, plays hosts to Maple Heights (3-1) on Friday.
The Mustangs lost (29-20) to Boardman last week, their first loss of
the season.
Valentine says this is a team athletic enough to make big plays and
they will be aggressive on defense. “They’re
a team that is similar to Mansfield Senior.
They're very athletic and they've got good overall team speed.
Defensively, they're going to run to the ball and play a lot of man
coverage, so offensively we got to be ready for those things.
Then they try to get guys space and make plays.
So, we're going to have to be really good tacklers on defense and
special teams,” said Valentine.
Published 9/19/24
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Big
Plays Big For Ashland
In a big early season game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, the
Ashland Arrows host New Philadelphia.
It looks like both are going to be a factor in the conference race
without question.
The Arrows (3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, hammered Linsly, West Virginia (35-0) last
week.
Coach Scott Valentine feels they have continued to improve.
“I think we've gotten better each week, which is always the goal. I
think we still had to iron out some things and hopefully we did that this
week. We're going to play a
really good football team in New Philly this week and start the conference,
so we've got to be ready to go,” he said.
New Philadelphia beat Wooster (28-7) in an “OCC” game last week.
For the third straight week their defense was very good.
Valentine says they also play good complementary football as their
offense is good at handing onto it. “Well,
I think they definitely do a great job offensively in controlling the
football and keeping the football in their hands.
Their coaching staff does a great job of coaching their special
teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Defensively,
they're very sound. They're not
going to give up the big play and they come and hit you.
So, they do a lot of good things from them football wise.”
The Quakers returned the opening kick for a score last week against
Wooster.
Valentine says they going to need to make some big plays.
“I think that's the thing when you play teams that are very sound
and good defensively. Their goal
is not to give up big plays. So,
you've got to be patient offensively and any opportunities you get, you have
got to make those big plays. So,
that's our goal as we head into Friday,” said Valentine.
Published 9/13/24
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Ashland
Taking Steps
Ashland
has its home opener on Friday night as they host Linsly, West Virginia, at
Community Stadium.
The Arrows are (2-0) after outscoring Marion Harding (53-29) in a
non-conference game last Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine thought they looked good on film.
“Going back and looking at the video, I really thought we executed
some of the things we needed to against the type of things they did
defensively. For us defensively,
we were able to make plays and we needed to,” said Valentine.
The veteran Ashland coach says they made some strides from week one.
“Looking at the video, some of the things we emphasize practice
wise we started to see some of those things on video, but definitely there's
things that taken week two we got to get better at,” he said.
Linsly is an academy like school, not a public school.
Valentine says they are going to be an athletic team that does a lot
of things. “I know there a
week behind us, so their first game was last week.
They are a school that has kids come in,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“Looking at them on video, they seem to be pretty athletic and do a lot of
different things offensively that our defense is going to have to prepare
for. Again, it's going to be a
challenge for us.”
With a tough Ohio Cardinal Conference schedule coming up, Valentine
says this is a team that is going to make them better.
“As we go through our season, we're going to have to be able to
adjust to what people do in different formations and different schemes and
they definitely present that. So,
that's something that will benefit us down the road I think, but we have got
to get that work done this week,” said Valentine.
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Fundamentals
for Ashland
Ashland heads to Marion County for the second week in a row as they
play at Marion Harding against the Presidents in week two non-conference
game on Friday night.
Last week, they outscored River Valley (41-27) in their first game.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to make some plays on
offense and on defense they did enough to slow the Vikings down.
“I was really proud of how we kept battling.
River Valley’s quarterback had a great game.
He's very skilled and elusive and our defense kept after him and made
some plays in the second half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “Then offensively, we just kept getting things.
Our blocking on the edges was really good and up the middle and that
allowed our quarterback time to throw and we ended up getting the win in the
end.”
It was a good result on week one, but Valentine says the key this
week is still improvement for the Arrows.
“That's what we talked about first thing this week is that half the
teams won and half the teams lost, but it's really the teams that get
better. There are a lot of teams
last year that started 0-1 and ended up being really good.
So, our goal is to get better this week and go out and show that on
Friday night,” he said.
Harding edged Mt. Vernon (31-27) to a get a win on week one.
Valentine says they are going to be very aggressive on defense and
when they have the ball, they want to run it.
“I think for sure defensively they're a high pressure team.
They like playing man to man coverage and bringing a lot of pressure,
so that's something that offensively we're preparing for.
Then defensively they've got some strong runners running the ball and
so we're going to have to get up and be physical and be good tacklers,”
said Valentine.
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Ashland
Must Execute Well
Ashland heads for River Valley for a non-conference game against the
Vikings to open the high school football season on Friday night.
Veteran coach Scott Valentine says they want to make sure they are
sound in the execution of the stuff they want to do on Friday night.
“You're always hoping that you're at this point.
You always have different things that you'd like to get in as the
season goes on, but you're hoping your base stuff and the things you want to
use for that first week are ready and your kids are understanding what you
want to do,” said Valentine.
Valentine has been coaching for 30 years and he says on game one you
are never quite about your team before kick.
“There's no doubt and that's the one thing you never know what
you're going to get with kids in that first game as far as their excitement
and what they're looking to do. So,
you want to try to get them as prepared as possible so they can go out and
play,” he said.
River Valley, out of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will feature a
very good quarterback in Chase Ebert, who threw for 2,176 yards and 18
touchdowns last year.
Valentine says they must do a good job containing Ebert.
“I know they've got a lot of returners coming back.
Their quarterback is back and he's a dangerous guy both throwing the
ball and running the ball, so that's a concern for us defensively,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We have got to find a way to
make sure we can keep him from making big plays.
Then offensively we have got to execute our stuff.
We've seen a lot of the stuff they do defensively over our
scrimmages. So, again it's going
to be about how we can execute and complete our plays.”
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Ashland
Bigger, More competitive
Last year was a 5-6 season in Scott Valentine’s return to the
Ashland Arrows and this year promises to be better for the team.
Valentine says for one thing, their core players are a year older and
you can tell. “I tell you our
guys worked hard in the off season, and being young last year, and seeing
the changes in how our bodies look and how we're executing things I've been
pretty pleased right now so far on where we're coming from and where
heading. We have still got a lot
of work to do, but we're excited about the group we have,” said Valentine.
Valentine, a football coach for 30 years, says last year they just
weren’t as physical as they needed to be, but that is changing.
“Where we were last year, just some of the games you could tell
physically we weren't as strong in our legs and hips and upper body as we
needed to be because we were just young.
As kids mature, they grow and their body strength becomes better and
they become more athletic and so that's where that year really has helped us
as we move into this year,” he said.
Ashland opens the season with River Valley in non-conference play on
August 23rd. Their
Ohio Cardinal Conference opener will be against New Philadelphia on week
four.
With schools like Mansfield Senior, Wooster and West Holmes in the
league, Valentine says the “OCC” is always tough, but he hopes they will
be able to compete this fall. “Well,
we're hoping so. Like I said,
our kids have put in a lot of time and effort and now we just Havw got to
keep getting better each day and each week,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday evening, “Our conference is a really good conference and we've got
to be prepared and I think our kids are heading in the right direction right
now, but we still got a ways to go.”
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Ashland
Rallies Late
Ashland scored three times combined in the fifth and sixth innings
and they rallied to edge Toledo St. John’s (3-2) in a division I sectional
final at Ashland on Thursday evening.
Coach Rick Gough says they were behind early, but they found a way to
win the game. “Hats off to
Toledo St. John's. They're much
better than their record. It was
a battle. They put a couple on
the board early in the game and we were able to come back in the fifth and
sixth and take the lead. We've
got a bunch of grinders here at Ashland.
I'm proud of the kids. They
don't give up, they battle, and they find a way to get it done,” said
Gough.
Gough says their pitching and defense kept them in the game and gave
them a chance. “The key to the
game was the fact that we didn't let them put any crooked numbers up.
A run here, a run there and it kept us able to do some things on the
bases with the game being close,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “Hats off to the defense (Thursday).
We didn't make an error we were able to scratch out five hits.
I think St. John’s had three. Luke
Bryant did an excellent job on the hill.
Went seven to get the win.”
Ashland (18-6) will take on Perrysburg () in a division I district
semifinal in Bowling Green next Wednesday.
Gough says it’s going to be tough game, but he believes in his
kids. “We have to go up to
Carter Park and play a very good Perrysburg squad, who was the fourth seed.
So, it will be fun, it will be a night game.
Obviously, they will be throwing their number one and Luke will get
another opportunity to pitch on Wednesday night.
We'll just have to see how it goes,” he said.
Published 5/17/24
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Ashland
Rallies Past Hillsdale
Ashland picked up another solid win on tournament week as they beat
Hillsdale (7-2) in a non-conference game on Monday evening.
Hillsdale is a very good small school program and Ashland coach Rick
Gough says the game will benefit both. “There's
no doubt it was a good win. I
mean coach (Jason) Snow does a great job with his kids and Hillsdale is a
good program. I was glad that
when I reached out to him and he decided we would play.
They play on Thursday and we play on Wednesday, so it was good tune
up for the tournament game,” he said.
Ashland scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take control
of the game.
Gough says a defensive play gave them the momentum.
“I mean it was a battle. We
got a 2-0 lead and they tied it up. I
think actually in the in the fourth inning they were about to take the lead
and we made an excellent relay from left field and threw a guy out at the
plate which gave us a little bit of momentum,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win, “We found a way to get it done.
I mean my kids have battled all year long and we make mistakes, we
don't run the bases well sometimes, but when it's all said and done we find
a way to get it done.”
The Arrows (17-6) will host Toledo St. John’s in a division I
tournament game on Wednesday.
Gough says they are going to have to play well to win.
“That's going to be another battle there.
I am not sure exactly what the record is now, but they were the 12
seed at the time of the seeding. They
were 6-16. They play in a in a
tough league up there in Toledo and they've lost a lot of one run games,
2-1, 3-2. So, it's going to be
interesting. We've got our work
cut out out for us,” said Gough.
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Ashland
Outscores Madison
Ashland outscored Madison (10-7) on Wednesday in a game in the Ohio
Cardinal Conference.
They beat Madison (14-3) on Tuesday.
Coach Rick Gough says the bats have been heating up.
“Actually, all week we have our batting average has improved.
We've hit the ball pretty well this week.
We went from about think about .200 as a team to almost .280 after
(Wednesday’s) game,” said Gough.
Gough says they have had a better approach.
“I think the kids are starting to believe a little bit and then
starting to make adjustments at the plate instead of just trying to do the
same thing, but right now we're swinging the bats pretty well,” he said.
Gough says he hopes that continues this week with the tournament draw
coming up this Sunday. “I mean
in all honesty it's been tough. I
think we've played seven or eight games in about nine days.
Repetitions are good and maybe that's helping out a little bit,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We've actually bumped up
Fridays game with Ontario to (Thursday) to try and beat the weather and
trying to get one more game in prior to the tournament seeding.”
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Ashland
Smokes West Holmes
Ashland kept itself in the race in the Ohio Cardinal Conference as
they blasted West Holmes (11-1) in five innings in a home conference game on
Tuesday evening.
They trail conference leader New Philadelphia by two games.
The Quakers hammered defending champion Wooster (11-1) and Lexington
beat Mansfield Senior (11-5). Mt.
Vernon and Madison were rained out on Tuesday.
Coach Rick Gough says again it was an outstanding performance by
their ace Luke Bryant. “Luke
Bryant had a great night on the mound. He
threw a complete five inning game, had eight strikeouts, one walk, no earned
runs, he did a great job,” he said.
Gough reiterates that when they give the ball to Bryant, they expect
to end the night with a “W.” “I
think he gave up three hits (Tuesday) night and he battled.
Like I said many times before, every time Luke’s on the mound you
know we expect to win,” said Gough.
Ashland (8-3,4-3), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com baseball coaches
poll in the large school division, plays at West Holmes on Wednesday.
Gough says they have very good pitching and now they are starting to
hit the ball too. “Well, our
bats are finally starting to wake you up.
Over the weekend, on Friday and Saturday last week, we had 19
hits,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I haven't checked how
many we had (Tuesday) night, but we're putting the ball in play and striking
out a lot less. That's going to
go a long way moving forward.”
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Ashland
Gets Lex
Luke Bryant beat Gage Powell Tuesday night as the Ashland Arrows
edged the Lexington Minutemen (2-0) in a good, old fashion pitcher’s duel.
Ashland coach Rick Gough says Bryant was dominate.
“It was Luke Bryant was on the hill (Tuesday) night.
He went seven innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.
He did an exceptional job,” he said.
Gough says when Bryant goes to the mound it gives the Arrows a lot of
confidence. “We expect to win
with Luke on the mound. We just
have to make sure we give him some support.
(Tuesday) night we gave him just enough.
We could have did a little better,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“We left Lexington off the hook in the first couple innings.
We had the bases loaded twice and we're only able to scratch two
runs, but it was enough to get the win.”
Lexington coach Jeff Strickler says Powell gave them a great effort
too. “It was a well pitched
game by both pitchers. Gage
Powell just had a rough second inning and then settled in very well,” he
said.
Gough says Powell kept their hitters guessing.
“I mean hats off to the Lexington pitcher.
He did a great job (Tuesday) night.
He kept us off balance with his off speed stuff.
We battled and we were able to scratch a couple just enough to get
the win,” said Gough.
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Ashland
Trims Mt. Vernon
Ashland edged Mt. Vernon (7-6) in a game Wednesday evening between
contenders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Arrows coach Rich Gough says it was a big win for them.
“It was a huge win for us. We've
only played one game coming into (Wednesday) and it's just tough to get a
feel for your club. Last week we
went over to Wooster and they no hit us in a good ball game 3-0.
So, (Wednesday) night was a great pick me up.
We had seven hits on the night and scored seven runs and that was
huge,” said Gough.
Gough says they made some plays with their legs and that was
important for the Arrows. “I
think we had four stolen bases, we had a sac bunt, we executed a first and
third situation, so we did some good things on the bases and it led to some
runs,” he said.
Ashland (1-1,1-1) will be at Mt. Vernon (3-2,2-1) on Thursday for the
rematch.
Jackets coach Nate Hunt says Ashland played a solid game, but they
will be ready on Thursday. “(Wednesday)
night was a great high school baseball game, but Ashland came to play and
played sound, fundamental baseball. They
will always have a chance to win with Luke (Bryant) on the mound.
He has been doing that for three years and is a competitor.
I know what kind of team we have this year and we have a chance to be
special, but we have to learn from this and not let it define who we are and
find a way to get better every single day.
The Jackets will bounce back,” said Hunt.
High school sports is about confidence and Gough says the win on
Wednesday was a boost to them. “You
could tell the big difference between (Wednesday) night versus the game
against Wooster,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We knew
coming in Mt. Vernon was one of the contenders in in the league.
The league is going to be tough top to bottom, but to get the first
game of the two game series is just outstanding.
It’s a good start.”
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Ashland
Needs Good Start
Ashland will play host to Fremont Ross in a first round tournament
game in division I on Tuesday night at Arrow Arena.
They lost their final regular season game (78-59) to Sandusky, the
Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division champion last Tuesday.
Coach Jason Hess says the Blue Streaks came out smoking and they had
too many turnovers. “We didn't
get off to a very good start defensively unfortunately and Sandusky came out
and shot ball extremely well. They
hit six three pointers in the first quarter that kind of put us behind the
eight ball. We were able to cut
the lead down to five in the second, but we didn't make the plays we needed
to. Unfortunately, one of the
issues we've had this year that keeps popping up is our turnovers.
We had that reoccur last Tuesday at Sandusky as we had few too many
turnovers that led to some easy buckets for Sandusky there at the end of the
second quarter. That stretched
the lead back out to double digits at halftime and we didn't really threaten
after that,” said Hess.
The Arrows (10-12) avoid that long trip they have made so many times
in the tournament by hosting Fremont Ross (5-17) on Tuesday night.
It has been a struggle for coach John Cahill, a Ross grad, and the
Little Giants this year.
Hess says they are younger team, but they are athletic.
“Fremont is a pretty athletic team.
They are a young team as well, but at this point in the season I
don't know that anybody's really young anymore.
They don't have a big senior class.
They're playing a couple of seniors, a lot of sophomores, and a
couple juniors, so it's very similar roster makeup to us. I
think they do have a little more size and athleticism across the board than
we do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think it's one
of those games though, we're excited to be able to play at home.
We've been playing much better at home the last month of the season,
winning I think five in a row here at home. So,
I think it's the best tournament scenario for us to get started that we
thought when the draw happened and we're excited to be able to chance to
play.”
Fremont Ross carries a 10-game losing streak into the game.
Hess says on Tuesday night, they have to start the game playing well
and establish something. “Especially
in this matchup with us in Fremont. Fremont
is a team that has not had a lot of success here to end the season.
With our matchup here in division I, not having the similar
familiarity with opponents like some of the division II, division III and
division IV tournament draws due in this area.
I think it's extremely important to get off to a good start and
establish that confidence level early and hopefully that will carry you the
rest of the game,” he said.
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Ashland
to Play Improved West Holmes
Ashland
entertains the West Holmes Knights in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night.
Last Friday,
they rallied to beat Mt. Vernon (68-60) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Jason
Hess says it was likely their best fourth quarter performance of the season.
“It was probably the best second half, especially the best fourth
quarter we have put together all year. I
think it might be the first time that we've come from behind in the fourth
quarter to win a basketball game. So,
it was definitely exciting just to see the way our kids have been competing
and really persevering through a little bit of adversity this year to be
able to get better and make some plays down the stretch to pull that game
out,” he said.
Ashland three
of its last four and Hess likes the way his players have continued to work
hard. “I'm extremely proud of
just the way this group of guys has just come to work every day and continue
to be coachable and get better. Early
in the year, we lost some games that we had some leads in the third quarter,
fourth quarter and we weren't able to close them out.
I never really saw this group get discouraged and really pack it in.
I feel like they've just continued to come to practice every day with
the mindset that we're going to get better and we're going to continue just
to take what comes at us and to put our best effort out there.
We're still not what I would call an elite basketball team, but were
a much improved basketball team,” said Hess.
Ashland
(9-11,6-7) plays at home against West Holmes (4-15,1-12) on Friday night.
The Knights beat Madison (46-40) in a conference game last Saturday.
On Tuesday night, they beat Cambridge (50-43) in a non-league game.
It was a blow
out with Ashland winning (67-31) on January 9 in the first meeting.
Hess knows it
will be closer this time. “West
Holmes is a team that's getting better as well.
They had a new coach to start the year.
They handled some adversity on their side.
We got them on a night out at their place where they really struggled
and fortunately for us we were able to play pretty decent and come out with
the win. I expect it to be a
much tighter basketball game this Friday night with the way they've been
playing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're
coming off of win last weekend in the conference against Madison, so they
got a little more confidence and playing well.
They competed two weeks ago against Mansfield Senior and we're up on
them at halftime. They're senior
laden team as well. I think this
time of the year is when your seniors really start to either go one of two
ways. They either pack it in and
say I'm done and I'm ready to move on to baseball or track or something else
or they say hey this is the last call I'm going to leave it all out there
and they start making plays.”
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Ashland
Must Guard Perimeter
Ashland hosts Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night.
Last Friday, they downed Madison (66-47) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says they made some adjustments on defense and that
was the difference. “Both us
and Madison were able to get off to a good start and shoot the ball
extremely well early, both of us scored more than 20 points in in the first
quarter and that really set the tone for the game.
I thought the difference was we were able to make a few adjustments
and defensively that were able to slow them down there in the second quarter
they kind of gave us a lead and allowed us to pull ahead in the second
half,” he said.
Ashland has won four their last six games and Hess likes the
direction that they’re heading. “We've
definitely gotten better, showed improvement here, specifically the last
month. We saw incremental
improvement I think in December, unfortunately we didn't have a lot of wins
to show for it. We were able to
you know flip the calendar here into January and into February and start
finishing out some basketball games that we had some leads on.
We were able to do that last Tuesday at Wooster and against Madison
last Friday to get us a couple more wins,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “We're definitely playing some better basketball, which
is encouraging, but when you're dealing with high school kids sometimes
about the time you think you've got it figured out and you're starting to
head in the right direction they throw you a curveball.
They don't show up for a game or something.
So, it's always one of those things that you just never take for
granted until the game's over. I
think our guys are playing better and we're starting to figure out what
rotations work for us and what combination of players give us the best
chance to win games, but there's still nothing that's guaranteed.”
Ashland (8-11,5-7) is at home for Mt. Vernon (9-9,7-5) on Friday
night. The Jackets beat Wooster
(53-49) last week in a league game. They
beat Ashland in the first meeting (56-49) on January 5.
Hess says they are fundamental and they have a number guys that can
score on the perimeter. “Mt
Vernon's a team that when you look at them on paper there's nothing really
fancy and flashy about them. They're
very solid, they've got multiple guys that can score and contribute.
They play really good half court defense and they shoot the ball well
from the perimeter. So, we're
going to have to make sure that we guard those perimeter shots and make
those three pointers that they shoot all contested as much as possible.
Then offensively, we've got to do a better job than we did the last
time we faced them just executing in the half court and an being able to
score a little more efficiently,” he said.
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Ashland
Getting There
Ashland plays at Wooster in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Tuesday night.
They host Madison in a conference game on Friday and play at
Massillon in anon-league game on Saturday.
Last Friday, they lost (74-50) to “OCC” leader Lexington.
Coach Jason Hess says they did a lot of good things.
“I was very pleased with our effort through three quarters. We
got off to a little bit of a slow start, but our guys really hung in there
and competed and played hard. We
had it in a five point game with a little over two minutes to go in the
third quarter, it ended up being 10 at the at the quarter break.
Unfortunately, we kind of ran out of gas there in the fourth quarter
and the score got away from us. Through
three quarters of play our guys were executing everything that we had asked
them to do as far as how hard we were playing and what our the plan was.
The one Achilles heel that we had Friday night was the turnover bug.
Those turnovers, Lexington turned into points very quickly and that's
what allowed them to really separate themselves from us on Friday,” he
said.
Ashland (6-10,3-7) is at Wooster (6-9,5-5) on Tuesday night.
The Generals got blitzed (83-56) by Mansfield Senior last Friday.
In the first meeting, Wooster rallied to be Ashland (64-60) on
December 12.
Hess says the teams are kind of similar is some ways.
“Well, Wooster is a team I see some similarities to us.
They're somewhat inexperienced to start the year and a new coach for
them. They're really trying to
figure themselves out and trying to navigate through a somewhat difficult
schedule early on with some of their non league games.
They're still battling that being inconsistent I think and that's
kind of where we have been. I
feel like the last couple games our guys are starting to figure it out and
you're starting to know what to expect,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “When you're dealing with sophomores and younger kids
about the time you think you know what's coming, they threw a curveball and
the next game you're scratching your head saying I can't believe we just
went out there and performed like that.
So, I think Wooster is a team that they've had some games where they
they've struggled and they've had some other games they played really well
in spurts. That's what happened
with us the first time around. We
played very well against them through about two and half quarters and then
you know quit rebounding the ball and Wooster took advantage of some second
chance opportunities and some turnovers and we're able to pull out a victory
here.”
As far as three games in week, Hess says that is just something you
deal with. He says the kids
don’t mind. “They would
rather play than practice that's for sure.
I do think it's probably harder on the coaches as far as game prep
and getting film studies and getting everything ready.
I do know also by Saturday night though the kids will be a little bit
tired when playing back-to-back play at three in a week.
We'll try to make practice conducive to keeping them as fresh and as
hungry to play as possible. The
bottom line is you can't make excuses, you have just got to show up and
play. I think we had a break a
week and a half ago and didn't play a game at all and that kind of puts this
guy in the 8 ball having to play three this week.
So, our guys will be ready. I
know we are excited with opportunity to play Wooster again, play Madison
again, play some teams here our league that we've had some competitive games
with and get a chance to play them on Tuesday, a revenge game so to speak
against Wooster and then have Madison on our home floor,” said Hess.
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Ashland
Has to Take Next Step
Ashland played very well on Tuesday night, but their next challenge
is substantial as they must travel to Lexington to face the Ohio Cardinal
Conference leaders in a conference game on Friday night.
On Tuesday night, they smoked New Philadelphia (54-31) in a
conference game.
Coach Jason Hess says it was their best performance of the season.
“We were very excited and pleased with our overall effort there
Tuesday night. I thought it was
our best and most complete game of the year.
Defensively, we had really no let down in our defensive effort and
energy. I thought that was a big
difference in the game. We were
able to sustain just good defensive pressure even though we weren't perfect
I thought we disrupted New Philadelphia's rhythm and flow and really didn't
allow their shooters to get going,” said Hess.
Hess says they can’t be happy with their win on Tuesday night.
He says they have to use that as a vehicle to get better.
“That's what we've been talking about guys about the last couple
days. The game Tuesday should
not be the high point of the season, but rather a stepping stone to just
kind of catapult us through the rest of the year and into the tournament to
continue to build on that type of effort that type of energy,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I think we've got some of our
sophomores that are starting to figure it out what it takes to be successful
at the varsity level. It was
nice to finally get that consistency for an entire game there Tuesday.
We've been seen bits and pieces of it up to this point, but we were
finally able to put it together for a good consistent effort on Tuesday.”
Ashland (6-9,3-6) plays at Lexington (16-1,10-0), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. The
Minutemen rocked Madison (67-38) on Tuesday.
They also destroyed the Arrows in their first meeting (88-54) on
December 22.
Hess says Lexington is just a tremendous challenge.
“This is quite the measuring stick, you'll find out real fast on
Friday. It won't take till the
second quarter or the second half to find out where we've improved and where
we haven't and where our team is when we go in against Lexington. I
mean they're very talented, they're very deep, they have great size, great
athletes and they're ranked to where they are for a reason.
So, it's definitely an uphill climb and an extremely difficult
challenge to match up for us,” he said.
Published 1/26/24
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Ashland
Needs to Get the Ball in the Paint
Ashland will be at Wooster to meet the Generals in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night.
The Arrows have won two of their last three, including a (77-70) win
over Ontario in non-league play on Friday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they were able to make some shots.
“We shot the ball fairly well.
It was nice to take advantage of a good shooting night and get the
win. We were also able to take
advantage of a size advantage we had inside with Nathan Bernard and get the
ball inside. The key to our
perimeter shooting was getting the inside touches, getting some post up
opportunities and playing inside out. We've
told our guys all along, we've been saying it for years, when that ball
touches in the paint first, we shoot a lot higher percentage,” said Hess.
Ashland (5-9,2-6) at Wooster (5-8,4-4) on Friday night.
The Generals has lost their last three, including (63-36) to
“OCC” leader Lexington last week.
Wooster won the first meeting (64-60) on December 12.
Hess says they give them some defensive issues.
“Wooster, they've got a really good guard in the (Brady) Bowen kid.
He's very good, very capable scorer of going off for a high number of
points and he does a lot of things well. I
know he gave us some trouble the first time around just being a good
basketball player, got his nose in there a couple times, got some steals,
got some breakaway points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “We're going to have to do a better job of accounting for him
than we did the first time around. It's
also a little bit of a tough matchup for us because of some of the size that
they and athleticism. We're not
the most physical team, unfortunately, with what we've got.
So, we're going to have to have some of our guys step up a little
more so than we did the first time around keeping Wooster off the offensive
glass.”
Similar to the Ontario game, Hess says they need to get some post
touches to open up the perimeter. “When
we get it inside in what we're doing. When
Nathan Bernhardt plays well that definitely helps us out and makes things
easier for our guards. It helps
create scoring opportunities for them even if Nathan doesn't score a lot,
we've got to run the offense through him to a certain extent and he's
creating for others. Getting him
some paint touches, getting him going early, will be extremely important and
then the rest of our guys can kind of feed off of that,” he said.
Published 1/19/24
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Ashland
Has to Play With Energy
Ashland hits the road for West Holmes and an Ohio Cardinal Conference
game against the Knights on Tuesday night.
On Saturday night, they lost (84-61) to Shelby in a non-conference
game. The Whippets Alex
Bruskotter scored 53 points in that game.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says it seems whatever they tired to do to
stop Bruskotter didn’t work. He
does say they did some good things though.
“Well, whatever we did was not the right thing apparently.
Alex got going and he had a tremendous night, well a tremendous
second half, he had 38 of those points in the second half when he just got
going from behind the arc. We
couldn't really slow him down in any way shape or form no matter what or who
we threw at them defensively. He
just really was locked in and the basket had to look like it was about five
feet wide and everything was going in for him.
I thought our kids competed and played really hard in the first half.
We had a little some individual glimpses.
I thought Nathan Bernhardt had a nice game, maybe his best all around
game of the year, where he was a lot more aggressive offensively, which was
nice to see. Even with
Shelby’s size Nathan didn't really back down from it and really competed
and played hard, but unfortunately Shelby was just a little too talented for
us and played a little too well for us to keep up with them on Saturday,”
said Hess.
Hess says they have to accept results like Saturday and try to move
on. “It's a long season and
we're right at the halfway point here. We've
played 11 games of our 22 game schedule.
We've had some opponents, unfortunately here at home it seems like
they have all been at home so far this year, that you know whether you like
it or you don't like it the matter of fact is that they're just a lot more
talented than we are. So, when
we play those type of games, we've got a very, very small room for error. We
almost have to be perfect to even be able to compete and stay in those games
with some of those teams that are just bigger and even more skilled at us at
multiple positions. So, I give
our kids credit for the way we've been competing and playing hard and we
just need to be able to sustain that for the four quarters instead of just
for a half or three quarters,” he said.
Ashland (3-8,1-5) plays at West Holmes (1-7,0-6) on Tuesday night.
The Knights were thrashed (63-20) by unbeaten Lexington in an
“OCC” game on Friday night.
Hess says this is a team that they cannot overlook.
“They're a team that's got a new coach again this year.
They've seemed like they've had a revolving door down there for
coaches and I'm sure it's hard on the kids to kind of get used to a system
and learn. They're scrappy a
bunch of guys that play hard and they've got some ability to make baskets
when they get momentum going and they've played well at home.
They've been fairly competitive with their home games and have lost a
couple of close ones,” he told Swankonports.com on Monday afternoon, “I
definitely think it's one that our guys are not going to be able to overlook
and take lightly and we've got to show up ready t play. I
think Tuesday night games a lot of times favor the team that just comes out
and plays the hardest because especially for Ashland we are not as custom to
the Tuesday night games as some other schools that play them regularly.
It's kind of out of our regular routine.
So, it's going to be extremely important for our guys just to come
out and play with a lot of energy and compete. I'm
expecting it to be a smaller type crowd on a Tuesday night away from home.
So, hopefully we'll be able to be locked in and have that energy and
be able to move past this past weekend.”
Published 1/09/2024
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Ashland
Wants to Keep Momentum
Ashland plays at Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game
coming up on Friday night.
They beat Madison (44-33) in an “OCC” game last Friday and lost
(72-62) to a very good Big Walnut team in non-conference play last Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says even though they didn’t beat Big Walnut, he
thought their play was very good. “It's
one of those situations where I really thought the best game we played all
year was against Big Walnut and we ended up with a 10 point loss.
To see the improvements that we've been able to make the last couple
weeks and some of the adjustments that we've made on offense and some
different things that we've been working on trying with our younger guys.
It kind of clicked for us there a little bit Saturday unfortunately
we didn't get the win, but the improvement in the progress that we've made
to this point is encouraging to give us a little bit of momentum here going
forward,” said Hess.
Ashland (3-6,1-4) plays down at Mt. Vernon (5-4,3-2) on Friday night
in “OCC” action. The Jackets
lost (58-49) to Wooster last Friday in a conference game.
Hess says they are a team that has to make perimeter shots.
“Mt. Vernon is a team I think very similar to us.
They play a lot of perimeter basketball, perimeter oriented, shoot a
lot of three-point shots. They’re
not blessed with just huge athletes inside, so that they've got to work and
claw for everything they get inside and really rely on their perimeter
shooting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I think
it's going to be a really good matchup for us.
It should be an exciting game, but I also know going to Mt. Vernon is
one of the most challenging places to play in our league it seems like
you're in and year out.”
Hess says if they can get some shots to go early against Mt. Vernon
it’s going to help their confidence. “Like
I said, we played well last Saturday even though we came up short.
It'll be very nice for our guys to be able to continue that momentum,
continue that confidence, see the ball go through the basket, have a little
bit of success early in the game against Mt. Vernon and hopefully we can be
on top when it's all said done this week,” he said.
Published 1/05/24
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Ashland
Needs Some Confidence
Ashland makes the short trip to Madison for an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game against the Rams on Friday night.
They play host to Big Walnut in a non-conference game on Saturday
night at Arrow Arena.
The Arrows (2-5,0-4) ran into a buzz saw when unbeaten Lexington
drilled them (88-54) in an “OCC” game last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says the Minutemen were hot early and they were
never in it. “They played
really well. I would say it was
maybe their best game of the year. Some of that was due to the lack of
effort that we put out on the defensive end, but they shot it extremely well
from the perimeter. A lot better
than they've been shooting in the previous games,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “When they can shoot it from
outside like that they become really good, really fast.
We got behind and just unfortunately weren't able to compete get
stops and Lexington pretty much had their way last Friday night.”
Madison (1-7,1-3) was smoked by New Philadelphia last time out
(58-27) in “OCC” play last Friday. The
lost (68-60) to Ontario in non-conference play on Wednesday night.
Hess says these teams are similar.
“Well, Madison is a team that has a very similar record to us, very
similar situation to us. When I
look at the two teams, us and Madison, we both have struggled to score at
times, we're guard oriented, very limited size, so two similar basketball
teams. Madison plays extremely
hard. They've been very
competitive, played several close games just the same as we have.
So, I don't expect this to necessarily be a very pretty basketball
game, but I expect you to be a close basketball game,” said Hess.
Shooting has been spotty for the Arrows this season and Hess says
from a confidence standpoint they need to see the ball go through the hoop
early on Friday night. “Confidence
and momentum are two things in basketball that never show up on a stat
sheet, but mean a lot in the game. We
saw that even last Friday with Lexington.
They made three pointers early and really got a lot of confidence and
I think the basket started looking bigger and bigger to them and they just
played really relaxed and kept on shooting the ball well all night,” he
said.
Published 12/28/23
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Ashland
With Big Challenge
Ashland hosts Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Lexington in an
“OCC” game on Friday night.
The Arrows finally got some offense going when they beat Uniontown
Lake (68-58) in a holiday tournament in Canton on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says it put a smile on everyone’s face.
“Yeah, it's amazing how much better you feel when you see the ball
go through the basket and how much better of a team you think you are just
because the ball went in. I
don't know that we did anything really differently offensively.
It was a little different matchup for us, we aren’t accustomed to
playing Lake, and being one of those holiday tournaments you never know how
the officiating was going to go, but they called it extremely tight, whether
that was good or bad for us we had to make the adjustments and there wasn't
quite as physical of a game as we have played in our league, which was a
little surprising. Our guys
stepped up and made some shots, we had some good looks at the basket and
they started going in, so we were able to stay on top and pull that one out
on Saturday,” said Hess.
Ashland (2-4,0-3) is at home for Lexington (6-0,3-0), #1 in the first
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night.
Hess says they are talented and balanced too.
“They're very talented. They've
got you know a lot of star power up front and a lot of very good
complementary pieces, so they’re 6-0 for a reason.
They really haven't played any close games.
They've been blowing people out and just running through people here
to start the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“So, the big challenge for us is going to be able to try to stay in the
game and just handle the defensive pressure that they're putting on us.
It's a different type of Lexington team than we've seen in the past
even though they have good size, but they're definitely playing more
pressure defense, extending it out and using their athleticism to get easy
baskets in transition. So, I
think stopping their easy baskets and making them work for things and
hopefully finding a way to score some points it's a lot different for our
guys having to shoot over 6’5” and 6’8” that Lexington puts out
there than what Lake had last week.”
Seven Allen and Jakob Legron, a 55% three point shooter, transferred
to Lexington this year, and Hess says that makes them a different team.
“The last couple years with Lexington the game plan was we could
kind of keep it packed in the paint to defend the post players and not have
to be overly concerned with their perimeter shooting as it wasn't really a strong
point of their team. Now, their
guards are equally as good as their forwards and they shoot the ball well
from the outside, which stretches the defense out and opens up things for
their inside guys. So, they're
really no weaknesses on that team when you look at them on film,” he said.
Published 12/19/23
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Poor
Shooting Hurting Ashland
Ashland hosts Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Tuesday
night as both are seeking their first “OCC” wins.
The Arrows (1-2,0-1) beat Clyde (52-50) in a non-league game on
Saturday night.
Pax Ediger hit the game winner for Ashland and coach Jason Hess says
it made everybody feel better. “Yeah,
does anytime you get a win that's good, like I told our coaches there
Saturday night after the game that it's amazing how two points by a 17 or 18
year old kid can really change your outlook on life.
If we had been two points down against Clyde as instead of two points
up even though we had played the exact same way, we would have felt
drastically different about the game. So,
it definitely changes the outlook and hopefully it'll kind of take some
pressure off our guys that I feel like they've been putting on themselves
here early in the season and allow us to kind of settle in and get rolling
here,” said Hess.
Coming into Tuesday night, Ashland is shooting only 34% from the
field as a team and Hess says that is not like them.
“We have not shot the ball well from the perimeter, in the paint,
or anywhere. I mean it's very
unusual for us to be this poor of a shooting team and surprising to be quite
honest. Coming into the season
we were a little concerned with some of our possible defensive matchups, but
so far we feel like we've been able to hold our own defensively.
Where we've really been suffering is our lack of offensive
production,” he said.
Wooster (0-3,0-1) lost (78-50) to Lexington in their “OCC” opener
on Friday night.
However, Hess says the Generals have played a tough schedule and they
have some athletic kids. “Well,
their record is a little misleading. We’ve
seen the teams that’ve played. We
scrimmaged Wadsworth, we scrimmaged Dover and everybody's familiar with how
much talent Lexington has this year. So,
you can't really look at their record and get a good gauge on what
Wooster’s bringing to the table. So,
I think there got some talented guard play, they've got some athletes and
physical guys that compete and bang inside,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “It's going to be a tough match up.
It's one of those things the monkey we got off our back so to speak
on Saturday with our one win, but we still haven't got a conference win yet.
We'd like to be able to get a win in that department here Tuesday
night and hopefully Wooster is feeling that pressure that they need to try
to get a win too, I'm sure. So,
I'm expecting nothing, but a close basketball game.”
Published 12/12/23
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Ashland
Must Contain Mansfield Senior
Ashland travels to Mansfield Senior Friday night to open play in the
Ohio Cardinal Conference.
In their first game last week, the Arrows lost (39-37) to Norwalk in
non-conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says they just couldn’t close out the win.
“Well, it's always disappointing to lose, especially a close ball
game that we had a chance to win in fourth quarter we just weren't able to
close it out. Hopefully, we were
able to learn from it and get better. We've
got to build on the positives it's still early in the season and we've got a
young basketball team that continues to learn and grow,” he said.
Hess says he has liked what he has seen practice this week as they
get ready to play for the league opener.
He says they have been crisper. “I
thought our kids have actually competed better this week than we were last
week going into Norwalk. I think
last week we were kind of getting bored and tired with practice, if that
makes sense. The kids were just
ready to get into some game action and now that they've seen it, had a
little taste of it, I think it revived them a little bit. I thought our
practices have been very competitive. I'm
excited about what we've gotten done this week in practice and what we've
seen and I look to see a big improvement from week one to week two,” said
Hess.
This will be the season opener for Mansfield Senior.
Hess says you know what to expect for the Tygers.
He says they are a team that can score quickly.
“Well Mansfield is Mansfield. They
are going to bring a team that's loaded with athletes.
You saw that with their football success and the long run they had in
the playoffs. Hopefully, they're
a little rusty when it comes to the basketball legs and basketball touch and
skills,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They're very
good athletes. They return a lot
of players from last year's team and I expect them to compete and play hard
and be a team that really can play with momentum.
When they get a run going, they can put up 10, 12 points and make a
run and stretch out a game right away. That's
where it's going to be extremely important for us to kind of control that
tempo and keep them from going on those long, big runs.”
Published 12/07/23
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Still
a lot of Question Marks for Ashland
Ashland is a team with some talent this year, no question, but they
also have a lot of questions heading into their opener on Friday night at
home against Norwalk in non-conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says they really aren’t sure who their starters
are going to be on Friday. “I
have to be honest I don’t think you’re ever really comfortable for a
first game because it's such a different feeling than practices and
scrimmages and summer basketball, especially with our team this year.
Our two most experienced players are sophomores, so we've got a lot
of questions to be answered come Friday night.
We really just don't know what's going to happen and how things are
going to go together. I was just
talking with the assistant (Tuesday), we've got some kids that are battling
some illness and sickness and we're trying to decide who's going to be our
starting five and he says well maybe just the five kids that are healthy and
show up to school,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“We'll see Friday night what comes out of it.
It's hard it's hard to say right now if you're really comfortable or
not, we're excited to get started I do know that and our kids are ready to
see some game action and see the lights turned on Friday night.
So, we are looking forward to it, but we're not sure we're confident
what we're going to get.”
Hess says confidence is a big thing with teenagers and they need to
make some early baskets on Friday. “It's
amazing, not only do kids react differently, but it's just amazing sometimes
that little thing of seeing that ball go through the basket early on in the
game and just build confidence and kind of get you rolling through the whole
night. Having a couple of bad
breaks or a couple bad bounces early on these are 15, 16 year old kids up to
18 that we're talking about and mentally that confidence is such a fragile
thing sometimes, so it's really important to get off to a good start,” he
said.
Norwalk is a team that has experience back and Hess says they have
good size and athleticism. “I
know they've got really strong junior class.
They're coaches are just super excited about their group I know from
talking to him this summer. They've
got a lot more guys coming back from a year ago than we do.
They got a good sized team, a lot of 6’3”, 6’4” guys pretty
good athletes. They should be a
team to be reckoned this year not only in their league, but also now that
they're up in division I in the sectional and so on up there in the
northwest district,” he said.
Published 11/29/23
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Ashland
With Solid Younger Group
Ashland has some younger talent with which to build a good basketball
team this winter.
Coach Jason Hess says he has been happy with the way things have been
going so far this preseason. “Well,
it's been kind of nice actually, it's a little unchartered territory for us,
usually we're dealing with kids coming in with injuries from various
situations and this year with the little bit bigger gap between football and
basketball season it's been nice to have all our guys healthy right from the
beginning. So, we're excited
about this bunch of kids that we've got.
We've got a good core group of kids that were extremely committed in
the offseason and really put some time into basketball.
We're still a little inexperienced.
We're going to be playing some youngsters this year.
It’s looking like four sophomores probably at the varsity level.
It's four guys that have earned the right to be varsity basketball
players. We've got a nice group
of seniors and juniors to go with them.
So, we're definitely excited about the potential of this group, but
potential doesn't win games and that's what we've kind of been talking to
our guys about staying the course and working hard and getting better and
competing every day,” said Hess.
Hess says they have some kids that have varsity experience and those
players have grown and matured since last year.
“Three of them got a little bit of varsity time last year and you
can tell a big difference between them a year ago at this time coming in as
freshmen and just out of the 8th grade basketball experience wise versus
having a little bit of varsity experience under their belt.
Just a lot more confidence maturity wise.
They have filled out physically and they're just playing a lot better
basketball. So, it's exciting to
be able to have the opportunity just to watch these kids continue to grow
and see what the future holds here for Ashland Arrows with a good group of
sophomores and young talent,” he said.
Hess says they are working this month on what offense and defense
will work best for the talent that they have.
“We had summer basketball and I have talked before about how
important summer could be with trying new things, but you really don't know
until you turn on those lights. We’ve
got scrimmages like everybody else does and those are good tests, but
they're not quite the same. So,
right now it's a matter of trying to put some different things in, some
different wrinkles. Unfortunately,
we're not like the college level when we recruit our players and say hey we
can run the same system every year and I can go get another kid that does X,
Y and Z because that's what I need for my system,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've got to make wrinkles and
changes to fit our personnel each year and that's kind of what we're trying
to do right now is decide hey what's best for the group of kids.
We've got to get the kids to be able to buy into that and learn that
and then hopefully when games come around in December, we guessed right on a
couple things and what we're doing is working.
If you get in the middle of December and it's not working then you're
starting over and that's not a good feeling.”
Published 11/10/23
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Ashland
Can’t Give up Big Play
Ashland takes the bus to Tiffin Columbian for a division III first
round playoff game on Friday night against the Tornadoes.
The Arrows (5-5) lost (24-14) to Lexington in Ohio Cardinal
Conference play last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says they didn’t play well in the kicking
game and their offense couldn’t finish off drives.
“It was one of those games. I
mean you get into weather and you're not sure how things are going to go.
We gave up a couple big plays on special teams to them and they took
advantage of them. Then just
couldn't get enough going to get the job done.
So, give credit to them and everything, but it's one of those things
that we need to be able to finish the game,” said Valentine.
Columbian (8-2), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, finished as runners-up in the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
They lost the division title game (55-28) to Sandusky Perkins last
week.
Valentine says they are going to have to play very well to have a
chance at the upset. “They're
a very good football team, very well coached. They're a senior oriented
team. They have got a lot of
seniors on their team that play and have been playing for them for a while.
So, a good football team, one of those teams that you're going to
have to play a real good game against them to give yourself a chance to be
successful,” he said.
Tiffin has amassed more than 4,000 total yards this season and is
equally proficient in the run and pass game.
Valentine says they have to great tacklers and they can’t let
Tiffin get big plays. “I think
like we've been doing, trying to be number one be great tacklers in space
and then getting off blocks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
night, “I think our coaching staff has put together a good game plan and
just going out and executing that and not give up big plays like a lot of
teams we played this year they've gotten a lot of big plays.
So, those are going to be important things for us to do
defensively.”
Published 10/26/23
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It’s
Must Win for Ashland
In all likelihood the Ashland Arrows need to win at Lexington in Ohio
Cardinal Conference play on Friday night in order to grab a spot in the
division III playoffs this season.
They played one of their best games of the season last week in
dominating the Wooster Generals (34-0) in “OCC” play.
Coach Scott Valentine says it was a solid effort.
“I was really pleased with how our kids came out and played. We
had talked about all week that we lost a couple tough ones but, we had to
keep getting better and wanted to send our seniors out with a win on their
last night at the home stadium. So,
I think the kids really went out and concentrated and did a great job,”
said Valentine.
They only allowed 184 total yards to Wooster and Valentine says the
defense understands what they have to do.
“Like I've said all along our defensive staff does a great job, but
the kids really have bought into getting off blocks and understanding how
they have got to get off the blocks and then being great tacklers in space.
Our two safeties Tyler Sauder and Michael Franz both are doing a
great job at safety to get people on the ground,” he said.
Ashland (5-4,3-3) plays at Lexington (4-5,3-3) on Friday night.
The Minutemen beat Madison (31-21) last week to breaking a three game
losing streak.
Valentine says they run the ball well and they do some different
things on defense. “I think
they're a team that has a does a good job of running the ball.
Their guys up front do a good job blocking,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively, they give you some
trouble with some of the stuff they do with how they match up with you and
things like that. I think they
have good overall team speed, so those are things that we're going to have
to prepare for.”
Ashland can still lose this game in sneak into the playoffs, but
Valentine says to them a win is a must.
“I think when you see control your own destiny, well that means you
need to win. There's other
scenarios, but I think you always want to win those seniors last regular
season game, so that's been our focus this week,” said Valentine.
Published 10/18/23
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Ashland
Has to Get in the End Zone
Ashland plays host to the Wooster Generals in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game at Community Stadium on Friday night.
The last two weeks, the Arrow defense has given them a chance to win,
but the offense has not taken advantage.
They lost two weeks ago to Mansfield Senior (14-6) and last week to
West Holmes (20-6) in conference play.
Coach Scott Valentine says they have slowed to tempo down, but they
just haven’t been able to get in the end zone.
“I think both teams were very explosive on offense and we tried to
control the ball a little bit more and do some things and just couldn't make
enough plays to get over the top,” he said.
Ashland (4-4,2-3) plays at home against Wooster (2-6,1-5) on Friday
night. The Generals fell to
Mansfield Senior, the “OCC” leader, (35-7) last week in conference
action.
Valentine says they have the potential to make big plays.
“You still see they've got good athletes and they've got guys doing
things. Some things haven't gone
their way. So, again they're a
team that plays hard and does a lot of good things.
So, we have to play our best football on Friday night,” said
Valentine.
On Friday night, Valentine says they have to be physical and they
just have to score the ball more. “We're
going to have to defensively we're going to have to be physical.
They have got some big linemen up front and try to run the ball,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're going to have to be
pretty physical up front and be good tacklers on defense.
Then offensively, we've have got to get some more explosive plays and
make some more plays on offense.”
Published 10/11/23
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Ashland
to Play Big Play West Holmes
Ashland will be at home at Community Stadium for the West Holmes
Knights in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
The Arrows lost a tough one to “OCC” leader Mansfeld Senior
(14-6) last Friday. The Tygers
made some big plays on their way to two scores.
Coach Scott Valentine says they did a lot of good things on defense,
but they just couldn’t get enough done when they had the ball in their
hands. “Going in we knew they
were an explosive team and my defensive staff, they did great job putting
together a game plan to stop them. Offensively,
we fumbled the ball in the first half on the drive that cost us some points
and then got a score in the second half and then just couldn't get another
score to get us over the top to win that game.
So, it was a great game and proud of the way our kids fought and we
just got to rebound now come back this week,” said Valentine.
Valentine says there were definitely some lessons they learned last
week that they can take forward. “I
mean with the way we were and how we went into that game I think we learned
some things about ourselves as far as how we need to play to, not give up
big plays and things like that. Offensively,
we just got to become a little more consistent on some of the things we have
to do,” he said.
Ashland (4-3,2-2) is at West Holmes, the defending “OCC”
champion, on Friday night. The
Knights (5-2,3-1) outscored Lexington (62-28) last week.
Valentine says this is a team that just is very explosive.
“I think we have like 17 or 18 plays where they have gains of 25
yards or more. So, again they're
a big play team. They've got
skill guys all over. So, there's
a big challenge in front of us defensively to try to not allow them to have
those big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then
again, I think consistency on offense. We've
been moving the ball. We just
have got to finish some drives still. I
think those are things we're going to look to try to do this week.”
Last week, West Holmes quarterback Morgan Smith threw five TD passes
and ran for three more. Valentine
says he has a lot of weapons and is tough to contain.
“He's got good skill guys on the outside, so you have got to make
sure you cover them, but then he's got legs and he can run the ball too.
So, that's a big concern. They
spread you out and make you have to cover the whole field.
So, we're going to have to be good tacklers in space and so that's
the big challenge as we go into (Friday),” he said.
Published 10/06/23
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Ashland
Faces Speedy Tygers
Ashland makes the trip to Arlin Field on Friday night to face Ohio
Cardinal Conference leading Mansfield Senior Tygers in a conference game.
They hammered Madison (35-7) in “OCC” play last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says made some plays on both sides of the ball.
“I thought our kids came out and I thought initially they had a
nice drive and our kids were able to get a stop and then we're able to make
some big plays and do some things offensively.
So, I think all overall it was a good game for us,” said Valentine.
Valentine says you need to make big plays, even if they aren’t for
touchdowns. “Even on drives
where you get one big play. We
talk about that all the time, you're going to need one big play in a 10 play
drive somewhere along the way because it's tough to consistently do it every
down,” he said.
Ashland (4-2,2-1) is a game behind Mansfield Senior (4-2,3-0) in the
“OCC” standings.
Valentine, the winningest coach in “OCC” history, says Mansfield
Senior is a team build on speed. “Like
always they're very well coached, their kids play hard and they're athletic.
They use their speed and stuff to put you in a bind.
So, again on both sides of the ball and special teams wise we have
got to be ready to handle that,” he said.
In order to beat Mansfeld Senior, Valentine says you need to contain
the big play and also consistently execute your stuff.
“I think not giving them those big plays and in any phase.
They have made some plays on defense for touchdowns and things like
that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think that's the
big thing. Then also being
effective and running our schemes and not having a lot of mental mistakes or
anything like that happen kind of leads to then hopefully keeping some
things in check.”
Valentine says you must make it a four quarter game by not giving up
a lot of scores early. “I mean
that's where you always want to be there in the fourth quarter and have
opportunities if you can to get the job done.
So, you have got to execute early in the game right and so that's
been something that we're going to be stressing this week,” said
Valentine.
Published 9/26/23
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Ashland
Plays Improving Madison
Ashland will be at home for the Madison Rams in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night.
There are some possible hard feelings here because Ashland coach
Scott Valentine left Madison after only one year to return to Ashland, his
alma mater, where he had been coach for 15 years before taking an
assistant’s job at Ashland University.
Last week, the Arrows (3-2,1-1) earned their first conference win by
beating Mt. Vernon (31-14) on the road.
Coach Valentine says their goal was to score in the red zone and they
did that. “That was an
emphasis that we had to put the ball in the end zone.
We did kick one field goal, but that was at the end of the half and
we didn't have enough time to get it in.
I thought our kids responded last week to get the ball in the end
zone,” said Valentine.
Madison (0-5,0-2) lost (56-35) to West Holmes last week.
Valentine says they are a team that is improving.
“There's no doubt that they've gotten better in the last two weeks.
You see it on tape and they have got some guys that are making some
big plays for them. So, again
that's a concern for us making sure that we can contain them and keep them
from getting big plays,” he said.
Valentine says the Rams are a dangerous team because they can make
big plays. “Even special
teams, they've had kickoff return for a touchdown and had some long pass
plays, but the run game has broken some runs out too.
You're going to have to play sound defense and make sure you're good
tacklers,” said Valentine.
As far as Madison and the feelings of their players, Valentine says
he respects the effort those players made last year for him, but
acknowledges he doesn’t know what they think of him.
“Well, I think the thing is that I love those kids at Madison and
they put a lot of hard work and time for me.
There were just certain circumstances that led to me coming to
Ashland,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “I don't know
how they feel. I got to talk to
some of them. Again, I think
it's just one of those things that is. We’ll
go out and play and I'm sure they'll going to give us their best effort.”
Published 9/21/23
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Ashland
Working on Cleaning Things up
Ashland plays at Mt. Vernon in hopes of earning their first Ohio
Cardinal Conference win on Friday night.
They were blanked (28-0) by New Philadelphia last Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says they didn’t punch it in when they had
the chance. “I mean we got a
little bit of a slow start. They
got up on this 14-0, but our kids battled back and second half we had the
ball down inside the five and just missed scoring on a couple
opportunities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Then our
defense got a turnover and we had another opportunity and just at that point
trying to get the ball in the end zone a couple times and just didn't.
Then they got a couple late ones on us, big play late.
So, a lot closer, but just not getting over to the hump and getting
in the end zone when we needed to.”
Valentine says when you’re in the red zone your execution must be
even better. “I think that's
where our kids kind of learned that little things down there make a big
difference in a couple of opportunities we had to get the ball in the end
zone. We just didn't execute at
the highest level that we need to when we're down there.
So, that's something we're going back to work at this week,” said
Valentine.
Ashland (2-2,0-1) takes the bus to Mt. Vernon on Friday night.
The Jackets fell to Lexington (31-17) in “OCC” play last week.
Valentine says they were leading in the first half last week and they
have gotten better as the season has unfolded.
“I mean they seem like they've improved every week.
We saw them in on the video against Marion Harding early and then
last week against Lex. So, I
mean they're a team that's improving each week and we're going to have to be
ready to play four quarters of sound, good, fundamental football,” he
said.
Mt. Vernon as one of the best athletes in the league in Jonny Askew.
For the Arrows it’s about execution.
Valentine says they must start doing their stuff better.
“Well, I think we have got to bounce back and again we have got to
keep getting better and quit hurting ourselves with mistakes.
So, that's going to be our focus as we go into this week,” he said.
Published 9/12/2023
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Ashland
Better be Physical
Ashland plays its first Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the season
on Friday night as they are in New Philadelphia to challenge the Quakers.
They lost for the first time this season last week when they lost
(27-23) at Buckeye Valley in non-league play.
Coach Scott Valentine says some things they have not been executing
all season bit them in the butt. “I
talked to the kids about it. I
mean we had some things that were going on and I told him if we don't get
those things corrected it was going to come back and get us and you know
unfortunately that's what happened last week.
Just little things here and there and it came back and got us.
So, we have got to get better at those things this week and get ready
to go to New Philly and get our first league win,” said Valentine.
Valentine says hopefully the players have learned their lesson from
last week’s loss. “You can
talk it to them, but until they believe they've got to get better at it and
they think oh I’ll escape it and not worry about it then it doesn't set
in. Unfortunately, that's what
has to happen sometimes, but hopefully that's a wake up call for our guys to
get better as we go through this week,” he said.
New Philadelphia (2-1,1-0) beat Wooster (22-13) in an “OCC” game.
The Quakers ran for 262 yards in that win.
Valentine says they will be playing a physical team.
“I think they're very well coached like everybody in our league.
Their kids are very sound in their fundamentals, they play hard, and
they play physical,” he told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I
think their defensive line and offensive line are both physical.
So for us, it's we're going to have to get ready to play some
physical football on Friday night.”
The Ashland coach believes New Philly is going to try force the
Arrows to stop them from running the football.
Valentine says they would like to play keep away.
“Like I said they're physical at the point of attack.
If you can't match that physicality, they'll just take the ball and
they'll go on 10,15 play drives and you don't have the ball at all.
So, the physicality and bringing that to the game on Friday is going
to be important,” he said.
Published 9/06/23
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Ashland
Needs Focused Approach to Buckeye Valley
Ashland plays down at Buckeye Valley against the Barons on Friday
night in a non-conference game.
Last week, they held off Marion Harding (14-6) in a non-league game.
They recovered an onsides kick to preserve the win.
Coach Scott Valentine says they made enough plays to win the game and
that’s all that matters. “That's
something I told our kids. I
mean you have got to find ways to win games.
We were able to find enough offensively and make some plays there and
then defensively did a great job. So,
again it’s a win and you're going to take a win anytime you get it,”
said Valentine.
Valentine says you grow as a team when you have to make plays in
pressure situations. “That's
the thing. I mean I think you
grow as a team when you have some of those games and each unit grows. I
think offensively we grew. We
made some plays there in the second half when we need to.
Then defensively as a unit we grew and there at the end we're able to
make some plays and get the job done,” he said.
Buckeye Valley (0-2) was outscored (56-35) by Jonathan Alder on week
two.
Valentine says they do a lot of good things.
“There 0-2 right now, but I told our kids you watch them on tape
and they have got a lot of things going for them,” he told
Swankonports.com on Tuesday evening, “They have got some good skill guys,
defensively their linebackers are making plays.
So, again we're going to have to be prepared and ready to go for a
four quarter game.”
Valentine, a veteran coach, says they have to be ready for everything
from Buckeye Valley on Friday night. “That's
the thing, I know that they have a lot of different trick plays in that they
can hurt you with and so for us it's going to be being aware defensively and
making sure we're reading our keys the way we need to make sure that that we
don't give up any big plays,” he said.
Published 8/30/23
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Still
About Fundamentals For Ashland
Ashland takes on another school from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
this week as they host the Marion Harding Presidents in non-league action on
Friday night.
The Arrows (1-0) held off River Valley (26-20) in overtime last
Friday in the opener.
Coach Scott Valentine says it was an important win for his young
team. “It's always good to get
the opener, especially when you have a young team, so that was important for
us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We had some
things in the second half happen. We
had two touchdowns called back penalty wise, so those are some things we
have got to clean up this week and just keep getting better because you make
the big gains between week one and week two, so that's what we're focused
on.”
Valentine says penalties are big momentum killers and they have to
avoid those this week. “Those
penalties were both holding penalties and then we got a unsportsmanlike
conduct on top of that, so one of them was 25 yards and the other was 10 and
to come back from that 10 yard loss is usually a pretty tough thing to do.
So, offensively, we have got to get better at moving our feet and
blocking with our feet,” he said.
Harding fell to Mt. Vernon (45-20) in their first game of the season.
Valentine says they kind let the game get away from them late, but
they have a lot of potential. “I
mean that game was in the second half was pretty close and then just a
couple big plays by Mount Vernon and turnover for a touchdown and stuff like
that. So, there were things that
they did. They're very, very
athletic and their guys move well. So,
again that's something that that we've got to be prepared for as we go into
this week,” said Valentine.
Valentine says they have to be very good open field tacklers when
they are trying to bring down the athletic Presidents. “That's something
that we know we've got to do defensively, we got to keep from giving up big
plays and keep them in front of us. Then
most importantly is be good tacklers in space because they get out in space
and they're athletic and that that realm,” he said.
Published 8/24/23
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Ashland
Ready to be Tested
Ashland entertains River Valley in a non-league football game on
Friday night at Community Stadium.
It marks the return of Scott Valentine to the Ashland sideline.
He was at Madison last year after a couple of seasons as an assistant
at Ashland University.
Valentine says with all the preparation they have done it is time to
face the examination of playing against another team.
“At some point you have got to play a game because then it really
tells you where you are and what your kids understand.
What you have got to get better at, so you know there comes a point
where you have got to play and it's now,” he said.
Of course, with a new coach there is a new system that the kids have
to learn and Valentine thinks they have done a pretty good job.
“Yeah, I think overall the kids, there were some changes and
everything like that, but I thought overall the kids were able to pick
things up and were able to figure it out.
We're trying to get to that point where and now they're not thinking
about what they're doing. They
can take in the game and enjoy playing because they're not thinking so much.
So, I think we're close. We'll
find out at game time,” said Valentine.
Last season, River Valley was really an electric kind of team that
scored points in bunches. Valentine
says they have that potential again this year.
“They are like we are. We
lost some good seniors that moved on. Seeing
them in person and then watching the videotape of scrimmages, they're going
to be a good football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
evening, “Their quarterback is very athletic and moves around similar to
the guy that had last year and some skill guys that make some plays.
Then defensively they move and they're middle linebackers very good
running to the ball.”
Published 8/18/23
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Ashland
Working on Fundamentals
Ashland is hoping to have a solid season this year, but they still
have some things to iron out before the opener.
They play host to River Valley in the first game of the season on
August 18 in non-conference play.
They scrimmaged North Canton Hoover on Saturday and will play Ontario
in their preview on Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says that first practice after that first
scrimmage is crucial. “I think
it's a very important day coming out of that first go against somebody else
and finding out a little bit about where you're at and looking at where you
have got to get to. Plus, being
able to get out on the field and the kids being aware of the things they
have got to get better at and hopefully make some strides that first day
coming back after that scrimmage,” said Valentine.
Valentine says his kids definitely adapted well during the scrimmage
and that was the most positive sign in his opinion.
“Well, I think you know like always the game speed, the kids have
to adjust to and you just don't practice that fast, so I was really pleased
with how our kids on both sides of the ball you know first series kind of
got caught off guard a little bit, but they adjusted to that game speed and
really did a nice job the rest of the way out.
So, I think that was a real positive,” he said.
With the opener just over a week away, Valentine says in order to be
good on opening night they have to be improved in their fundamentals on both
sides of the ball. “Well, I
think you know both sides of the ball is blocking on one side and tackling
on the other,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We didn't do
some things fundamentally, so those are the things we have got to get better
at because in the end that's what's going to win you win us the game.
I thought overall we did a lot of good things, but still have a ways
to go.”
Published 8/08/23
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Ashland
Advances to Play Anthony Wayne
Ashland opened division I tournament play with a (4-1) win at home
over Toledo Start on Monday evening.
They will play at Anthony Wayne, the top seed in the district, on
Wednesday afternoon.
Coach Rick Gough says on Monday Logan Falk went out to the mound and
gave them a chance to win. “Logan
Falk went out and I think he had 10 strikeouts and only gave up two or three
hits and did a great job on the mound,” he told Swankonsports.com after
the win on Monday night, “Defensively we, I think, had one throwing error.
We played a clean baseball game. I
wish we could hit the ball a little bit better, but a win is a win,
especially a tournament win.”
When it comes to hitting, especially going into Wednesday, Gough says
they need more line drive. He
says Monday night they made things pretty easy for the Start outfield.
“Well, (Monday) night we hit a lot of lazy flyballs and made it
easy for Start’s defene, it helped them out.
We just didn't hit the ball hard up the middle and didn't hit line
drives. We just got underneath
it a little bit and made it a close game,” he said.
Anthony Wayne is the winner of the Northern Lake League.
Gough says they are a tremendous team, but they only have to be
better than them on one day. “It's
going to be an extreme challenge. Anthony
Wayne is a great ball club. I
think they're ranked, I don't know, seventh or eighth in the latest poll.
You have got to go out and play every game.
It's not who's better, it's who's better on any particular day.
We're going to go up there and we're going to give it our best
shot,” said Gough.
Published 5/16/23
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Big
First Inning Leads to Ashland Win
Six runs in the first inning paved the way for Ashland in a (7-3) win
over Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Wednesday
evening in a game played on turf at Ashland University.
Arrows coach Rick Gough says that first inning, plus a solid pitching
performance from Braiden Rhoades got them the win.
“We started out and we jumped out and scored six runs in the first
inning and the kids responded to being off for a week.
Then we kind of sat on it a little bit.
It would be nice to keep adding on, but we didn't,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, “Our starting pitcher
Braiden Rhoades did a nice job, threw a complete game, 96 pitches, I believe
one earned run, so we did a nice job.”
Mansfield Senior coach J.R. Davis says circumstances led to them not
being ready for the game, but after that first inning they played well.
“After finding out very late that we were playing at Ashland
University where we couldn’t wear metal cleats my pitcher was slipping on
the mound, which led to a six run first inning.
When I switched to a pitcher with plastic cleats, we gave up one run
the rest of the game. We played
very well and definitely getting better going into tournament time,” said
Davis.
Like many teams the Arrows haven’t played for a week and there was
some rust, plus Gough says it wasn’t the easiest night to play baseball.
“Well, it's difficult for a couple reasons.
We sat for a week and to be honest with you (Wednesday) night
wasn’t the greatest conditions to play baseball games.
I mean, I'm not sure how many other area games were played in the
league, but it was kind of a tough night to play.
Ultimately, our kids responded and did what they had to do and we
came away with the win,” said Gough.
Baseball in Ohio is a shorter, but intense season and the tournament
draw for baseball is Sunday.
Ashland is division I and Gough says hey must start playing more
fundamental baseball. “We've
got to be more consistent. We've
shown at times that we can be a very good ball team and we've shown at times
other times that we're not a very good ball team. It's
just it's about being consistent and doing the little things that you need
to win tournament games. Being
able to bunt, being able to sacrifice, being able to get a sac fly.
So, we are going to work on those things,” said Gough.
Published 5/04/23
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Ashland
Erupts in Seventh
Ashland scored seven times in the top of the seventh inning to win
(7-6) at Lexington in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Tuesday evening.
The win kept them one game behind Wooster and New Philadelphia in
“OCC” play. Wooster got past
Mt. Vernon (7-6) in eight innings, New Philadelphia downed West Holmes by
the same score (7-6). Madison
hammered Mansfield Senior (13-1) in the other “OCC” games.
Ashland coach Rick Gough says they tell their kids to never give up.
“I mean you have got to play seven innings and we've been trying to
teach our kids that all season and (Tuesday) they battled and they got it
done,” he said.
It appears the “OCC” is going to be a very good race this year
and Gough says every game is a battle. “We
didn't know what New Philly had coming in and we were able to get a split
with them and we're able to get a split with Mt. Vernon.
I think the “OCC” this year is going to be a battle. I
don't think there's one team that is going to run the table,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night, “Obviously, at this
point everybody's got a league loss. Right
now, we're one game behind, I know Wooster beat Mount Vernon in eight
innings 7-6 in close game. Every
game counts and the I think it's going to come down to the last week.”
Ashland (3-4,3-2) play at home against Lexington on Wednesday
evening.
Gough says they must play a more fundamental game this time.
“We didn't play a clean ball game (Tuesday) night. I
mean we had six errors (Tuesday) night and gave them I think five unearned
runs, something like that. We've
got to play a cleaner game. We've
talked to our kids about putting it all together offense, defense and
pitching and we're working on it. So,
I'm excited for (Wednesday) because I think you know we're due for a clean
game,” said Gough.
Published 4/12/23
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Ashland
Edges Mt. Vernon
In an early season meeting between contenders, Ashland beat Mt.
Vernon (2-1) on Tuesday evening in Mt. Vernon in Ohio Cardinal Conference
play.
They are scheduled to play again on Wednesday in Ashland.
Defending champion Wooster beat West Holmes (7-2), Madison trimmed
Lexington (2-1) and New Philadelphia downed Mansfield Senior (7-0) in other
“OCC” games on Tuesday.
Ashland coach Rick Gough says it was a big road win for them.
“No doubt about it, especially down at their place.
Being the first game of the season for both of us, you never know
what you're going to get, but I'll take the win,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It was a tight game, it was a well
played game. I think it could
have went either way. Both teams
stranded, I know we start stranded 15 people on the base paths and they did
as well. So, it really could
have went either way, but we'll take the win.”
Ashland returns almost everybody from last year.
Mt. Vernon returns a lot of veterans too.
Gough says starting pitcher Luke Bryant may not have had his best
stuff, but he was a bulldog or them. “Luke
Bryant, he wasn't sharp (Tuesday) night, but he was excellent when he needed
to be. He battled through five
innings and then I brought in Brayden Rose kind of making his varsity debut
in a tough situation and he did what needed to be done,” said Gough.
Mt. Vernon coach Nate Hunt says they definitely left some ducks on
the pound. “Luke Bryant
pitched really well and did a nice job.
We had a lot of opportunities to win (Tuesday) night, but fell short
on multiple occasions. We left
12 runners on base and had some early season mistakes.
However, we saw a lot of good things.
We have to build on a lot things we have to correct.
The best part of baseball is you don’t have to wait a week to play
again. We get another
opportunity to compete (Wednesday) against a good team,” said Hunt.
Gough also knows it was a good win Tuesday night, but they need to
protect their home field on Wednesday. “I
mean this is just the first step in a long journey, especially with the
league being a 14 game season this year.
It's just the first step and I'm expecting another tight battle,”
he said.
Published 3/29/23
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Ashland
to Contend in the “OCC”
Ashland with a lot of experience and a lot of pitching looks like a
real factor in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race this year.
They the play their first game at Tiffin Columbian in a
non-conference game on Saturday if it’s not rained out, which it might be.
Coach Rick Gough says they can’t wait to get the season started.
“I'm really excited about this year's team. I
think we've got a really good group of kids.
Their work ethic has been outstanding. I've
got a number of returning lettermen that have been in the program and
they've been leaders, so all is well,” said Gough.
Gough says having good experience is important throughout the program
and that is the case this year with the Arrows.
“It does set a tone for the younger kids in the program.
They can learn from those kids see how things we want things done and
it's helped with the practice organization and getting things done,” he
said.
The Arrows first “OCC” series this year with be against Mt.
Vernon next Tuesday and Wednesday and that will be an important one for both
sides as both are contenders.
Ashland had the lead at one time in the race last year and Gough
feels he has got a team that is going to contend for sure.
“That's our goal, well that's our goal every year, but this year
like I say with 10 returning lettermen, our top four pitchers back, I think
that you know we are going to be right in the mix,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We will be there with probably
Wooster, the two time defending champ, and Mount Vernon, those are going to
be some battles. Then this year
in the league we've got New Philly, they're kind of unknown. So,
I think it's going to be an interesting league race.”
Published 3/24/22
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Ashland
Must Take Advantage of Opportunities
Ashland takes on Toledo Bowsher in a division I tournament game to be
played Wednesday night at Rossford High School.
The Arrows (6-16) last regular season game was last Tuesday when they
(59-54) in Big Walnut in a non-conference game.
Coach Jason Hess believes his team has been improving and their goal
on Wednesday night is to play a compete 32 minutes.
“We talked to the kids about a fresh start, everybody's 0-0 when it
comes tournament time. For the
seniors you have got to play like there is no tomorrow because that's really
what it is there's no tomorrow,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “If we are able to go up there and play the way we were capable
of playing and actually put a complete game together I think good things can
happen and we can make some noise and surprise some people.”
Bowsher (8-13) has not played since February 14 when they lost to
Toledo Scott (54-48) in the Toledo City League semifinal.
Hess says the Blue Racers are going to show them a lot of pressure
and they can’t have a bunch of turnovers in the game.
“They are a city league team, they're very athletic, they like to
press, a lot of diamond press, and really put a lot of pressure up front
trying to force some turnovers. They're
a team that's struggled to score at times offensively if they don't get
things off their pressure, so it's going to be extremely important for us to
take care of the basketball and to force them to work for every point they
get and not to give them easy baskets off of turnovers,” said Hess.
When you face a team that presses a lot, Hess if you beat the press
there are going to be some layups available.
“The other thing we've talked about not only take care of the
basketball up front, but we want to break that pressure and then attack the
basket and finish at the rim. That's
one of the things we have not done a great job consistently this year is
finishing and around the basket and we're going to do a better job of that
in order to win this tournament game,” said Hess.
Published 2/22/23
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Ashland
Wants to Finish Regular Season Strong
Ashland competes their regular season on Tuesday night as they travel
to Big Walnut to face the Golden Eagles in non-conference play.
Last Friday, they were certainly competitive, but fell (70-61) to
Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says they just couldn’t get the stops they needed.
“We did some good things. It's
kind of been the story of our season. We're
right there, but we don't have a lot to show for it.
As far as Friday night, I thought we were executing and then doing a
nice job on both ends and then it seemed like in the fourth quarter we kind
of just had some breakdowns defensively.
We gave up a couple open shots to their best shooters on the
perimeter and then we were unable to stop some of their dribble penetration
and they were getting the basket and finishing.
Unfortunately for us, we don't have a lot of room for error this year
and those baskets that we were giving up just a little more than we were
able to overcome as we missed some shots on the other end,” said Hess.
It’s the first time Ashland (6-15) has played Big Walnut in a
regular season game, but Hess says there is some familiarity.
“We've scrimmaged some few years ago a couple of times. I
know coach (Brett) Bartlett real well. He
actually helped on our staff back 15 years ago or so as an assistant when he
was playing at Ashland University. His
dad was a longtime coach at Madison, so there's a little bit of area
connection there with coach Bartlett and his staff,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They're a young team that has
grown up a lot this year. They
have got some good size, they have got a really strong junior class that are
really playing with a lot of confidence right now.
They shoot it well from the perimeter, they have good size and good
length. So, it's definitely a very formidable opponent to get ready for the
tournament.”
Hess says they hope to be able to find something as they get ready
for the tournament when they play Toledo Bowsher.
“I mean it's really a fresh start. I
mean after (Tuesday) night's game we get into next week and everybody's in
the same boat. You win or the
season is over. So, it does kind
of give our kids a fresh start and a new chance to kind of rewrite the way
this season has gone and hopefully maybe get a couple wins that would really
give them a strong position to end the season on and for our seniors to go
out on a high note,” he said.
Published 2/14/23
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Ashland
Must Control Tempo
Ashland tries to do it again, as they host Mansfield Senior in an
Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
They beat they Tygers about a month ago.
Coach Jason Hess says his young team has matured all season long.
“We've definitely improved a lot.
At times, our win loss record I don't think reflects our improvement,
but we've definitely seen a lot of improvement, especially from our freshmen
and guys that hadn't played any varsity experience at all to this point.
We've also seen glimpses of more consistent play and just being able
to finish some games. It just
hasn't been real consistent the way we would like here the last few
weeks,” he said.
Ashland (6-14,4-9) hosts Mansfield Senior (12-7,9-3) on Friday night
in “OCC” play. The Tygers
beat Madison (58-50) in a conference game last Friday.
The beat Columbus Eastmor (67-44) on Tuesday night in non-league
play.
Hess says the Tygers are going to force you to handle the ball and
compete hard for rebounds. “They're
a team that has played well this year. They
do what Mansfield does. They
pressure on defense a little bit and they go after rebounds really hard and
aggressively. They've got a
couple of guys that can shoot it a little bit from the perimeter,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're right there at the top of
our league for a reason because of playing a tough non conference schedule
and they're always ready to play and their kids play hard.
So, it's definitely a tough matchup for us anytime.
We've got senior night this year against Mansfield and that kind of
adds some extra emotions, some extra things into it as well. So, it should
be a good basketball game on Friday night.”
Ashland beat Mansfield Senior at Pete Henry Gym (52-49) on January 3.
Hess says they were successful in handling the Tygers pressure and
they are going to have to be able to do that again.
“Well, the big thing with Mansfield is to take care of the
basketball, number one. They do
pressure on defense, they like to be aggressive, they will over play some
passing lanes, they'll get out and pressure the basketball.
We did a nice job of limiting turnovers.
Turnovers are going to happen, so number two of limiting those
turnovers and taking care of the basketball is not letting your turnovers
and miscues turn into easy baskets for Mansfield. Mansfield's
a team that really can get it going and score points in a hurry when they do
basically off of their defense where they can force turnovers and get out in
the open floor and play in space. It
seems like that's when they're shooting their best and when they're playing
at their best. So, controlling
the tempo is one of the things that we really focused on this week,” said
Hess.
Published 2/08/23
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Ashland
Needs Wins to Boost Tourney Seed
Ashland plays at West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night and then plays at home against Massillon on Saturday night in
non-conference action.
Last week, the Arrows played two more close conference games in
beating Madison (61-51) on Tuesday and losing (66-65) to Wooster on Friday
night.
Coach Jason Hess says they are still working on closing out games and
making clutch plays. “We've
been so close in so many games this year and Friday at Wooster was just
another case and point of that. We're
not really here for close and almost and could have, would have, should
have. So, we're definitely
seeing some things on film that we need to continue to work on and improve
on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I thought Tuesday
night with Madison was a good win for us. It
was nice to see our guys respond after the heartbreaking loss we had over at
their place back in December. I
thought we played a good game against Wooster.
We just weren't able to get stops on the defensive end when we needed
to in the fourth quarter and Wooster was able to just maintain the lead and
stay in front.”
Ashland (5-13,3-9) visits West Holmes (2-16,1-11) on Friday night in
“OCC” play. West Holmes lost
their last conference game to New Philadelphia (48-35) last Friday.
Ashland won the first meeting (52-41) on December 30.
Hess feels after a coaching change West Holmes has become a more
cohesive unit and they are playing better basketball too.
“With the adversity and internal strife that they went through
there after the first of the year and had to have a coaching change and it
seems like that's kind of brought the group together and they're playing
with a little more purpose and a little more intensity and they seem to be
playing a little bit harder than they were earlier. So, we're definitely a
team that has not played our best basketball down at West Holmes in the past
few years. So, it's going to be
a real challenge for our guys to make that long, windy, bus trip down to
West Holmes on Friday night and to bring a good effort in order to get a win
down there,” said Hess.
With the tournament draw on Sunday, Hess says they need a couple of
wins to get a better seed in their division I district.
“It's kind of one of those things this weekend going to the
tournament draw with the computer rankings, the way that we're doing it this
year, a couple wins would really give us a little bit stronger point system
and maybe bump us up maybe two or three spots I think in the in the seeding
if we were able to get those wins,” he said.
Published 2/01/23
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Ashland
Needs Better Consistency on Both Ends
Ashland entertains Madison in a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference
on Tuesday night.
Last Friday, they almost upset second place New Philadelphia before
falling (60-55) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says close doesn’t count in basketball games.
“We've been so close. I
mean people you know pat you on the back after the game.
Opposing coaches say you guys played hard, you're right there.
Well, almost doesn't count in high school basketball.
We've still got to figure out some things to make some adjustments to
be able to close some of these games. We've
had a small lead, or at least a lead in the second half of eight of our 12
losses, but we have not been able to finish in close games out and make the
plays we needed to down the stretch,” he said.
Hess says they have to have better consistency on both ends of the
floor. “It's a little bit on
both ends of the floor. I think
some nights we've kind of had some breakdowns and lapses on defense at
crucial times that have hurt us. At
times on the other end it has been offensive turnovers.
Go back to Friday night's game at New Phily, we were up by two and we
missed the front end of a one-on-one with two minutes to go instead of
making it a two possession game, New Philly comes down and ties the game up.
So, some different things like that have haunted us in some of our
close losses which it seems like this year we've had more than our fair
share, but we have to just own those and keep getting better,” said Hess.
Ashland (4-12,2-8) plays at home against Madison (7-8,4-6) on Tuesday
night. Madison fell to “OCC”
leader Lexington (65-58) on Friday night.
In the first meeting between the two schools, Madison beat the Arrows
(70-66) in overtime on December 16. Madison
has played in four overtime games this year.
Hess says they are going to try some different things to slow down
the Rams potentially explosive offense.
“They're definitely have two very good offensive threats and very
tough matchups in their point guard and the (Jaden) Jeffries kid and it's
just very difficult for us to match up with Jeffries’ size and his ability
to score inside and outside and that's what really hurt us in the first go
around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We're going to
try to do some different wrinkles maybe defensively to try to slow him down
and neutralize that a little bit. We've
got to make sure that we continue to bring the same energy and effort that
we've brought the last few games where we've been competing and doing some
good things and hopefully with our film sessions and the things we've been
working on in practice we'll be able to make the plays that we need to.”
Published 1/24/23
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Ashland
Has to be Patient
Ashland makes the trip to New Philadelphia to take on the Quakers in
an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
Their young team is maturing, but they are still searching for more
consistency.
They lost (68-63) to Wooster in an “OCC” played on Tuesday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they just couldn’t get over that final
hurdle. “We had several times
there, couple times that fourth quarter and even in the third, where we had
cut the lead to one or two points and had the ball had a chance to score
take the lead and just couldn't get over that hump and get that lead.
The game changes when you've been kind of playing from behind.
It was a back and forth game. Never
was it a big lead one way or the other the entire night.
We just couldn't get a lead at the end of the game and be able to
execute. We were kind of playing
from behind and then we had to start chasing them and fouling them and they
did a good job of making their free throws,” said Hess.
Ashland (4-11,2-7) plays at New Philadelphia (8-3,6-2), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. The
Quakers beat Madison (59-54) in overtime last Friday.
New Phily beat Ashland (48-35) on December 13.
Hess says New Philadelphia is going to be patient with the ball and
that means they have to be patient. “It'll
be a little different for our kids. The
long bus ride down there New Philly and playing in a gym we have not played
in before. So, it'll be
important for us to get down there and get used to the environment.
They're very good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “They play a little different style than a lot of
teams in our league. Very
deliberate they play really good half court defense.
They tend to play more of a low scoring game than some other teams in
our league, which makes it really difficult for us to score.
It also forces us to be extremely disciplined on defense so that we
don't break down in their long possessions.”
Hess believes their execution on offense has been improving, but it
will really be tested on Friday night. “That's
one of those things that is going to be extremely important we've been
working on. I think we've gotten
better with our offensive efficiency as far as executing, screening and
moving without the basketball. Doing
some things that we need to do to get our better shooters good looks at the
rim. It's extremely important in
this game with New Philly that we really, really do that well and don't get
rattled just by their steady defense. It's
more of a pack line defense, but they're pretty aggressive on the ball and
can force some turnovers and even if they don't force a turnover those quick
shots are just like a turnover in a game like this,” said Hess.
Published 1/20/23
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Valentine
Steps Down At Madison; Applies For Ashland Job
Football coach Scott Valentine hopes to return home.
He has resigned after just one season (1-9) at Madison and has
applied for the head coaching position at Ashland, his alma mater, where he
sent 27 years as head coach.
Valentine says when he decided to apply at Ashland, he thought it was
only fair that he resign at Madison. “Well,
there was a lot of things to consider. The
Ashland job ended up coming open unexpectedly and then a lot of different
things with decisions with family and things like that.
I decided that I was going to apply for the Ashland job.
I just didn't think it was fair for me and didn't want to put the
kids in the tough situation if I applied and didn't get the job and trying
to come back. So, just
thought it was better if I went ahead. I
talked with Doug Rickert. We talked a little bit.
I let him know ahead of time and I think we both agree that probably
was best,” said Valentine.
Sean Seder, who had been the Ashland coach in the seasons after
Valentine gave up the Ashland job to watch his kids play college sports, was
non-renewed after this past season when the Arrows went (6-4) under his
leadership. Seder remains the
Ashland wrestling coach.
Valentine, after stints as head coach at South Central and Ontario,
took the Ashland job 2002. He
led the Arrows to seven Ohio Cardinal Conference titles and 10 playoff
appearances. His record at
Ashland was 130-60 over 17 seasons.
Valentine says he believes the Madison program, which has just five
wins over the last seven years, is headed in the right direction.
He says when he took the Rams job his plans were to stay there, but
then there were some unforeseen circumstances.
“There was a lot of other things.
The scenario was never about, I mean the kids worked hard over there
and I see a lot of good things that will happen at Madison.
I mean this is a place that I grew up in, it’s home, but not when I
went to Madison there was not a thought that the job would come open. So, I
was planning on being there, but just some of the other circumstances around
the whole situation kind of led me to make the decision,” said Valentine.
Madison Athletic Director Doug Rickert says a search for a new
football coach will begin immediately.
Published 1/18/23
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Ashland
is Growing
Ashland gets a second chance at unbeaten Lexington on Friday night at
home this time in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
They play at Ontario on Saturday night in non-conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says he has seen some growth through the first half
of the year. “I'd like to
think we're better than we were a month ago. I
think everybody has improved in the league though.
It's a coaches priority and dream that you are improving throughout
the season. So, I would say
that's the case for everybody in our league.
However, I do feel like with youth that starting multiple freshmen
and playing a third freshman off the bench I think we had a little more room
to grow than some other teams just because of our inexperience in our young
guys playing. I thought last
Saturday night at Shelby, even though we weren't able to come away with the
win, we definitely grew up a lot and showed one of our best performances of
the year,” said Hess.
Ashland (3-9,2-5) plays host to Lexington (11-0,6-0), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. The
Minutemen won the first matchup (59-45) on December 9.
Hess says Lex is confident and they are big.
“They're a team that is definitely a very confident team.
They play with a lot of swagger and their size is the first thing
that jumps out at you. When
you're able to play multiple kids that are 6’5” and bigger and are
somewhat athletic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“That's not something that we see on a regular basis in our league.
So, that takes a little bit of an adjustment period to get used to
that on game night because it's one of those things that you really can't
prepare for ahead of time no matter what you try to do against JV kids or
against other varsity guys in your own practice we can't simulate you know
6’7” and 6’8”.”
Ashland plays at Ontario (5-4) in a non-conference game on Saturday
night.
Hess says the Warriors bring a different kind of challenge.
“They are two different teams we're going to see this weekend.
We will focus in on Lexington first.
Ontario definitely shoots the ball well and they run a lot of things
to get looks for their perimeter shooters where Lexington is running a lot
of their primary sets to get the ball inside to their post players,” he
said.
Published 1/12/23
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Shelby
Fights Off Ashland
Shelby, playing without two starters, held off Ashland (71-65) in
non-conference play on Saturday night at Shelby High School, posting their
tenth win in a row.
The Whippets took a (7-5) lead on a Casey Lantz jumper with 1:53 to
play in the first quarter and lead (17-13) after the first.
Over the first 4:32 of the second quarter Shelby outscored Ashland
(10-5) to take a (29-18) lead after a Brayden DeVito three.
Without starters Issiah Ramsey (sick) and Bryson Baker (injured) the
Whippets cashed on 24-45 field goals (53%) and 11-21 threes (52%) on the
night.
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says they had some kids step up when
called upon. “We knew we had a
starter out going into the game and then kind of an unexpected turn the day
of the game, we got another guy out and I thought our guys stepped up and
played against a good basketball team that's really been challenged all year
in their league and their non league games.
We knew it was going to be a tough test and I thought we had guys
step up and replace our two starters and it was a good team win,” he said.
Ashland (3-9) has been rebuilding this season with three freshmen
seeing significant minutes for them this year, but they kept battling.
They went on a (12-0) run to start the third quarter, fueled by five
points from freshman Gabe Baith to take (35-34) lead 5:16 to play in the
quarter.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says they competed with a very talented
Shelby team. “I'm super proud
of our kids effort all night long. We
were down double digits in the second quarter to a much more talented team
and a much bigger team and our kids just kept fighting and kept competing.
We started the third quarter and were able to get the lead by one.
I thought we had a stretch, there about a minute or two at the end of
the third quarter, where they were able to pull back ahead by four or
five,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Then that stretch
there in the fourth quarter where I think they hit about four threes in a
row, it seemed like. We were
trading twos for threes and that just doesn't work when you're behind.
Overall, I mean we can't fault our kids effort and I'm super proud of
how hard they played and competed the entire night.”
Shelby (10-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, took the lead right back on a hoop by Max
Hess (36-35) with 3:34 to play in the third.
Baith, who led Ashland with 21 points, tied it at (38-38) with 3:02
to go in quarter, but Shelby outscored them (6-0), four of those points by
Lantz, to lead (44-38) after three.
Gallaway says that third quarter spurt was key.
“Alex (Brushkotter) even got his third foul and we had to take him
out too. We had guys step up and
were able to counter that run. I
think they went up one and we were able to make a basket that next
possession and then kind of sustained that lead making some big shots late
in the game,” said Gallaway.
The Whippets led by 11 (65-54) in the fourth quarter, after two free
throws by Hess with 2:09 to play. Hess
had two threes in the first 4:30 of the final quarter and DeVito added
another one.
Hess and DeVito both finished with 21 points on the night to lead
Shelby scorers. Lantz added 13
points, Alex Brushkotter, the Whippets leading scorer was saddled with some
foul trouble, has 12.
Gallaway says Hess and DeVito both turned in tremendous performances
for them. “I think from three
they shot the ball really well. I
think they were eight of 14 from three, just with those two.
That's the fun part about our run.
We have got going is we have new guys stepping up and are able to
fill in a role. I'm just proud
of their efforts,” said Gallaway.
Ashland’s leading scorer Grayson Steury scored 18 points, but Hess
says they had number of other kids that played very well.
Plus, despite a size disadvantage, they won the rebounding battle
(35-17), which pleased Hess. “I
thought Nathan Bernard and Gabe Baith, two of our freshmen, probably played
their best games of the year, which is really encouraging to see.
Now, it's just a matter of kind of being consistent with that type of
effort and scoring on both ends of the floor.
The other thing that I was really proud of is how hard we crashed the
offensive glass against a team that was much bigger than us and we were able
to outrebound them on the offensive glass it's really saying a lot for how
hard our kids were to beat,” said Hess.
Published 1/07/23
© Swankonsports.com
Ashland
Can’t Have Turnovers
Ashland, fresh off their first conference win of the season, plays at
Mansfield Senior, the “OCC” co-leader, in an Ohio Cardinal Conference
game on Tuesday night.
They play at Mt. Vernon in n “OCC” game on Friday night.
The Arrows beat West Holmes (52-41) last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they were able to build a double digit lead in
the game. “We kind of talked
to our kids about just staying the course and trusting the process of what
we're doing and those wins will come. I
thought last Friday night we did a nice job.
One of the improvements that we made was just to controlling the
tempo. I had talked Saturday
about we've had some leads in some other basketball games, so we haven't
been able to maintain that lead or even grow that lead and we've end up
losing. I thought Friday night
we did a nice job controlling the tempo and running a little more patient
offense at times and getting the shot that we wanted and not being in a
hurry and really dictating the game with our offensive pace,” said Hess.
Ashland (2-7,1-4) is at Mansfield Senior (7-2,5-0), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Tuesday night. The
Tygers are coming off (71-62) win over rival Madison in “OCC” play last
Friday.
Hess says they are going
to have to handle the Tygers pressure defense.
‘Well, they're pressure and aggressive defense.
They are very good and very athletic as far as speeding teams up and
creating turnovers and that typically leads to easy baskets for them.
I mean that's our number one focus going into this game is taking
care of the basketball and eliminating any easy baskets for Mansfield,” he
said.
To be successful against Mansfield Senior, Hess says they going to
have great guard play. “I mean
it really boils down to taking care of the basketball and eliminating
turnovers that lead to easy baskets for Mansfield.
I think in the past few years we've been fortunate to have some very
good guards, several of them are playing at the next level, which obviously
makes it easier on our team and our coaching staff when you have got guards
like that can take care of the basketball. I
think we've got some good guards on this this team this year, but they have
not seen much pressure in defense like what Mansfield is going to do.
So, we're going to have to see and figure out how fast our kids can
adjust (Tuesday) night to the pace of play.”
Published 1/03/23
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Ashland
Has to Get Good Start
Ashland will play at home against West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday.
When they hit the floor, it will be the first time they have played
in two weeks.
Coach Jason Hess hopes that break will pay off.
“Well, I can let you know for sure on Friday, but I would say it
might have been a good thing for our kids.
We were able to take a little longer break for Christmas than we
normally do because we didn't play Friday and with the weather we weren't
allowed to practice on Friday. So,
our kids got a good three or four days off to kind of reset their minds and
physically get everything healed up and get reenergized here,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We had a good practice this week
so far. We’ve talked to our
kids about refocusing our goals to make them a little more attainable with
the slow start we've had this year and trying to get off to a better start
as the calendar flips into January to build some momentum to continue to get
better and get a few more wins the second half of the season.”
Ashland (1-7,0-4) is at home for West Holmes (0-7,0-4) on Friday
night. The Knights lost (56-46)
to Cambridge in their last game in non-conference play last Tuesday.
Hess says they have been close to winning at least a couple more
games this year and they are trying to keep the kids motivated.
“We've tried to stay positive with our guys that we are a few
possessions away from being really close to .500.
A couple of bounces here and there.
But some of our alumni were in over break and they kind of reminded
me your record says what your record says.
There are no wins for could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.
That's just some things that our guys now have to be able to process
those tough losses, process those disappointments.
Those plays that we didn't make and be able to make those adjustments
and be able to make those plays now going into the rest of the season that
we don't lose games that we feel like we should have won,” said Hess.
Hess says really West Holmes is in the same position as the Arrows.
“They are in a similar situation as us.
They have been off to a slow struggle to start the season.
They are adjusting to life without a couple of pretty good guards
that they graduated a year ago. They
are trying to figure some things out. They
are a team that plays hard, but they're also a team that really searching
for an identity. So, it's going
to be extremely important for us to get off to a good start even though we
haven't played for a couple weeks and hopefully not have any rust from being
off for two weeks and really come out and set the tempo at the top of the
game in the first quarter,” said Hess.
Published 12/28/22
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Ashland
Has to be Better on Offense
Ashland plays at Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday
night, both are coming off losses on Tuesday in league play.
On Tuesday night, the Arrows fell (48-35) to New Philadelphia in an
“OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says they played very well on defense, but they
didn’t make enough shots. “They
play a little more deliberate, a little slow down pace than some other teams
that we normally see. I thought
our kids really played well defensively.
We did a nice job making things a little bit different and more
difficult for New Phily. I think
that's part of the reason they were playing even slower against us because
of some of our defensive actions and stuff that we were putting out there.
Unfortunately, we just really struggled to score the basketball on
Tuesday night and we came up a little bit short.
We had it down to a three point game there in the fourth quarter and
just weren't able to score baskets when we needed to and then end up having
to foul at the end and that's what stretched it out to double digits,”
said Hess.
Ashland (1-5,0-3) is at Madison (2-4,0-3) on Friday night.
Madison was pounded (67-40) by Lexington in “OCC” play on
Tuesday.
Hess says the Rams have some guys that score the ball and it is going
to stress their defense. “They
have a very good one two punch with their point guard, a freshman, is really
good and the (Jaden) Jeffries kid has scored a lot of points and is doing a
lot of good things. So, those
two guys are very difficult to match up with.
They're just really tough matchups the way they can score inside and
out and the ability that they have to score the basketball,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “So, that makes it tough to guard
when you have to worry about two kids that can scored as prolific as those
two do. So, we're going to have
to do a really good job I think of just team defense because we won't have
one guy that really can match up and shut those guys down, so it's going to
be a team effort defensively.”
Hess says when they have the ball, they have to execute better than
they did Tuesday night. “As
far as our offense, Madison plays really hard that's why they've been in all
the basketball games have been in. That's
why they played so many close games is because how hard they play and it's
going to be really important for us to be able to handle that hardnosed
physical defense that they play and make sure we execute a little better job
than we have been so far this season. That's one of the areas that we've
kind of been focusing on this week is just trying to be more efficient with
our offense,” said Hess.
Published 12/16/22
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Ashland
Has to Protect the Paint
Ashland plays at Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night.
They lost a heartbreaker (74-72) in overtime to Mt. Vernon in
“OCC” action last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they showed a lot of improvement from week one,
but they still need better shot selection.
“I am super proud of the kids resiliency and effort that we showed
last week. We were down eight
points in the fourth quarter with a little over six minutes to play.
We found a way to get it into overtime.
We even had the lead in overtime.
We just have to do a little better job with some of our game
management. I thought
offensively we took a couple shots that weren’t the shots we were looking
for at that point in the game and unfortunately Mt. Vernon was able to
capitalize on them and hit a shot at the buzzer to win the basketball game.
I was definitely proud of the effort and happy with the improvement
we showed from week one to week two,” said Hess.
Ashland (0-3,0-1) is at Lexington (2-0,1-0) on Friday night.
The Minutemen smoked West Holmes (73-53) last Friday and in an
“OCC” game and then took Clyde to the woodshed (80-40) on Saturday night
in non-league play.
Hess says what is scarry is Lexington is huge and they aren’t very
big. “Going into this season
on paper Lexington had one of the best if not the best team coming back from
last year’s conference race. The
ended up second last year. They
have a lot of guys back. They
are one team in our league that brings a lot of size to the table in
starting multiple guys 6’3” or bigger, which we only have one of those
on the entire roster,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon,
“So, it is not a great matchup for us when you look at it on paper.
So, we are really going to have to show a lot of resolve and just a
lot of toughness to compete and battle and try and keep it close.”
Lexington is shooting 65% from the field through two games.
Hess says they need to find a way to protect the rim.
“It is two teams that are really polar opposites in the way we are
built. I do know when you are
shooting it two feet from the basket those are a lot higher percentage shots
than shooting from 20 feet. So,
anybody can win on any given night and we are going to go out there and
compete and give it our best, but we are definitely going to have to raise
our level of interior defense to give ourselves a chance when they shoot
such a high percentage in close to the basket,” he said.
Published 12/09/22
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Ashland
Has to Make Shots
Ashland, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champ, opens defense
of that title on Friday night at home against the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets.
It was a poor start to the season last week with losses to Norwalk
(48-45) on Friday and Sandusky (89-56) on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says it was a baptism by fire for some of their
younger players. “Obviously,
it was a little disappointing start for us, not what we were hoping for, but
I think it was a wake-up call for our guys that have not played varsity
basketball much before definitely got thrown into the fire right off the
bat. It was a tough, close loss
there on Friday night and then on Saturday Sandusky took it to us right from
the tip. We have just got to do
a better job of getting ready this week.
Hopefully, we have been able to learn a few things about our
basketball team and make some corrections that we need to correct and we
will see how things go this week against Mt. Vernon,” he said.
Hess says if they are going to be a good team, they must shoot the
ball a lot better than they did last week.
“The big thing that jumps out at you and you hate to spend a lot of
time focusing on shooting percentages, at least I do, because that can come
and go depending on the group of kids you have and on any given night,
sometimes you get hot and make shots and sometimes you don’t.
Combined in the two games we shot right around 30 percent.
That is not good enough to win any basketball game,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I don’t feel like we shot the
ball like we are capable of. We
missed a lot of bunnies inside shots. Shots
that, if we want to be a good basketball team and compete, we have to find a
way to make them. I don’t know
if that is anything anybody was doing. We
just didn’t perform well and make shots.
Unfortunately, I think it affected our defense then.
As we were struggling to score, we lost our focus and intensity on
defense.”
Mt Vernon (2-0) is coming off a () win over Johnstown-Monroe on
Wednesday night.
Hess says they have experience and show the ability to make some
outside shots. “They return a
nice core group of experienced guys from last year’s team that was very
competitive in our league. They
also get a little added bonus back with a senior that missed last season
with an “ACL” injury. He
came out first game and was raring to go and dropped 21 points.
They have a good group of guys that can definitely beat you from the
outside. They always play hard
and are very fundamental. It is
going to be a challenge for our basketball team on how we respond after a
tough weekend a week ago. If we
can raise our intensity level and hopefully make a few shots and compete to
win a basketball game against Mt. Vernon,” said Hess.
Published 12/01/22
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A
lot of Unknowns for Ashland
Ashland opens the season this weekend at Norwalk on Friday and home
with Sandusky on Saturday as they face a pair of teams from the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Coach Jason Hess says they have looked good at times, but he adds
that they really don’t know what kind of team they are yet.
“We had a lot of question marks coming into the season.
I don’t know if we have fully answered any of those questions until
we turn the lights on Friday night and see how our kids preform.
We have had some pretty good scrimmages, but scrimmage and practice
situations aren’t quite the same as real life gametimes.
So, the key will be trying to get our kids used to the game speed and
action of a varsity game and hopefully we will be ready to play,” said
Hess.
When a team opens the season there is always a different sense of
nervousness for that first game, according to Hess.
“There is always that excitement and anticipation the butterflies
in the stomach for that first game of the year.
The kids have it, the coaches have it, fans have it.
There is always that excitement of a new season.
It an also make that first game a little jittery and some unforced
errors that you are not accustomed to, some first game butterflies so to
speak can cause some problems and whoever can overcome those and really make
a few plays to win a basketball game,” he said.
Norwalk has a new coach in Adam Kreischer and Hess admits that will
make it more difficult when it comes to trying to figure out what to expect
in the first game of the year. “It
makes it a little harder to prepare. When
coach (Steve) Gray was there we had a pretty good idea with many years of
playing against him of what we were going to see.
Now this year with a new coach for them he is doing things a little
bit different. I know he had
been on staff and worked with coach Gray for many years, so I don’t expect
a lot of changes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“Every coach has their little thumbprint that they like to put on a
program when they take over. So,
this week we have really been focusing on ourselves more so than what
Norwalk is going to do because there is not a lot of film out there on them
yet with no games being played.”
Published 11/23/22
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Ashland
Trying to Find Right Combination
Ashland won the Ohio Cardinal Conference basketball title last season
and they hare going to have some talent this year too.
Right now, they are trying to figure how that all goes together.
Coach Jason Hess says they have a lot too work with as they try to
form the best team for this season. “We
have had one scrimmage thus far and it went well.
We have a couple of more scheduled here before our opening weekend
after Thanksgiving. So far, we
are really pleased with our effort. We
have a group that has a little bit of varsity experience, but is not an
overly experienced group. The
big thing that we are adjusting to right now if getting guys used to new
roles. We graduated a couple of
guys from last year that were significant contributors on the varsity level,
some of them for multiple years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “So, we are just trying to figure out where everybody is
fitting in. We have had some
pretty competitive practices. We
are looking at about 10 to 12 guys vying for varsity spots right now, which
is a little deeper varsity roster than we have had in the past, but that is
a good thing. We have a couple
more weeks here to see how this is going to all shake out and see who is
going to be ready to play for us on our opening weekend.”
Hess says what they try and get accomplished during the preseason is
find our who plays together the best. “Part
of the deal is not necessarily putting the best player on the floor, but the
best five players. The guys that
work together the best, the most cohesive unit.
That is extremely important and that is hard to figure out in
practice when you are going against each other and that is why the
scrimmages are really nice where we can actually put our five against
somebody else’s five and kind of mix and match and chose which combination
of five players we like is certain situations.
Sometimes we need stops at the end of the quarter and we might have a
better defensive unit and when we need a bucket and figure out who is our
best guy to get that done,” said Hess.
Ashland plays a couple of teams from the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake
Division on the opening weekend. They
play at Norwalk on November 25 and host Sandusky November 26.
They begin “OCC” play December 2 at home against Mt. Vernon.
Size will again be an issue for the Arrows, according to Hess.
“I think we might be smaller than we have been in the past
unfortunately. We don’t have a
lot of size and that is one of the things that you get in high school
basketball in a public school. You
take what comes. We have some
decent athletes, but we just don’t have any big athletes.
Hopefully, we are able to maximize our skill level and we get our
guys to play a little bigger than they are listed at in the program because
we are not the most intimidating team when you see us get off the bus,” he
said.
Published 11/15/22
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Ashland
the Underdog against Central Catholic
Ashland will be on the road to Toledo Central Catholic for a first
round playoff game in division II on Friday night.
A big comeback, down three scores early, gave the Arrows a (42-28)
win over Lexington in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.
Coach Sean Seder says they did an excellent job battling adversity.
“I was really happy with our kids performance, especially our
seniors on our senior night. We
were down three scores at the beginning of the game and everybody kind of
buckled down and came together and overcame that adversity and came up with
a pretty big win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We
were not able to quite jump up in the standings as much as we would have
liked, but definitely solidified a postseason berth and now we are playing
on week 11.”
Ashland (6-4) plays at Toledo Central Catholic (9-1) on Friday night.
The Fighting Irish belted Toledo St. Francis (48-7) last week.
Their only loss came to division I power Lakewood St. Edward (23-20)
on week one.
Seder says they are loaded. “They
are a really good team. Their
record kind of speaks to itself. I
think their average margin of victory is over 30 points.
We only saw two teams that scored two touchdowns on them and one of
them was St. Ed’s, who is a pretty good football team and Findlay.
So, defensively they are really good.
On offense, they are able to put a lot of points on the board, I
think they are averaging 48 or something.
Just a really solid football team that plays a tough schedule.
We will have our hands full on Friday night,” said Seder.
Seder says nobody expects them to win, so they can go out and be free
and easy. “We told our kids is
we are treating it very similar to the West Holmes week just from the
standpoint that West Holmes was undefeated and they still are and they were
scoring a ton of points and not allowing any points.
So, it takes all of the pressure off us.
We get to go out and have fun and preform and hopefully at the end of
the night it is enough points to walk away with a win,” he said.
Published 10/28/22
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Ashland
Treating it as Must Win
Ashland hosts Lexington in a big game for both sides when it comes to
playoff qualification in Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
The Arrows had only 182 yards of total offense, but beat Wooster
(26-21) in “OCC” action last Friday.
Coach Sean Seder says they found a way.
“That is one of the things that we kind of said to our kids.
Going into halftime I think we had the ball maybe 14 times or
something crazy. We kind of
referenced the week before against West Holmes when we had a record type
game offensively as far a stats, but we lost.
We told them I don’t care if it is 3-2, sometimes you have to win
ugly. I rather get a “W” in
the win-loss column than have a bunch of stats.
It wasn’t our most efficient or prettiest game from a stat
perspective, but we were able to get the ball in the end zone enough times
to get a win,” said Seder.
Ashland (5-4,3-3) host Lexington (3-6,3-3) on Friday night.
Big Lex beat Madison (28-10) last week.
This game the Minutemen must have to make the division III playoffs.
Seder says Lexington has shown flashes of being very good team this
year and they have to be ready to play.
“They won last week against Madison.
They had that big upset against Wooster.
I think they have the potential to be a really good team.
They remind me of us at times, sometimes they are hot, sometimes they
are cold. They have a great
playmaker in the wide receiver (Brayden) Fogle, who is also a great
basketball player. They are
pretty big up front. They can
run the ball well. They are an
aggressive defense that plays man coverage,” he told Swamkonsports.com on
Monday night, “For is it is going to boil down to what it always does for
us with the turnovers. I think
they will probably try and copy the recipe that Wooster and Mansfield had
and keep the ball on the ground and eat clock and kind of keep it tight game
and make us be really efficient with the ball.
So, I think they are a dangerous football team and they are playing
for a playoff spot. I know we
are going to get their best game.”
Ashland sits in 15th place in division II, region 6 and
Seder says they are treating this as a must win for them.
“That is one of the things that we told our kids, we are treating
this like a playoff week. Depending
on you listen to Drew Pasteur or Joe Eitel, they have us as either being a
lock or 99 percent or whatever it is. We
have to treat it like this is a must win for us.
We just go week to week and we have to bring the same intensity that
they are going to bring because this is a must win for them,” he said.
Published 10/18/22
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Win
Important for Ashland’s Playoff Position
Ashland visits Wooster for a game Friday night in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference.
The winner is in pretty good shape as far as reaching the playoffs,
the loser might be in danger.
Last week, Ashland was thumped (63-39) by “OCC” leader West
Holmes on Friday night.
Coach Sean Seder feels they learned some things form the loss.
“It was one of those weird things.
You lose 63-39, but there are a lot of positives, but we let them
score a lot of points too. Their
running back is the real deal and he had a heck of a game, over 300 yards or
something. So, he was a
force,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “What I was
really happy with is our kids competed for four quarters, offense and
defense. There are positives to
pick up from it. We are using
that as kind of our rallying cry going into this week.
We had a good week last week, we just have to clear up some things on
the run game and get ready for Wooster.”
Ashland (4-4,2-3) is at Wooster (4-4,3-3) on Friday night.
Wooster lost (31-11) to Mansfield Senior last week.
Seder feels like the Generals want to run the ball.
“I think they are really big up front.
They have a big “O-line” and “D-line”.
They are probably going to try and establish the run game, so we have
to come in and try and stop the run and play our best game defensively up
front. Offensively, we just need
to keep taking what the defense gives us.
Hopefully, we have kind of hit our stride here in the past couple of
weeks and we can keep putting points on the board,” he said.
The Arrows are 15th in division II, region 6, Wooster is
16th in region 7. The top 16 in
each region make the playoffs.
Seder realizes the importance of this game.
“It is kind of one of the things we looked at.
I think the “OCC” is already wrapped up and West Holmes is going
to take home the crown, so we have looked at what do we have to do to make
the postseason? It starts this
week, if we win this week, I think have us projected in the lower teens.
Our region is a fun one where you don’t want to be a low ranking
team because you will have Avon, Avon Lake, Toledo Central Catholic, some of
those fun teams to play. We
definitely need to make sure we take care of business and give ourselves the
best opportunity to have a successful postseason,” said Seder.
Published 10/13/22
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Ashland
Faces Unbeaten West Holmes
Ashland plays at Ohio Cardinal Conference leading West Holmes on
Friday night in a conference game.
The Arrows (4-3,2-2) now tail West Holmes by two games as the result
of a (27-20) loss to Mansfield Senior last week.
Ashland had the ball inside the five-yard line with under a minute to
play, but couldn’t get across the goal line.
Coach Sean Seder says it was a great game and they fell about a play
short. “We kind of joked
afterward, it was definitely a fun game for spectators, but as a coach you
want to pull your hair out sometimes. The
kids fought really hard. It was
a really good game. We kind of
told our kids at the end if we had scored a touchdown, we were going to go
for two because we were going for the win.
We just kind of ran out of time.
We just didn’t execute on some the big plays when we need to,” he
said.
West Holmes (7-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, smoked Lexington (48-14) last week.
The Knights have and 18 game regular season winning streak and
advanced to the state semifinal in division III last year.
They are in division IV this year,
Seder says they have outstanding players on both sides of the ball.
“They are just a really good team.
Offensively, I think they are averaging 48 or 49 and on defense they
are only giving up nine. They
are just a really well rounded team with a lot of really good players.
Teams have been able to move the ball on them just a little bit, but
haven’t been able to capitalize, they are really good in the red zone on
defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Then, of course,
on offense, they have really good playmakers.
The quarterback has been throwing really well.
Maltrich has been catching lots of touchdowns and they have Sam
Williams-Dixon out of the backfield. They
are really good on offense and really good on defense.
They are undefeated for a reason, so it’s going to be a tall task
on Friday.”
Williams-Dixon is a complete player and Seder says they must at least
control him to have a chance at the upset.
“We told our kids there are no if, ands, or buts about it, he is a
next level, pretty elite player, so he commands a lot of attention and you
have to find a way to slow him down. He
is good enough that even when you put one or two guys on him, he is still
going to get some. Try to limit
him and just try to make them earn it. They
have made a lot of really big plays this season.
Trying to make them earn it is going to be really big for our
defense,” said Seder.
Published 10/04/22
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Ashland
to Play a Very Good Mansfield Senior
Ashland plays Mansfield Senior in key game at Community Stadium in
Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night.
Both teams trail West Holmes by a game in the “OCC” standings and
a loss on Friday night pretty much puts them out of the race.
The Arrows (4-2,2-1) got a big win last week when they buried
Mansfield Madison (49-14) in a conference game.
Coach Sean Seder says things went well for them.
“On both sides of the ball we were pretty happy with our
performance. Going into it, we
thought there could be emotions and things like that.
The kids executed well. I
think in the first half we scored on five out of six possessions and all but
one possession the defense shut them out, so it was a good performance
overall,” said Seder.
Seder says hopefully they are hitting their stride after two straight
wins. “That is what we are
hoping. We have a really good
Mansfield Senior team this week. They
are probably as talented a team on paper as we have seen all year.
So, we need to make sure we are operating on all cylinders and we are
playing as clean of football as we can,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (4-2,2-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, laid waste to Lexington (41-0) on
Friday night.
Seder says this is a very good team that has a lot of weapons.
“I think right now they are maybe ranked eight in division III.
That’s just goes t show that their strength of schedule and their
team in general is really tough. Obviously,
Massillon is a big school that is really talented and West Holmes right now
is as good as anybody out there,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “They are one of those teams that has explosive plays.
They can score on any down on offense, defense or special teams.
We have to try and corral them in.”
The Tygers are a big play offense and Seder says you must force them
to earn those yards. “One that
comes to mind is them against New Phily.
It was a close game all of the way through the fourth quarter, kind
of make them earn it, and then all of the sudden they just throw a deep ball
for 94 yards. You just have to
make them earn it and keep them honest and not let them play backyard
football because they have the athletes than can go make plays for them,”
said Seder.
Published 9/28/22
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Ashland
Pass Defense to be Stretched
Ashland, a game back in the “OCC” race, plays at Madison against
the Rams in a conference game on Friday night.
Madison is coached, of course, by former Ashland coach Scott
Valentine.
The Arrows (3-2,1-1) beat Mt. Vernon (53-7) in “OCC” play last
Friday night.
Coach Sean Seder says they got things back on track.
“We kind of told the kids it was a big week for us.
We weren’t really happy with our performance versus New Phily and
felt we were doing well before that game.
So, we were able to get things back on track both offensively and
defensively,” he said.
Turnovers have been a key in every Ashland game so far and Seder says
last week they won that battle. “We
were able to protect the ball on offense for the most part with just one
interception and we have three interceptions on defense, two pick sixes and
another one back to the one. They
were big turnovers, kind of game changing momentum turnovers.
We were able to protect the ball a little more on offense,” said
Seder.
Madison (0-5,0-2) was pounded last week (56-0) by “OCC” co-leader
West Holmes.
Seder does not takeaway much form the game last week and feels the
Rams on an athletic squad. “I
think they are a good team. They
are athletic. I know their
record can be deceiving. They
have played everybody in the conference really tough for at least a half,
with the exception of West Holmes, but I think West Holmes is probably going
to do that to a lot of teams. So,
that is really not indictive of what you will see from Madison,” he told
Swankonsports.con on Monday afternoon, “Defensively, they are going to be
really sound. Offensively, they
are going to sling the ball and it should be a pretty good game.”
Against River Valley on week two, Madison threw more than 70 passes.
Playing solid pass defense is going to be critical for them,
according to Seder. “Our pass
defense is a strength of ours, but they are going to be tested this week
more than they have so far this season.
So, we are just going to have to come ready to go and make sure we
have everything planned out,” he said.
Published 9/20/22
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Ashland
Can’t Keep Hurting itself
Ashland plays at home against the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets on Friday
night in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
We will see what Arrow football team shows up.
Is it Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde because it has been both of them this
season through four games.
They shot themselves in the foot last week in turning it over three
times in a (15-7) loss to New Philadelphia in “OCC” action last Friday.
Coach Sean Seder says last week they were their own worst enemy, just
like week one against Norwayne. “Kind
of the big thing for us, our big takeaway, was on any given night we can
beat ourselves. It was one of
those cases where we felt with turnovers and miscues and what not.
We didn’t give ourselves the best chance to win.
Going forward we have to get rid of that style of football,” said
Seder.
There is talent on the Arrows roster, but Seder says they have to go
our there and prove that is the case. “That
was kind of our message to the kids because right now we are 2-2 and the two
games we won, we took care of the ball and put a lot of points on the board
and in the two that we lost, we had 10 combined turnovers.
This is a week where like alright twice we have shown we are a pretty
good team and twice shown we can struggle,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “Let’s see how we come out in our homecoming game and
turn things up.”
Mt. Vernon (1-3,0-1) was smoked last week by Lexington (30-7) in
“OCC” play. The Jackets have
lost their last three.
Seder knows they are going to put the ball in the hands of Jonny
Askew and they are going to have to know where he is at all times.
“I think we are going to see a lot of #44.
He is kind of Mr. Everything. He
is a really good football player. I
think the only thing he might come off the field on is maybe field goal.
We have to make sure we take care of him.
Then like I said we have to execute and not beat ourselves up,”
said Seder.
Published 9/15/22
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Ashland
With Some Momentum
Ashland hosts New Philadelphia in their opening game in the Ohio
Cardinal Conference on Friday night.
New Phily lost (21-0) to Wooster in their first ever game in the
“OCC” last week, putting just 137 total yards up against the Generals.
Meanwhile, Ashland (2-1) beat Buckeye Valley (34-16) in
non-conference play.
As has been the case with the Arrows, coach Sean Seder says turnovers
were a big part of the win. “That
was a pretty good win. The
defense really picked up the last two weeks.
We have had 10 or 11 turnovers in two weeks.
We experienced that on the other side week one.
Having a good week two and three and that department definitely helps
us. There is a lot to build on
going into conference play,” said Seder.
Seder says those turnovers are big momentum shifters.
“Anytime you can generate them and create it definitely is a pretty
good indicator of how you are doing as a team.
It has been a big focus for us and we have been able to improve, so
we are pretty happy about that,” he said.
New Philadelphia (1-2) has only scored once this season.
That was in a (7-2) win over CVCA on week one.
However, Seder says they not taking a win for granted.
“Kind of just doing a quick overview of them, I think they are a
really tuff team. I don’t
think their record is quite indicative of how good they are.
They have played some pretty tough opponents,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think they are going to come in
and it is going to be a pretty tough game.
That is one we are looking forward to and it should be a good one on
Friday.”
It is week one of the “OCC” schedule for Ashland and Seder
understands they want to get off on the right foot.
“It’s important to get off to a good start, especially with New
Philadelphia and the first time at our place.
Kicking the conference off, if we can get a win this Friday it takes
us into Mt. Vernon and then Madison then we kind of hit the heavy side of
the schedule. It is going to be
a big one for our confidence and momentum,” he said.
Published 9/05/22
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Ashland
Gets Buckeye Valley
In their first home game of the season, Ashland hosts Buckeye Valley
in a non-conference game at Community Stadium on Friday night.
After a trashing handed to them by Norwayne (61-28) on week one, the
Arrows (1-1) turned the tables last week and hammered Marion Harding (49-7)
to get even.
Coach Sean Seder says they didn’t give the ball away this time.
“It was kind of a night, day situation, which we obviously were
happy with. Week one was like
you were kind of in a bad dream and whatever could have gone wrong did.
Our big takeaway was turnovers because we had seven and we were able
to flip that and that didn’t happen this last week.
So, a good outcome for us,” he said.
Seder says last week they were able to play really well on both sides
of the ball against Marion Harding. “One
of the things I really kind hit home on was we have a pretty good defense.
Week one we didn’t show that. Week
two the defense didn’t give up any points.
We actually scored two safeties and on three interceptions.
The only points they scored were on a pick 6 on our offense.
So, they defense stepped up huge.
Outside of the one pick 6 the offense got the ball moving around and
dispersed to the right guys and put some points on the board,” said Seder.
Buckeye Valley (0-2) lost (21-7) to Jonathan Alder.
Seder describes the Barons are a team that just has not gotten many
breaks so far this season. “They
are a really deceptive team. Their
record isn’t one that reflects how good I think they are.
They lost week one to Delaware Hayes, a big “D-One” school 28-14
and it was a pretty good football game.
Last week, they should have beaten Jonathan Alder, who is a
powerhouse “D-Three” school. It
was one of those fluke things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
night, “They fumbled the ball on the 1 yard-line and Jonathan Alder runs
it back 99 yards for a touchdown. Some
crazy happenings there. They had
three opportunities to score and didn’t.
I think they are a really good football team and will test us on
Friday.”
Published 8/31/22
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Ashland
Must Clean it up
Ashland must be a much more disciplined football team as they travel
to Marion Harding for a non-conference football game on Friday night.
They had seven turnovers in (61-28) loss to Norwayne on week one.
Coach Sean Seder says they can not give the ball away like that this
week. “That is one of the
crazy things to look at. You
take away seven turnovers it is probably literally a different football
game. We feel like if we
eliminate turnovers and execute better we can play with most teams and that
is definitely the case this week,” he said.
The special teams were a nightmare last week and Seder says they have
been working in that area a lot this week in practice.
“We had four turnovers on special teams and it was our kickoff
return. Kickoff return is one
thing, even in scrimmages that aren’t usually live.
So, it was our first real live look at it.
That is something we spend a lot of time correcting, tweaking
different personnel and stuff like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “So, we should be a lot sharper on special teams
across the board because as we have always said it is a third of the game
and we spend a lot of time on it. Last
week, we weren’t where we needed to be, but hopefully we are this week.”
Marion Harding (0-1) lost (28-21) in overtime last week to Mt.
Vernon.
Seder says they are very athletic and can make big plays.
“One of the things is they are a very athletic football team.
When we are on defense, they have a quarterback that is very mobile
and can throw it really well. We
have to make sure we stay in coverage probably longer than we are used to.
If we do get into the backfield or get close to the quarterback, we
can make sure we can take good angles and break down because he is a pretty
shifty guy. Then we have to know
where the running back is at all times because they love to throw to him and
he is incredibly fast out of the backfield.
That is a big defensive kind of key for us,” said Seder.
Harding has some off the field chaos with their coaching staff.
The former head coach stepped down a week before the season started.
Seder says they aren’t concerned about that.
“I think they still have both of their coordinators, I think their
defensive coordinator stepped in to take over.
Like I said, they have really talented athletes.
I think one of the biggest things for us is that we can control us
because that is all you can really do is control yourself.
That is something we are not looking at.
The biggest thing for us is execution and turnovers.
If we take care of those things, we think we have a pretty decent
football team,” said Seder.
Published 8/25/22
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Ashland
Starts Season at Norwayne
Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, begins the season on Friday
night at Norwyne of the Wayne County Athletic League.
It is likely the first meeting ever between the two schools.
Arrows coach Sean Seder says they have ben consistently getting
better during the regular season against solid competition.
“I think we had a pretty good preseason against two pretty good
opponents North Canton Hoover and Dover.
We saw improvement from week to week and that is something we kind of
look for,” he told Swankonsports.com non Monday night, “One of big
questions going into the season was our line play with a lot of
inexperienced guys up there. So
far, they have been progressing. They
did well in both scrimmages. Going
into week one, we feel we are in a decent spot and try and keep getting
better every day.”
Being young up front, Seder says they have some skilled buys that can
make plays if given the time. “I
think we have some really good skilled players on defense and offense.
Just kind of team speed in general.
We have some quick shifty guys. The
key is going to be whether or not we have the time to get them the ball and
whether we can let them showcase on defense.
That is kind of our strength right now,” he said.
Norwayne has been one of the best small school football teams in the
area in recent years. The
Bobcats were (8-4) last year and runners-up in the “WCAL”.
Seder says they have a lot talent again this season.
“I think they are a really good team just in general.
They are very physical and tough.
They have some really good skilled players.
Their running back is really good, their quarterback is good,
actually they have two really good running backs.
They have an elite receiver that has got size at 6’5”, 215.
He can run. He is a low
11’s, 100 kid. So, they have
some really, really special players,” said Seder.
Ashland is division II and Norwayne is a small division V, but Seder
knows this is going to be a really good test.
“I know they are a smaller school, but I think they would fit in
well in our conference and do pretty well.
We see them as just a really solid football team across the board,”
he said.
Published 8/16/22
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Ashland
Working on All Things
Ashland is coming off an uncharacteristic season a year agon when
they won only three games and their goals are much higher this year.
Their first game comes up next Friday at Norwayne of the Wayne County
Athletic League. Week two they
are at Marion Harding and then home for Buckeye Valley.
Coach Sean Seder says right now things are headed in the right
direction. “So far, we are
pretty happy with where we are at. We
have had a good off season, good camp days, and a good scrimmage.
We went against a pretty good team in North Canton Hoover.
We feel like we got some good competition.
I feel like at this point we are getting better for the most part
every day, at least every week, so we are still working toward where we need
to go,” he said.
They host Dover in a scrimmage on Thursday night.
Seder says their overall execution most be improved.
“I think the biggest things we need to improve upon are probably
some our reads, assignments, execution, at this early stage.
One thing I was pleased with was our physicality just because North
Canton Hoover is physical team and they are pretty big up front,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “So, we knew we would be
physically tested. I thought for
the most part our kids held their own and were able to compete at that
level, so that was a big positive. The
biggest takeaways to work on are missed assignments and some of our
reads.”
This is the second year for a shorter camp due to the expansion of
the playoffs and Seder says you must be sure you are covering all of the
bases. “My biggest concern is
maybe week one and two is probably still some sloppy play because there is
not as much time to work with pads on and install and all of that stuff.
Special teams is a big concern because when you are condensed with
time you are trying to get all of your offense and defense in and sometimes
special teams will fall to the wayside.
So, really making sure we are buttoned up in all three phrases is
going to be big and just play as clean as possible week one,” said Seder.
Published 8/11/22
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Ashland
Has a Chance
They are going to need some help from West Holmes, but Ashland has a
chance to share the Ohio Cardinal Conference title after they beat Mt.
Vernon (3-1) in Ashland on Tuesday evening.
With their backs against a wall, the Arrows had to have a win and
coach Rich Gough says they came out and did the job.
“Our kids played outstanding baseball (Tuesday) night.
We played a clean game and Luke Bryant was absolutely outstanding on
the hill. I couldn’t ask for
much more,” he said.
Mt. Vernon coach Nate Hunt says Ashland was tremendous and they need
to be ready to play on Wednesday. “Ashland
did a great job (Tuesday) of battling all seven innings.
This time of year, is when you want to be working as one big unit and
Ashland did that. Hats off to
Luke for pitching a great game. We
have to come ready to go (Wednesday) like it’s a fresh start.
We need to treat every game like were 0-0 and so is the other
team,” said Hunt.
Bryant, a sophomore, is Ashland’s number one and Gough says he
turned in a clutch performance. “Yeah,
he is our ace. I mean he has
carried us into the sixth inning at least in every outing.
He would have finished the game, but his pitch count got a little
high, so we had to go to Alex Grissinger to finish the game.
Luke pitched an outstanding ballgame.
He battled all of the way through,” said Gough.
Gough says it was a well played game by both teams.
He says they made a couple of more plays.
“It was a battle. Mt.
Vernon is a good team and a well coached team.
I think each team had four hits.
They made a couple of mistakes at critical times and we were able to
push across three. I was a heck
of a battle,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I think a key
moment in the game was when out rightfielder Wyatt Mohrman threw out a
runner at the plate and made a heck of a play.
I think that turned the game around in our favor.
Ashland (10-6,9-2) will be at Mt. Vernon (13-5,9-2) on Wednesday for
the second game of the two game series.
Wooster now leads the “OCC” by a game over the Arrows and Jackets
after their (1-0) win over West Holmes on Tuesday.
They also play each other Wednesday at Wooster.
Gough says they just want a chance.
“To go into the last game of the “OCC” season and have a chance
to win a league title is about all you can ask for.
If we can get Mt. Vernon (Wednesday).
I know West Holmes and Wooster had a heck of a ballgame (Tuesday), I
think it was 1-0. If things fall
our way. We have a chance,
that’s all you can ask for,” he said.
Published 5/11/22
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Ashland
Still in Front
Ashland won its fifth Ohio Cardinal Conference game in as many tries
as they blanked Madison (5-0) on Wednesday evening at Ram Field.
They continue to lead Mt. Vernon and Wooster by a game in the
conference standings. The
Jackets beat West Holmes (2-0) and Wooster drilled Mansfield Senior (18-0)
in five innings on Wednesday.
Coach Rick Gough says they must continue to maintain their focus.
“The league is very competitive.
We haven’t seen Wooster, we haven’t seen Mt. Vernon and they keep
winning. We have to try and keep
pace. 5-0 is great, but we still
have seven league games to play. I
like where we are sitting right now,” he said.
Ashland (5-3,4-0) and Madison are supposed to play again Thursday,
weather permitting.
Gough says they got tremendous pitching on Wednesday and that was the
difference. “Luke Bryant did
an outstanding job going six innings. We
had it as a no hitter (Wednesday) night.
Madison gave a hit to one of their kids, one hit, no hit, if was
still an outstanding performance,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
night, “Then Alex Grissinger came in and sealed the deal.
I think it was huge that we were able to put up and four spot in the
top of the seventh to take some of the pressure off of our relief
pitcher.”
Madison coach Nick Melton says that seventh inning just killed them.
He says they are not doing to job consistently on defense and they
must score more runs. “Seth
Ohl threw another great game or us (Wednesday) night and absolutely gave a
chance to win. There continues
to be just one inning defensively where the train falls of track.
We need to do a better job providing run support for our pitchers and
just continuing to improve our plate approach and consistency,” said
Melton.
Gough says Madison (1-6,1-5) has been a hard luck loser this year and
they are not a bad team. “We
knew going in that Madison had lost a number of tough games, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3.
So, we knew it was going to be a battle.
Ohl pitched a good game, I just think he got a little tired in the
seventh inning. We found a way
to get it done,” he said.
Published 4/21/22
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Ashland
Hammers West Holmes
Ashland kept first place to itself Thursday as they beat up on West
Holmes (12-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game.
The Arrows scored eight runs in the second inning and coach Rick
Gough says they their offense was in high gear.
“Early in the year we had trouble hitting the ball, (Thursday)
night we had seven or eight hits and we moved it pretty good,” he said.
They finished the night with 11 hits. Jon
Metzger, Kamden Mowry, Parker Grissinger and Aidan Chandler all had two hits
for the Arrows. Chandler had a
double and three RBI.
Gough says this week they did a lot of good things with the bats.
“We had a two game series with West Holmes and we put 20 runs up on
the board and you have to be pleased with that.
Early in the year we struggled to score runs, so our offense is
rounding into form,” said Gough.
Logan Fulk walked five guys in four innings, but he only gave up four
hits and Gough says he battled. “Our
starter Logan Fulk didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled and kept us
in the game for four innings and got a good win.
West Holmes isn’t a bad club. I
think there were 6-2 coming into the series.
I am very happy with the way we pitched,” he said.
Ashland (4-3,4-0) leads Mt. Vernon and Wooster by a game in the
“OCC” standings.
They play Madison in their “OCC” series next week and Gough says
there is a long way to go. “I
told the kids (Thursday) night we are 4-0 in the league, which is a good
start, but don’t get too excited because I think it is going to take nine
of 10 wins to get a share of the league,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “So, we are getting close to getting halfway there.
There is a long way to go and some good teams to face.”
Published 4/15/22
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Ashland
Counting on Veterans
Ashland hopes to be near the top of the Ohio Cardinal Conference
standings this year as they will feature a lineup with more varsity
experience this spring.
They are slated to start the season with Tiffin Columbian on Saturday
in non-league action. They open
the Ohio Cardinal Conference schedule April 5 and 6 against Lexington.
Coach Rick Gough says they have a lot of kids with time on the
varsity diamond at their disposal. “We
have got a lot of work in. We
have managed to get two scrimmages in. This
year’s team is a little different. Last
year’s team was young and unproven. This
year we have got 10 returning lettermen that are going to see some
significant action and I hope they able to take the next step,” he said.
Gough believes this is an Arrow team that will get more hits.
“Being away from varsity baseball for a year they do forget a
little bit. We have had a good
spring so far. We are just
working on some of the things we need to improve from last year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think if we hit the ball for
a little better average and be a little more aggressive at the plate that is
one of our goals. I think this
year too with the returning kids we are going to be better defensively than
we were last year.”
Defense is a key for high school baseball teams and Gough wants to
see improvement there. “Our
goal every year is to average two errors or less per game.
I think if we do that it gives us a good chance to win.
You want to limit the freebees that you give to the other team.
That is one of our priorities to improve defensively,” he said.
Published 3/24/22
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Ashland
Takes on Red Hot Bowling Green
Ashland faces Bowling Green in a sectional final game in division I
on Friday night at Rossford High School.
The Arrows (13-8) secured the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with a
(79-74) overtime win over Mansfield Senior last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says that was a great accomplishment for the Arrows.
“It does give you a little confidence and it definitely was an
exciting moment and accomplishment for this group of guys that we have got.
I am just so proud of the effort they have put out all year and the
way they have weathered the adversity we have gone through.
Standing a top the “OCC” is huge accomplishment for this group of
guys. It does give us a little
momentum. Anytime you win your
last game it gives you a little momentum going into the next game.
That is no different here heading into the postseason,” he said.
Bowling Green (13-10) eliminated Madison (55-45) on Wednesday night
at Rossford.
Hess says the Bobcats are rolling.
“I mentioned momentum going forward Bowling Green has won five
games in a row. They are playing
very good basketball. As a team
that has not had a lot of success in the last three to five years, so it is
a team that is definitely gaining confidence as they have played throughout
the year. They have gotten
better under a new coach this year and have been really competitive in a
very tough league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon,
“So, they have a lot of things going well for them right now.
Defensively, they play hard. They
have a 6’7”, 6’8” kid in the middle of the paint that definitely can
change and alter some shots as well as rebound the basketball and they have
some guards that can score.”
Madison coach Chris Armstrong and Hess agree that Bowling Green is a
lot like Mt. Vernon, except for the big guy.
“I think they are similar other than you throw the 6’7”,
6’8” post player into the middle of it.
He will step out and shoot it a little bit.
Especially for a team that we are right now without a true post
player, post presence, where we are extremely small in stature, 6’7”,
6’8” is very worrisome,” he said.
Hess says they are going to have to work hard to keep the ball out of
the post and force the Bobcats to guard them on the perimeter.
“We are going to have to do a lot of work early.
We call it early work in the post to prevent the ball even going into
the post. The other thing that
can help combat that size is is we can shoot the ball well from the
perimeter because they have to be able to match up and guard us as well.
I think with the guards that we can put out there hopefully we can
space the floor and knock down some shots early that can really change the
dynamic of the game,” said Hess.
Published 2/25/22
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Ashland
Plays for “OCC” Title
Ashland plays at home against Mansfield Senior Friday night and a win
gives the Arrows and outright Ohio Cardinal Conference title.
If they lose the conference could end in a four way tie.
Right now, Ashland has four losses and Lexington, West Holmes and
Wooster all have five.
Coach Jason Hess says they want that outright title.
“A conference title means a lot to any basketball program and
especially at Ashland as competitive as our league has been this year there
is definitely a lot of prestige in winning this championship in my opinion.
Even though it is not a landslide victory like we have had in some
past years where a team has just run the table.
I think it makes it even sweeter when you have such a competitive
league to say we were the best team in the league that year,” said Hoover.
Ashland (12-8,7-4) lost to West Holmes (76-62) on Tuesday night in
their last conference game.
They play host to Mansfield Senior (4-14,2-8) on Friday night.
Tygers have not won since they beat Ashland at Pete Henry (78-51) on
January 4. They have lost nine
in a row.
Hess says they sort of owe the Tygers one.
“We have a lot of respect for Mansfield Senior when you look what
they did to us the first time around the first week of January.
They really took it to us at their place.
So, not only are their conference title implications on the line to
bring a lot of motivation to this game, but when you lose by 27 points that
should give you a little extra motivation as well,” he said.
Hess says this time against Mansfield Senior they have to show a
little more patience than they did last time.
“We have to be a lot better with our offensive execution.
We got a little rattled and we did not execute really well and really
played into Mansfield’s hands. We
have a team that is built around our guards and we like to play up tempo and
like to play fast, but we have to be a little smarter,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “At times we got in a hurry and took some
quick shots and some ill advised shots that allowed Mansfield to get out and
run and use their athletic ability to play out in space, which they were
really good at that night. They
are a team that hasn’t had a lot of success as far as wins and losses, but
they are very talented and very capable and when those guys start seeing the
ball go through basket and they start feeling good about themselves and are
able to be relaxed they are a very, very dangerous team.”
Hess they want to play at a quick tempo, but they have to understand
what a good shot is in their offense. “It’s
easier said than done. The kids
are hearing push it, push it and they think we have to shoot quick because
we want to play fast. That is
where we are trying to get the understanding across to our team that pushing
it and playing fast doesn’t mean we have to shoot quick.
There is still no shot clock in high school basketball in Ohio, so we
can push it and we have a great look, we will take it.
We can score in five, eight seconds if possible, but if that is not
the look we want on that possession, pull it out and run some offense ad be
a little more patient,” said Hess.
Published 2/18/22
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Ashland
Has to Play Great Defense
Ashland is all alone in first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference
as they prepare to head for Mt. Vernon for an “OCC” game against the
Jackets on Friday night.
But, they have been there before and it can be a fleeting thing this
year in the “OCC.” They lead
Lexington, who lost Tuesday night (57-45) to Wooster and West Holmes, who
beat Madison (65-55) on Tuesday, by a game.
Coach Jason Hess says these are games you look forward to playing in
if you are a competitor. “This
is one of the things as far as a team goal for the season that we set in
place back in November when we first started practicing that we wanted to
win an Ohio Cardinal Conference championship.
We have got ourselves in position now with three conference games
left we kind of control our own fate here.
If we can take care of business, it is easier said than done going to
Mt. Vernon and West Holmes and playing a Mansfield Senior team at home.
We do have a lot of exciting basketball, a lot of meaningful
basketball that we get an opportunity to play here the next two weeks
heading into the tournament,” he said.
Ashland (11-6,6-3) is at Mt. Vernon (9-10,5-5) on Friday night.
The Jackets didn’t play last week due to the weather.
In their last game, January 28, they lost (57-55) to Madison in an
“OCC” game.
The Arrows won the first meeting of the year (67-65) on January 7.
Hess says the Jackets are a team built on perimeter shooting.
“We snuck one out the first time beating them by two with a couple
of free throws at the buzzer. So,
they are a team we matchup with very well.
It’s a very even game as far as their strength is their guard play
and their perimeter shooting. They
like to space the floor and really spread you out and take advantage of
their shooting ability and play off their shot where they can get some
driving lanes because you have to close out on their shooters,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “So, it is similar to us with the
open offense. There is not going
to be a lot of post play. It is
going to be more guard oriented, perimeter oriented.
We are going to have to do a good job with our close outs and just
being able to contest those perimeter shots and make them as difficult as
possible.”
Hess says they have to be fundamental on defense or Mt. Vernon will
burn them. “The close out is
one of the most difficult things to do on the defensive end of the floor
because when you are going out on somebody that is a very capable shooter
you have to be able to get their quickly.
Yet, at the same time if they put the ball on the floor and try and
drive it you have to be able to move your feet and keep them out of the
paint and not give up a layup. So,
it is a lot easier said than done. It
is one those things were every close out is going to matter as you look at a
lot of these conference games. They
are boiling down to one or two possessions, so you can’t afford a lapse in
the first quarter or the fourth quarter.
They really add up to see you is going to win or lose the
ballgame,” said Hess.
Published 2/09/22
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Ashland
Has to Score Inside Too
Ashland, the co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at West
Holmes on Friday night in big game in the conference.
West Holmes trails Ashland and Lexington by a game.
If the game can’t be played Friday night due to the weather, it
likely will be moved to Monday.
Ashland fell into a tie with Lex after an (81-72) loss to Wooster
last Friday.
With an injury to really their only big guy in Luke Jurjevic, coach
Jason Hess says they are trying to in a sense remake themselves.
“Our kids have been battling and competing even though with our
personnel that we have now, we are a little undersized and that kind of puts
our backs against the wall against some bigger teams like Wooster, but I
give our kids a lot of credit they have hung in there and competed.
Unfortunately, last Friday we came up a little short on the
scoreboard, but we are doing some good things and we are learning some
things about our basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “It is one of those situations I told our guys this week in
practice that typically at this point in the year you are pretty established
with what you have got as a basketball team, but unfortunately with the
injury to Luke Jurjevic we have to try and figure things out three quarters
of the way through the season. We
are still trying to learn and make some adjustments now with our new group
of personnel to put ourselves in position here to have a chance to get an
Ohio Cardinal Conference championship.”
Ashland (11-6,6-3) plays at West Holmes (8-8,5-4) on Friday night.
The Knights beat Mansfield Senior (58-50) in an “OCC” game on
Tuesday night.
Hess says the Knights have excellent guard play. “The
strength of their team is definitely their guards.
We were fortunate the first time around that they were still in a
little bit of a football mode as far as some of their legs and conditioning
and we were fortunate to get a victory at home.
Going to West Holmes is always a tough place to play.
They have beaten several good teams down there in our league.
They are right there behind us as far as league standings go as is
the rest of the league as it seems like it is all bunched up here.
Anything can happen these last couple of weeks,” said Hess.
The Arrows won the first meeting of the season (76-66) on December
28.
Ashland has great guard play too in Luke Denbow (28.6 ppg) and
Grayson Steury (18.4 ppg), but Hess says they have to get to ball in the
paint and not totally rely on their perimeter shooting.
“Our point of emphasis this last week and half or two weeks and an
area that we are really concerned about and trying to get better is points
in the paint, both offensively and defensively.
Wooster definitely outscored us in the paint last week and used their
size to an advantage. At times
our guards get a little three point happy.
We still have to figure out a way to score inside.
I know everybody likes the three point shot, the perimeter shots,
it’s a guard game, but I still feel like the game is won and lost in the
paint,” he said.
Published 2/04/22
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First
Place Ashland Hosts Wooster
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, plays at home against
Wooster, the defending champs, in an “OCC” game of Friday night at Arrow
Arena.
Last week, they outlasted Madison (77-70) in overtime to grab sole
possession of the conference lead. They
did that with Luke Jurjevic, their only big guy, going down with an injury
in the third quarter.
Coach Jason Hess says they had to dig deep.
“Our kids showed a lot of guts and just fortitude to be able to
withstand Madison’s run there in the third quarter and also rally around
the loss of Luke Jurjevic for the remainder of that game and we were able to
pull out that win at home. I
give our kids a lot of credit for just the way they rallied and were able to
pull that one out,” he said,
Luke Denbow totaled 32 points in that win.
He also had a big night when they beat Wooster (93-94) in double
overtime at Wooster back on December 17.
Hess says he was outstanding and over the last three weeks he has
become ever better. “Luke has
been a special talent, a special player for quite some time.
Sometimes he gets overlooked because we see it on a daily basis as
far as the coaching staff here at Ashland.
We have had many fans make comments about, wow, I can’t believe
what Luke did over the weekend and do us it was just another day at the
office for Luke because we see it on such a regular basis,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Lately he has really improved his
efficiency offensively, which is a little bit scary because someone that was
averaging 27, 28 points a game has gotten a lot more efficient in the last
three weeks and I think he has scored over 30 for six games in a row now.”
Ashland (11-5,6-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for Wooster (6-8,4-5)
on Friday night. The Generals
beat Mt. Vernon (66-62) in a league game last Friday.
Point guard Drew Dossi had 19.
Hess is concerned trying to guard Wooster’s big guys.
“They are a team that has played really well lately.
They are a team that has gotten better as the year has gone on.
They have had some big conference wins and wins on the road.
So, it is a team that is very capable.
They have good size and athleticism that is really a matchup
nightmare for us with our lack of size and they shoot it pretty decent from
the perimeter. It’s a team
that plays hard and is really scrapy and can really give teams a lot of
trouble,” said Hess.
Published 1/26/22
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Ashland
Will Run With Madison
Ashland, one of two teams tied for first place in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference, plays at home against the Madison Rams in an “OCC” game on
Friday night at Arrow Arena.
The Arrows (10-4,5-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, moved into a share of first with
Mt. Vernon with a convincing (66-48) win at then first place Lexington last
Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says it was their best defensive effort of the
season that brought them the win. “I
thought we did an excellent job of just executing a game plan that we put in
place and the kids and the kids competed on defense for an entire game, four
quarters. It was the best
defensive effort we have put out all year long by far.
I thought that was really the difference in the game,” said Hess.
Madison (9-6,3-5) has played better this year than in any year since
the days of Tyrell Asian. They
have won seven of their last eight, including a (43-42) win over Lexington
on Tuesday night.
Hess predicts Friday night will be challenging for the Arrows.
“There are definitely no easy ones in the league this year,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Madison is playing really
good basketball right now and they are a senior laden and typically
at this time of year is when your seniors start to step up and rise up to
the challenges because they realize their high school basketball career is
coming to an end. So, thy are
playing the best basketball and have a little extra focus.”
Madison’s goal this year has been to push the tempo of the game.
Hess says that has given them some success.
“They have kind adopted a new style that coach (Chris) Armstrong
has brought in here as far as pressing and they have stuck to it all year
and have had some success with it. They
are a team that likes to play up tempo, which I think fits our style of play
very well,” said Hess.
Ashland is one of the other schools in the “OCC” that like things
to be like a track meet. Hess
feels that fits their personnel. “We
are more than happy to get the ball out and go and get an up tempo game and
play out in space,” he said.
Published 1/19/22
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Ashland
has Second Chance With Lexington
Ashland, a game
behind Lexington in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race, can move into a share
of their can beat the Minutemen at Lexington on Friday night.
They share
second with Mt. Vernon.
In a seesaw
game on Friday night, Ashland downed the Yellow Jackets (67-65) at Arrow
Arena. Luke Denbow had 37 for
the Arrows.
Coach Jason Hess says it came down to a play at the end.
“Mt. Vernon was able to tie it back up.
We had the ball last fortunately.
We got fouled there at the end and Kesler Bates did a tremendous job
stepping up with .4 seconds left in a tie basketball game and making a
one-and-one to send us over the top,” he said.
Speaking of free throws, Grayson Stuery established a new Ashland
record when he made his 37th straight free throw on Friday night.
On Saturday, Ashland made a furious comeback, but fell just short in
losing (70-67) to Shelby in a non-conference game.
Hess says they got too far behind.
“I thought we fought and played our best fourth quarter of the year
on Saturday against Shelby. Unfortunately,
we had dug ourselves in a 15 point hole before that to start the fourth
quarter. It was uncharted
territory for our team to be in a hole, a deficit like that.
There has been only one other fourth quarter this year when we
started behind. I thought our
kids did a great job of fighting and competing and not giving up and we made
a really close game out of it, but ran out of time.
We did get the conference win on Friday in a nail bitter with Mt.
Vernon. So, I told the kids
after the game that as much as the Shelby loss hurt get ready to beat
Lexington this week and we will forget about it pretty quickly,” said
Hess.
Mansfield Senior, who beat Ashland (78-51) last Tuesday along with
West Holmes is two games back in the “OCC.”
Hess predicts this is going to a battle to win the league title.
“It is not a big surprise when you look at the kids that are
returning off of last year’s teams and with coaches we have got in this
league and how the teams were built going into the season you could see this
was going to be one of those years where nobody was going to run away with
it and the winner of the league could have one or two losses even.
It has a lot to do with matchups and who plays well on any given
night. That is kind the way it
has turned out to be. As we have
seen from the games this year anybody is beating anybody.
Throw the league records out the window when you get together,”
said Hess.
Ashland (8-4,4-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Lexington (10-2,5-1), #1
in our poll, on Friday night. The
Minutemen lost to Wooster (49-33) in an “OCC” game on Tuesday, but beat
West Holmes (57-51) on Friday.
Hess says they are big in the post with Baden Forup and Hudson Moore.
He says they are going to try and get the ball inside to them.
“It is kind of opposite of us.
They are definitely built around their inside scoring and their size.
They are fortunate to have several 6’7” kids and post players and
they can pound the ball in the paint where we are relying more on perimeter
play and shooting the ball from distance,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Sunday afternoon, “It is going to be one of those things that we have to
try and play our style of play and they will play theirs.
Hopefully, we can defend theirs.
We know what’s coming from them and I’m sure they know what’s
coming from us. So, there
aren’t going to be any real surprises.
It’s going to be who can execute on game night.”
Lexington rallied form 14 down in the third quarter to beat Ashland
(73-71) at Arrow Arena on December 3. Forop
had 20 points.
Hess says they need to work extra hard to keep the ball out of the
post. “We have used to the
phrase early work in the post. The
best way to counter a post player is to not let them get the touches.
So, if we can do our job early in the post and get ball pressure on
the guards hopefully we can disrupt them enough that we can neutralize some
of that size advantage,” he said.
Published 1/10/22
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Ashland
faces Two Tough “OCC” Games
Ashland plays two crucial games in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this
week as they face a trip to Mansfield Senior on Tuesday and a home date with
Mt. Vernon on Friday.
Oh yeah, they host “MOAC” co-leader Shelby on Saturday night.
They downed West Holmes (76-66) in an “OCC” game last Tuesday.
It was a very good stated that catapulted them to the win, according
to coach Jason Hess. “We were
really happy with how we started that game.
It was just one of those games on a Tuesday night over Christmas
break with the kids out of their normal routine and you never know what you
are going to get. Fortunately,
we got off to a really good start in that game and were up 20-5 after the
first quarter and were able to hang on for the win.
West Holmes is a team I expected to be competing for a league
championship at the beginning of the season.
They got a little bit of a slow start due to their football playoff
run. They were a little behind
the eight ball as far as getting guys in basketball shape and the feel of
the game and the flow. They have
some view good pieces and they are going to be competing at the end of the
year for sure,” said Hess.
Ashland (7-2,3-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Pete Henry against
Mansfield Senior (3-5,1-3) on Tuesday. The
Tygers lost to arch rival Madison (65-56) last Tuesday and have lost five of
their last six.
Hess says they are still a very talented team.
“The one thing with Mansfield is it depends on if they are all
healthy or not. Early on when
they were healthy they played really good basketball they lost some close
ones, but they won some close ones and beat a very good team in Lima.
So, they are very capable basketball team.
They have had some injuries here the last couple of weeks that have
really set them back. They have
a younger group of kids that are full of potential,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Athletically they have good size
and they have a lot of pieces there. These
guys are going to slowly figure it out.
The coaching staff does a great job with these guys and they are
going to get better and better. So,
hopefully we have a chance to play them before they get it all figured
out.”
Mt. Vernon (5-5,3-1) fell out of a share of the “OCC” lead when
they lost (63-55) to Lexington last week.
Hess says they can put a lot of shooters on the floor.
“It will be a very interesting matchup for us because we are a team
that is built around the perimeter as well and shoots a lot of perimeter
shots, but we don’t put five guys out there that shoot it quite the way
they do. I do think they are
very capable shooters that when they get going, they put up points in a
hurry and can be very effective offensively, which is a big challenge for
us. We’re going to have to
really work and get out there and contest those shots.
We can’t afford to over crowd their shooters and get beat off the
dribble. It is a really tricky
matchup with the way they are spreading the floor and spacing right now,”
he said.
Published 1/04/22
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Ashland
Has Good Matchup With West Holmes
Ashland, a game back in the standings in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference, will host West Holmes in an “OCC” game on Tuesday night.
It will be the Knights first conference game of the year.
The Arrows lost a game to Buckeye Valley (63-61) that was played last
Wednesday as part of the Mt. Vernon Nazarene tournament.
Coach Jason Hess says they need to better understand how to close out
games. “It was kind of a wide
ride to get ready to play the game. I
thought our kids did a nice job of getting ready to play even though they
didn’t know who the opponent was until just a short time before.
We started off well, but unfortunately some of the issues we have
been struggling with and trying to correct here through the first third of
the season kind of came back an bit us there in the fourth quarter against
Buckeye Valley and they were able to come away with a win.
We just didn’t do a very good job of finishing the game out,”
said Hess.
Ashland (6-2,2-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against West Holmes
(1-2,0-0) on Tuesday. The
Knights, who didn’t start their season until 10 days ago, lost (59-55) to
Sugarcreek Garaway last Thursday.
Hess says these are similar teams.
“I think they are a team that really matches up well with us as far
as being a guard dominated team. They
don’t have a lot of size, which really fits in to how we want to play and
with what our personnel is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “So, I think it is going to be a good high school basketball
game with their guards versus our guards.
It is going to be who is ready to play on a Tuesday night over
Christmas break and who is going to put out the best effort.”
Hess says they need to be ready to play.
“Especially in our league this year it is just so competitive.
There aren’t any givemes and no leeway, so there is not a game
where you can show up and say we will turn it on in the second half.
So, it is definitely going to be a four quarter game and it is going
to be a very competitive game and a close game.
It is just going to be a matter of which team is able to play and
compete for 32 minutes,” he said.
Published 12/28/21
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Streaking
Ashland Finds Somebody to Play
Ashland had to make some quick arrangements on Tuesday and now will
play Buckeye Valley as part of the Mt. Vernon Nazarene tournament.
They were going to host Holy Name, but that game had to be cancelled
due to health concerns.
Ashland won three games last week, two over Ohio Cardinal Conference
foes in Madison (61-42) and Wooster (93-84) in double overtime and then
Toledo Start (72-58) Saturday at a holiday classic in Lima.
Coach Jason Hess says they played well, but they can still be better.
“Last week was definitely an exciting week with some very good
basketball at times and some things we still need to work on.
It is still December and we haven’t peaked yet and hopefully we are
continuing to get better. Anytime
you can get three wins, especially two conference wins, and the third one
has a lot of district implications when tournament times comes around.
So, those were three great wins for the Arrows last week,” he said.
Hess says the Wooster game in particular was a tremendous performance
by the Arrows (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division. “Give
our kids a lot of credit. It was
one of those games where we played very well in stretches early and had a
lead in the fourth quarter and unfortunately we missed a couple of free
throws and Wooster made some big plays down the stretch and was able to send
it into overtime and had all of that momentum going into overtime.
They flipped the script on us where they were up a couple of points
with less than 20 seconds left and our guys had to do a great job of
executing against some pressure defense and a good trap.
They were trying to get the ball out of Luke Denbow’s hands and we
were able to find Jukovich under the basket for a layup that pushed it into
a second overtime,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Then
you start worrying about fatigue and foul trouble and being on the road and
everything. Our guys were able
to come out that second overtime and were able to jump out to a multiple
possession lead, I think we got up by eight, and made some good plays on
defense and hit some shots and were able to hang on from there.”
Buckeye Valley is (6-1) on the season, but Hess that is really about
all they know about the opponent. “This
is one of those games that we experienced once or twice last year where we
had 24 hours or less notice of who we were going to play because of COVID
implications and quarantines and this is a similar situation again this
year. Unfortunately, the team we
were scheduled to play on Wednesday, Holy Name, had to cancel the game due
to a quarantine issue and someone dropped out of the Mt. Vernon Nazarene
tournament and they heard we were looking for a game.
We got a phone call on Tuesday afternoon and we are headed to Mt.
Vernon to play a game,” said Hess.
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Ashland
Must be Physical
Ashland plays on the road at Wooster in a game in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference on Friday night.
It’s big for both schools with Ashland having a league loss already
and Wooster having two.
The Arrows beat Mansfield Madison (61-42) in an “OCC” game on
Tuesday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they continue to improve on the defensive end
of the court. “We are
definitely getting better on the defensive side, which was our big
Achilles’ Heel early. We are
not exactly where we want to yet, but we are improving.
It is nice to see from a coaching standpoint that the kids are
picking up what we are teaching them in practice and are starting to put it
into play in games,” he said.
Ashland (4-1,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, visits Wooster (0-3,0-2) on
Friday night. The Generals are
the defending “OCC” champs, but they have lost two tough conference
games, including (63-61) to Mt. Vernon on Tuesday night.
Hess says early in the season, Wooster is trying to find what it is
good at on both ends. “Well, I
think they are trying to find themselves a little bit.
They lost a little more from graduation and kids leaving, a little
more like we did, I think Wooster and ourselves lost a little more from last
year than anyone else in our league. They
are searching and trying to get things figured out much like we were early,
especially on the defensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “We were trying to get things figured out and guys
understanding their roles and everybody buying in.
They are still a very athletic team, a well coached team, and they
are going to play hard. Anytime
you are playing a league game on the road it is going to be a challenge.”
Hess says Wooster is still going to come at you with pressure in the
full and halfcourt and he adds they going to play physical.
“They are going to pressure. I
don’t know if they are going to pressure quite as much as they did a year
ago. They are going to bring
some pressure, they are going to be physical.
The two areas that you have to be ready for are pressure and also
just the physicalness and aggressiveness style that they play,” he said.
Published 12/17/21
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Ashland
has to Finish
Ashland let a double digit lead slip away last week and they are
working on having better focus as they prepare for a non-conference game at
Clyde on Saturday night.
Lexington rallied to beat the Arrows (73-71) in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they lost focus, especially on defense.
“Our third quarter was okay, it wasn’t great.
We were up six at halftime and up seven after three.
In the fourth quarter, we just really went away from what Ashland
basketball has been about for some reason.
That is one of the things we have been grinding on all weekend and
will be working on this week in practice trying to figure out what need to
be able to do maintain that focus and intensity on the defensive end of the
floor for four quarters,” he said.
Hess says they have to learn from the loss and get better.
“It is still early in the year and as much as the loss hurts and
especially the way we lost it and it being a conference game there are
several factors pile on to that one and make you lose sleep over it, but
there is a lot of basketball left to play and a lot of conference games left
to play. I do think we have a
relatively inexperienced group overall other than a couple of our players
that have seen a lot of varsity action and we have to learn from this and
grow up pretty fast and hopefully prevent this from happening again, so we
don’t have to feel this pain anytime soon,” said Hess.
Ashland (2-1) is at Clyde (0-1) on Saturday night.
Clyde opened their season last Saturday and loss to Lexington (57-43)
in non-conference play.
Hess believes these two teams are similar in that they rely on their
guard play. “They had a long
football run and they traditionally have had a strong football program, so
it is nothing new for them. They
opened last Saturday night with Lexington, so Lexington went from playing us
on Friday up to Clyde on Saturday. I
think when I look at Clyde and the little bit of film I have seen on them so
far, they are a team that mirrors us,” he told Swankosports.com on Monday
afternoon, “They are built around their guards and motion offense.
They have one big that hangs around the paint area and will clean up
and finish stuff, but the strength of their team is their guard play.
They try to pressure on defense and speed teams up.
So, I think it is a matchup for us that it is really going to be our
strength against their strength going head to head against each other.”
Published 12/07/21
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Ashland
Needs to Find Ways to Score
Ashland hosts Lexington in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday
night as the “OCC” tips off league play.
It was a very good opening weekend for the Arrows as they beat
Norwalk (75-57) on Friday and Sandusky (62-57) on Saturday in non-conference
games.
Coach Jason Hess says they played hard and battled some adversity.
“I am extremely pleased with the effort our kids put out.
We have been talking the last couple of weeks about putting out a
more consistent effort and playing a little harder because this is varsity
now instead of JV with the guys that we have coming off the JV team a year
ago. I thought our guys got a
great taste of varsity action over the weekend,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“We saw two different teams and two different basketball teams that play
two different styles. Our kids
were in tough situations where they were trailing at halftime and we had to
have a lead late and hold it and I think it was really a great experience
for us in the fact that we were able to come away with two wins and learn a
lot through the weekend and propel us into this “OCC” season that we
start Friday night.”
Lexington (1-0) also started the season well by crushing Clear Fork
(51-25) in their opener last Friday.
Hess says they have size and play great halfcourt defense.
“Lex is a team that struggled a little bit last year compared to
what has traditionally been Lexington basketball, but they return all of
their players. A good core group
of guys back that have a lot of experience from a year ago.
They have great size and they play tremendous halfcourt defense and
they do a lot of things well. It
is definitely going to be a big challenge and it should be a good game,”
he said.
To score on Lexington, Hess they have to execute and not lose their
patience, which can be easy to do against Lexington.
“They really make you work to get any points on that end, so it is
one of those games. You don’t
want it to be in the 40’s and 50’s.
From our end we are trying to get it up in the 70’s, but with their
defense they don’t give up 70 very often.
So, we are going to have to do a good job executing and not wasting
possessions with some mental mistakes and quick shots because I know our
guys can get frustrated at times. We
don’t like to play offense for long spurts,” said Hess.
Published 12/02/21
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Ashland
Wants to Push Pace
Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, opens the season this
weekend with a pair of games against teams from the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference in Norwalk at home on Friday and at Sandusky on
Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says this week he has seen the potential that this
team has this year. “It is one
of those things as coaches that we talk about keep getting better and
don’t worry about results, we want you to get better.
I thought this week we finally made some strides.
It was kind of a slow preseason for us.
Coming out of football we had some guys that were a little bit banged
up. It wasn’t too bad, but it
just took some time because we had some more guys involved in fall sports
this year than we have had in the past, so for them to get locked in
basketball mode,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It is game
week now finally, so hopefully they finally got locked in.
I haven’t been overly happy with our scrimmages, but I do think
this week in practice we have maybe turned the corner and hopefully we are
headed in the right direction.”
Plus, Friday night is different than the preseason and Hess says they
are going to find out who can play when it really matters.
“We have four returners that we have a pretty good idea what we are
going to get out of those guys because they have played in tough games and
very competitive games against high level competition last year.
The other guys that are new that are coming up through JV and we have
summer basketball and we have scrimmages during the preseason and we do
practices and we try to make them like games nothing is the same as that
Friday night when the lights come on and the stripes are there and the fouls
count for real and everything is kind of hyped up a little bit more.
You find up who is going to step up and who is going to produce for
you on Friday nights,” said Hess.
Norwalk is the defending co-champion of the Lake Division, but they
have gone through some personnel changes due to graduation.
Hess says the Arrows want to force the tempo.
“Coach (Steve) Gray has been there for a long time and he has won a
lot of basketball games. They
are going to do what Norwalk does, which is usually a little bit different
than what Ashland does as far as the style of play.
They are going to play to their strengths, which is executing their
sets and their offensive looks and try to get the guys they want to get
shots. Hopefully, we are able to
disrupt them a little bit with our defensive pressure and kind of make the
game open and get out in space like we were able to do last year.
I think that favors us if it is an up tempo game, but that is easier
said than done,” he said.
Published 11/25/21
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Ashland
With Shooters
Again this season, Ashland is going to be a team that is going to be
able to shoot the basketball and they are working on other aspects of their
game.
Coach Jason Hess says they will have solid guard play.
“We have just been practicing 10 days, two weeks, we have two weeks
before the start of the season. We
are still trying to figure ourselves out.
We have our first scrimmage scheduled for this Friday, so we are
excited to get to play some outside competition as opposed to playing
against ourselves and beating up JV kids.
I think we have a lot of new faces.
We do return four guys that retuned significant time from last
year’s team, but we also have four new faces that were off the JV team or
injured last year. So, a lot of
question marks, but we do have some good pieces to build around with our
returners. We are fortunate to
have really good guard play with Luke Denbow and Grayson Steury.
It is always a good thing to have when you have guard play,” he
said.
Ashland will scrimmage Sylvania Northview on Friday and Johnstown
Monroe on Saturday. They open
the season at home November 26 with Norwalk in non-conference play.
Hess says they are going to have to work hard at rebounding the
basketball this season. “We
are really fortunate to have the quality guards that we have.
I think one of our big question marks is our ability to rebound the
basketball. I think we have been
working on that and making that a point of emphasis in practices.
When we get into scrimmages here, we will see how ready we are to
rebound, especially in a tough “OCC” this year where we are going to be
one of the smaller teams physically and probably one of the most undersized
teams every night we play. That
is just one of the things where we are just going to have to make
adjustments fight, claw and scratch to come up with some rebounds,” he
said.
Shooting aside, Hess says they are going to have to be able to take
the ball to the basket too and have a presence in the post if they are going
to be a good team. “We are
definitely going to be built around our perimeter shooting again with our
guards. We lost a very, very
good guard to graduation in Eli White, who went on to play basketball at
Spring Harbor this season. He is
going to be tough to replace with all that he did not only shooting on the
perimeter with a high efficiency rate, but also the rebounding and defense
he gave us because her had the ability to guard multiple positions, so we
are going to miss that. I do
think we will be able to shoot the ball well from the perimeter,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “The big key for us is being
able to get good looks at the rim because we don’t necessarily have a back
to the basket inside presence that we can just throw it into, so we are
going to have to play a lot off the bounce.
We do have a solid post player in Luck Jurjevic that we are trying to
improve and get him more involved in the offense than he was a year ago.
Hopefully, he will be able to give us that inside game.
That is one of the things we are anxious to see here in the
scrimmages when we start playing against some other schools are see how our
post game will stack up against other varsity teams.”
Published 11/11/21
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Ashland
and Wooster For Playoff Berth
Ashland entertains Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on
Friday night and to the winner goes a place in the postseason playoffs,
Ashland in division III or Wooster in division II.
So, there is a lot of the line for these longtime rivals.
Ashland lost (28-7) to “OCC” leader West Holmes last week.
Coach Sean Seder says they made it a game.
“It was 7-7 in the third and 14-7 in the fourth quarter.
I thought we actually played a pretty good game.
What it came down to for us was turnovers.
Ironically, we out gained them, had more first downs, and better
third down conversion, all of the metrics you look at, time of possession,
you name it, but we had five turnovers,” he told Swankpnsports.com on
Tuesday, “So, anytime you turn the ball over and give them a short field a
good team like West Holmes is going to put points on the board and they
eventually did there in the fourth quarter with two big scores.
There were a lot of good things to take away from it.
They are number two in our region and undefeated and a really good
football team.”
Ashland (3-6,3-2) is at home for Wooster (4-5,2-2) on Friday night.
The Generals allowed to punt returns for scores and lost (31-0) to
Massillon in non-conference action last Friday.
Seder says they are pretty good on both sides of the ball this year.
“I think they are a good football team as well.
They played West Holmes in a really tight game.
They have had two tough weeks with Mansfield Senior and then
Massillon. They are going to
come ready to play Friday. #2
McKee is a really good receiver. I
think their defense is pretty stout. They
have some big boys up front and their quarterback can sling it.
I think it would be a really good football game Friday.
Both teams, it’s win and their in the playoffs.
There is a lot of play for, so it should be a good football game,”
said Seder.
It is win or go home for both teams and Seder says that is a pretty
good incentive to come out and play well.
“It is a nice carrot for us to be able to dangle as coaches.
We joked if this was one of those weeks when you have no chance to
make the playoffs and no chance of a conference championship it is tough to
get the moral up and your guys ready to go, but where we sit on our region
and where they sit whichever team wins is going to be in the playoffs and
whichever team doesn’t is going to be staying home, so if that is not an
incentive to get out there and get after it I don’t know will be,” he
said.
Published 10/20/21
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Conference
Lead at Stake for Ashland
Ashland has a big opportunity this week as they host West Holmes in
an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
They trail the Knights by a game in the conference standings and a
win puts them in a share of first.
The Arrows (3-5,3-1) scored twice in the final two minutes last week
to rally and beat Lexington (36-34) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Sean Seder says their kids never gave up and made big plays in
the end. “For all intents and
purposes, we probably shouldn’t have come back and won that game, two and
half minutes down two scores. Credit
to our kids for not quitting and fighting.
That is something we talked about pregame was to give us everything
they had for 48 minutes and they did. We
had some great plays offensively and then on special teams getting the on
side, which is always tough to do and scoring with 20 seconds left to put
the game away,” he said.
West Holmes (8-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, demolished Shelby (51-14) in a
non-conference game last week, forcing five turnovers in the process.
Seder says they are just tremendously talented.
“They are a really solid football team this year.
Of course, with the addition of their running back Sam
Williams-Dixon, the kid can play. It
is crazy to thing he is only a sophomore because he is going to be a special
player for them. He is back
there at running back and they have him at corner and safety.
He is just a really good football player.
Their quarterback (Noah Clark) can sling it.
They have got a number of receivers that can make big plays on
you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Their secondary is really
good. They are able to get
pressure with their front three. Last
week, they beat a really good Shelby team that only had one loss at that
point. They really took it to
Shelby. They are really good on
defense and really good on offense.”
West Holmes can strike quickly and Seder says they can’t allow that
if they are going to win the game. “They
definitely have the big play ability. That
is a metric that we always focus on, the explosives.
We have to limit the explosives and make them drive the field for us
to have a chance at an upset against them because of how good they are on
both sides. We need to limit
their points and make it a low scoring affair.
They have the ability to make a big play on any given play.
That is kind of a challenge for our defense this week to really make
them earn it and drive the field,” said Seder.
Published 10/14/21
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Ashland
Might Have to Slug it Out Against Lexington
Ashland, coming off its first “OCC” loss of the season last week,
travels to Lexington for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It was a tough loss for the Arrows last week as they were beaten in
the final minute by Mansfield Senior (28-24) in an “OCC” contest.
Tyger quarterback Brock Hill found Elias Owens for a scoring pass
with 1:09 left in the game.
Coach Sean Seder says it was a tough loss to take.
“It was a heartbreaker for us.
It was something we felt really good about.
We were playing tough. Had
the lead for 47 minutes and let it slip away in the that last minute against
a really good Mansfield Senior team. It
would have been a very good win for us and our program and would have been
still tied for first. We have to
kind of lick our wounds and regroup going into Lex,” he said.
Seder says their goals are still in front of them.
“Senior High played tight with West Holmes, who is still ahead of
us, and pretty tight with Lexington. We
told the kids we lost to a quality opponent. We
should have won the game. We tip
our hat to them, they made some plays. They
are well coached. We kind of
knew what we were getting into there. After
feeling like you should have won that game, we just can’t have a letdown
going into this week. We really
need to rally because if we take care of our last three games, we will at
least have a tie for the “OCC” and I think the postseason is locked up
too with the points out there with West Holmes and Wooster.
We just have to buckle down and kind of rally the troops and go out
and tack care of business,” said Seder.
Ashland (2-5,2-1) is at Lexington (2-5,1-3) in conference play on
Friday night. The Minutemen are
coming off a (27-10) loss to unbeaten and first place West Holmes.
Seder describes Lexington as a physical team that is very good at
running the football. “I
think they are a really good team, they are well coached.
A tough, physical team, run heavy.
It was 17-10 against West Holmes at the half and they have been
scoring points like crazy, so their defense did a pretty good job.
They have a really good run game and do a good job with their play
action,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “One thing I think will be
an “X” factor for Friday’s game is it is at Lexington and we are
playing on grass, it is supposed to rain all week and it is supposed to rain
Friday. I know they always have
always have a nice field that is well taken care of, but it could be that
old school, smash mouth, kind of a muddy game where it is run oriented,
which plays in their favor, so we have to make sure our defense is ready to
step up and the offense can put some points on the board.”
Published 10/05/21
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Ashland
Faces Aggressive Mansfield Senior
Ashland, a co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at
Mansfield Senior in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
Senior High trails Ashland and West Holmes by a game.
The Arrows (2-4,2-0) beat Madison (20-7) last week in a conference
game.
Coach Sean Seder says it was kind of ugly, but they did enough to
win. “It wasn’t the
prettiest of wins, but we joked with our kids afterward, we said if we had
to win a game 2-0 we would take that. The
defense did a pretty good job. Tip
your hat to Madison, they were much improved and a pretty physical team.
They did a really good job of time of possession.
I don’t think we even had a possession in the fourth quarter.
They had the ball a good bit. Our
defense was a bend, but don’t break defense and kept them out of the end
zone. We got enough points to
put away a victory. Now, we are
moving on to Mansfield Senior,” said Seder.
Mansfield Senior (4-2,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lexington (23-14) in an
“OCC” game last week.
Seder says they hang their hat of their defense.
“I think they are a really good team, they are well coached.
They are going to probably be the most aggressive, most physical team
that we have seen this year. We told our kids they are like most Mansfield
teams, they really hang their hat on their defense.
They are going to show us on all kinds of pressures, man coverage,
quarters, two, they disguise it pretty well at times,” he said.
Seder sys the Tygers also have some explosiveness on offense.
He says they have avoid giving the ball away.
“On offense, they have a lot of the same athletes.
The Bradley boys are all really good.
They have Aveon Grose and Brock Hill, who is a pretty good
quarterback. I think he is a pretty good run threat.
So, they have some pretty good athletes.
It is just one of those teams where we told our kids we can’t give
them extra chances. This year
they are averaging almost two turnovers a game on defense and they are
converting a lot of those to points with pick sixes and stuff.
So, we have to play a really clean game on our side,” said Seder.
The key for Ashland when they have the ball is to make good, quick
decisions because Seder says Mansfield Senior will pressure them.
“We told our kids they are going to get some plays.
They are a good defense and they have a lot of really good skilled
players out there. Some of their
guys they are going to bring on blitzes and they may just be faster than the
guy we have assigned to block them. So,
we have to get the ball out quick and recognize those blitzes and identify
hot routes and stuff like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “The other thing a defense like that does, they try and make your
quarterback make bad decisions because he is under direst.
We are really focusing on making good decisions and protecting the
football. If it’s a blown up
play, survive the play and have another down.
Don’t just chuck it out there and hope for the best.
When the ball is in the air, they have the guys that can take it.”
Published 9/28/21
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Ashland
Plays Dangerous Madison
It’s homecoming for the Ashland Arrows and they host the Madison
Rams at Community Stadium on Friday in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
The Arrows (1-4,1-0) share first place in the conference with West
Holmes and Wooster, who play each other on Friday.
They got their first win of the season when they beat Mt. Vernon
(35-17) in an “OCC” game last week.
Coach Sean Seder says it gave them a boost.
“It was a good one for our morale getting something going as far as
momentum and everything else. We
didn’t turn the ball over on offense and got some stops on defense.
Played a true four quarter game.
Hopefully we will continue that moving forward,” said Seder.
With a win in the conference opener, Seder says all of their goals
are in front of them. “Looking
at it our non-league is 17-3 right now, so we have played some pretty good
teams. We are battled tested for
sure. When you get that first
win, especially to start our conference off 1-0 that was big for us moving
forward. All of our goals,
conference championship and playoffs are still ahead of us,” he said.
Madison (0-3,0-1) lost (40-7) to West Holmes last week in returning
to action after a two week quarantine.
Seder says the Rams have big play potential and they are a team the
Arrows are not taking lightly. “We
told our kids that they are a dangerous team.
They have a lot of really good athletes and they have played in
spurts where they could play with anyone.
They had it tied with West Holmes early in the game and then they had
turnovers and some good bounces for West Holmes broke the game open.
They have to ability to play with you if you let them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “So, our big thing is we have to
take care of the ball and don’t give them extra chances or a chance for a
big play and momentum. We just
have to take care of business because they have the athletes to capitalize
if you give them the opportunities.”
Seder says they want to get off to a good start and establish a lead.
“They have a lot talent and we call them a dangerous team because
the longer you let them hang with you the more their confidence can build.
They have some guys that can kind of break the game open.
It is one of those game where you have to take care of business and
when you have a chance to put it in the end zone, you have to put it in
there. We have to get the stops
and limit the big plays for them. If
they are with you in the fourth quarter it’s going to be a scarry
ballgame,” said Seder.
Published 9/23/21
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Ashland
Needs to Get Busy
Ashland tries to put some things together as they travel to Mt.
Vernon for an Ohio Cardinal Conference football game on Friday night.
It’s the “OCC” opener for the Arrows.
Perkins running back Collin Nemitz ran for a school record 402 yards
as Perkins belted Ashland (49-14) in a non-conference game last Friday.
Ashland coach Sean Seder says they let thigs get away in the fourth
quarter. “They are a pretty
good football team. Their run
game definitely got going in that second half.
The funny thing is, looking at the score you wouldn’t know it, but
we had the game tied 14-14 in the third quarter, but then that little
running back #2 Nemitz for them just exploded and they scored 35 points
straight and kind ran it up there at the end,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday, “They had a heck of a run game and they played really well.
We played petty well for two and half quarters, just couldn’t seal
the deal. Now, we head to Mt.
Vernon with a little different opponent.”
Mt. Vernon (1-3,0-1) lost handily to Lexington (40-14) in an
“OCC” game.= last Friday. Their
only win is (41-20) over winless Newark on week two.
Seder says they really like to emphasize a couple of running plays.
“With Perkins it wasn’t necessarily a scheme or any magic play it
was just they had a phenomenal player in their running back and he took over
the game. I think Mt. Vernon has
some good players, #44 in a good player for them, but most of their run game
is from their quarterback and running back running buck sweep and counter.
I don’t think either one of those guys in quite the homerun hitter
that we have seen so far. So,
hopefully we can corral him in and kind of keep them in check,” said
Seder.
After an (0-4) start to the season, Seder says they need to turn the
page and get a win starting league play.
“We kind of told our kids that the first part of the season is
over, the non-league is done and now we are heading into conference play and
we are 0-0 and we have to come with that kind of readiness and prepared to
play. If we are able to get a
win on Friday than we are 1-0 in our conference and all of our goals are
still in front of us. So, we
have to come ready to go and treat them with the respect they deserve,” he
said.
Published 9/16/21
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Ashland
Looks for First Win Against Perkins
It has been a rough start to the season for the Ashland Arrows as
they have lost all three of their games so far, two of them by a touchdown
or less.
They travel to Sandusky Perkins for a non-conference game on Friday
night.
‘
Last week, was one of those nail biters as they lost (23-21) to the
Teays Valley Vikings in a non-league game.
Coach Sean Seder says if they could have executed just a little
better on half a dozen plays throughout the game they could have won it.
“We went back and we identified about five or six different plays
were if we had just a half second longer or if the ball is just two yards
shorter we score another touchdown or two and it is a totally different
score. So, we had some
opportunities, but we just couldn’t quite execute or finish.
Take your hat off to Teays Valley, they kicked three field goals and
ended up beating us,” said Seder.
Perkins (2-1) edged Port Clinton (21-20) in crossover game in the
Sandusky Bay Conference last week.
Twice this season they have scored more than 40 points in a game.
Seder says they can be explosive when they have the ball.
“They definitely can score in bunches.
Their offense has some playmakers for sure, especially by #84 out
there at 6’4”, 220 and they like to throw some jump balls to him.
I think #2 (Collin Memitz) makes up half of their production, he is
really electric, that little Nemitz. I
know he is a tough wrestler for them too.
We know they can put up points and last week they beat a tough Port
Clinton team in a low scoring affair. I
think their defense is petty solid too.
I think it should be a good football game,” he said.
Perkins beat Toledo Woodward (61-0) on week one and lost (68-42) to
Elyria Catholic on week two.
Ashland (0-3) is a team that likes to go five wide and play with
tempo, but this week Seder says they do want to keep the ball away from
Perkins. “It is one of those
things we kind of looked at because we know they can score because they have
some athletes. Offensively, the
biggest thing we have talked about is we can’t shoot ourselves in the
foot, we have to take advantage of the drives we have and put points on the
board because we know they will,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday,
“So, we are going to hold them to as few points as we can, but we know
their offense is going to put points on the board.
If we can limit their touches on offense that is definitely going to
help us.”
Published 9/08/21
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Ashland
Must Limit Mistakes
Ashland got punched in the mouth last week and they need to respond
this week as they entertain Teays Valley in a non-conference game at
Community Stadium.
Last week, Clyde scored four times in the first quarter and went on
to dismantle the Arrows (34-0) limiting Ashland to only four first downs and
68 total yards.
Coach Sean Seder says it was a disastrous first quarter.
“That was one of those games that was frustrating, but at the same
time I think Clyde is a pretty good football team and they kind of gave it
to us on every side of it from offense to defense to special teams.
We definitely made too many mistakes and helped them out, but they
are a really good football team. It
kind of starts up front and they dominated us on both sides of the ball and
were able to make some big plays. After
that first quarter, there is really no getting back from it.
It was an ugly game, but we have to bounce back this week,” he
said.
Sometimes after a game like that you want to just forget it, but
Seder says they have to learn from last Friday.
“They had a good first series.
They drove down and scored and the very first play we had on offense,
we fumbled the ball and they got the ball in red zone and two minutes into
the game it is 14-0. The next
series they score and we go three and out and we shank a punt and they get
it on the like the 35, so before you know it they have 27 points on the
board,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I told the kids against
good teams you can’t help them because they are good enough to do it on
their own. If you do help them
by making mistakes it is going to be a long night.
Playing mistake free football and taking care of the things we can
take care is what we are going to focus on.”
Teays Valley (2-0) is the opponent for the Arrows this week.
The Vikings (2-0) beat Chillicothe (28-17) and Logan (49-6) over the
first two weeks.
Seder describes them as a physical football team that will try and
play power football. “It is
going to be a tough football game. They
gave up six points last week and are averaging over 40.
They are going to show us some wing-T, which is always tough to prep
against just because you have to have scout guys give that look and that is
a tough thing to replicate. They
have some big boys. They have
some tough guys. They have some
wrestlers that are some of the best wrestlers in the State of Ohio, who are
also some of their running backs and linebackers, so they are tough physical
kids. They are the kind of kids
we are used to fielding on our side of the ball.
We know they are going to play smash mouth football and they are
going to come at us. It is going
to be a tough football game,” said Seder.
Published 8/31/21
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Ashland
Clashes with Clyde
Ashland visits Clyde for a non-conference game Friday night between
two solid teams looking for a win after losses last week.
Both lost by a touchdown in their opening games.
Ashland fell to Dresden Tri-Valley (35-28) and Clyde lost to Toledo
St. Francis (21-14) last week.
It was a seesaw game last week and Ashland coach Sean Seder says they
made too many mistakes in the second half.
“It was a pretty good football game, it was a spectator’s game,
enjoyable for the fans and whatnot. Going
into halftime we are up 21-7. I
think Tri-Valley is really good football team and are expecting to make a
pretty good playoff run. For us
who are pretty inexperienced. In
this first half we didn’t see that and are pretty excited about and then
we had turnovers, some muffed returns, just bad field position, you name it,
basically anything bad that could happen happened in the third and credit to
them they put 21 points in the board,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “We were eventually able to score again.
We were driving it again at the end, but fumbled it on the last
possession. They got us by a
touchdown, but overall pretty good game.
There are lots of things to learn from.
Our guys have good experience from it and hopefully we will take it
into this week.”
Seder knows this week they are playing another very good team in
Clyde. “I am really impressed
by them they are really good football team.
I know the expectations are really high for them this year.
They view themselves as kind of like that team two years ago that
could make a state finals appearance or a really deep playoff run and you
see that on tape. The lost to a
very good St. Francis team, but they had two opportunities to score a
touchdown and probably win that game. So,
I’m sure they are coming out of that game feeling like they could have won
and it just didn’t go right for them.
I think they are a really talented team.
I think they are really well coached.
Going into it on both sides of the ball, I think they are a really
good team. It’s going to be a
tough one,” said Seder.
Seder says the Fliers are going to be hard to move the ball against.
“I definitely think their defense is their strength.
If you watch the game from last week, St. Francis has some pretty
good offensive weapons. They
were able to keep them in check for the most part.
I do think they are really good on defense.
They have a lot of those guys back.
They have to have the ability to play man coverage and really good
interior defensive linemen that will cause fits for most offensive lines,
including ours, linebackers that are free to flow.
Their defense is pretty loaded. Of
course, they have a lot of their guys back on offense too,” he said.
Published 8/26/21
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Ashland
Must Battle up Front
Ashland will be at home at Community Stadium for Dresden Tri-Valley
in a non-conference football game on Friday night.
Coach Sean Seder says this has been a pretty good week of preparation
for the Arrows. “We had a
pretty good week of practice. The
kids are excited, the coaches are excited, the community is excited.
So, we finally get to kick it off with fans in the stands, kind of a
normal week one, so everybody is excited about it,” he said.
Tr-Valley has been a consistent football power in Southeast Ohio.
Seder says they have what looks like a strong offensive and defensive
line this year. “They are
coming off a really strong season, went 8-2 last year and lost in the third
round of the playoff to Bishop Hartley, who is always a powerhouse.
They have a pretty good offensive and defensive line and have all of
their secondary players back with, I think, a combined 12 interceptions, so
a pretty good pass defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “A
new quarterback back there for them, who likes to sprint out and when he
does he throws it pretty effectively, at least on film so far.
It should be a pretty good game.
They look like a pretty decent football team.”
Ashland’s offensive front is going to be pretty inexperienced and
Seder says they have to be able to compete in the trenches against a very
good line. “This kind of kicks
off our four week stretch of some pretty tough opponents in our non-league.
We will find out Friday night really quick where our linemen stand
against Tri-Valley, because that it their strength.
Of course, we have a lot of guys stepping into new roles there.
Kind of a trial by fire and hope we can learn and get better with
each snap,” said Seder.
Ashland plays Clyde, Teays Valley and Sandusky Perkins in
non-conference action.
Seder says if they can give their skilled players some time, he
thinks they can make some plays against Scotties.
“That is kind of the secret for us is we kind of feel like their
strength is their line, but we feel we have some pretty special skilled
players, so the trick is finding ways to get them the ball and block long
enough for them to make some plays. So,
our skilled guys are definitely going to have to step up and we hope our
linemen are up to the task,” he said.
Published 8/20/21
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Ashland
Looking for Linemen
Ashland has the makings of a pretty good football team, but they
still have some work to do, which was illustrated in their opening scrimmage
against North Canton Hoover last Saturday.
Coach Sean Seder says they were good at times and not so good at
other times in going against somebody else for the first time.
“It was one of those scrimmages that was a pretty good barometer.
North Canton Hoover is a pretty tough, physical football team.
I think they see themselves as having a decent season.
It was good to hit somebody else.
It was one those fun ones when you get your eyes opened a little bit
and figure out what we need to work on.
We have set about doing that this week.
The kids were competitive. It
was one of those ones that was kind of back and forth, but it definitely
exposed some things to work on,” said Seder.
Ashland’s second scrimmage will be at Dover on Friday and then they
open the season against Dresden Tri-Valley on August 20 in non-conference
play.
Seder says scrimmages are very important before you start the season
for real. “It is a really good
kind of teaching tool because when you are out there against a scout team
usually you can get the better of them, especially when you have ones
against twos or something like that. If
we can go out against another team and it’s ones on ones they are not
going to do you any favors, they are going to go after you,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “The varsity guys definitely get a
really good look when you get to hit somebody other than your own teammates
who are pretty competitive lets you know where you stand and what you need
to work on.”
Seder says over the next 10 days they need to find out who can play
in the trenches for them and make sure they are ready to go when the lights
come on August 20. “I think
the biggest thing for us is those underclassmen from last year are no longer
underclassmen and they really have to step up into that role.
We graduated a really good senior group, almost all of our linemen on
both sides of the ball, so they really need to step into those shoes.
This past scrimmage kind of exposed that a little bit.
There is not going to be anybody stepping in for them, so they are
going to have to do it. So, I
think that is where it starts and ends for us up front.
I think we have some pretty decent athletes, but replacing that line
on both sides is going to be our biggest task this year,” said Seder.
Published 8/11/21
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Ashland
Outscores Madison
Ashland banged out 18 hits and beat Madison (11-6) in a first round
tournament game in division I on Monday evening.
The Arrows led (5-0) after three innings, but Madison scored five in
the top of the fourth to tie up.
Ashland coach Rick Gough says they kind opened the gates a little for
Madison in the fourth. “We got
off to a good start and things were going well.
They had a couple of hits and we made a couple of mistakes and before
we knew it was tied up,” he said.
It didn’t take long or Ashland to respond.
They put up four in their half of the fourth to take the lead (9-5)
and they never trailed again.
Gough says hopefully they are breaking out of their slump.
“We have been focusing of hitting the ball backside.
We have had trouble scoring runs all year.
We told them to keep swinging the bats and we did,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “(Monday) night we had 18 hits, or 17
depending on who scored it, and we hit the ball pretty well and we knew we
had to keep adding on.”
Ashland had at least three hots from four different players in the
game.
Gough says they hit throughout the lineup.
“It has been exciting to see. We
have been waiting to see that all year.
Ethan Truax had four hits, did an exceptional job.
Kam Mowery had three hits and did a great job moving the ball,” he
said.
Jon Metzger and Chase Hunt also had three hits for the Arrows.
Metzger, Hunt, Mowery and Parker Grissinger all had two RBI.
Logan Faulk started the game for Ashland and gave up one earned run
over 3 and two thirds innings. Quentin
Anderson got the win in relief, going three and a third, giving up no earned
runs on two hits. “I have to
put a shout out to Quentin Anderson, who came in in the fourth inning and
basically closed the door. He
did an outstanding job,” said Gough.
Jameson Myers had three hits for Madison.
Ashland will plat at top seeded Anthony Wayne on Wednesday in a
sectional final.
Gough says, heck, the pressure in on them.
“Obviously, that is going to be a tough game.
Anthony Wayne is one of the top teams in the state.
Anything we can do there we will be proud of.
I told the kids it is a no lose situation.
Just go in and swing the bat and see what happens and go from there.
The pressure is on them. The
pressure is not on us,” said Gough.
Published 5/18/21
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Ashland
Beats Lexington in Pitcher’s Duel
Ashland earned an Ohio Cardinal Conference win Wednesday over
Lexington (2-0) behind a fine pitching performance by freshmen Luke Bryant.
The Arrows trail “OCC” leaders Wooster and West Holmes by a game.
The Generals hammered Mt. Vernon (11-1) in six innings Wednesday.
Bryant was masterful going six innings, allowing just one hit,
walking one and striking out nine.
Arrows coach Rick Gough says he surpassed their hopes for him on
Wednesday. “It was an
outstanding performance. You
can’t ask mush more than that from your pitching staff.
We started a freshmen Luke Bryant on the hill (Wednesday) night.
He exceeded our expectations,” Gough told Swankonsports.com after
the win.
Gough says Bryant good stuff and he was able to keep ahead of the
hitters. “He was around the
zone all night. Coach Darren
Hunt did an excellent job calling pitches and kept them off balance,” he
said.
Logan Fulk finished up for the Arrows throwing a scoreless seventh,
striking out one.
Lexington starter Cole Pauley and reliver Kevan Grimm were nearly as
good for the Minutemen. Pauley
went the first five and together they only gave up six hits.
Lexington coach Kevin Morrow was pleased with his pitching, but says
they couldn’t get anything going at all on offense.
“Cole Pauley pitched an excellent game for us, but Ashland’s
pitcher was even better. We had
no answers on offense,” he said.
Two runs scored by the Arrows in the top of the third were the only
tallies of the day. Gough says
they did it with some small ball. “One
aspect of our game right now is we are not hitting the ball as well as I
think we are going to, so we have to scratch and claw and try and get a
couple of runs here and there. Chase
Hunt got a good bunt down (Wednesday) night that scored a run.
We were lucky enough in a bases loaded situation to get a hit batsmen
to get a run in and it held up,” said Gough.
Published 4/15/21
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Ashland
Young, but Talented
Ashland is in a similar circumstance to a lot of baseball teams in
North Central Ohio in that they have some talent, but they are unproven at
least early in the season.
At least there is going to be a season this spring.
Coach Rick Gough says there are going to be some COVID protocols that
they will have to follow, but they are very pleased to be playing.
“There are certain things that we have to do, but all things look
well to this point,” he said.
The Arrows graduated some pretty good seniors last summer and Gough
says that has left them with some talent, but not very much experience at
the varsity level. “Unfortunately,
last year we lost a lot of two and three year starters to graduation that
didn’t get an opportunity to finish their senior season, so this year we
are going to be young. That
means we have some work to do, but we have some quality kids,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have a good freshmen and sophomore class
and some returning upperclassmen that have seen variety pitching before.
I think this is the kind of year that as the year goes on you will
see that we will be better at the end then we were at the beginning.”
Gough adds they have some players that have had success against
players their own age, but varsity baseball can be a different story.
“The group we have have had success in travel against kids their
own age, but I keep telling them that this year you are going to be playing
against 17 and 18 year olds that have had more experience than you, but I
think we are up for the challenge,” said Gough.
3/17/21
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Ashland
Meets Lanky Northview in Tournament
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference runner-up, plays Sylvania
Northview in a division I district semifinal on Thursday night at Millbury
Lake High School.
The Arrows (19-4) beat Toledo Start (55-43) in a sectional final last
Friday night at Arrow Arena.
Coach Jason Hess says they really got down and played well in defense
to come up with the win. “I
was super proud of our kids with just their focus and effort.
We got off to a little bit of a slow start, took a little time to get
adjusted with just the speed and athleticism that Toledo Start brought,
especially on the defensive side of the ball.
I thought our guys settled in nicely.
There were no easy points in that game, it was just a true March
basketball game where both teams are playing their hearts out and nothing
comes easy and you just grind it out. Give
our kids credit, we found ways to get enough stops that lead to a few easy
baskets and we were able to make a few shots to pull that one out,” he
said.
Northview (20-3) shared the regular season title in the Northern
Lakes League. The Wildcats blew
out Oregon Clay (74-48) in their sectional final last Friday.
Hess says they have some guys with some length that can shoot the
ball very well. “Northview
plays a very similar style to us I feel like.
They like to space it, they like to get up and down in transition,
they shoot the ball well from the perimeter.
The one difference is I feel like they are more forward dominated,
where we are guard dominated. They
have a 6’7” kids that was player of the year in the Northern Lakes
League and a 6’4” that was a first teamer up there.
Those are their two leading scorers, those are the guys they go
through and they create offense for everybody else.
It’s jus a very good basketball team that has won 20 games this
year,” said Hess.
In will be a game of matchups. Hess
says they have to make them come out and defend their guards meanwhile the
Arrows need to find something that works on defense.
“They are more forwards as opposed to back to the basketball
players. They are more “X”
generation forwards that will step out and shoot the three, they are long
and athletic. We will try to
pull them out a little bit and hopefully we use some dribble penetration to
get some easy shots inside or some inside scoring to help open up our three
point shooting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The big concern
or us is how are we going to match up because we are not overly blessed with
an extra amount of size. We are
going to have to do some creative defensive scheming to come up with some
ways to show down 6’7” and 6’4”.”
Published 3/02/21
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Ashland
Must Be Disciplined
Ashland, the Ohio Cardinal Conference runner up this year, hosts
Toledo Start, the winner of the Toledo City League, in a first round
tournament game in division I on Friday night.
The Arrows (17-4), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has been very good all
year and coach Jason Hess says one of the reasons has been their ability to
execute in the half court. “I
think our offensive execution has gotten a lot better throughout the year.
It is one of those things where we have not been as sharp as other
teams throughout the years. We
have tried to make it a point of that this year to execute offensively,
especially in certain game situations. In
the past, we have sort of relied on our kids to make plays and to use their
ability to score the basketball. We
do have some very good basketball players.
It may bail us out at times with some of their playmaking ability.
I think when it is tournament time teams have to be able to execute
and I feel our guys are really starting to buy into that and really clean up
some of our half court execution that we need to,” said Hess.
Start (15-3) has won nine of its last 10.
All of the wins, expect one, were against City League opponents.
They did lose earlier in the season to Tiffin Columbian, co-champ of
the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division, (57-52) on January 19.
Hess says they are really good at executing sets.
“They won the Toledo City League again, I don’t know how many
years in a row that has been for them. Their
point guard is the leading scorer in the City League averaging about 22
points a game. They are a very
athletic team. They are going to
play hard they are well coached and very disciplined.
They are a team that is going to run a lot of offensive sets.
They are not really a continuity offensive team, they are more of a
set team, and that is a little unusual coming out of the Toledo City League,
but they have had a lot of success doing that,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday afternoon, “They are still going to get up and guard like your
athletic teams will. They will
pressure a little bit in the full court and really put a lot of pressure on
our guards in the half court, I think that is going to be one of the keys
for us is how well can we handle the half court pressure and still be able
to execute our offense.”
When it comes to defending those sets, Hess says they must rely on
their fundamentals. “We have
played some other teams this year that run a lot of sets.
We can’t teach our kids every set their kids know in the matter of
the four or five days we have to prep for that game.
A lot of the actions, for example, a double screen coming off the
back side, we try and rep out those actions and hopefully our guys will be
aware of those and be able to sniff those out a little better and anticipate
when that double screen is coming or when the down screen is coming or the
ball screen is coming and we will be able to guard them.
They are very disciplined, very patient.
They will run two or three sets per possession until they get the
shot that they want. So, we are
going to gave to be very disciplined on defense and maintain our fundamental
principals and not get too nosey or out of position.
Hopefully, we can force those jump shots to be contested and rebound
the first miss,” said Hess.
Published 2/24/21
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Ashland
Has Two in the “OCC”
Ashland wraps up the regular season with two games in the Ohio
Cardinal Conference this week at home against West Holmes and at Mansfield
Senior on Friday.
The West Holmes game will be played on Wednesday if it cannot be
played on Tuesday due to the weather.
Last Friday, Ashland lost a de facto “OCC” championship game
(68-60) at Wooster.
Coach Jason Hess says their offensive execution needed to be better.
“I thought we really put a nice effort out there, but unfortunately
it was one of those nights where our offensive execution wasn’t as sharp
as it needed to be and we missed some shots.
We got hung up there in the second half on 46 for a while and then we
got hung up again at 53,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Give
Wooster credit, they play defense and they have athletes that guard and
compete and they limit you to one shot and they didn’t turn the ball over
and give up easy baskets. So,
give them credit with the way they play defense, but I thought our offensive
execution needs to be better as well.”
They did battle back on Saturday night to beat Lexington (57-42) in a
conference game.
Hess says their execution on both ends was improved.
“It was a good win after we lost two in a row to Perrysburg and
Wooster, to very good basketball teams and to get back in the winning column
and get some momentum going was definitely something our ball team needed.
When you win you feel better about yourself anyway.
I thought our offensive execution was better, but I thought our
defensive energy was much better. We
forced a lot of turnovers against Lexington that led to some easy baskets
and that always helps your offense out when you can get some easy baskets in
transition,” he said.
Ashland (15-4,8-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts West Holmes (12-5,4-4) this
week. Holmes had not played a
league since January 22.
Hess says coach Don Hall has turned that program around.
“It’s a big turnaround from where they were a year ago.
They have an excellent record and have competed in a lot of games and
they played us tough down there in a very close basketball game.
It’s a physical team, they are scrappy and they play hard.
It’s another team opposite of us from the type and style that they
want to play. It is important
that we play a little more like we did against Lexington where we can get
out in the open and play in transition and force some turnovers to get some
easy baskets and not have to grind it out against their half court
defense,” said Hess.
The Arrows travel to Mansfield Senior (8-7,5-3) on Friday night.
They beat the Tygers (87-44) on January 8.
Hess says this game could be good preparation for the tournament,
which starts next week. “It
usually is and we are playing Toledo Start, so we get to see some athletes,
but this is a little atypical of a Mansfield team that has been playing a
little more zone defense in the half court and slowing it down.
Just the athletes that they have and the things that they can do is
definitely is great prep for us and the tournament and playing Toledo
Start,” he said.
Published 2/16/21
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Ashland
and Wooster Play for First Place
Ashland and Wooster share first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference
heading into a showdown on Friday night at Wooster.
The winner would take first place to themselves, but Ashland would
have three and Wooster one conference game to play after Friday.
Ashland coach Jason Hess says these are the kind games that young
athletes want to play. “It’s
an unfortunate situation this year with the COVID that we aren’t going to
be able to have a lot of fans in the stands because this would definitely be
one of those games that has a lot excitement and a lot of build up and all
around atmosphere for high school basketball, we can’t control that, so we
will move forward and play the game anyway,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “This is one of these games that you think about at
the beginning of the season that you would like to be playing in a game for
a conference championship. Little
kids in the backyard dreaming about making shots in the basketball hoops in
the driveways and things like that in games that have meaning like this one
does.”
Ashland (14-3,7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (13-2,9-1), #1
in our poll, is at Friday. Wooster
beat Mansfield Senior (51-48) in an “OCC” game on Tuesday night.
The Arrows beat Madison (62-42) in their last conference game on
Friday.
Hess says Wooster is relentless on defense and their aggressiveness
forces turnovers, something they need to avoid on Friday.
“They just play hard. Coach
Snowbarger’s guys always play hard, especially on the defensive end.
Those guys never give you a chance to relax or catch your breath on
offense. It is one of those
games when we are going to have to do a really good job of taking care of
the basketball and limiting turnovers because they kind of feed off of that.
It hurt us the last time when we played at our place.
We turned it over several times in the fourth quarter and that led to
some easy baskets for them to really turn the game around,” said Hess.
Wooster won the first matchup between the two teams (78-75) on
December 22 at Arrow Arena.
The Generals dropped back into a tie with Ashland in the “OCC”
standings when they loss to Mt Vernon (58-55) last Friday and tempo was a
factor in that game.
Hess says their goal is to limit the Generals shot opportunities.
“One of the things that I have noticed lately in some of their
games that have been closer they are a little lower scoring than what we
typically do. Although, we
can’t change of the style of play that we play.
That’s the way our kids have been taught to play.
Playing fast and up tempo. I
do think we need to limit Wooster’s possessions and one of the ways of
doing that is doing a better job defensive rebounding,” he said.
Published 2/11/21
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Ashland
Respects Madison
Ashland, in second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will host
Madison in a conference game on Friday night.
It is an important game for the Arrows to maintain contact with
Wooster in the “OCC” race, they trail the Generals by a game.
In a non-conference game last Friday, Ashland outlasted Massillon
(56-53) earning their second win over the talented Tigers this season.
Coach Jason Hess says they did it with defense.
“We played really good basketball.
I was really pleased with our defensive effort.
Our kids did a great job in the second half.
It was a close game, back and forth, a lot of lead changes, it was
just a fun high school basketball game.
I told the kids afterwards it was a great game.
It is always more fun to win than it is to lose, but it was just a
fun game to be part of,” he said.
Eli White had 24 and Luke Denbow 20 for the Arrows, who played
without Grayson Sturey, who was injured in a win over Canton GlenOak a
couple of weeks ago.
Ashland (13-2,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Madison (1-11,0-5) on
Friday night. The Rams earned
their first win of the season Tuesday night in beating Galion (51-24) in a
non-conference game.
Hess says you never question Madison’s effort and sometime they are
going to start making more shots. “They
are team that is well coached. Coach
(Tim) Mergel and I have coached against each other for years way back to
when we were both JV coaches. He
has a group of kids that are playing hard and they haven’t given up and
they are still fighting to compete,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “It is one these things that one of these nights when the ball
goes through the hoop for them they are going to find a way to get a win.
We have to do the best we can on defense to make it difficult on
them, so they don’t gain that confidence early.”
Ashland beat Madison (62-43) on December 18 in their first meeting.
Madison was shooting 35% for the season going into this week.
They will play four games in five nights this week.
Hess says the start of the basketball game is going to be crucial for
them on Friday night. “It is
extremely important to get off to a good start against a team like that.
Also, not to overlook them because it is kind of a rivalry game just
15 minutes down the road. Like I
said, they are well coached, they are going to play hard, I know they are
going to know what we are doing, they scout and do a nice job that way and
prepare their kids. We have to
make sure we come out with a lot of energy and get a good start.
Hopefully, we can play Ashland basketball the way we have been
playing the last few weeks,” said Hess.
Published 2/03/21
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Ashland
Faces Red Hot Massillon
Ashland returns to action on Friday as they entertain Massillon at
Arrow Arena in a non-conference game.
Their game last week with Lexington was postponed due to the
Minutemen being in quarantine. So,
they have not played since beating Canton GlenOak (78-59) on January 16.
Coach Jason Hess hopes that is not an issue on Friday.
“We will wait and see for sure on Friday night.
I told our kids this week that we haven’t gone 10 days, 12 days
without a game since back in November. So,
you can definitely lose your competitive edge a little bit.
Can lose your mindset, your rhythm that you had and the confidence
that we had. From some
standpoint we have been very fortunate since we haven’t had to deal with
any layoffs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have
been able to play all of our games, which has given us a little bit of an
advantage in some of our games. We
can’t control the schedule and what happens.
Hopefully, through our practices and simulating game situations and
doing the best we can our guys will be ready to go on Friday.”
Ashland (12-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Massillon on Friday
night. Now, you don’t normally
play a non-league opponent twice in the regular season, but this season is
about irregular as my exercise plan. Ashland
won that first game (78-73) on December 11.
Hess says this will be a different Massillon team.
“Massillon is a team that is very senior laden.
We got them in the first game of the season for them and we had
already played a couple and I think that was in our favor there early in
December. We had a really good
basketball game with them and we were fortunate to come out on top.
They are a team that has won five in a row now.
They are playing really good basketball.
They beat Wooster, they beat Massillon Perry.
They are starting to figure some things out with their team.
I know with the seniors they have it is a really talented class.
They are definitely expecting to have a good end of the season and a
long run in the tournament,” said Hess.
When the Arrows have the ball, Hess says they have to be ready for
pressure, but other things too. “It
is one of those things where you see them on film and they do that a little
bit, but yet they are not quite as aggressive as Lima Senior that we played
earlier in the year. It is hard
to say for sure how they will come at us on defense.
Against Wooster they played a lot of 2-3 zone.
It is one of those things where we are going to be ready for multiple
defensive looks. Hopefully, we
can handle whatever they throw at us. I
think pressure will be part of the cards, but I think there will be some
other changes in defense in there as well,” he said.
Published 1/28/21
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Ashland
in Pause
Ashland, one of the better, and one of the hotter, boys’ basketball
teams in North Central Ohio as it looks now will not play this week.
The Arrows own a six game winning streak, but their game at home
Friday night with Lexington in Ohio Cardinal Conference play has been
postponed due to the Minutemen being placed on quarantine.
They are one the squads that has not been effected to badly by the
virus, but coach Jason Hess says it was really a matter of time.
“We have been very fortunate to have played 14 games and you kind
of knew this was bound to happen. I
guess it is fortunate for us it is not because we have an sick kids on our
team. So, hopefully it is just
delaying this one game this week with Lexington and we get it scheduled for
later in February,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It
gives our guys and opportunity, we had a three game week last week, to take
a couple days here a little lighter and kind of get our legs back underneath
us because we don’t have a super deep reputation anyway.
So, hopefully this will allow us to get some fresh legs here for the
stretch run and also fine tune a few things that we want to tweak and make a
few adjustments and get through the league a second time around.”
Ashland (12-2,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lexington just last Tuesday
(65-52), Mt. Vernon (67-42) on Friday in “OCC” play and Canton GlenOak
(78-59) in a holiday tournament in Canton on Saturday.
Hess says, yes, they were playing well, but it is out of their hands.
“You like to keep playing when the momentum is good and it was a
home game. We talk to our guys
regularly about controlling the controllables and unfortunately for us
COVID-19 in not a thing anybody has figured out how to control yet, so we
will do the best we can with it, we will make the most of it.
We will try and utilize our time to get better and hopefully we will
be able to keep the momentum going we have had here during the first 14
games,” he said.
Hess says that it in not out of the question that they could end up
playing this weekend and they have to be ready.
“That may end of happening Friday.
You never know over the next three days what could happen somebody
else that we have on our schedule later in the year could end up with a
cancellation and we end up with a game Friday, but it is just not going to
be Lexington, that’s what we know for sure at this point.
Other than that, we are kind of keeping our options open and
continuing to work at it and hopefully keep our guys in game shape and ready
to get better,” he said.
Published 1/20/21
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Ashland
Wants to Force Tempo Again
Ashland, a game behind Wooster in the Ohio Cardinal Conference
standings, plays a home against Mt. Vernon in the first game of the second
round of play in the double round robin on Friday night.
The Arrows were especially outstanding in am (87-44) win over
Mansfield Senior last Friday in conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says they were able to extend the length of time of
their good play against the Tygers. “We
have had definitely had spurts and moments of really good basketball and
last Friday against Mansfield it lasted a little longer than just a couple
minute span. We had an
exceptional first quarter on both ends of the floor.
We shot the ball extremely well and got some stops on defense.
I thought our kids did a really nice job of maintaining our focus and
competitiveness the entire game and not relaxing even though we had built a
big lead early,” he said.
They led (29-10) after the first quarter.
They kept themselves right behind Wooster with a (65-52) win over
Lexington in “OCC” action on Tuesday.
In their second conference game of the week, Ashland (10-2,5-1), #2
in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, hosts Mt. Vernon (3-7,2-3) on Friday night.
In their first meeting, the Arrows outscored the Jackets (84-71) on
December 4.
Hess says they still want to make it an up tempo game, but at the
same time play better defense. “I
expect this to be a different type of game.
I thought the first time around even though we weren’t as good
defensively and hopefully we have improved the last few weeks. We
definitely got the tempo in our favor and we were able to get out and go and
I think our guys are more comfortable playing is space and it also helped
neutralize some of the size advantage that Mt. Vernon had.
I think what we have to try and do this week is to continue to play
at that fast tempo, that fast pace, were we are able to score in
transition,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Thursday, “Hopefully, we can
do a better job of locating some of Mt. Vernon’s shooters and contesting
those perimeter shots and also being a little more stout in the paint with
some of our interior defense. They
kind of backed us down a little bit and bullied us a little bit the first
time around in the second half.”
With the lineups now more established, Hess says Friday night will be
a better barometer for how good these two teams are this year.
“You just never know the first time around it was their first game
and our second, so that is pretty early in the season and teams are still
trying to figure themselves out. You get here in the middle of January and
it’s a pretty good gauge of where you are going to be the rest of the year
because at this point rotations are pretty well set although this year with
COVID, sometimes those have to be adjusted each week defending on who is
healthy and who is not. Hopefully
everyone is healthy and we can have a good game,” said Hess.
Published 1/15/21
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Ashland
Plays Athletic Mansfield Senior
Ashland plays at home against Mansfield Senior in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night.
The Arrows have lost an “OCC” game to unbeaten Wooster, meanwhile
Tygers won their only conference game.
Ashland beat West Holmes (51-47) in a conference game last Wednesday
and then outdueled Ontario (69-67) in overtime in a non-conference game on
Saturday night.
There have been a lot of good things, according to coach Jason Hess,
but also some stuff to work on. “It
is always nice to win and got things turned around after the loss there
before Christmas, but you are never satisfied at any point of the season,
especially here at the halfway point. The
record looks good and some things look good, but there are some things that
we have really been talking to our guys about that we need to correct and
improve on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “One of those is
playing with the lead late in the game.
We had a little trouble there with Ontario.
We had a nine point lead in the third quarter and a seven point lead
in the fourth quarter and had to go to overtime to pull that one out.
That is something we need to get righted here pretty soon.”
Ashland (8-2,3-1) hosts Mansfield Senior (1-1,1-0) on Friday night.
Last week, the Tygers beat Madison (44-37) in a league game and lost
to Shelby (80-68) in non-league play.
Hess says history tells him what to expect from Mansfield Senior.
“I guess I’m from the era playing here at Ashland in the late
90’s and graduating in 2000 and starting to coach shortly after that, that
Mansfield is always the team to beat in the league.
I know they don’t have a real deep resume this year with only two
games, but they have got some athletes, they have got some talent.
They are a different type of team than anybody else we typically
play. I definitely expect them
to be ready to play us as they continue to get better each game.
With the coaching staff they have, they just do a nice job.
With the more experience they get, the better they are going to
be,” he said.
Rebounding is always a key when playing Mansfield Senior and Hess
says they can’t give up a bunch of stick backs and expect to win.
“Mansfield is notorious so to speak for really being relentless on
the glass with the athletes that they have.
They get one or two rebounds early and they realize they can get them
and they keep coming. We have
been talking to our guys this week about setting a tone early in the game
that we are not going to give up offensive rebounds and are really making a
statement for this game. We have
to do a better job of being tougher on the glass.
At times this year, we have had trouble with that.
That is one of our Achilles heels as well that we need to work on and
get better at, so hopefully we will be ready and up to that task against
Mansfield,” said Hess.
Published 1/07/21
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Ashland
Needs to Get Back on the Beam
Ashland suffered its first loss in Ohio Cardinal Conference action
last week to defending champ Wooster and they need to get right back to
winning as they at West Holmes in a conference game on Tuesday night.
Last week, it was a game when the lead changed hands a number of
times and there were runs by both sides.
Wooster ended up on top (78-75) last Tuesday.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says they kind of ran out of gas in the
fourth quarter and didn’t make the defensive players needed to win the
game. “It was definitely a
rollercoaster ride so to speak. In
the game we didn’t start off well. We
really stormed out of halftime with a great third quarter and then
unfortunately in the fourth quarter kind of ran out of gas.
We were unable to get the stops on the offensive side of the floor
when we needed them. We had some
costly turnovers that led to some easy buckets for them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Give Wooster credit they had a lead early,
gave up the lead, then just battled back and kept fighting the whole game.
Their kids did a nice job and unfortunately for us we kind of ran out
of gas there and didn’t make some of the plays we needed to down the
stretch and Wooster got the win.”
Ashland (6-2,2-1) will be down at West Holmes (5-1,1-1) on Tuesday
night. The Knights beat
Carrollton (44-28) in a non-conference game last week.
They also lost to Wooster (63-52) in their last conference game on
December 15.
They have a new coach in former assistant Don Hall and Hess they have
found the recipe for winning. “I
think this is a West Holmes team that is surprising a lot of people in the
area. They have got off to a
tremendous start with a new coach. It
is a game for us that we talked to our guys about (Monday) that one of our
goals was to compete for a league championship and give ourselves a chance
to win an “OCC” title. Stubbing
our toe against Wooster now gives us a little more implication in all of
these other games and really makes them more important.
West Holmes has the same record as us in the league as far as the
loss column. It is a really
important game for our guys to play down there,” said Hess.
Hess says they realize the importance of this game as far as the
“OCC” goes. He says they
have to be ready to play. “This
not a team to overlook and take lightly.
They play a little different style than we do, but their record
indicates that they are able to win games.
That’s the important thing, not how you do it, but coming up with a
win. So, definitely we need to
get back on focus. We took some
time off around the holiday and now have guys back getting ready to go after
a couple of days off and a couple short practices before we play,” he
said.
Published 12/29/20
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Ashland
Hosts Wooster in Huge “OCC” Game
Ashland and Wooster play at Arrow Arena on Tuesday night in a game
that likely will have a big impact on the Ohio Cardinal Conference this
season.
That would be the case is any year, but in the COVID era, if all of
the conference games aren’t completed this year, only those in the first
round will count in terms of determining a league champion.
Both schools are 2-0 in conference games so far.
Ashland traveled to Lima to play the LCC Thunderbirds in a
non-conference game on Sunday afternoon and came a way with a (57-50) win.
They had beaten Madison (62-43) in an “OCC” game on Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says Sunday was a confidence builder for them. “It
was a little out of the ordinary as far as schedule goes having to play on
Sunday, but our kids did a nice job of weathering the two and a half hour
bus ride to get over there and get ready to play a game in the middle of the
afternoon. So, I give our kids a
lot of credit. We started a
little slow and had a strong third and were able to hang on there in the
end. Lima Central Catholic has
several state championship banners, so it is a strong program and I thought
it was a good win for us. Hopefully,
it was a game to get is ready to play in this big conference match up on
Tuesday night,” said Hess.
Ashland (6-1,2-0) entertains Wooster (2-0,2-0) on Tuesday night.
The Generals destroyed Mt. Vernon (68-36) last Friday in “OCC”
action.
Hess says the Generals always play with tremendous intensity on the
defensive end and they must handle the ball well.
“Wooster was conference champs a year ago and they have several key
players back. A very athletic
team that likes to get out and pressure 94 feet.
Coach Snowbarger really demands a lot of defensive effort and
intensity and I don’t expect this year’s Wooster team to be any
different. It is just going to
be a matter if we can handle the ball and maneuver through their pressure
and hopefully make smart decisions against it,” he said.
The winner on Tuesday night grabs a one game lead in the current
standings, but Hess says a win could end up meaning much more than that.
“This year being 2020 things are a little upside down and
different. Not to put any more
pressure on this game or make the game bigger than it actually is, but I
know the conference rules for this year are if all of the conference games
don’t get played the first round games are the only ones that count,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “So, for some reason if somebody
doesn’t get to complete all of their games because games get cancelled we
may not get two shots against every league opponent this year.
So, I think there is a lot of importance on this game and I think our
guys will be ready for it and they understand how important it is and how
good Wooster has been the last few years in the league.
It is definitely going to be a fun one.”
Published 12/22/20
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Ashland
Expects Pumped up Madison
Ashland is down the road at Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference play
on Friday night.
It is game where the venue has changed due to the COVID-19 virus.
Madison’s policy is to play, but wit no fans.
Ashland is allowing fans.
The Arrows rallied in the second half on Tuesday to beat Clear Fork
(60-47) in a non-conference game.
Coach Jason Hess says the defensive intensity in the second half was
the difference. “It was one of
those nights where we did not shoot the ball very well to say the least
about our offense. I give our
kids a lot of credit, we got after them and challenged them a little bit to
step up the defensive intensity. We
made a switch on our pressure and went from zone to man to man.
Our kids came out and showed that they were able to do that.
They put a lot of effort out there and played with some energy and
the ball went through the basketball a time or two on some layups on
breakaways. It really kind of
snowballed and our defensive intensity kept coming and we were able to turn
the tide there early in the third,” said Hess.
Ashland (4-1,1-0) is at Madison (0-1,0-1) on Friday.
The Rams have not played since the day after Thanksgiving in losing
(70-49) to Shelby in a non-conference game.
Hess says with such a layoff there are some questions about the Rams,
but what you never question is their effort.
“I expect them to play hard. I
expect them to be excited to play. When
you have been off for that long you don’t know what some of the execution
x’s and o’s will be, but I have no doubt that the effort is going to be
top notch,” he said.
Madison has more height this year, but Hess says his expects them to
approach the game pretty much like they did last year.
“From what you saw in one game film that was quite a while ago.
It was just one game, so it was a small sample size.
They still led by their guards and their perimeter players and they
do have a little more size when you look at them on the roster.
When you watch them play there are a lot of similarities to what they
did a year ago as far as their offensive scheme with the dribble drive and
kicking out for open threes and that type of thing and the defensive
concepts,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We are kind
of preparing similar to what we have seen in the past.
I’m sure like any high school coach, coach Mergel has to make
adjustments depending on his personnel, that changes yearly.
I expect them to be well coached and play hard.”
Published 12/18/20
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Ashland
Plays Lexington or Somebody
On Friday night, Ashland plays at Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game or maybe they will. They
could play someone else.
It all depends on whether of not Richland County remains purple in
the statewide alert system. Lexington
will not play games if the color does not drop to red or lower.
Swankonsports.com has learned that the color is likely to remain
purple, but surprises happen every day.
Ashland (2-1,1-0) lost for the first time this season when Lima
Senior beat them (71-53) last Saturday in a non-league game.
Coach Jason Hess says Lima Senior is very good and he hopes they
learned some things from the defeat. “One
thing we have talked about this week is taking it as a learning experience.
It was an opportunity that we had that wasn’t typically on our
schedule, but we had the opportunity to play a really good basketball team.
It’s a team that has had a lot of success in our Northwest District
coming out of Toledo the last couple of years.
They were still playing last year when COVID shut the state
tournament down. I believe they
were in the regional finals or regional semifinals that week.
It was an opportunity for our kids that hadn’t seen that type of
competition and intensity to get a little taste of it.
So, hopefully we have learned some things from watching the film and
breaking it down to get better and find a few areas that we need to get
better as a basketball team,” said Hess.
Hess says it is difficult not knowing if they are going to play
Lexington or not. He says its is
like last Saturday when they were supposed to play Shelby originally.
“That is kind what we dealt with last Saturday with Lima Senior.
If we would have known all week we were playing them we would have
done a few thigs different to get ready for their style of play because the
way Lima Senior plays is pretty unique style compared to anyone else on our
schedule. It is one those things
when we are trying to get things ready for all circumstances and all
situations in the game because you really don’t know until you step on the
floor who your opponent’s going to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “We saw that last weekend, we had three different opponents for
Saturday and we ended up with Lima Senior.
You just never know for sure and that is the same this week with
Lexington. We are preparing our
kids like we are playing Lexington on Friday night, but if that doesn’t
happen and we play someone else then we will hopefully have our kids ready
to play them as well.”
Another factor is Lexington has not played a game yet and Hess says
it has been hard figure out what they will be facing.
“I have talked to a couple of coaches in the area and asked, hey
what does Lexington have? One
thing that is different with this Lexington team than we have gotten the
last few years is there are not a lot of returners coming back.
I believe they have two, three kids that got much varsity action last
year and they weren’t their primary contributors, last year they were more
role guys. So, it is a little
different than with Norwalk or Mt. Vernon in that they had their key guys
coming back from a year ago, so we knew their scheme and could kind of get
our guys prepared to play those guys personnel wise.
With Lexington it’s a mystery.
I guess give coach (Scott) Hamilton credit for keeping everything
under wraps that they have going down over there at Lexington.
At this point, we are just getting ready to play somebody and we will
see how it falls out on Friday night,” said Hess.
Published 12/10/20
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Ashland
Needs to Improve
Ashland looks like they have the talent to be a contender in the Ohio
Cardinal Conference this year and they play in their first conference game
on Friday night at Mt. Vernon.
They belted Norwalk (82-51) in a non-conference game last Friday as
Luke Denbow poured in 30 points.
However, coach Jason Hess says they still have a lot of getting
better to do. “When we watch
film after the game as coaches you are never as good as you though you where
after the game and you never as bad on the nights you thought you played
bad, it’s always somewhere in the middle.
There are definitely areas we need to improve and get better.
We have kind of taken that approach from day one with our kids back
before we were in scrimmages and playing games was just get better every day
and let the wins fall where they may because if we continue to focus on
ourselves and get better every day good things are going to happen with the
kids we have on this team,” said Hess.
Friday night will be Mt. Vernon’s first game of the season and Hess
that makes preparation more difficult, but there are certain things you can
count on with the Yellow Jackets. “I
believe we are going to be their first game because they haven’t gotten a
chance to play yet, so that can be good and bad.
I’m sure they have the ability to get some information on us from
our first game with Norwalk, so we don’t know a whole lot about them other
than three or four guys they have coming back from last year.
They bring some size back and I know coach Coon always does a good
job with his kids. They run a
more deliberate style offense than we typically do,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It is kind a matchup of two different
styles as far as tempos and the way teams are built and play.
They are built inside, we are built on the perimeter.
So, we are going to have to do a good job, like we did against
Norwalk, of being able to guard inside and hopefully get out in open space
and let our offense play out in the open.”
Ashland hosts very talented Shelby on Saturday night and Hess says
that will be a very interesting matchup.
“It should be a good game. It
will be our home opener, so we will be excited for sure.
Obviously, this week our focus has been on Mt. Vernon with that being
the conference game, but when Saturday comes we are going to be ready and
get our kids ready Saturday morning for them.
They bring a lot of kids back and the top end of their group from
last year is very good. We had a
great game over there at their place a year ago, so I don’t expect
anything less this time around,” he said.
Published 12/03/20
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Ashland
Wants to Speed Norwalk up
For Ashland the high school boys’ basketball season begins on
Friday night on the road against the Norwalk Truckers in non-conference
play.
Coach Jason Hess says he and the players are kicking at the barn
stall to get going this year. “I
know we are ready to play somebody. We
have had a few scrimmages, but that’s never the same and we didn’t get a
lot of competition this summer. We
have kids that are just itching to play.
So, I’m excited that it’s here, I’m excited the kids are
finally getting an opportunity because up until this week I’ll be honest I
had a little doubt in my mind whether we were going to play this week,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “So, it’s exciting that
it’s here. We have scrimmaged,
but that doesn’t really tell the tale.
There is going to be a lot of first game jitters, first game
learning, you always see a big improvement from game one to game two.
So, we have to get game one out of the way and just learn from it and
keep getting better.”
The status of the season could change at any moment.
As is stands right now, basketball season, which for the boys started
Wednesday night could end or be delayed at any time.
Right now, the OHSAA is saying play games with limited or no fans.
Hess says the strength of the Arrows this year is going to be their
guard play where they are experienced and talented.
“We have three returning guards that started a lot last year.
Unfortunately, we lost two of them to injury at the end of the
season. We have three guards
that are very talented, two of them for sure are next level guards and the
other one is not far behind. So,
very fortunate to have that returning nucleus.
Unfortunately, everybody else for us is going to be new.
We have three really good players with varsity experience and we have
other guys that are going to be trying to figure it out for the first
time,” he said.
At this point in the season it can be very difficult to know much
about the other team, but Hess says they understand they are going to need
to make the Truckers play faster than they want to.
“Everything is a little bit different this year, so trying to get
much of a read on opponents this early in the season is hard to do.
Just looking at what they had coming back from last year when we
played them a year ago, they have some pretty good size and knowing coach
Gray they are going to be very disciplined om offense.
They are going to run their stuff.
We are going to have to defend for longer stretches than we are
accustomed to defending, so hopefully we can pressure them and speed them up
a little bit. Hopefully, we can
stay patient on defense and stick to our defensive principles against their
more deliberate execution on offense,” said Hess.
Published 11/26/20
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Ashland
Eager to Get Season Started
Ashland is a basketball team that ended last season playing its best
basketball of the year and they hope they can start this season the same
way.
Of course, the Arrows, like everyone else is dealing with the
COVID-19 pandemic and coach Jason Hess says that means there are some things
that are simply out of their control. “We
talk to our guys about controlling the controllables and taking care of what
we can on the floor. In this
situation this year there are so many things that are outside our realm of
control. At times you just feel
like you are just floating along riding the waves or a pawn in someone
else’s chess game. You have to
make the most of it and be flexible and don’t get locked into one certain
way because it is changing day by day,” said Hess.
Hess says they will once again be led by their guard play, which he
believes will be pretty good this season.
“We had a few kids that we were counting on last year that decided
not to be part of the program this year, so we have a few less numbers than
we were expecting as we went through the summer and that happens every year.
There are some kids that decide to focus on something else or do
something else. How much the
COVID protocols and all of that are a factor I don’t know, it’s hard to
say. We have a group of nine
guys that really want to be here and that’s an exciting thing and they
bring a lot of energy to practice because they were very committed,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They were with us all summer with all
of our workouts and even though we weren’t allowed to play outside
competition we did more inhouse things than we did in the past just because
we were able to go through August and the guys were very committed to being
here. I know they are ready to
play some outside competition to see where we measure up.
We have three varsity returners that saw a lot of action last year
and some the year before that. Our
guard play should be very strong again this year.
I like some of the guys coming off the JV team and some of the
improvements they have made that I think will help us on the inside.”
With the uncertainties that this season will surely have, Hess says
they must get leadership on and off the court if they are going to keep the
ship headed in the right direction. “I
don’t think anybody has fully wrapped their head around this virus and the
way everything goes. There are
certain protocols that are in place for a reason and we just hope those are
the best way to control it if we can. We
need to have guys not only on the floor, but on staff that will hold our
team accountable to make sure we are talking all of the necessary safety
protocols, but also with the flexibility with the way things are changing on
a daily basis, sometimes hourly, just to give that stability to our guys,
especially our inexperienced guys that are still going to be doing a lot of
learning here early on. We are
not going to get quite as many scrimmages in this year as we have had in
past years. You look at college
football schedules and games are getting cancelled weekly because of
positive tests. So, you just
don’t know for sure from one week to the next.
You may have two or three games scheduled, but you may have a big gap
in there if something gets cancelled and go 10, 12 days or longer without a
game. So, just keep everybody
ready to play and on the same page and have good practices when we have long
dry spells without games is going to be extremely important,” said Hess.
Published 11/13/20
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Ashland
Wants Piece of “OCC” Crown
Ashland visits Wooster on Friday night for an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game. At stake is the
conference title. Wooster
already has their piece and Ashland would get a share if they could win.
It would be Ashland’s first “OCC” title since sharing it with
Mansfield Senior in 2017. Wooster
has won the last two titles outright.
Last Friday, the Arrows (7-2) lost a heartbreaker when Parma Heights
Holy Name kicked a field goal with three seconds left lifting the Green Wave
to a (17-14) win over Ashland in a division III regional semifinal game.
Coach Seder says the game boiled down to three or four plays they
didn’t make. “It was
definitely a tough game. It is
one of those that we will always look back on and do the what ifs.
We identified about three or four plays that if any of those plays go
in our favor we will probably will the game or we feel like we have a pretty
good chance, but it is one of those things where it kind of happens like it
did. We didn’t come out with a
win, so hats off to Holy Name. We
had a pretty successful playoff run anyway and we move on to “OCC” play
now,” he said.
One of those plays would have been when Ashland went for it on fourth
and one in their own territory with 1:40 left and didn’t make it, leading
to the game winning field goal.
Seder says this week is a mental challenge as much as a physical
challenge. “I think that has
been the biggest challenge. Of
course, the year of 2020 has been very different in general, but typically
when you lose in the playoffs you are done.
I think for a lot of kids, especially our seniors coming off a
“Sweet 16” where we probably could have won, it was that heartbreaker, I
think some of them you might think they are pretty good where they are at,
but as soon as you tell them they have a chance to play for a conference
championship it kind of perks your ears up a little bit.
So, for our seniors and our upperclassmen, this is a pretty good
opportunity. It’s tough to
come off a playoff loss, I think they are ready to turn the page,” said
Seder.
Wooster (8-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, is coming off a (34-27) win over Nordonia in a
non-conference game.
Seder says this the best team they have played all year.
“I’ll be honest, of all of the teams we have played, and we have
played some pretty good teams this year, I think Wooster is probably the
best, just top to bottom. They
are good on offense and defense. Of
course, their only loss is to Olentangy Berlin (48-40) in the playoffs, so
we think they are a heck of a football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “They have a really good quarterback, a good running
back, receivers, their O-line and D-line is probably this biggest we have
played all year. Ironically,
after coming on a tough playoff loss this is probably the best team we have
played all year. We have a ton
of respect for them and we think they are a really good football team.”
As always, Seder says turnovers are going to be a factor, but
moreover it is going to be who is more ready to play the game.
“There are a couple kind of keys to the game Friday night and
turnovers is always a big one. We
have noticed when they have trouble, they might throw some interceptions or
have some fumbles. Of course,
takeaways are huge for us on defense and or course protecting the ball, but
one of the other big things we looked at this is kind of that weird week
where whoever comes ready to play the game and is more focused and really
wants to win I think is a huge factor in this game just because it is post
playoffs, it’s the last game of the season and that team that is hungrier
or wants it more, I think that’s big benefit for them,” said Seder.
Published 11/05/20
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Trenches
Key for Ashland
Ashland plays at home on Friday night as they entertain the Green
Wave of Parma Heights Holy Name in the division III regional semifinals at
Community Stadium.
They advanced last week with a (21-7) win over Norwalk, of the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
They forced two fumbles early, one returned for a score and coach
Sean Seder says they had very good focus.
“We got to deal with the weather like most of Ohio.
I thought our kids did a pretty good job of it.
It is definitely tough to get really excited, amped up and ready to
go and then you have to sit down and get up and sit down again.
One we did get out on the field, the weather cleared up for us for
the most part, it wasn’t heavy rain or anything and the kids went out and
played a good game,” he said.
Holy Name (6-1) rallied to beat Bowling Green (24-21) on the road
last Friday.
Seder says they are as good as they have seen this year.
“I think they are a really good football team.
I think they are pretty well coached.
Just looking at them, having broken them down and everything, I think
they are probably as good as anyone in our region as far as just general
talent and skill. A lot of their
good players ironically are sophomores and juniors, so they are going to be
pretty good for the foreseeable future.
They have a really big, athletic O-line, D-line and they have some
pretty good athletes. Their
quarterback is probably the fastest kid that we have seen all year and he is
just a phenomenal athlete,” said Seder.
Holy Name has only given up more than 20 points twice this season and
never more than 24.
Seder says they do everything well.
“Their defense is pretty dog on impressive.
They have had three shutouts. They
actually should have a fourth shutout, but their twos gave up a late
touchdown in one of those games. Their
very first game of the season, the only one that they lost, was against
Walsh Jesuit, who of course just bowled out last week against Benedictine.
Their defense is pretty impressive.
I think they are only giving up, we did the numbers, like seven
points a game. They are really
stout up front and then when they are on offense they are averaging over 30
a game. They are a pretty
complete team and they look good so far,” said Seder.
Ashland is on the plus side of the turnover ratio this year and that
must continue, but Seder says the big thing is they must compete up front.
“The biggest thing for us always comes down to turnovers.
Last week, we had a scoop and score on defense.
We have got to have takeaways. Against
a really good defense you are not going to have a ton of opportunities to
score, so you have to capitalize. We
have to make sure we protect the football.
I think the real indicator on whether we will be able to walk away
with another victory and advance is going to come down to our O-line and
D-line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We feel like that
has been a strength for us all year, but I think that is their team strength
as well, so it is going to be good on good.
We have talked to our line about that and challenged them and said,
hey, they have a really good O-line, D-line and we think we have a pretty
good one too, so we will square off and see what happens on Friday.”
Published 10/28/20
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Ashland
and Norwalk Tangle in Playoff Game
Ashland, in a share of the second place in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference, takes on Norwalk, out of the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, in a division III regional quarterfinal game at Community
Stadium in Ashland on Friday night.
The Arrows (6-1) beat Mansfield Senior in a battle of “OCC” teams
(35-22) last week in a second round game.
Coach Sean Seder felt it was a pretty good overall effort.
“We felt pretty good about last week’s game.
We kind of joked, or at least told the kids, that we played three
quarter of really good playoff football and that fourth quarter we need to
flush that and put four together. Give
credit to Mansfield Senior, their coaches and their kids.
They played well and fought back, but overall thought we played a
pretty good overall football game last week,” he said.
Declan Rohr threw four touchdown passes in that game.
Ashland has shown good balance by being able to both run and pass and
Seder says that makes them more difficult to defend.
“That has been a big focus of ours.
I just know from a defensive perspective that anytime an offense can
both run and throw they are more of a treat to you.
We try to be two dimensional as much as we can.
I think we have a pretty good run game with Ethan Hartley and our
O-line and Declan Rohr and our receivers do a pretty good job too.
We try to be as multi dimensional as possible.
Hopefully, the weather fairs well and we can take that into week
three of the playoffs,” said Seder.
There is rain in the forecast for Friday.
Norwalk (4-3) outlasted Copley (17-10) last week after giving up all
10 of those points in the first couple minutes of the game.
Seder says they have an outstanding defense and they have some
athletes on offense. “We feel
like they have a pretty good defense. They
kind of play a 4-2-5 base and they shift into a 3-2 look at times with a lot
of zone coverage behind it. I
think they really rely on that defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday, “Offensively, they have a gun slinger in #12 (Garrett Chapin).
The person we call their due is #6 Ethan Phillips, I think he is a
pretty good player. Then they
have (Oliver) Maloney #3 and #4 (Kade Staley) and #1 (Sam Battles) are
pretty good players as well. They
have some pretty good guys on offense kind of game planed around their
passing game mostly. Again, with
the weather this week it will be interesting to see what happens.
We have to prepare on all fronts if you will.”
Norwalk also has one of the best field goals kickers in the country
in Garrison Smith. Seder says
they have to account for what he brings to the table.
“He is a heck of a field goal kicker.
Last week he made a 57 yarder. He
has made a couple of other 50-yarders this season.
From what I have heard one of the top field goal kickers in the
nation, so anytime you have a kid like that on your team it gets you more
points on offense. Game planning
wise it affects us a little bit that we know if they get past the 50 they
are in striking range. So, we
have to take advantage of our offensive snaps and our possessions on
offense,” said Seder.
Published 10/22/20
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Ashland
Wants to be Aggressive This Time
It’s the second time around for Ashland and Mansfield Senior as
they Arrows and Tygers clash Friday night in a second round playoff game in
division III.
The first time they met, also at Community Stadium on September 18,
the Arrows won (13-6) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
Ashland (5-1) did not play last week, but coach Sean Seder says they
got better as a football team. “I
felt we took a step forward. That
is one of the big things that we really try and focus on.
Bye weeks in high school football aren’t too common, so you can
either go backwards of go forward and we really focused on getting better.
I think we have a lot of guys that were banged up and they got
healthy, so I feel like we took a step forward last week,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (3-4) scored on the first play from scrimmage on a
reverse pass from Amar Davis to Myles Bradley and made that stand up for a
(7-3) win over Sylvania Southview in a first round game at Arlin Field to
advance.
It’s rather unique to play a team twice in a football season, but
Seder says they know what to expect. “In
football you don’t see it a whole lot.
Playing a team twice is always tough, especially once you get to know
what they do. I think when it
comes down to it, it is going to be a good football game.
Senior High has an elite defense.
It looks like they are trying to figure things out on offense, but
when you have a defense that plays that well they keep you in every football
game. They have some dynamic
players in Bradley and Grose and a couple of underclassmen that can take it
to the house on any given play, so they are always a tough opponent,” said
Seder.
The Ashland coach says they want to be more aggressive in the things
that they call on both offense and defense this time.
“When we look back at the first game and we have spent a lot of
time watching that film we went in with kind of a conservative game plan.
We feel we have a pretty good O-line and a pretty good running back
and we were going to lean heavily on them and lean heavily on our defense
because they have been doing great all year as well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think this time though we will
look at some similar things, but I think we have some confidence in our
quarterback and our receivers and we might have a little more of an open
attack offensively and defensively if they really do have a freshman
quarterback back there then we have to do our job on defense and try and
make his life difficult. It’s
playoff football, try find a way and advance.”
The last time they played on October 2, West Holmes outscored Ashland
(35-0) in the second half and beat them (35-14) for the Arrows only loss
this year.
Seder says they are out to prove that half is not what they are all
about. “We looked offensively
and defensively and said here is what we have done for the entire season and
that second half against West Holmes was kind of the anomaly.
The defense was not happy with their performance, the offense
wasn’t happy with their performance. The
nice thing is you get another chance to come out and play and it’s at
home, so you get to have a final say about what people think about how you
play on the field. Everyone is
kind of chomping at the bit to get out there and show what we are made
of,” said Seder.
Published 10/13/20
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Big
One for Ashland Versus West Holmes
Ashland is in a share of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference
with the Wooster Generals and they travel to West Holmes on Friday night for
an “OCC” game against the dangerous Knights.
Now, the Arrows are scheduled to play Wooster in maybe about a month
after the non-postseason playoffs are done for both sides, but that game
isn’t nearly as interesting if Ashland doesn’t win on Friday.
Wooster plays a non-conference game against Louisville on Friday.
Ashland (5-0,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, beat Lexington (44-10) last week.
Coach Sean Seder says they were ready to play against the winless
Minutemen. “We thought
Lexington had a pretty good defense. We
knew they were struggling a little bit on offense.
We knew it was one of those games where we couldn’t overlook our
opponent. Thankfully, we came
out and took care of business on both sides of the ball and got a big
conference win. Now, we are set
up for a big conference game with West Holmes,” he said.
Quarterback DeClan Rohr threw for 366 yards against Lexington last
week.
The Arrows defense has not allowed more than one TD in any league
game, but they are going to be challenged this week.
The Knights lost a non-league game to future “OCC” member New
Philadelphia (37-15) last week.
Seder says West Holmes (3-2,3-1) is very explosive on offense.
“We think they are a really good offensive team.
They play pretty good defense as well.
Offensively, they are pretty impressive.
They started out the first week against Senior and put 56 points on
them. They have had some pretty
tough opponent lately in Wooster and New Phily.
I think New Phily is the real deal and so is Wooster.
We don’t put too much weight into that, that all of the sudden they
aren’t a very good football team. We
think they are pretty good. It’s
going to be a tough game down at West Holmes,” said Seder.
West Holmes averaged 60 points over their first two games, but they
have put only two scores on the board in each of their last three contests.
West Holmes tends to be very aggressive on offense.
Seder says they are not afraid to take chances and that can end up in
big plays for them. “They have
a pretty good receiver in #20 Brady Taylor.
They will throw it deep to him and he either catches it for a big
play and a touchdown or like against Wooster I think they had five
turnovers. They are kind of a
fest or famine team. It can be
scary because you definitely don’t want them to be feasting on you and
getting lots and lots of big plays. That
is kind of what happened week one against Senior.
Hopefully, we stay opportunistic on defense and we can force some
turnovers and keep some of their big playmakers in check,” said Seder.
Published 9/29/20
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Ashland
Faces Tough Lexington Defense
Ashland, the co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, entertains
Lexington in a conference game on Friday night at Community Stadium.
The football season is about as clear as driving U.S. Route 30 near
Charles Mill Lake, simply it ain’t clear in almost every case.
In the “OCC” the co-leaders Ashland and Wooster on not scheduled
to play until October 23, if they play then.
Wooster plays at Mansfield Senior Friday night in their final
conference game before the playoffs. The
Arrows host Lex and then travel to West Holmes next week.
Ashland (4-0,3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, hung on to beat Mansfield Senior (13-6) last
week to remain unbeaten.
Coach Sean Seder is pretty proud of the effort.
“We came into that game knowing Mansfield Senior is a heck of a
football team. I know the record
may not show how good they are, but we thought they were a pretty good team
and it was going to be a dogfight. They
have a really good defense and they have some weapons on offense.
Our defense did a good job of keeping them corralled in.
Our offense was able to put some points on the board.
Always happy when you can get a quality win against a good
opponent,” said Seder.
Ashland has been known for an explosive offense, but this year Seder
says their focus has been on defense. “If
you have a stout defense you don’t have to score 40 points to win a game.
We said we wanted to switch things up a little bit going into this
season and really wanted to focus on having a tough, physical defense and I
think we have that. Our goal is
to always keep the other team under 20 and the offense score over 24 and if
we make those metrics happen, we will win a lot of football games,” he
said.
Lexington (0-4,0-4) lost (16-0) to West Holmes last week and they
have played good defense all season. Their
offense, on the other hand, has only one score to its credit this year.
Seder says they are going to need to execute to score because
Lexington isn’t gong to give them easy ones.
“I think they are a pretty good defensive football team.
They held West Holmes, which is a pretty good offensive football
team, to two touchdowns last week. They
did the same thing to Mt. Vernon. They
played Mansfield Senior and Wooster tight for a little while, but then
turnovers and big plays got the best of them,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday evening, “I think their defense is pretty tough.
I think they have some athletes on the offensive side.
It looks like they still trying to find their identity and get things
rolling. You don’t want to be
that team they figure it out playing.”
Published 9/24/20
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Ashland
Hosts Dangerous Mansfield Senior
In a key game the Ohio Cardinal Conference Ashland, a co-leader in
the conference standings, play at home against Mansfield Senior, a game
back, on Friday night.
Ashland (3-0,2-0) shares first place with Wooster in the “OCC”
standings.
They beat Madison (45-7) last week and coach Sean Seder says they
were able to avoid a letdown. “We
kind of identified that as a trap week.
It was our first week of school and an opponent that was coming off
some losses and we were afraid the kids might overlook them.
There were just all kind of reasons it could be a trap game.
It was a definitely a concern of the staff.
The kids came out a little flat, but then after we got a couple of
turnovers and scored a touchdown things definitely started rolling and they
took care of business,” said Seder.
Ashland forced four first half turnovers last week that led to 21
points in the win.
Mansfield Senior (1-2,1-1) punished Lexington (42-6) to pick up their
first win of the season.
Seder thinks they are getting better every time they play.
“I think they are a really good football team.
We have told our kids to ignore their record because I do think if
their play West Holmes a little later in the season.
I think Senior has gotten better every week.
I think they are a really talented group.
They had a little bit of youth maybe that week one that cost them
some points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They got
better week two because DeSales is a good opponent and then last week
against Lex. They are getting
better every week. The more
experienced their kids get, the more dangerous they become.
So, we have to come out ready to play football.”
Mansfield Senior quarterback Brock Hill threw three TD passes last
week against Lexington.
The Tygers are younger than they have been in recent seasons, but
they still have big play makers due to their speed.
Seder says one missed tackle leads to a big play.
“That is the things that scares you a little bit about them.
They are known for their defense, they are a really good defensive
team, but they have weapons on offense that they can have big explosive
plays. So, that is the part that
makes them dangerous and a little scary to scheme against because even if
you are in the right position at times if you have one missed tackle all of
the sudden a five yard gain turns into a big gain.
Trying to limit those explosive plays is the big focus for us,”
said Seder.
On defense, Mansfield Senior has the athleticism to be aggressive
because they can cover you with their athletic backs, according to Seder.
“They have good overall team speed.
They usually play a really aggressive team defense.
A lot of teams like to sit back a little more, but they will come up
and get in your face and bring a lot of pressure and play man coverage
behind it. Basically, making you
beat them and just giving you things. They
are a really good defense. They
are going to be a tough test on Friday,” he said.
Published 9/16/20
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Ashland Can’t Overlook Madison
Ashland, in a share of first place in the Cardinal Conference, takes to the road, down U.S. Route 42, to Mansfield Madison for a conference game on Friday night.
Last week, in their conference opener the Arrows (2-0,1-0) beat Mt. Vernon (39-6) at Community Stadium.
Coach Sean Seder says they played well after the first drive and especially in the second half. “We had that first drive when we turned it over in the red zone and that kind of set them up for a score and you are thinking, man, I hope we take care of things with the turnovers. We were able to rebound and at the half it was 21-6 and had a couple of big stops on defense. I felt like the third quarter we kind of opened things up and got rolling,” said Seder.
One aspect of the game that has to be strengthened is their ball security, according to Seder. “I think the biggest thing for us is just protecting the football. That has been a big focus this whole off season. The defense, if we can just keep getting takeaways and if we can just protect the ball better and make good decisions, I think that is going to go a long way for us,” he said.
Madison (0-2,0-2) has faced two outstanding teams in conference play so far this season and they have been taken to the woodshed by Wooster (48-6) and West Holmes (63-0) last Friday.
However, Seder says they can not afford to look past the Rams to Mansfield Senior, who they play next week, or anyone else. “They have some pretty good athletes. That is one thing that we told our kids is they lost two games, but I think Wooster and West Holmes are the two teams you have to go through to win the conference this year. We understand they have played some pretty good football teams and we can’t overlook anybody, so hopefully we are ready to go this week,” he said.
The Madison offense has not gotten into the end zone this season, but Seder says they have some athletes they must deal with and they try and do a lot of things on offense. “They are kind of multiple. Just from watching them on film it feels like they are still trying to find their identity. They have a pretty good receiver and just a general athlete in number #3 Brooks. They like to try and get him the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “They have some good running backs and receivers, and of course, Osborne and Barrett and what they have done from wrestling. So, we think they have some pretty good athletes. They are going to do all kinds of formations and shifts to try and get those guys the ball.”
Published 9/07/20
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Ashland Has to Clean Things Up
Ashland begins play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night by hosting the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets at Community Stadium.
The Arrows won their first game last week (19-18) at Berea-Midpark.
Coach Sean Seder says it was kind of an ugly win for them to be honest. “It was definitely a big win for us, kind of a confidence booster. Again, it was one of those ugly bad weather games that you just have to try and grit out and find a way to win. We got down 12-0, but the kids are really resilient, dealt with that adversity and found a way to come back and ended coming out on top,” he said.
Seder says coming into league play they need to take advantage of their opportunities on offense and be more consistent on defense. “The biggest thing that sticks out for out for us is there are not a whole lot games you re able to win when you turn the ball over and you just play ugly. We had three turnovers and we definitely have to clean that up and capitalize on our chances,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “When we went back and looked at we felt offensively we could have put 40 on the board and ended with 19. Defensively, we could have held them to just one score. Those are the things we look at as a staff to tweak and improve on.”
Mt. Vernon won their opener last weekend in a game that was played mostly on Saturday (16-0) at Lexington.
Seder says the Yellow Jackets showed a strong defense and a pretty good running game. “We had some people that actually went to that game and they did say the grass field come Saturday was pretty interesting. Sounds like it was old school lots and lots of run, tough football game. That fact that they were able to hold Lexington to a shutout means their defense is up to the task, so we are going to have to come ready on offense. For us defensively, we have to be prepared to stop the run,” said Seder.
Mt. Vernon likes to feature the wing-T offense, which emphasizes the power run and they are going to have need to be focused on stopping that approach. “That definitely presents kind of a unique challenge because there aren’t as many teams in the area that run wing-T anymore. Most teams are kind of fast paced offense, so they are definitely a unique challenge, something our defense has spent a lot of time on. Hopefully, we will be ready to go come Friday,” he said.
Published 9/01/20
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Ashland Pretty Pleased
Ashland is the odd team out in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this week as they play Berea-Midpark in a non-conference game on the road on Friday night.
It took until last Friday to even come up with an opponent for them to play. Arrows coach Sean Seder says they don’t know much about their opponent either. “It has definitely been different. We found out last Friday we had Berea-Midpark. I think what has been different is we usually know a decent amount about our opponent. We have film on them. I mean we didn’t even do a film exchange. They haven’t been able to scrimmage yet this year. Like most people we kind of looked online and find highlights and different things from last season. Of course, read all of the newspaper clippings that are out there about them. We don’t have a true barometer or know exactly what to expect. We are just kind of guessing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “So, that is definitely different from a week one perspective. I guess we are kind of focusing on ourselves. We do know who we have in the “OCC” so we will go out and compete and do our best this week and hopefully we will come out on top. After that there will be some more normalcy as far as opponents and what to expect.”
Ashland was able to scrimmage North Canton Hoover last weekend and Seder says he likes what he sees from his kids. “I think after beating ourselves up for a good couple of weeks being able to go against North Canton Hoover was a pretty good scrimmage. They are always a tough, physical football team, so we feel that was definitely in our favor. We had a good scrimmage. We are pretty happy with where we are right now. Of course, now with Berea we are not quite sure what to expect, so we are just going to go out and do the stuff we are doing and learn from it either way, win or loss and kind of go from there,” said Seder.
Ashland was one of the first teams in this area to embrace the empty backfield and Seder says they still feature some that. “We are probably pretty similar to last year. We still definitely still have empty as part of our offense. I don’t know I would identify us as nothing but empty. We have a pretty good running back and we will put him in the backfield. We may be empty half of the time, one back, two back, from time to time. We try and be kind of multiple, but we still kind of have those air raid tendencies,” said Seder.
On defense, Seder says they are similar and they have some kids that can make plays. “One of the biggest things we focused on in the off season was the fundamentals. We have been hitting them pretty hard. Schematically pretty similar with the ability to go to a three front or an even front. We have pretty good D-linemen and secondary play, so as long as we keep playing sound fundamental defense we are pretty happy with it,” he said.
Published 8/27/20
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Ashland Working on Depth
This week the go ahead was given to play football in the State of Ohio, but with a constricted plan it is presenting some challenges, a lot of them involve scheduling.
The “MOAC” stepped up to give Lucas someone to play.
In the Ohio Cardinal Conference there are an odd number of schools, which means somebody is always looking for a non-league game in an environment where everybody is playing league games only.
Ashland is in that position week one and as of Thursday afternoon, coach Sean Seder says there are still trying to finalize an opponent. “Initially there was extreme excitement everybody just elated players, coaches, family, everybody, that we finally get to have a season, but then once they announced that we were going to have a six week season almost everybody in the state went to league only play. We just happened to have a week one bye, so that has proved to be a difficult situation to try and find a week one opponent. We are still trying to finalize it,” said Seder.
Now, the Arrows have been able to lineup a scrimmage for this week and Seder says that is a big help. “Only having one scrimmage is definitely something different. It is going to be the closest thing to a game that we can get before week one. All of the schools and coaches really felt like we needed it. North Canton Hoover is always a pretty good football team. So, we’ll have a good test right off the bat. We are excited about that,” he said.
Seder, also the wrestling coach at Ashland, is in his second year as the head football coach and he says right now they are working hard at making sure they have depth on both sides of the ball. “We are pretty happy with where we are at right now. You always have things to improve on and stuff to get better at every week. I’m happy with where our defense is and the offense is coming around as well. We have a pretty good 11 on both sides of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have a little bit of depth. That is the biggest thing for us is figuring out who are our guys that are going to sub in and out, who are our twos and our threes. Like most high schools as soon as you have a starter go out you have to make sure you have the next guy up ready to go. That is kind of the biggest focus for us right now is making sure we get all of the fundamentals down, the scheme down, and make sure we have another guy ready to step up with need be.”
Published 8/21/20
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Ashland With a lot of Seniors
Ashland is loaded with seniors on its baseball team and that’s good and bad depending on what happens over the next month.
The latest from the OHSAA is practice can begin when students return to buildings May 4 and games are permitted starting May 9. However, that is subject depending on how things continue to develop regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has been more than a month since there has been any baseball practice and Arrows coach Rich Gough says that leads to a lot of question marks. “With the regulations that the state came down with, with no physical contact with the players it is hard to have an idea where they are at. Our kids have been instructed to stay somewhat in shape and throw a little bit. Not getting in big groups, no team stuff. Find a buddy and maybe play some catch. We will just have to wait and see what happens,” he said.
Gough says five days to get a pitching staff ready is stretching it a little bit. “It is kind of hard to get your pitchers ready in one week given the fact that they have four or five weeks to get ready at the beginning of the season. We were making good progress in the gym with the practices that we had, but I’m afraid the kids have lost all of that conditioning. We might have to carry 15 pitchers just to get through a ball game,” said Gough.
Gough added that this spring shapes up as a very good baseball season for the Arrows if they can get on the field at all this year. “We have been building the program. I think we were up to more than 40 kids this year, which is kind of a high. We were going to have three teams for the first time in a number of years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The varsity was basically I have 10 seniors and a number of those seniors were two year starters and going to be three year starters, so the staff was pretty excited about what we would be able to do this year.”
Published 4/14/20
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New Philadelphia to the “OCC”
New Philadelphia has become the eighth member of the Ohio Cardinal Conference and will begin play in the league in 2022.
Madison Athletic Director Doug Rickert says they have been looking for another member since Clear Fork left the league and they were finally able to come to an agreement. “We have been looking everywhere for the last few years. It is really difficult when you have schools in the east and schools in the west to try and make everybody happy. We have had some possibilities along the way, but nothing that was ever etched in stone. We knew that Dover and New Phily both wanted in our league. We kind of thought maybe it was a package deal. We really didn’t want to go from a league of seven to a league of nine, we wanted to be a league of eight. We sent out a letter to see if only one of them would come and both schools said they would come without each of other. We ended up with New Phily giving a presentation. We liked what we heard and we invited them into our league,” said Rickert.
A source has told Swankonsports.com the current member Mt. Vernon has inquired about rejoining the ever expanding Ohio Capital Conference. West Holmes at various times has expressed its dissatisfaction. However, there have been no official moves made by either.
New Philadelphia is in Tuscarawas County and is about a 90 minute drive from Mansfield.
Rickert says yes, it is a long drive for the schools in the Mansfield area, but there are other things you must consider. “It is an it isn’t. I mean everyone talks about that, but you have look at it like this. When we only had seven teams in our league and we had a bye week. In order to fill that week, we were playing teams in Cleveland, Columbus, Mentor, Toledo, and they were traveling anyway. I know Lexington was playing Ottawa-Glandorf and we were playing teams in Sylvania and we were playing teams in Mentor and trying to find these teams to play. Even in baseball or softball we are traveling to Columbus or Cleveland because we have a bye week there and you have to play whoever you could play. Yeah there is travel, but we are going to go to New Phily once every other year in football and once every other year in soccer. We go to West Holmes and just add another 20 minutes to that,” he said.
It is common practice that most leagues want eight members, that seems to be he perfect number. Rickert explains why that is the case. “I think it is a perfect number for games played in your season. For example, in football you are going to play three out of conference games and seven league games. With basketball and a 22 game season and you are going to play 14 league games, which is neat, because it is hard to find schools to play you. So, you only have to find eight out of conference basketball games. The same with baseball,” he told Swankonsports.com, “There is a 16 game season in soccer, so you want to have your league games take up some of those 16. When you have a soccer program like coach (Zac) Huff has built over here at Madison with our girls’ team, he wants to play a lot of out of conference games. He wants to play a lot of out of conference games against teams that will help him get seeded, but you also want to play teams in your league and for your league to be strong. If you have too may league games then all you are doing is playing league games and you don’t want that, but if you only have a six or seven team league it can become difficult to fill those games.”
The Knox Morrow Athletic Conference is also seeking an eighth member to replace Highland. Lucas, Loudonville, Utica and Johnstown Northridge are being considered.
Published 4/14/20
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Ashland Looking for Upset
Ashland takes its act to Toledo to face Lima Senior in a division I district semifinal on Thursday night at Savage Hall on the campus of the University of Toledo.
Last Saturday, the Arrows (10-13) beat Fremont Ross (69-65) to win a sectional title.
Coach Jason Hess says it was their first tournament win since 2015. “It was a real good win for us in a lot of instances. Not only to win the game and get to 10 wins this year and you give this group of kids a chance to climb the latter and cut down the nets for a sectional championship, but also when you look at our program it has been five years since we won a tournament game having to travel up to Toledo now. So, it is really rewarding for our guys, the guys that have been part of our program the last few years that haven’t had this opportunity and this group was able to accomplish that goal that they set out at the beginning of the year even though we came up short on some of our other goals. They just kept battling and fighting and always believed. We were able to make the ball bounce our way Saturday a couple of times and get the win,” said Hess.
Lima Senior (20-3) smoked Toledo Waite (80-47) for a sectional championship.
Hess says the Spartans are really loaded. “Lima is really good. They have a lot of depth. Their starting guard, about 6’2”, 6’3”, is going to Bowling Green next year to play. He is exceptional, he is really, really good. They have some bigs, 6’5”, 6’7”, 6’8” guys, so it is definitely a tough matchup. They don’t win the “TRC” without being really, really good, as competitive as that league is and have the record that they have got with the teams that they play. It is definitely an uphill battle. With the way they play it is just not a great matchup for us as far as size. The matchup I do like is their main defense has been full court pressure and we have done a pretty good job of this year handling it. So, I think if we can take care of the basketball we will be in the game and give ourselves a chance, but that is easier said than done with the way Lima pressures,” said Hess.
Nobody outside of Ashland, Ohio, believes the Arrows have much a of chance of winning and Hess says they can use that to their advantage. “We have nothing to lose, we are the fifteenth seed coming into the tournament. We weren’t even supposed to be in this spot to get past Fremont. I don’t think there are a lot of people outside of our gym that are giving us much of a chance. A lot of people outside of our gym weren’t giving us much of a chance last Saturday. I think our kids kind of like that. There is no pressure and they can just go and play. They get the opportunity to play at Savage Hall at the University of Toledo in a division one district game, there aren’t a lot of kids that get a chance to say that. A lot of teams are already at home and we get chance to play another game. That is the exciting part, the fun part. This is why you play the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I told the guys this week that over the weekend we turned the calendar to March. “March Madness” is not built on the top seeds winning all of the time, what makes March Madness, March Madness and the excitement around the NCAA Tournament or even the state tournament here is when upsets happen. Teams that aren’t suppose to win on paper get it together and win. We don’t have to beat Lima in a best of seven series, we just have to beat them one game.”
Published 3/05/20
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Ashland plays Saturday afternoon against Fremont Ross in a division I first round game at Fostoria High School.
The winner will advance to the district level next week.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says they played well at the end of the season, but it has been a while since they were last on the floor. “We did play well there the last couple of games, a couple nice wins, one on the road at West Holmes and then home with Clear Fork and I think it gave our kids some confidence and a little momentum going into the tournament. I do feel it was nice to have this break by the time we play in the tournament it will be a week and a half between our last game and the tournament. It has been nice to give our kids a couple of days off and get refreshed a little bit physically, but I think you also lose a little bit of that momentum since you were playing well since it has been such a long time span between your last game and your first tournament game,” said Hess.
Fremont Ross (7-15) won its last two games of the regular season as well in beating Tiffin Columbian (66-63) and Toledo Whitmer (67-59) last Friday. They finished sixth in the Three Rivers Conference.
Hess says they are a young team with a lot of athleticism. “Fremont is a team that is fairly young this year. They play a couple of freshmen and a couple of sophomores and have some juniors and seniors mixed in a little bit. The thing about Fremont is they have gotten better and better all year. You can see here the last couple of weeks that their freshmen and sophomores are starting to believe and be comfortable at the varsity level. They play extremely hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I know they had a really good win last Friday night against Toledo Whitmer on their home floor. We were up to scout it and see that game on Friday. I mean the kids play really hard. They are extremely aggressive going to the glass and have some good athletes. It is definitely going to be a game where we are going to have to try and match their aggression and intensity.”
Hess says the Arrows (9-13) have really not played a team like Fremont Ross all year long. “It is kind of a different animal. We were just talking about this (Monday) night in the coach’s office as far as trying to give our guys a comparison looking back on the year. Athletically they are similar to a Massillon Washington that we played earlier in the year. They have a lot of those great athletes that are division one football kids. Their aggressiveness on the defense end and the way they crash the glass they remind us a little bit of Mansfield Senior. They are a very athletic team and wouldn’t say we have played anybody exactly like them, but there are some similarities with some of the opponents that we have played this year,” he said.
Published 2/26/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comAshland Wants Momentum
Ashland completes its regular season on Tuesday night as they host Clear Fork in a non-conference game.
They Arrows lost (57-53) to Ontario on Tuesday and beat West Holmes (60-47) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they executed well in the games. “We are doing some good things. Tuesday night against Ontario I thought we had some segments of the game where we played really well. It was back and forth, it was a really good ballgame with Ontario. Unfortunately, we had a little bit of foul trouble. We have limited bench depth already. One of our guys got into four trouble and Ontario was able to make a little bit of a run there in the fourth quarter. We got down, six, eight points there in the fourth and weren’t able to recover from that,” he told Swankonsports.com Monday, “On Friday, to win a conference game on the road, even though West Holmes hadn’t won a game in the league, they got off to a good start against us, but I thought our kids really picked up the energy and intensity on the defensive side of the ball in the second and third quarter and we were able to pull away there and get a nice conference win on the road.”
Ashland (8-13) plays at home against Clear Fork (8-13) on Tuesday night. The Colts lost (86-70) to Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Lucas on Saturday night.
Hess says Clear Fork’s Brennan South is a tremendous player, but they have to be mindful of the other Colts too. “We haven’t had a chance to play them for a couple of years now, but I know coach (Steven) Bechtel does a great job and it has always been a tough matchup with them. There have been a lot of good games with them back and forth. I don’t expect anything different this time around. Those kids are well coached and they are ready to play. I think it is one of those games on a Tuesday night that it’s important to get off to a good start and get a little momentum going early and see the ball go through the basket for us. Brennan South is one of the top scorers in their area, so we will have to do a good job on him. The other guys are kind of key for them, the role players for them, when they step up and have double digit games and are efficient on offense it gives Clear Fork that extra one, two punch and makes them hard to beat,” said Hess.
The Ashland coach says they really want to close the regular season on a high note. “We don’t play our tournament game for 11 days, so it is going to be extremely important for us to end this regular season with a little bit of confidence and play well to hopefully give us a little springboard to some good, crisp practices to get ready for our tournament game. After the Clear Fork game we don’t have any scrimmages or live action for 11 days. So, we want to make sure we can carry that feeling and momentum and take with us into the tournament,” he said.
Published 2/18/20
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Ashland and Ontario a lot a Like
Ashland hosts Ontario in an interesting non-conference game between teams that are led by their guards on Tuesday night at Arrow Arena.
The Arrows are coming off a (67-61) loss to Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Wooster last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they played well, but they could never seem to get the big basket or the big stop when they needed it. “I thought our kids played extremely hard and we did a lot of good things. Give Wooster credit, it seems when you are a good team you make plays. It seemed like whenever we got it to about four, five points, they always came up with a big three or a big basket or something to stretch it back out. They only have one loss and they are going win the conference for a reason they do a nice job. We were right there, but couldn’t quite get over the hump,” said Hess.
Ashland (7-12) is at home for Ontario (13-5) in a non-league game on Tuesday night. Ontario beat Marion Harding (62-44) last Saturday in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game. The Warriors have won six of their last eight and are second place in their league.
Hess says this should be a really good test for them. “They have a really nice year going. I know they had some injuries early and maybe didn’t quite reach the expectations that they had with the injuries, but they are having a really nice year. When we look at their team it’s a team that it’s almost like we are looking in the mirror. There are a lot of similarities between what they do and what we do and the way they play and the way we play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, we are excited to have an opportunity to play against them. We played them last year, but we haven’t played them very many times in the regular season. So, it is fun to kind of start this rivalry up. I have a lot of respect for what coach Joe (Balogh) does and all of the wins he has got, so he must be doing something right.”
Both teams are guard oriented and have perimeter shooting and players that can put the ball on the floor. Hess says they will need to execute very well. “Their guards are very good, that’s the strength of their team and it’s our strength. It’s not just one guard, but multiple guards on both sides. They like to get out and play fast and get the ball up and down the floor and that fits into the style of play that we like to play. So, it is really going to come down to execution and doing the little things right. It’s going to be who is going to get those bounces and put a little extra effort out on a Tuesday night,” he said.
Published 2/11/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comAshland Challenges “OCC” Champ Wooster
Ashland plays at home against Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Wooster on Friday night in league play.
On Tuesday night, in a league game the Arrows lost (49-48) to Madison on a last second shot.
Coach Jason Hess says they clearly had an opportunity to put the game away and did not. “Give Madison and coach Mergel credit, they made the play at the end of the game with seconds left and hit that shot at the buzzer to win the game. Unfortunately for us, we just didn’t execute down the stretch. We had one possession on defense when we gave up an offensive rebound on a free throw, which hurt us. We missed three of our last four free throws. Those kinds of plays kind of sum up the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I don’t know if it was necessarily mental fatigue or physical fatigue or a combination, but we didn’t execute and finish the game like we needed to when we had a four point lead in the last minute. Give Madison credit, they hung in there and kept competing all of the way to the end.”
Ashland (7-11,4-6) is at home for Wooster (15-1,11-0), #2 the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. Wooster clinched the “OCC” title with a (51-34) win over Mt. Vernon on Tuesday night. In the first meeting between Wooster and Ashland, the Generals won (60-52) on January 10.
Hess says the Generals have kids with a lot of talent on offense and they play very intense defense. “Wooster has good length. They have long athletes at 6’4”, 6’5”. They have multiple kids that score off the bounce and a couple of kids that can knock down shots outside on the perimeter. They just do a tremendous job defensively. They play so hard and are so aggressive on defense. They go about eight deep and keep running guys at you and it just wears on teams. They have played several close games here lately within the league, but they have been able to wear their opponents down and pull it out in the fourth quarter,” said Hess.
Could Ashland hand Wooster its first conference loss? Hess believes they have the kind of talent to stick in the game. “We have competed with everybody all year, other than that first game of the year with Sandusky, who is a very good team, we have been right there in all of our games. I give our kids credit for how hard they have played and being able to hang in there even when we have been down double digits multiple times to be able to come back and be competitive in the game. We feel good about this matchup if we can control the game tempo and not get caught up in the pace that Wooster wants to play we should be competitive and right there at the end and hopefully we can make some plays to get a “W,” he said.
Published 2/07/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comAshland Plays Explosive Shelby
Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, on Friday night in a non-conference game.
On Tuesday night, the Arrows took a two point lead into the fourth quarter of an “OCC” game at Lexington, but lost (62-52) to the Minutemen.
Coach Jason Hess says the did some really good things in third quarter, but in the fourth quarter they missed some shots and turned the ball over and that is not a good recipe. “We did a nice job early on. We were down five at halftime, but in the third quarter we got a lot of energy going and we were able to turn Lexington over a few times and get some easy baskets. We played a really strong third quarter and went into the fourth quarter up two,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Unfortunately at the start of the fourth quarter we missed some shots, a couple of inside shots. I think Lexington’s size disrupted what we were doing offensively. They were able to get a couple baskets and we turned the ball over a couple of times and got ourselves behind by about six or eight. Then we are playing catchup the rest of the fourth quarter and weren’t able to get back into the game closer than about four or five.”
Ashland (5-10) is at Shelby (13-2) on Friday. The Whippets had a 23-point first half lead at Willard on Tuesday night, but the Flashes rallied and beat them (78-73) in a non-league game.
Hess says the Whippets are very versatile on offense and their defense takes you out of what you want to do. “They are definitely very good. At 13-2 they have played a pretty good schedule. They have some good size even thought they play a perimeter oriented game their size can get in the paint and score around the basket. Defensively, they play extremely hard and really cause a lot of chaos on defense and make it really difficult for opponents to even run offense because of their pressure,” he said.
With the Whippets fast break offense and their pressure on defense, Hess says there tends to be a lot of ebbs and flows in their games. “They have had several games this year that have gone from one extreme to the other. Just this week they had a 20 point lead and Willard was able to come back. A couple of weeks ago they were down by 10 or 11 against Ontario with just a few minutes left and Shelby came back and won that game. It is definitely a team that can score in bunches, but because of the way they play it is kind of high risk, high reward to a certain extent,” he said.
Published 1/31/20
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Ashland Plays Mansfield Senior Again
Ashland beat Mansfield Senior handily at their place on Friday night and now they play them again on Tuesday in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game at Pete Henry Gym.
Ashland coach Jason Hess says this game was rescheduled from early December and he says he expects a different Mansfield Senior team this time around. “With Mansfield Seniors run for football this game was supposed to be played the second week of December and that didn’t happen, sot it got pushed back to Tuesday night. It is one of those things where you just never know if it’s good, bad or what not, especially after the way the game went on Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I was really happy with our kids effort and they way they played Friday, but Mansfield has now had a couple of days to make some adjustments. They had a game Sunday and we played Saturday, so one game in between and it’s a quick turnaround and get ready and go play.”
Ashland (4-8,3-3) is at Mansfield Senior (4-6,3-3) on Tuesday night. The Arrows won last Friday (67-38) and Hess says he first quarter was key for them. “That was really key for us. We were able to get up early and that allowed us to really control the flow of the game, the tempo of the game. It gave us some more options to do some things offensively that you aren’t able to do when you are behind. It allowed us to be a little more patient and a little more deliberate and I thought that really worked in our favor,” said Hess.
Mansfield Senior shot only 25 percent on Friday night and they have lost four of their last five, including a (67-51) loss to North Canton Hoover on Sunday afternoon.
Ashland, on the other hand, has won four of its last six, and Hess says they are understanding their roles. “We have improved a lot. You can definitely see the maturity of our returning players settling into their new roles of leadership and controlling the game and also being able to step up and make plays when we need them. Also, the younger guys that didn’t have varsity experience after about game six, seven they have really started settling in and figured out what it takes to play at this level,” he said.
Published 1/21/20
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Ashland Finding Its Game
It has taken them longer that they wanted, but Ashland Arrows are starting to find the things that are going to make them successful this season.
They host West Holmes on Tuesday and Mansfield Senior on Friday in Ohio Cardinal Conference games this week.
They lost to unbeaten Wooster (60-52) last Friday in a league game and beat Norwalk (66-56) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess has a smile on his face. “We had a good weekend last
weekend. I think the guys are really starting to come together. Even though
we came up a little short against Wooster the effort was really good and
just the execution of the game plan. We missed some inside shots that hurt
us on Friday. Overall, I think our guys are really starting to buy in and
figure things out and also as coaches we are figuring out our guys now,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had a young roster at the beginning of
the year and we are getting close to that halfway point and we are growing
up a lot and figuring out a lot. Some of the things we were thinking we were
going to do early on we have had to change a little bit schematically.
Overall, I think we have definitely made strides and big strides that were
very visible to fans last weekend, so hopefully we can keep it going this
week.”
Ashland has some quality outside shooters, but Hess says the last couple of
weeks they have been trying to get in the paint more. “We have made a big
emphasis on that the last two weeks about getting shots in the paint and
good looks in the paint. I know at Madison a week ago and then at Wooster,
in those two games we shot 19 threes combined, 10 in one game and nine in
the other and we had a couple of games earlier in the year when we shot over
30. The emphasis has been placed on scoring in the paint and also defending
in the paint and we have done a lot better job the last week and half on
that,” he said.
Ashland (2-7,1-3) entertains West Holmes (4-8,0-5) in a conference game on Tuesday night. The Knights have won two of their last three and lost to Mansfield Senior (44-41) in a conference game on January 3.
Hess says, like them, they are improving. “Well, West Holmes is a team that is getting better. They have I think four wins on the year and they have been very competitive in a lot of their league games. This is a team you can see their improvements and they are right on the cusp of getting their first league win. They haven’t gotten one yet this year, but they have been very competitive with a lot of the teams in the league. They have some good size. They are starting two forwards at 6’4” and 6’5” with good length. So, they definitely have some pieces there and they are figuring it out as well,” said Hess.
Mansfield Senior (3-4,2-2) lost to Lexington (41-39) in an “OCC” game last Friday and to Olentangy Liberty (50-45) in a non-conference game on Saturday. Hess says they are still putting things together, but you must respect them. “They are very unique in our league. No one else has the athletes and is built the way Mansfield is. I am old enough to know and remember how good Mansfield basketball is. This year they aren’t quite where they have been in some years, but is still always fun to play Mansfield. They play hard they are very competitive and they have such good athletes. They are a team that lost a lot from last year and some of the guys that were coming back made some other choices with football and the long football run. There were kind of behind the eight ball as well to start the season. They are a team that has been very competitive in their games. It is atypical for Mansfield to be as low a scoring team as they are, but the defensive effort is there. They have been really competitive and close in all of their games,” said Hess.
Published 1/14/20
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Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comAshland Must Keep Head
Ashland plays at Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Wooster on Friday night hoping to build on some success they had last week.
The Arrows beat Mansfield Madison (54-52) in an “OCC” game last Friday to pick up their first win of the season.
Coach Jason Hess says that has brought an emotional lift to the basketball team, something they needed. “It is amazing the morale boost and the emotional lift you get with just an extra two points. You can play the game the same way, but that one bounce right at the end versus going the other way it just gives you a whole different perspective,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We were on the opposite side of things earlier in the year and you kind of get down on yourselves a little bit when you lose several close games and searching for that first win. Once you get that first one the weight is off your shoulders and you feel a little bit better about yourself.”
After securing an offensive rebound, Eli White converted two free throws for the winning margin against Madison.
Ashland (1-6,1-2) visits Wooster (9-0,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. Wooster won at Mt. Vernon (56-47) to maintain a one game lead on Mansfield Senior and Lexington in the conference standings.
Hess echoes the comments of other coaches in the league in saying that the Generals play with tremendous effort. “The big thing that stands out to me anytime I see Wooster is just how hard those kids play. Coach Snowbarger does a tremendous job of getting his kids to play hard. They put out a lot of energy and effort on defense and pressure the basketball for 94 feet just make things really, really difficult on opponents,” said Hess.
Hess adds that you can not lose your focus against the Generals or it ends of being a big run for them, which is difficult to deal with. “They just feed off of it. A couple of turnovers turn into a couple of layups and a close ballgame can now be double digits. It is about handling the pressure, but also about being able to control the tempo and maintain your composure. Even if you don’t turn the ball over sometimes some quick shots feed into what they want to do as well,” he said.
Published 1/08/20
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Ashland Trying to Develop Inside Game
Ashland, searching for its first victory of the season, plays at Mansfield Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
They dropped their sixth in a row to begin the season when Clyde beat them (76-57) on Saturday night in non-conference play.
Coach Jason Jess says they didn’t play as well as they needed to. “Clyde was one of those games where we obviously didn’t play our best. To put a finger on exactly why that has kind eluded us this week. We are turning the page toward Madison. The score of the Clyde game is of a lot greater disparity than what the game was played. It was a two-point game in the fourth quarter and it ended being almost 20. It was one of those situations where the wheels fell off the bus. We didn’t finish the game the way needed to,” he said.
Ashland (0-6,0-2) is at Madison (3-6,1-2) in a conference game on Friday night. The Rams lost their “OCC” game last week (50-28) to Lexington. However, they rallied to beat Clear Fork (58-51) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Hess says its is difficult to predict what kind of Madison team you are going to get. “I have seen the different scores and the stats in the scouting that we have done it is almost like Madison is two different teams. So, hopefully we are able to get a team that is not as sharp on Friday night as they have been on other nights,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I think that has been dictated by their opponents and the way teams have guarded them. Madison is a team that depends a lot on three point shooting, as do we. Three point shooting can be very inconsistent at the high school level.”
Both teams rely heavily on perimeter play, but Hess says it might come down to who can do some things in the paint and that team in likely to win. “I think the perimeter defense is going to be important. Who makes good decisions and takes care of the basketball and can find a little bit extra effort inside. Even thought we are strongly guard oriented I still feel that the game is won and lost in the paint. That is where we have been struggling this year because we haven’t been defending the paint well,” said Hess.
Published 12/31/19
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Ashland Will Have to Execute in Half Court
Ashland lost two basketball games in the most heartbreaking way this past weekend, but they are still a team with a big upside this winter.
The Arrows lost to Mt. Vernon (70-65) in overtime in Ohio Cardinal Conference action last Friday and then (61-59) to Massillon on Saturday night in a non-conference game.
The had a real good chance to win both, according to coach Jason Hess. “We were so close. The ironic thing for people that weren’t at the game, both nights, we had a shot to win the ballgame right at the end of regulation. Friday night it went into overtime and we lost there and Saturday we lost in regulation, a three pointer on the wing, right in front of our bench, both of them looked good from the coach’s perspective, I was standing behind the kid that shot it, but unfortunately neither were able to find the bottom of the net, they both rimmed out. So, that’s the way the ball bounces. I was super proud of our kid’s effort, just the way they competed and battled all weekend,” said Hess.
In terms of execution of the game plan, Hess says there is no question they were better last weekend. “We are definitely getting better, that is the most important thing. I wouldn’t say we are where we want to be yet, we definitely have a lot of room to grow. The strides we made form the first weekend to the second weekend is just a huge growth. I think if we keep making those strides the wins are going to come,” he said.
Ashland (0-3,0-1) plays at home against Lexington (2-2,1-1) on Friday night in “OCC” play. The Minutemen evened they record with a convincing (58-34) win over West Holmes on Friday night in a league game and then beat Ontario (59-49) on Saturday.
Hess says Lexington is going to make them execute in the half court to score and they are going to have to find a way. “I guess it is a typical Lexington team with where they have several 6’5”, 6’6” kids, a 6’7” kid, and they are going to try and throw the ball inside and beat you in the paint, try and slow it down a little bit and make you execute in the half court. That has been a matchup we have struggled with the last few years just because of Lexington’s size and their ability to control tempo and dictate the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It has really disputed us, especially on the offensive end of the court. We have got a little impatient and shot some bad shots. That is one thing we have been working on this week in practice is trying to execute better in the half court and find some ways to score some baskets against their tough defense.”
Published 12/18/19
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Ashland Wants to Play Fast This Week
Ashland and Mt. Vernon square off in the first Ohio Cardinal Conference game for both on Friday night at Arrow Arena.
In their first game of the year last Saturday, Ashland lost (86-68) to Sandusky in a non-conference game.
Coach Jason Hass says it was good to finally get a game in, but Sandusky hurt them on the boards and they had some problems containing their offense. “It is nice to get one under our belt and get some experience for some of these guys that haven’t seen any varsity action. Unfortunately, we came up on the short end of the stick. I felt like offensively we did a lot of things well and scored 68 points. It was just defensively, we had a few lapses and rebounding really hurt us. It is one of those things we have been able to focus in on this week in practice even more so than we have in he last couple of weeks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We were aware coming into the season with our lack of size and lack of depth some letdowns on defense and rebounding could be an issue, especially with the tempo Sandusky was able to play I think it exposed some of our weaknesses and hopefully we have been able to make some corrections and some adjustments here and get better from game one to game two.”
When it comes to last week, Hess says Sandusky was just a lot more experienced than they were and that is going to be a problem again this week. “Especially when we don’t have an overly experienced team. We have three guys with varsity experience and they were really solid for us last week, but those guys that are seeing varsity action for the first time there is a little bit of an adjustment period. I think that was one thing that kind of went in Sandusky’s favor and even Mt. Vernon this week. They are senior laden teams and when you have got a lot of seniors with experience that swings things in your favor in a basketball game here at the varsity level,” he said.
Ashland (0-1,0-0) entertains Mt. Vernon (1-0,0-0) on Friday night in an “OCC” game. The Yellow Jackets hammered Highland (65-32) last week in non-conference action.
Hess says they have more experience and they are bigger than his team. “They have two things that we don’t have and that is seniors and size when you look at their roster. It is definitely going to be a very good contest for us. When we looked at Sandusky we felt we were teams with similar builds, really guard heavy teams. Mt. Vernon is not built that way. So, this is really going to be a game that is really going to challenge us to see if we can dictate the tempo and the flow of the game or we fall into Mt. Vernon’s pace and tempo that will favor them,” said Hess.
One of the big keys for them, according to Hess, is to make this game be played at a faster tempo. “I like our chances in a high tempo or high pace. That’s what we want to play and that’s what we have got to do. We have talked to our guys this week in order for us to dictate the tempo it has to be on the defensive end and getting some stops because with no shot clock the only way to speed a team up and get them to play at a faster pace is really to put a lot of pressure defensively and make them uncomfortable and force them to make decisions that they don’t normally make,” he said.
Published 12/13/19
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Ashland Ready to Get Started
Ashland will get the boys’ basketball season rolling with a non-conference game on Saturday night against the Sandusky Blue Streaks.
Coach Jason Hess they are excited to play a game. “It will be nice. I definitely know our kids are ready after four weeks of practice you are itching to play someone else other than yourself even though we have had some scrimmages and everything it’s not quite the same as when then the light are on and there are fans in the stands and everything counts at this point. It is definitely exciting and a buzz of anticipation of that first game,” he said.
They have been working on a lot of the same things over the last month and Hess says its refreshing to put a game plan in. “As a coach you want to keep getting them better and there are points of emphasis that we have in our program and their are certain things that we hit on every single day, especially in the preseason trying to get those habits developed and make sure those actions are second nature but at this point we are ready to see someone else and do a little scouting report and putting some other things in our practice as opposed to some of the same old drills we have been running for the last four weeks,” said Hess.
One plus to a later start, according to Hess, is they are going run some different offenses and defenses this year with different personnel and this has given them more time. “It is definitely a different kind of team that we have this year. That has been kind of nice to have a little extra time. I know some guys opened up last week and we have a little extra time here to work on teaching and putting things in to get us prepared for the first game. Usually when we start playing games in basketball they keep coming pretty fast one after another. You like to have a pretty good base of what you are doing before the season starts,” he said.
Sandusky was the runner up in the Lake Division of the “SBC” last year and Hess says they are going to be good again. “They are a very good basketball team. They play hard. Just looking on paper with what they have coming back from a year ago I think it is going to be a really good matchup for us. Their strength is their guard play. They have one of the best guards in the area. I think it is going to be a really good test for our guys early to see where we’re at. Just to see how some of the new things we are doing will work in game situations,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Not having that Mansfield game on Friday isn’t all bad. Obviously, you want to play and get going. It would have been nice to get to play them before they get all of the football mode shuck off for basketball, but it is also nice to get a non-conference game in too before you start conference play.”
Published 12/03/19
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Ashland With a Chance
Ashland enters week 10 of the high school football season with an opportunity and that is really all they want.
If the Arrows beat Wooster at Community Stadium they will share the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with Generals and maybe Mansfield Senior, who would need to beat Madison.
They put themselves in position by outscoring West Holmes (49-24) last week. The Arrows are not mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but they are going to need some help.
Coach Sean Seder says they got better last week. “It was one of those things where West Holmes is definitely a team you don’t want to overlook. They looked pretty good offensively. They played us tough. We knew if we took care of business it was going to be a really fun week 10. We continued to improve. We saw things we liked and hopefully we can carry that over into this week,” said Seder.
Ashland (4-5,4-1) plays host to Wooster (6-3,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.
Seder says the Generals are balanced on offense and they have some solid run stoppers on defense. “They have some pretty good football players. It is kind of hard to figure if they want to be a run or pass team because they have got weapons. Defensively, I know coach Shrock, their defensive coordinator, from my dad coaching at Waynedale and me playing at Waynedale, of course, he is the hall of fame coach from Smithville, so a pretty good history there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Offensively, I think number 5 and number 8 are pretty good rushers and their quarterback can run the ball well. Then they have those two receivers that are 6’5” and 6’7” on the edges and they can go up and get the ball and go vertical. They are scary to look at. Defensively, they are going to be a physical team, 4-2, 4-3, have got some really big D-linemen. I think they are going to come at you. So, we expect it to be a pretty good game.”
When it comes to the Wooster, which held Mansfield Senior to a season low 17 points two weeks ago, Seder says they are hard to run against. “I think it really comes down to their D-line kind of sets it. They have two tackles that go 6’3” and about 300 pounds. Anytime you have guys like that up front they can kind of stop your run game a little bit. They have some receivers that also play DB and they have a really good linebacker. I think their defense probably has gone under the radar, but I think they are pretty impressive,” he said.
After starting the season 0-4, Seder says they are excited to have something to play for on week 10. “We couldn’t ask for anything more. Form the beginning the season our biggest goal was to improve on last year and put ourselves in a chance to play for a conference championship. With last week’s win that is something we kind of secured and now we get to play on week 10 when it is for all of the marbles for a championship. They want an outright championship and it looks like they might make the playoffs if they win. Both teams are playing for a lot, so I expect it to be a really fun game,” said Seder.
Published 10/29/19
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Ashland With A Must Win
Ashland shares second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with Mansfield Senior, a game behind Wooster, and they play at home against West Holmes on Friday night.
Unlike Mansfield Senior, they control their own destiny because they play Wooster on week 10.
They were able to put together a three touchdown second half last week in beating Lexington (35-10) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Sean Seder says they were able to kind of get their act together in the second half. “The first half it was really tight. Of course, the defense played a great game all of the way through, they kept us in that game. Kind of uncharacteristically we had a couple of turnovers there in the first half that we haven’t been having for a good four or five games. Then in the second half we made some adjustments, gained our composure, took care of the football, and put some points on the board,” he said.
Ashland (3-5,3-1) plays at home at Community Stadium against West Holmes (3-5,1-3) on Friday night. The Knights flogged West Branch (56-34) in a non-conference game last week.
Seder says this a team that can keep the ball out of the hands of their offense. “They have played Wooster and a number of teams pretty close. The thing that kind of worries you about them a little bit is they are kind of a power football team, so they can control the clock if they keep getting first downs it limits your possessions on offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “At times, we have been prone to turnovers. If we turn the ball over and they are moving the ball on the ground that can scare you a lot. Last week, they showed they can throw it too. I think their offense is going to be able to put them points on the board. I think the key is going to be for our defense to get enough stops, play strong like we did against Lexington, and then take care of the ball offensively.”
Last week, was really a team win for the Arrows, and Seder says they need to do the same kind of thing on Friday. “Last week, was one of those fun weeks where we kind of fed off each other. The defense kept getting stops, kept getting stops, keeping us in the game, and the offense was like just keep it up and we will turn things around, we will take care of it. I think Parker Henkle had a big interception on defense and then it just kind of gave us the momentum. It is definitely nice if you can play off each other and both sides keep you in the game,” he said.
Ashland has a chance to share conference title this season with two wins to close the season, but Seder says it has to start with a win on Friday. “We told the kids every single day and every single week from this point out is championship week. We have to treat West Holmes like it is the championship game because if we don’t win Friday night, there is no championship game the week after. So, we are kind of approaching it with that kind of focus and energy. We know they are good football team and we have to give them the respect they deserve. Hopefully, we are going to take care of that and then that sets us up for a pretty fun week 10, but week 10 doesn’t happen until you take care of week 9,” said Seder.
Published 10/25/19
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Ashland Travels to Lexington
Ashland hits he road for Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It’s a must win for the Arrows, who now trail Mansfield Senior and Wooster by game in the conference standings.
They lost at Mansfield Senior (56-21) last week when the Tygers exploded in the second half.
Coach Sean Seder say they were right there and suddenly they weren’t. “It was one those deceiving box scores when you look at the final score. Felt petty good about it for most of the game. Once we got it to with one score, I think was 28-21 with like five left in the third quarter. We felt like we were where we wanted to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have some pretty good players and one of them is (Angelo) Grose and he returned a kickoff for a touchdown and then we fumbled as they scored quick. So, it went from one score to three scores in about three minutes. That is kind of when things fell apart a little bit. We definitely played a pretty tough game.”
Seder says they had a game plan installed last week to try and limit big plays, but sometimes it just doesn’t work to plan. “That is one of the things we tried to key. We even tried our best on special teams to keep the ball away from Grose because of how dynamic a player he is, but sometimes the ball bounces the way it wants too. We kicked it a little harder than we wanted and he was able to field it and make some plays. You do your best to limit big plays and home runs against some of those really good teams like Mansfield, but sometimes they get theirs and there is not a lot you can do about it,” he said.
Ashland (2-5,2-1) is at Lexington (2-5,1-3) for a conference meeting on Friday night. The Minutemen railed in the second half to beat West Holmes (28-24) last Friday for their first conference win.
Seder says they did it by passing the ball. “I think they did try to establish themselves as kind of a run team the first half of the season. Of course, they have number 18 (Alex) Green and he is one of the fastest guys in the state. They have a pretty good sophomore quarterback too in number 4. He was slinging the ball pretty good in the second half against West Holmes and they connected on some good wheel routes and some good vertical routes. That was kind of what got them going. They can still run, but it was the passing game in the second half that kind of elevated them past West Holmes,” said Seder.
Seder says there is a good football rivalry developing with the Minutemen. “The past couple of years it has been back and forth. Of course, last year they got the best of us. They had a pretty good player that I know graduated. Anytime we get a chance to play a conference team that has kind of been back and forth every year. The Lex, Senior, and Wooster games have a special meaning for our guys just because they are usually really tight and come down to the wire,” he said.
Published 10/15/19
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Ashland Meets Big Play Mansfield Senior
Two of the three leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference collide this week when Ashland plays at Mansfield Senior against the Tygers.
Wooster is the other leader. They host Mt. Vernon.
After trailing early, Ashland went on to pound Mansfield Madison (49-7) last week.
Coach Sean Seder says they have ben taking what the defense gives them. “That has kind of been the story these last couple of weeks. The first quarter we kind of figure out the defense is doing and start to find what is available and kind of take it. The second quarter is where we kind of got off and running,” he said.
Ashland scored four times in the second quarter last week.
Seder says good teams are ones that can adapt. “There are some teams that call themselves second half teams. They make adjustments at halftime. We like to think we can adjust on the fly with some of the things we have in. At the high school level, it is where you have your best matchups and where you can attack them at,” he said.
Ashland (2-4,2-0) plays at Mansfield Senior (6-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. They buried Lexington (42-0) last week. Their defense has only been scored on three times in six games.
Seder says they are a big play team on offense. “They are just good in general offensively and defensively. On offense, they have playmakers all over the place. We have kind of coined them a home run team because they make lots of big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think they are actually more impressive on defense, only giving up three touchdowns on defense. They are just fast, really aggressive, fly all over the field, and are good tacklers and they usually don’t get beat deep. They are one of those teams that really make you earn it.”
With their speed and athleticism Mansfield Senior scores quickly and on big plays. Seder says they can’t let them get behind them. “One of our biggest keys that we have kind of talked about all week is they have the ability to hit a home run on every single play. It is our job to try and keep them in front of us and kind of make them march down the field methodically. So, they really do live on some big plays. If we can limit those and keep our offense on the field that’s probably our best shot,” said Seder.
When comes to the Tyger defense, Seder says they are not complicated. He says they put their athletes to good use. “They kind of fly all over the field. Their safeties will come down. When you have a safety that an come for 8-10 yards deep and make a play at the line of scrimmage it kind of speaks to your team speed on defense. Then again they can set back and they are fast enough to react and keep everything in front of them. They don’t give up big plays. That’s where they kind of rely on their athleticism and team speed. You might get one or two first downs, but you are not going to have many long drives,” said Seder.
Published 10/10/19
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Ashland Faces Madison on Friday
After earning their first win of the season last week against Mt. Vernon, the Ashland Arrows host Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night.
They were able to pull away and beat Mt. Vernon (42-27) last Friday night.
Coach Sean Seder says it was good to get the monkey off their backs. “Getting over the hump is good for the kid’s confidence, especially to knock off a 4-0 team. We finally got everything going. We had seen glimpses of it up to this point, but hadn’t kind of finished a game. We came out that second half and definitely did that on Friday,” said Seder.
Seder says overall it was just a more consistent performance by the Arrows. “It was just putting the whole game together and being consistent throughout offense and defense. Just kind of getting it all done,” he said.
Ashland (1-4,1-0) is at home at Community Stadium on Friday night for the Madison Rams (0-5,0-2) in an “OCC” game. West Holmes smashed Madison (52-7) last week. They have not won a conference game since beating Orrville on week eight of the 2015 season.
Seder says Madison has had its problems this season, but they are still hungry and will be ready to play the Arrows. “They are obviously struggling a little bit. They are 0-5 right now. The one thing is they are kind of similar to the way we were, they have played some pretty good teams tight in the first half, they just kind of lose it in the second,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “So, they are a team that you definitely don’t want to let hang around. We can’t help them with turnovers and fumbles and stupid things like that. We have to come out and play football because I am sure they are hungry for a win as well.”
Madison likes to feature the run and Seder says they need to keep the game close so they can do that. “I think the score kind of dictates that for them. When the game is close they feel like they can run it and they have a pretty good running back. When the game starts to get away from them and they have to throw a little bit I don’t think that is really to their strengths. That is one those things where the closer they are in it the more to their game plan they can be,” said Seder.
Published 10/02/19
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Ashland Looking to Throw it Versus Mt. Vernon
Ashland wants to get that monkey off its back this week as the Arrows travel to Mt. Vernon to play the Yellow Jackets in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It is the first time in 18 years the Arrows have started a football season with an (0-4) record.
They have likely played the toughest non-league schedule in North Central Ohio this season. They lost (46-35) last week to Sandusky in a non-conference game.
Sandusky’s Terion Stewart ran for than 280 yards and four scores for the Blue Streaks. Ashland coach Sean Seder says he is just a tremendous back. “He is pretty phenomenal player. It was one of those things where we had guys in the right position a number of times, but one on one he is just tough to bring down and he played a heck of a game for them. Offensively, we were pretty happy with some of the things we got going and we are hoping to carry that into this week,” he said.
Including this week, Ashland’s opponents have lost only one game. They play at Mt. Vernon (4-0,1-0) in a “OOC” game this Friday. The Yellow Jackets outlasted Lexington (26-21) in a conference game last week.
Seder says they this is another team with a lot of talent. “They are undefeated, so they are riding high with a lot of confidence right now. They have a pretty good running back, which is something we are pretty accustomed to at this point. Their quarterback we feel is pretty athletic. I know they have a receiver in number 20, who is one of the faster people in the state. He took second or third in the state in track in the 300 hurdles. He is a high jump guy too, so he is a petty good athlete out there,” said Seder.
Mt. Vernon makes no secret, they want to run the football, but Seder says they will try to hit you with the big one too. “They are definitely a run heavy team. They have a pretty good O-line and they want to pound it up in there. They are going to do it over, over, and over again and they kind of have that number 20 out there and they will flex him wide and send him vertical to try and keep you honest if you start to stack the box to stop the run,” he said.
Ashland runs the five wide, empty backfield, offense. Seder says they are anxious see how the Yellow Jackets will try to defend them. “That is the thing that is going to be the most interesting and we are kind of excited to see. So far, it seems like each one of the teams we have played had some really, really fast and athletic kids, while Mt. Vernon does, we do feel like there are some matchups we can take advantage of,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, being able to move our guys around to get those matchups and seeing how they respond to that air raid offense because most teams they have played have been pretty run heavy so far. That is going to be something that is fun to do.”
Published 9/27/19
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Ashland Plays Athletic Sandusky
Ashland plays as tough a schedule as anyone in North Central Ohio and this week they hit the road for Cedar Point Stadium to play the talented Sandusky Blue Streaks.
They played a game last week that didn’t end until going on one in the morning and lost Tiffin Columbian (31-7) in a non-conference game.
Coach Sean Seder says they did some good things early in the game, but they didn’t show up after play resumed. “We know Tiffin is a good team, of course they are still unbeaten. It felt like we were doing pretty well offensively and getting some things we wanted that first half. Went down and scored right there the very end and it gets called back. It went from being 21-14 to 21-7 when lightning hit. We thought we were doing some things we really like. For whatever reason once we came back from that long lull with all of the lightning we just couldn’t get our momentum back. Tiffin kind of took over in that second half,” said Seder.
Ashland is winless this season, but they haven’t played badly. Seder says they just can’t get over the top. “One of the things that you really hit home with the kids is, you hate to have a consultation, but I think you are going to be hard pressed to find a better 0-3 team, if that makes sense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have told these guys the teams we have played against are all pretty good teams and we were either in the game, had a chance to tie it up or take the lead, and we have had fumbles or interceptions or turnovers or dropped balls or whatever it is. We have been in all of those games to a point and we can’t finish. We are a couple of plays away from having a big win and we are competing with some of the better teams out there.”
Ashland (0-3) is at Sandusky (3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, in non-league play on Friday night. The Blue Streaks thumped Fremont Ross (42-7) last Saturday afternoon.
They have a college division one running back in Terion Stewart and an electric quarterback in Shonosi Arron and Seder says that’s not all. “Those two kids themselves are pretty special players. The running back is committed to B.G., but I guess there are a couple of Big Ten Schools courting him. He can really run. Their quarterback reminded people he could run too, he ran it 17 times for like 260 yards. Those are like video game numbers. They have a couple of receivers that can go up and get the ball. They have athletes all over the field, I know that,” said Seder.
The Ashland coach says they are very athletic on defense too. He says they challenge you. “Again, tons of speed. They are going to go man coverage the entire game. They are kind of one of those rare teams where they are just going to set there and say, hey, we are athletic enough that we can make up for it if we make a mistake. They are just going to man you up. We are just going to have to execute. This is going to one of those games for us to be able to knock them off we can’t have any self-inflicted wounds, drops, drive killers, turnovers. We have to play a perfect game and control the clock,” he said.
Published 9/19/19
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Ashland Faces Explosive Tiffin Columbian
Ashland is off to a (0-2) start and their schedule doesn’t get any easier as they host Tiffin Columbian in a non-conference game at Community Stadium on Friday night.
They have lost to two outstanding teams in Uniontown Lake (34-7) and Clyde (28-14) so far.
Coach Sean Seder says they really haven’t played that badly. “It is one of those kinds of interesting things. Usually with an 0-2 record you are kind of kicking dirt like man this stinks, but to this point we have done some really good things. We had a really good first half against Lake and a really good second half against Clyde. Obviously, both of those teams are pretty good. So, we have done some good things, we just haven’t put together a complete game and hopefully we keep building on it. Of course, we have Tiffin this week, who is another pretty good opponent,” said Seder.
He says that is about consistency, something the Arrows have lacked so far. “It is one of the things we have said up to this point self-inflicted wounds have been the difference for us. If we can put four quarters of mistake free football together we can hang with all of these teams and so far we have seen those playoff caliper type teams. So, anytime you are hanging with those guys you are usually a decent team yourself, so we have to keep reminding the kids of that,” he said.
Columbian (2-0) has had a couple of big third and fourth quarters in beating Fremont Ross (35-7) and Toledo Waite (41-6) in its first two games.
Seder says they have players all over the field. “They are just a good football team all around. Their defense is really fast, they fly to the ball, they are aggressive, they are pretty sound. I think their varsity defense has given up a total of six points. Their offense is pretty good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They have a quarterback that can run. I joked the other day that you don’t see too many quarterbacks that are punt returners and kick returners as well, but he is that type of athlete. They definitely have some athletes and they play pretty well.”
It has been a lot of big plays for the Tornadoes this year and Seder says they can’t allow them Friday night. “We can be right nine out of ten plays and that tenth play they are going to score a touchdown, so we have to make sure we stick to our fundamentals. We can’t have a week when we have broken tackles, missed tackles, because this is a team that will make you pay for putting points on the board,” he said.
Published 9/12/19
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Ashland and Clyde in a Good One
Ashland plays at Clyde on Friday in a non-conference game in a battle between two of the better programs in this part of the state.
Last week, Ashland lost to Uniontown Lake (34-7) to open the season.
Coach Sean Seder says they had their opportunities, but they just made too many mistakes. “It is one of those things after watching it we think they are going to be a pretty good team the rest of the year and they were a pretty good team last Friday. It was 7-0 at halftime and we had a chance to score at least once, maybe twice. It stung on Friday night, but watching it on film we just had miscues. Four turnovers were kind of the big difference for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “If we don’t have those turnovers and we covert on some of our plays. We had stuff that we really liked. We had some guys in position we just didn’t make the plays. Just kind of got the short end of the straw when it came to that stuff. The second half they just started to wear us down with their run game.”
Clyde lost a tight one to Toledo St. Francis (25-23) last week. They had a two-point conversion stopped in the final seconds.
Seder calls them physical and expects them to try and run the football against them. “They are a physical team. They are a pretty good run team as well. We have worked on some of the fundamental things on defense and our tackling because they are going to try and power it up in there. So, really focusing on that hoping that we shore some things up. Protect the football and hopefully we are in position to get a win on Friday,” he said.
Clyde won last year (28-21) and two years ago (22-19) and this one looks just as close.
Seder says it’s going to come down to who makes plays. “We were breaking down last year’s game again last night. The irony is both teams did a pretty good job of stopping everything. It was kind of those big plays, like a broken play for a touchdown, a turnover at a costly time. It’s going to be the “X” factors of who has the turnovers and field position and your players just making plays. We’ve had some close battles and it is going to come down to who makes the plays,” said Seder.
Published 9/05/19
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Ashland Has to Clean up Mistakes
Ashland plays one of the toughest schedules in the area and it begins right away as they host Uniontown Lake in a non-conference game on Friday night at Community Stadium.
Coach Sean Seder, who takes over this season from the retired Scott Valentine, says they have done some good things in the preseason, but they must clean up their mistakes. “We are pretty happy with where we are at. That last scrimmage we thought we saw some ready good things. We had way too many penalties. One of the things we talk about is we are going to be two things on any given Friday, well disciplined and hard working. Embracing that blue collar, lunch pail mentality,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We definitely had way too many penalties and that is something we addressed and we are going to keep working on. Other than that offensively and defensively, kind of schematically and the energy our kids are bringing we are pretty happy with that. We think if we get rid of some of those self inflicted wounds and mistakes we can be pretty good.”
Uniontown Lake will be team that has high expectations for this season and Seder says they have a good combination of size and athleticism. “I’ll tell you what it is going to be a tough opener. I know the people in Uniontown feel really good about this team and feel like they are going to have a strong season. I know a lot of them feel they are going to be competitive in the Federal League, if not win it this year. They think it is a playoff type team. Anytime you hear stuff like that you have to give them a second look. They are definitely a physical team. They have some pretty good sized kids. Some athletes coming back. Defensively, they have four down linemen that are pretty stout. Offensively, they have some playmakers and some size. They definitely look the part on film. It will be interesting to see what it is like on Friday,” said Seder.
After Lake, the Arrows play three very good teams out of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference in Clyde, Tiffin Columbian and Sandusky. Seder says they are going to be ready for the “OCC” portion of their schedule. “We are definitely going to be tested come conference time. We have a couple of big boys right out of the gate, so we will find out what we are made of. Knock on wood hopefully we stay healthy and come out better for it,” he said.
Published 8/27/19
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Ashland With New Coach
For the first time in almost two decades, the Ashland Arrows are going have a new football coach, but it is someone familiar to many of the players.
Longtime coach Scott Valentine stepped down last spring and has been replaced by wrestling coach Sean Seder.
Seder says he has a lot of football is his background. “I have been around football basically my whole life. Of course, my dad was a head football coach and my grandpa and uncle were head football coaches. I kind of grew up with that. I was a coordinator for five years in Texas. When I moved to Ashland I was head wrestling coach and an assistant for coach Valentine,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “When he resigned it was pretty late in the game and they were looking for somebody kind of already in our staff. Some of the kids talked to me, some of the seniors, and then their parents. Head football was always something I aspired to do eventually; I just wasn’t quite sure when. Then when things kind of unfolded the way they did it kind of provided that opportunity. I decided now was the time to do it.”
Seder has been pleased by what he has seen from the players this summer, but he says this week when the they start hitting for the first time in nine months is when the rubber will meet the road. “Up to this point everything has been great. Of course, we just put on the pads and we can’t do contact until we get our five days in. That is when the kid’s kind of separate themselves a little bit. Camp days during the summer were great. We have had a lot of enthusiasm from the kids and great effort so far. They have strapped up and been go getters. That is all we can ask from them right now. I have been pretty pleased with their effort so far,” said Seder.
Ashland was one of the first programs in this area to go with an empty backfield look on offense. Seder says he isn’t going to change that, but there will be some tweaks on defense. “Defensively was are going to have kind of a new look. We are going to be young on defense. We are only returning three or four of our starters on defense. We have looked at some different things defensively, so that will look a little different. Offensively we have been known as a five wide team. We are going to have a heavy dose of five wide still. We may throw out a couple of wrinkles here and there, but regardless it will still be some type of spread offense. We are probably not going to have a ton of old school bone or mid line veer or that fun stuff. We are still going to look pretty similar,” said Seder.
Published 8/06/19
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Ashland Edges Madison in 13
Ashland won its third straight game by scoring twice in the bottom of the 13 th inning to beat rival Madison (4-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game played at Bud Plank Filed in Ashland on Tuesday evening.
Coach Rick Gough says I was nice to be able to make some big plays and win the game. He says the baseball gods were smiling. “They did smile on us (Tuesday) night. It was a heck of a ballgame between two rival schools. It was pretty much 2-2 the entire night. In the 13 th inning Madison scratched across a run to go up 3-2 and then with two outs in the bottom we were able to score twice to take the victory. It’s good for the kids, it’s good for the program that we were able to kind of turn the tide a little bit and win one. We have lost a few that way,” he said.
It one point Ashland has lost four one run games in a row, all league games.
Gough says they were able to get some outstanding pitching to keep themselves in the game against the Rams. “I am proud of our kids. They battled and Madison battled all night too. They kept us on the front foot. We hit a lot of breaking balls up into the air. I think we sent 45 batters to the plate and I think we ended up with seven hits for the night. It was a tough night hitting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We got a great effort from David Gearhart, who went six and two thirds giving up two runs. Brennan Hunt, who is pretty much our closer, came in and pitched six and a third, which is by far his longest outing of the year, of one run ball. So, we battled.”
It was a hustle play that got the Arrows (12-7,6-5) the win on Tuesday night. Gough says his kids gave it all they had. “We had a runner on second base with two outs. We try to preach to our kids all of the time about having a positive at bat. Cole Garrison hit a ground ball into the hole at second base. Their second baseman had a long wat to go to make the play and by the time he got there, Cole was safe at first and we sent the runner from second, Owen Chandler, and he was able to score to win the game. It was good to win that kind of game finally,” said Gough.
Published 5/08/19
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Ashland Pins Loss on West Holmes
Ashland is a good baseball team that has been more than a little unlucky this season, but Thursday evening they put it all together and beat “OCC” leading West Holmes (7-4) in a game that is ringing through the rest of the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
The result moves Lexington into a share of the conference lead with the Knights and leaves Mt. Vernon just a game back.
Ashland coach Rick Gough says the difference for them was the consistent pitching they got on Thursday. “We finally got over the hump. We got some good pitching from Cole Garrison. He went four good innings and kept us in the game. Our bats came alive and we had a number of kids with multiple hits for us. We are going to score runs,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Our problem has been just getting good pitching and (Thursday) between Cole Garrison and Chase Hunt and Brennan Hunt, who came in to close it out in the seventh inning, they did a good job. It was about time we needed it.”
The Arrows (10-7,5-5) trailed (2-0) after three innings, but they reached West Holmes for two in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two more in the sixth.
Gough feels they are going to score some runs every time they get out there. “We are going to get our hits and we are going to score runs. We just haven’t been able to get that timely hit at the end of the game to get over the hump. (Thursday) we did and it feels pretty good, we needed it,” he said.
Cade McQuate, David Gearhart, Garrison and Kadin Schmitz all had two hits for the Arrows on Thursday. Gearhart had three RBI.
Ashland’s pitchers limited the Knights, one of the top hitting teams in the area, to six hits. The Hunt brothers shut out West Holmes over the last three innings of the game.
Gough says they were happy to play a role on in the “OCC” even though they are not going to win it. “I think Lexington is pretty happy (Thursday) night know we knocked (West Holmes) off to give them a chance to share or to win the league. I am not sure where Mt. Vernon is in this yet,” he said.
Lexington still must play single games against Mansfield Senior and Wooster. West Holmes (17-2,8-2), #1 in our poll, finishes next week with Mt. Vernon. Ashland plays Mansfield Madison in their final two “OCC” games.
The Arrows had lost their last four “OCC” games to Mt. Vernon, Lexington twice and West Holmes all by two runs or less. Gough says he is really pleased with how his kids responded to that. “I am proud of our kids because very easily they could have chucked it in and said you know what it is not our year, but they haven’t and hats off to them. We are looking forward to what is coming next,” he said.
Published 5/03/19
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Lexington Outlasts Ashland
Lexington kept itself alive in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race as they trimmed Ashland (3-2) in eight innings on Wednesday evening at Bud Plank Field in Ashland.
They scored two runs in the top of the eighth on a single and a ground out, but Ashland loaded the bases in the bottom eighth, scoring once, and leaving them loaded.
“It was a crazy, classic “OCC” battle, Ashland is really good, but we have proven to ourselves two nights in a row that we can hang in a close game and find ways to win and that is what we need at this time of this year because on the schedule almost everybody is going to be pretty good from here on out. You have to find ways to win,” said Lexington coach Kevin Morrow.
Ashland took the lead (1-0) in the bottom of the third when Cade McQuate earned a walk with the bases loaded off Lexington starter and winner Ben Vore. Lexington would tie it (1-1) in the on a RBI hit by Kevan Grimm in the fifth.
Lexington got two in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Josh Aiello and a groundout by Vore. However, Ashland wasn’t done. They loaded the bases on a double, a walk and a single off Grimm, who relieved Vore in the eighth. It became (3-2) Minutemen when Grimm walked McQuate. He got the save though when we struck out Brennan Hunt looking on a 3-2 count to end the game.
Morrow gives credit to Ashland pitchers David Gearhart, the starter, and Cole Garrison. “The Ashland pitchers did a fantastic job just keeping us off balance and never giving in, but we just scrapped enough across to tie it and then we the two runs there to win it. We found a way with Kevin Grim on the mound to close it out,” he said.
Ashland loaded the bases in the third, seventh, and eighth innings, but could only get two runs out of it.
Coach Rick Gough says they had their chances and he is extremely proud of the effort his kids made Wednesday. “That was a heck of a high school baseball game. I am proud of my kids and the way they competed and battled. We had situations that we wanted,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had people where we wanted and for whatever reason we couldn’t get the one pitch we needed, whether it be a hit or a passed ball or a wild pitch. We stranded 13 runners, I know they stranded a bunch as well. I still say that it was a well played game by the kids.”
Ashland (9-6,4-4) has lost it last three “OCC” games by one run, (2-1) to Mt. Vernon on April 10 and (8-7) to Lexington Tuesday night. Gough says at some time the baseball gods have to start smiling on them. “I told the kids at some point these one run games have to even out. We are due. Give Lexington credit, they made the play where they needed to. The kid came in an got out of a jam, so hats off to them,” he said.
Vore, who had 11 strikeouts on the day, and Grimm, who ended up striking on the side in the eighth, struck out the last out of an inning five times, three with the bases loaded. “That is huge how many times they bailed us out. Some of the decisions in the dugout we were making about who to pitch to and who not to. The kids did a great job and made us look good,” said Morrow.
Lexington intentionally walked Hunt and Gearhart in the sixth to load the bases and Morrow says that took some conversation to come up with that strategy. “The first one wasn’t a tough decision, but then we thought about the lefty, righty combination, so that was a gamble. We were in the dugout trying to figure out what we wanted to do and we went for it and the kids bailed us out,” he said.
Lexington (8-6,6-2) continues to trail first place West Holmes on one game in the “OCC” standings. They play Wooster and Mansfield Senior in four straight league games next week. Morrow says those are games they have to win. “I told the kids that you have to keep pace. They play great baseball this year, it’s obvious, but we are right there and hopefully somebody can help us out,” he said.
Published 4/25/19
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Ashland Outscores Wooster in “OCC” Win
Brennen Hunt and Brenden Aebersold had three hits a piece and Ashland had 15 as a team as the Arrows completed a (14-9) win over Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Thursday afternoon.
Ashland (5-0,4-0) shares first place in the “OCC” with West Holmes two weeks into the six week conference schedule. The Arrows beat Wooster (12-6) on Tuesday and handled Mansfield Senior twice last week.
The game had started on Wednesday, but had to be suspended due to darkness.
Coach Rick Gough says they had to show some mental discipline. “We wanted to try and finish it (Wednesday) night, but obviously the conditions and darkness prevented us from doing that,” he told Swankopnsports.com on Thursday evening, “We had gotten down early 8-2 and the kids kept plugging away and Brennen Hunt on the mound kept us in the game for a couple, three innings. We had to come back and finish it (Thursday) night.”
Hunt went four innings, giving up just one earned for Ashland.
This week’s offensive explosion by the Arrows has been pretty common in the early going. “We are averaging anywhere between 12 and 15 hits a night, so I can’t complain about that,” he said.
Cade McQuate and David Gearhart had two hits in the win over Wooster and Gough says they have been able to hit throughout the lineup. “If you look at the box score from (Thursday) night I think everybody in the lineup got a hit and a couple of guys got multiple hits. We are swinging the bats well right now,” he said.
Published 4/05/19
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Arrows Hammer Mansfield Senior in “OCC” Opener
Ashland showed they might be heard from in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race as they blasted Mansfield Senior (15-5) in five innings Tuesday in their conference opener.
Ashland was a .500 club in the conference last year and they hope to be better.
Coach Rick Gough says they are happy with the win, but they need to move on. “Anytime you can put one in the bank. Like I told the kids (Tuesday) night, anytime you get your first win in the “OCC,” just put it away and we will move on to (Wednesday,”) said Gough.
Mansfield Senior had beat Crestline (10-9) on Monday and coach John Beasley says they need to be more consistent in their performance across the board. “We did not execute as well as we did (Monday) night. Fielding, hitting, pitching need to improve to compete in one of the toughest baseball conferences in the state. The good thing about baseball is we get another crack at them (Wednesday,”) said Beasley.
Gough says they were able to substitute liberally on Tuesday and that is going to help the Arrows as the season moves on. “We were able to play basically the entire roster,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Some kids that are going to be counted on down the road in various positions got some good at bats. I think that is going to help us in the long run.”
The “OCC” plays two game series if the weather allows and Gough says they need to be ready to turn in another good effort on Wednesday against the Tygers. “Every day is a new day. (Wednesday) when we go for “B.P.” we will forget about (Tuesday) and start fresh,” he said.
Published 3/27/19
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Ashland on the Move up
Ashland figures to be in the mix this spring in the Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball race.
They bring a lot of players back to the varsity roster from last year.
Coach Rick Gough says they have more experience. “It is a little bit different this year. Last year, we had a number of sophomores making their varsity debut. This year, I have got eight returning letter winners from last season and that has made things a lot more smoother. We haven’t had to back track as much,” said Gough.
Gough says they have not had to do as much teaching this year as last. “You can build from last year and you can take it another step. A number of our returnees have been able to do that,” he said.
Gough won’t say his team will be one of the favorites in the “OCC” this year, but he does believe they are going to be more competitive. “Last year, we were 6-6 in the conference and obviously a goal is to improve on that mark,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I still think Lexington and Wooster are going to be the two teams to beat just by last year and who they have coming back. I do think we will be more competitive in the league.”
Published 3/20/19
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Better Defense Needed by Ashland
Ashland makes that long trip Northwest to play Anthony Wayne in a division one sectional final on Friday night at Toledo Start High School.
Both teams have won 15 games this season.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says they knew by taking a bye they would be faced with this kind of game. “It does shake out that it is for a sectional championship and that is part of the reason why that we put our name on the line that we did when the tournament draw was a couple of weeks ago. We knew we would have to play a better team. In order to win a sectional, we were going to have to play a pretty good team up in the Toledo area anyway and we felt like this was the best possible matchup we could get,” he said.
Hess says Anthony Wayne (15-6) has good players at every position and
that is why they have had the kind of season they have had so far. “They
have several seniors that are pretty good basketball players. They have a
6’4”, 6’5” guard/forward that can shoot inside and out. He shoots the ball
extremely well from three point range and plays off the dribble well and is
a tough match up. Then their post kids are football like kids, 6’2”, 6’3”
kids that are really good athletes, strong, physical kids that like to bang
around the basket and can finish at the rim,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “They have a really solid point guard that handles the ball and
really sets things up for them and creates for others. It is a good team and
they have won 15 games for a reason in their league with a pretty tough
schedule. So, it is definitely going to not be an easy match up for a game
one, but it is game one for both of us. We will have to see who shows up and
plays hardest.
Ashland (15-7) plays an aggressive schedule and Hess says they have seen
elements of this team, but really not the whole package that Anthony Wayne
presents. “I think their post guys being physical are similar to Lexington.
They are not as big as Lexington posts who are 6’5”, 6’6”, they are 6’2”,
6’3” posts and obviously they don’t have a Cade Stover type player in the
middle. As far as somebody that can shoot it from the perimeter like what we
are seeing here is similar to what we saw from a Perrysburg. We have seen
some teams that have played a little bit like this although this is a little
unique with the combination of the parts that they have got,” he said.
Hess says the big challenge for them is to be able to play the kind of defense you need to be able to win tournament games. “I think key number one is just to continue to execute our offense the way we have been the last few weeks. I think offensively we have been very, very good since about the middle of January. We have been playing unselfish and sharing the basketball. Defensively, we are going to have to find a way to string together some stops. That has been the one thing that has kind of been our Achilles’ Heel the last month or so in our couple of losses that we do have with Mansfield and Lexington. We just weren’t able to get enough stops consecutively to get a lead going in those games. We were right there and went back and forth with them. We have to find a way to get some stops,” said Hess.
Published 2/28/19
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Ashland Must Attack Mansfield Senior
Ashland will play in a role in who wins the Ohio Cardinal Conference title his week as they travel to Mansfield Senior to play the Tygers, who have a chance to share the “OCC” title.
The Arrows would have had the same opportunity if Lexington had not beaten Wooster on Tuesday night, now the best they can do is finish second in the conference.
They beat Wooster (84-82) in overtime last Friday night. It was the Arrows third overtime win in the last four games and is part of a streak in which they have won nine of their last 10.
Coach Jason Hess says both teams played well on offense. “We have played quite a few close ones. That is our third overtime game in the last two weeks or so, fortunately we have found a way to win all three. Wooster did a great job an really played well, especially offensively. I think that is the most points they have scored all year and fortunately we were able to score enough points to stay on top,” he said.
Ashland (15-6,8-3) is at Mansfield Senior (16-4,9-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division. In their first meeting the Tygers won (74-54) way back on December 14, in what was Ashland’s second game of the season.
Hess is impressed by how hard the Tygers play and he says they have to match that intensity. “They play so hard. I was really impressed watching the Lexington game a week ago with how hard those kids played and how much passion they played with and how much energy they put out on the floor,” he told Swankonports.com on Tuesday, “We have to realize they have a chance to win the Ohio Cardinal Conference and they are going to bring that same effort and energy this Friday and hopefully our guys are ready to go and not be intimidated and bring that same energy and effort.”
Ashland has had as much success against Mansfield Senior in recent years as about anybody has and Hess doesn’t believe they will be intimidated. “No, I don’t think they will be. I just know it is going to be a great atmosphere with everything on the line and with the conference and everything for Mansfield on Friday night. Mansfield is a team that plays on a lot of emotion and plays hard and if you get a little tentative against them they can really put a big run together and get the game over quickly,” said Hess.
Tempo is always important against Mansfield Senior and Hess says they don’t want to get going too fast, but they have to be able to attack too. “We have been working this week and several weeks actually with controlling the tempo and not only handling the pressure, but when we break that intimal pressure continuing to work and play offense and get the shot that we want and not just the first available shot because we are in a hurry,” he said.
Published 2/20/19
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Ashland Has to be Smart
With Lexington and Mansfield Senior playing so well, the Ashland Arrows have sot been able to the fly under the radar screen, but they are pretty good too.
They have won eight of their last nine with the only loss during that time coming to Lexington.
They beat Madison (67-54) in their last outing last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says this group has worked hard to get where they have gotten so far. “Our kids have done a tremendous job this year really working hard and putting the extra effort and commitment in. I am so happy for them and so proud of them for the effort and the commitment that they have shown. I’m just happy that they have been able to achieve the success that we have had to this point. It is definitely much deserved. This group of kids has worked really hard,” said Hess.
Ashland (14-6,7-3) plays at Wooster on Friday night against the Generals (9-9,6-4) in an “OCC” game. Wooster is coming off a (71-44) thrashing at the hands of Lexington on Tuesday. Ashland won the first meeting (60-56) on January 11.
Hess says the Generals play really hard. “They have played a really tough schedule. They have competed with the best teams in the league. They are a team that just has no quit in them and really play hard and they way the play defense pressing 94 feet they can turn a game around in just a matter of a couple of possessions and go on a 6-0, 8-0 run and really just change the game with how hard they play,” he said.
With Wooster’s all out pressure there are going to be turnovers and Hess understands that and he says they have to take smart shots too. “Not only do we need to limit our live ball turnovers that lead to easy baskets for them, but also need to be really smart with our shot selection. Sometimes quick shots are almost as bad as a turnover because that just play into their hands. We have been emphasizing that all week with our guys making good decisions with the basketball an taking care of it and playing good smart basketball,” said Hess.
Ashland plays Anthony Wayne in the division one tournament in two weeks and Hess says their schedule allows them to prepare for that game. “We have made it through our gauntlet of a schedule where we had so many games in a short amount of time and now we have got Friday, Friday and another Friday for tournament. So, we have had an opportunity to catch our breath and get our legs back underneath us. At the same time, we don’t want to lose our focus and we want to continue to play our best basketball here the next couple of weeks heading into the tournament. So, we need to keep doing the little things and focus in and get better in the areas that we haven’t been as good as we would like to be,” said Hess.
Published 2/15/19
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Ashland Ready for Madison
With seven wins in its last eight games, the Ashland Arrows are playing excellent basketball heading into their home game with Mansfield Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.
Ashland has won its last two games in overtime, over Shelby (55-52) last Saturday and Sandusky (80-78) on Tuesday night.
Coach Jason Hess they had to dig deep and come up with some big plays on Tuesday night. “It has been a tiering stretch for our guys for sure. Finding a way to win in overtime is definitely difficult, especially Tuesday night we kind of broke the odds a little bit when we did not score first. They always say the team that scores first in overtime wins. We had to battle back on two occasions. Once at the end of the fourth quarter and once in overtime. Our kids did a great job of just hanging in there and playing the entire 36 minutes,” said Hess.
Although they have been one of the better big school programs over the last decade the Arrows only won two games last year. Hess says the players have worked very hard to turn that around. “The kids have done a great job and I really give them a lot of credit. It started way back in the off season. Back in early May and even before that we had a end of the year meetings these kids just committed themselves to the team and working hard and getting better together. They have invested so much time and effort here the last eight months or so into this team and into this season. They are refusing to except anything less than a successful season and they are leaving it all out on the floor,” he said.
Ashland (13-6,6-3) plays at home against Madison (4-15,2-8) on Friday night in “OCC” action. Madison has struggled like a duck in a desert this season. They lost (60-25) to conference leader Lexington on Tuesday night. They have won only once since the new year.
However, Hess says the Rams always play with intensity, especially against them. “It is always a competitive game. I look back through the years when I have been on the coaching staff and it seems like even in some of our better years when we were a lot better on paper. When we play Madison their kids just always play hard and seem to give a little extra effort against Ashland and I think our kids do the same against them,” he told Swaankonsports.com on Thursday, “With such a close distance between the two schools the kids know each other well and they have been playing each other through middle school and even before that at the Friendly House and different “Y” leagues. There is a lot of familiarity and when you get that with an opponent then anything can happen on a game night.”
Published 2/08/19
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Ashland Has to Execute Against Lex
Ashland has a chance to get right in the middle of the Ohio Cardinal Conference race with a win at Lexington on Friday night.
Right now, Ashland is tied with Wooster for second place a game behind Lexington and Mansfield Senior in the standings.
Ashland has won its last five games and seven of its last eight after a (60-38) win over Massillon on Tuesday night in non-conference play. They had lost to the same Tigers (72-70) January 5.
Coach Jason Hess says they have just been playing and refining. “We have definitely gotten better as they year has gone on and are doing a lot of good things now as a basketball team. We are excited to keep playing, which is a good thing. With the schedule we have had the last two weeks we haven’t had a lot of time for practice, so it has been just a lot of fine tuning and making some minimal, small adjustments for our opponent. Just try to keep guys fresh and excited to go play,” he said.
Ashland (11-5,6-2) plays at Lexington (11-3,6-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. The Minutemen have a streak of their own as they have won their last seven and 10 of their last 11. They beat Ashland (59-48) on December 28.
Hess says they Minutemen make you execute on offense because they play outstanding defense and they don’t allow many second shots. “I think the one thing that really jumps out and we had trouble with the first time around is how good they are in their half court defense. They do an extraordinary job making things very difficult on their opponent. Number one, they really force you to be a jump shot shooting team. They take away inside shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Second, they rebound a lot of misses. They don’t give up second and third chance opportunities. That puts you under a lot of pressure and forces you to shoot a high percentage with that first shot.”
Plus, Lexington has terrific balance on offense. Hess says you must guard the whole floor. “It is a tough matchup and that is part of the reason why they are winning the games they are and made the run they did a year ago and have the expectations and the pressure on them to repeat that this year is because they have so many weapons. You can’t just focus on trying to stop their inside game because they do have multiple guys that can knock down threes from the perimeter and really hurt you that way. So, it is a tough matchup for anybody, especially for our guys who stature wise aren’t quite as big as Lexington. We are going to have to find a way to grit it out. Hopefully, some of those shots aren’t going in for them on Friday,” said Hess.
Published 2/01/19
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Ashland Playing Some Good Ball
Ashland has put together four wins in its last five games, including Tuesday night over Perrysburg, and they play at Mt. Vernon in a league game on Friday night and at Orrville in a non-league game on Saturday night.
They trail “OCC” co-leaders Lexington and Mansfield Senior by a game heading into Friday night and still have both left on their schedule.
The Arrows beat Perrysburg (68-54) on Tuesday night and coach Jason Hess says they were outstanding, especially in the first two quarters. “We were really happy with the way our guys played (Tuesday) night, especially that first half. I think it was our best, most complete half of basketball we have had all year long, that first 16 minutes (Tuesday) night. We played pretty solid defense and offensively we really moved the ball and executed well. We got a lot of great looks and our guys stepped up and knocked them down,” said Hess.
Hess says they need to take that good play and be able to put a string of consistent performances together. “That is one of the things we have been talking to our guys about and really tried to emphasize is ball movement on the offensive side and try and get our assist total for the game up close to 20 assists or more. We have done that the last two games. Our offensive efficiency rating goes a lot higher when we are able to move the basketball that way,” he said.
Ashland (8-5,5-2) plays at Mt. Vernon (6-9,3-4) in an “OCC” contest on Friday night. The Arrows won the first meeting (73-56) on December 21 at Arrow Arena, but Hess says the Yellow Jackets play a lot better at home. “Going to Mt. Vernon is a very difficult place to play. We are going to try and get our guts to play the best they can. We have a short week of practice with the game on Tuesday, but past experience says and you can look through conference games and the wins that Mt. Vernon has they are significantly better playing at home,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They have a distinct home court advantage and play well down there. So, even though we were able to beat them the first time around back in December here at our place it is going to be a completely different ballgame down there.”
Ashland plays at Orrville (8-4) on Saturday night. Hess says that is going to be a unique kind of challenge. “They are a little different style basketball team than what have seen. Typically, they run a little more open post motion and like to spread it out. Their guards do a great job of just pressuring the basketball all over the gym. So, it will be a good test for us. They have good athletes and that was evident with their football state championship. Going on the road it will be another tough road contest for us and hopefully that will be one we will be ready for after Friday night,” he said.
Published 1/24/19
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Ashland Wants Good Start
Ashland travels to West Holmes for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night against the Knights.
They host Perrysburg in a non-league game on Saturday.
Ashland beat Wooster (60-56) in and “OCC” game last Friday, but they lost (64-56) to “SBC” Lake Division co-leader Norwalk on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they did not play with as much energy on Saturday night as they did on Friday. “We are definitely moving up. Saturday, I thought our defensive effort and just our overall energy was a little bit disappointing. I think emotionally after our big win Friday our kids weren’t quite ready to play. Unfortunately, we need to get them ready to play every night and we learned the hard way. Norwalk is a good team and Haraway is maybe the best kid we have seen individually all year with the way he can control the game on both sides of the floor offensively and defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “He was really the difference maker there Saturday night. Our guys are still improving and getting better and still learning how to win and how to play a complete four quarter game. It seems like we have had some lapses in a couple minutes here and a couple minutes there that have allowed some teams to get back in the game or when we have made runs we haven’t been able to keep pushing forward.”
Ashland (6-5,4-2) is at West Holmes (2-10,0-6) on Friday. They met in Ashland’s first game of the season on December 7, with the Arrows winning (60-42) at their place.
Hess expects the Knights at home this time are going to be a tougher nut to crack. “You never take anything for granted and the one thing we had the luxury of in the first half of the season is we played a lot of our conference games at home, so going on the road now is going to be a little bit of a different thing an typically everybody plays a little bit better at home. They are used to the home courts, they are used to the home hoops, the home background everything is a little bit different. There is a little bit more crowd energy into it. We are going to have to do a good job and get off to a good start on Friday with West Holmes and not allow them to gain confidence because they are a team that hasn’t won a lot or had a lot of success this year. When you get a team that starts to believe they can be very dangerous,” said Hess.
Hess says they can’t allow the Knights to gain any confidence in this game or it could be trouble. “West Holmes when I saw them here a week or so ago, they are playing some younger kids now that didn’t play against us the first time. They have moved a couple of kids up off their JV team to give them a little more offensive pop with some younger kids that can shoot the ball a little better. Those are kids that don’t know what they don’t know. That being said, if we let them hang around and it starts to be the fourth quarter maybe they don’t know they aren’t supposed to be in the game or be close. So, we definitely need to go down there and take care of business and just play our game,” he said.
Published 1/16/18
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Ashland Wants to Attack Madison Pressure
Ashland travels to Madison for a Tuesday night game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
They expect to see pressure and will need to handle it.
Last Saturday, they lost in the end to Massillon (72-70) on the road in non-conference play.
Coach Jason Hess says this time they just weren’t able to make the plays at the end of the game. “We played real well we just didn’t finish it out. We had a lead right at the end and a couple of plays, a couple bounces, didn’t go our way, and Massillon made some plays in the last few seconds to get the win at the buzzer. It was a tough one for our kids. Effort wise I thought we were right there where we needed to be. We did a good job for the most part except for right there in the closing seconds. It was a complete 180 from where we were the week before when we kind of did the same thing to Clyde and were able to sneak a win out there. It is just kind of the game of basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Through the course of a career, a season, you are going to have a game or two you feel like you let get away and you have a game or two that you won that you are not sure how you came away with the victories. So, at this point we can’t focus too much on what happened or didn’t happen Saturday we just have to get ready to play Madison.”
Ashland (4-4,2-2) is at Madison (3-8,1-3) on Tuesday night. The Rams lost to Lexington (46-32) last Friday and succumbed to Big Walnut (67-26) in a non-conference game.
Hess says the Rams will paly hard and they are going to try and pressure the ball too. “They are going to play hard. Coach (Tim) Mergel does a great job with them. His kids play extremely hard. I know just from watching this year they are looking to up the pressure defensively and force things to happen, force teams to play a little faster pace to handle their pressure. They have been successful with it some games and in other games when they haven’t shot the ball well it has been tough to score no matter what you are doing defensively. Hopefully, for us it will be one of those nights when they don’t shoot the ball so well,” he said.
To be successful against pressure, Hess says you not only have to avoid turnovers, but get some good shots. “That is the thing with pressure defense. Hopefully, our guys have begun to learn with some of the scheduling that we have done this year going up to Toledo and already playing Mansfield and over at Massillon, and some of these teams that want to extend out and pressure you full court. Part of breaking that pressure and handling that pressure is not necessarily that you are not just turning the ball over, but also being able to execute and being able to run offense that you don’t necessarily shoot a quick shot because that is just like a turnover. That is where we have gotten ourselves into trouble in a couple of games early is we weren’t necessarily turning the ball over, but one we got across half court it was one pass and a quick shot and that plays into their hands as well. So, it is going to be important for us to not only be able to break that pressure, but be able to execute and run some offense,” said Hess.
Ashland won only two games last year and Hess says they have worked hard to become a better team this year. “The kids have worked extremely hard since last spring to get ready to play this year. We would like to have another win or two underneath our belt at this point. At 4-4 compared to where we were a year ago is pretty good, so hopefully we can find a way to get a good win because it is a conference game and it is important to stay on top of the that .500 mark and keep the confidence moving forward instead of taking a step back,” he said.
Published 1/08/19
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Ashland Feeling Better
Ashland does not play an Ohio Cardinal Conference game this week, but does travel to Massillon to play a non-league game on Saturday night.
They lost a tough “OCC” game at home to Lexington (59-48) last Friday, but rallied to beat a good Clyde team (79-77) in non-league play on Saturday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they did a lot of good things late against Clyde to pull out that win. “It was nice to see our guys rebound after that tough one Friday night. It took us all 32 minutes on Saturday. We were down late and there was just no quit in our kids. It was just one of those games in the last minute, minute and half, they refused to lose and we found a way to make some plays and hit some big shots,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Wednesday, “The kids just did a tremendous job contributing in one facet or another. Whether it as getting on the floor for a lose ball or getting an offensive rebound and getting us second chances everybody really did a tremendous job putting out a little extra effort down the stretch there to get us over the hump.”
Hess believes that win over Clyde can really help his kids gain more confidence as we head into the final two months of the season. “I thought when we came into practice earlier this week you could just tell the guys had a lot of confidence. I think it was one thing with this group I was a little concerned with coming into the year. It is a group that hasn’t had a lot of varsity experience and a lot of success at the varsity level. Learning how to win close games is an important skill. Really you can work on it in practice, but the only way to really hone that in is to be put in some close ballgames, so it was encouraging to see our guys pull that game out,” said Hess.
Ashland (4-3) is at Massillon on Saturday night. Hess says the Tigers will be a very athletic team, although not with a lot of game experience, they will be able to do a lot of good things. “Massillon is athletic. They have a deep team. Their sophomore class is really talented, but they got a late start with their run in the football playoffs. They have only played four, five games right now. It will be a good contest for us to see a pretty athletic team that has some good size to them and going on the road as well to go over to Massillon to play,” he said.
Published 1/03/19
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Ashland Feeling Pretty Good
Ashland proved last weekend how good of a basketball team they can be and they will need to show the same level of play, if not higher, this week.
They host “OCC” favorite Lexington on Friday and “SBC” power Clyde on Saturday.
Last week, the Arrows beat Mt. Vernon (73-56) on Friday in a league game and Ontario (78-63) on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says it was the best they have played all year. “We are really happy with the way last weekend went, both games Friday an Saturday winning at home against Mt. Vernon and then winning over at Ontario, which is always a tough place to get a win. It was nice to see our team kind of grow up and get a little bit of experience in close ballgames last Saturday. I thought our guys did a nice job executing down the stretch,” he said.
Especially good, was the Arrows guard play, according to Hess. “Saturday night was the best we have been all year as far as our guard play and decision making. We knew we had that capability with the team we had and the personnel that we had that was one of the things we thought was one of our strong points coming into this year to be able to control the tempo. We got a little lacky at times with some of the pressure defenses we saw two weeks ago with Mansfield and Toledo (Start.) I thought Saturday with Ontario our turnovers were way down and it was really the difference in the game because we were able to control things and spread them out there at end of the game and make them come and guard us and either get layups or free throws down the stretch and our kids did a great job of knocking in those free throws,” said Hess.
Ashland (3-2,2-1) plays at home against Lexington (4-3,1-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. The Minutemen throttled West Holmes (58-22) in an “OCC” game last Friday and lost to Copley (64-48) in the Steve Smith Classic last Saturday at the College of Wooster.
Hess says the Minutemen are really impressive. “When you look at their roster the one thing that jumps out at you is how big they are. It is not uncommon for them to have five kids out there that are 6’3” or bigger. They are long athletes. They have several guys that are going to be playing at the next level at one college sport or another. They had a tremendous run last year in March. They have a majority of that team back. There were high expectations surrounding that team and they were early season favorites to win the league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It is going to be a big matchup and they are kind of trying to get things straightened out for them. They are trying to find themselves this year. We are still kind of growing and learning with only five games under our belts. It should be a fun one.”
Clyde (4-2) suffered a couple of close losses last week to Toledo Bowsher (64-61) on Thursday and Sandusky (63-62) on Saturday.
Hess says they expect that Clyde is going to show them a lot of pressure all over the floor. “We haven’t spent a lot of time on them yet with Lexington being the conference game on Friday, but what we have seen from Clyde early is they like to pressure, they like to play fast, which really fits into the style of play we like to play. I think that some of the games we had earlier and our scrimmage schedule has helped us to prepare to play against those teams, who want to play a little faster. Hopefully, on the back end of a double weekend we can take care of business on Friday and we will be ready and have enough legs left to go out there and handle that pressure on Saturday,” said Hess.
Published 12/27/18
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Ashland Downs Ontario
Ashland’s Klejhan Randleman, Garrett Denbow and Mitchell Heilman combined for 63 points and Ashland beat Ontario (78-063) in the nightcap of the 419 Challenge at Ontario High School on Saturday night.
The Arrows (3-2) made 28 of 33 free throws and coach Jason Hess says they got to the foul line because they attacked the basket. “We were concerned a little bit about this being a trap game. As well as we shot the ball (Friday) night, hitting 12 threes (Friday) night, we really emphasized to our guys don’t just settle for three pointers. I know they went in (Friday) night, but part of the reason they went in was because we got inside out first. Klejhan (Randleman) set the tone right off the bat. That first possession when he went to the rim. He came ready to play (Saturday) night and we have kind have been missing that. We knew it was in him and he just did a tremendous job all night long on both ends of the floor. He was the game changer for us,” said Hess.
The Arrows led (54-52) heading to the final stanza, but they outscored Ontario (25-11) in the fourth quarter.
Ontario (3-2) had won three of its first four, but coach Joe Balogh says they were poor on defense and they weren’t able to find open shooters. “They just played better than us. They played smarter. They were just better than us in the second half. We didn’t do a good job in the first half of guarding. We weren’t ready to guard in the half court and they attacked it and got to the free throw line. I think they were 11-12 in the first half and then they go 28-33 in the game. So, you have to give them a lot of credit,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They did a great job of attacking our defense and getting to the free throw line. One of the things we tried to emphasize for us is we needed to move the ball offensively and we didn’t do a very good job of that. In the fourth quarter, we just had too many turnovers down the stretch to give us a chance to win.”
Making 10 of the 12 free throws in the fourth quarter with the game on line was key for the Arrows. Hess says he believes this is a good free throw shooting team. “I told these guys earlier (Saturday) morning in our film session that I like the way our team is built that we can go to the free throw line an knock down free throws and I have a lot of confidence in our guys doing that. We have been shooting them decent this year, but not to the standard of what I thought these guys were capable of doing and (Saturday) night everybody stepped up and knocked them in. Overall as a team we shot the ball really well from the free throw line,” he said.
Ontario still managed five threes in the second half, but only one in the fourth quarter. Hess says they made some defensive adjustments. “We talked at halftime about heading a little bit harder coming off those ball screens because they hurt us a little bit in the first half and the Shaver kid turned the corner a couple of times and knocked down some threes. We were able to get our bigs to come out there and help. We were even able to get a couple of guys running through some passing lanes on the backside that led to some breakaway layups,” he said.
Griffin Shaver led Ontario with 22 points, including a four point play.
Randleman was a thorn in the Warriors side all night. Balogh says they allowed him to get to the rim too much. “It has to be one of the best games he has ever played. A big emphasis for him was we wanted him to be a jump shooter and we really didn’t do that. He just did a great job of getting to the glass. I think maybe it was a six point game, six or eight, and he takes kind of a tough shot, but we don’t get the rebound and he gets a stick back and a three point play out of it. Give them a lot of credit that is a great weekend for them. They beat a Mt. Vernon team that had been plying pretty good. We thought we had been playing pretty good and they basically just kicked us. Jason has got to be really happy going into Christmas and we are not as happy,” said Balogh.
Published 12/23/18
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Tempo a Key for Ashland
Controlling the tempo is going to be big again this week for the Ashland Arrows as they host the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
They looked like maybe they were going to upset the Mansfield Senior Tygers for the second straight season leading (31-30) at the half, but it was all Mansfield in the second half last Friday and the Tygers won (74-54) the “OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says the Tygers pressure got to them. “Unfortunately, Friday night was a tale of two halves. The second half wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be as compared to the first half. Our kids did an exceptional job starting the game. There was a lot of effort and energy defensively. We got some turnovers. We got a lot of stops and we were able to convert and have a lead. However, even in the first half I thought we had sometimes when we missed some bunnies and left some points on the board at the free throw line that we didn’t get. We maybe could have had a bigger lead than we did at the half. That may have given them a little more momentum,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Mansfield they are relentless, that’s the way they play, and that is way they have played for years and they are going to keep playing and they have had a lot of success over the years playing that way. Give coach Sykes and their kids a lot of credit for just continuing to battle and compete. We were up a couple of possessions there in the second quarter and they just kept coming after you until they were able to get ahead and then keep on going.”
In the second half last week, Hess says the Tygers pressure made his more inexperienced players rush things too much. “Part of that is because Mansfield’s pressure they just speed you up a little bit and sometimes those easy ones, those inside ones, you rush it a little bit. It is hard for us to simulate that kind of energy and intensity on defense that we are going to see in those games in practice. Some of our kids in the first time around here against Mansfield they hadn’t seen that at the varsity level yet with some of our inexperienced guys. It has to be a learning experience now at this point,” he said.
Ashland also lost a non-conference game (84-49) at Toledo Start on Saturday night.
The Arrows (1-2,0-1) host Mt. Vernon (2-3,1-0) on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets did not play a league game last week. Their only game was a (59-52) loss at New Albany on Saturday night.
Hess says Mt. Vernon may be young, but they are well coached and dangerous at any time. “They are extremely well coached. Coach (Nick) Coon does a great job. His kids are very disciplined. They are very fundamental. They are very good at executing their offensive stuff and really make you work defensively. They are a team that is inexperienced and they are just going to get better and better as the year goes on. You have seen improvement already over the first couple of weeks because they are getting more and more varsity experience. It is a team a little bit like us that didn’t have a lot of varsity minutes returning from last year. It should be a good game. They play good solid defense. They are a little more deliberate in style than we are. It is going to be important for us to control the tempo better than we were able to last week,” said Hess.
Published 12/18/18
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Ashland Has to Avoid Tyger Spurts
Ashland hosts Mansfield Senior in what might end up being an interesting matchup in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night at Arrow Arena in Ashland.
The Arrows have probably had as much success against Mansfield Senior has anybody as of late. They beat them last year in a year when they only won two.
Last week, Ashland opened the season with a (60-42) win over West Holmes.
Coach Jason Hess felt they got things started with good defense. “We were pretty happy with the way things went last Friday. The effort ways really strong by our kids. They got up there and really set the tone early defensively and really carried that throughout the whole night last Friday and we were able to find a way to make a few baskets and get a nice conference win at home,” he said.
If this is going to be a good year for Ashland, Hess says they need to play very good defense every time out. “Defense is one of those thigs that we try to pride ourselves a little bit here at Ashland and make sure that our defensive effort is always strong. There are going to be nights when you just shoot the basketball well. I always tell the kids that defense travels,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Whether you are home, whether you are away your defensive effort is one thing that you can control in the game of the basketball. We can’t control officials, we can’t control if the ball goes in the hoop all of the time, but how hard we compete on defense is the one thing we do have a little bit of control of.”
Ashland (1-0,1-0) is at home for Mansfield Senior (4-1,1-0) on Friday night. The Tygers beat Madison (76-53) last Friday in their only league game. They beat Whitehall-Yearing (50-43) on Wednesday in a game played at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Hess says it appears the Tygers have hit their stride. “I saw them early and they were kind of searching. They lost a lot of from last year and they were kind of searching to find themselves the last four games they have started to find themselves and develop their identity with their defensive pressure the way they just rebound the basketball relentlessly,” he said.
Mansfield Senior may have teams that good perimeter shooters or good passers, but Hess says they always rebound and defend. “The personnel changes for them year in and year out, but the game plan stays pretty true. They are just relentless on the offensive glass. Their defensive effort kind of feeds off turnovers. Once you turn the ball over once or twice, they just get a little more energy out of it and turn a four point run into an eight, 12 point run. You look at their games, and it has historically been this way, they will have some stretch in the game where they just outscore their opponent by double digits over a short span and the opponent is not able to rebound from it,” said Hess.
Published 12/14/18
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Ashland to Get Things Started With West Holmes
Ashland is a week late starting its boys’ basketball season and they are doing it with an “OCC” game on Friday night at home at Arrow Arena against the West Holmes Knights.
Coach Jason Hess says not playing last week gave them extra time to prepare, but they have the disadvantage of not playing yet. “We are obviously excited to get started. It is a week behind everybody else or most teams in the area anyway. Although that week off did gives us the opportunity to go out and do some scouting and watch some teams and help get us prepared for West Holmes this week. We still haven’t gotten the opportunity to get our guys on the floor with the lights on on a game night.” He told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You just never know with those first game jitters and how the kids will react. There is a lot of excitement and a lot of energy. Hopefully, we will be able to keep our composure, stay in control, and get off to a good start.”
Ashland has some experience back, but Hess says they need those new guys to get their feet wet quickly. “There are always expectations. Everybody has a clean slate, a fresh start. There is just something about the boys seeing the ball go through the hoop for the first time. Your returning players have some confidence, but you have a lot of newcomers that haven’t been put in the spotlight before. It is something about those first varsity points or making that first play, diving on the floor for a loose ball, whatever it may be. It kind of helps relax you,” he said.
West Holmes won their opener in beating Loudonville (56-48) on Saturday night in a non-conference game. They have a new coach in Jordan Widder.
Hess says they are going to have to play well. “They had a good win Saturday night versus Loudonville. They are doing some things different. They have a good group of juniors and they play hard. I am hoping to get another chance to see them this week and watch some film on them. Try and get the best game plan we can. It’s a conference foe starting off and it is going to be a home game for us. Seems like you always want to win those home games, especially the conference ones,” said Hess.
With their first game being a home league game that puts even more of an emphasis on being prepared, according to Hess. “As much as you try to simulate things in practice going against the JV guys and scrimmages and everything it is always just a little different on game night,” he said.
Published 12/04/18
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Ashland Wants to Play Faster
Ashland only won two games last year, which is extremely rare for them, and the Arrows are working hard to get back to their winning way this season.
Coach Jason Hess have been very happy with effort he has seen from his group this year that has a little bit of a different makeup than in some past years. “We have been real happy with what we have seen so far. A large portion of our kids did not play football and were not involved in fall sports, so we had a really good turnout this fall starting back in September when we were able to get going with our four man workouts and our weightlifting and conditioning. The kids have been very committed this fall, so we are really looking forward to this season. Unfortunately, our football team did not make it the state playoffs this year like we have been accustomed to in the past, so the couple football kids that we did have were there right at the start of practice. We have had everybody there since day one,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think that is really going to help us out in the long run just getting a little more practice time here at the beginning of the season and getting everybody on the same page. I thought that chemistry wise we have ben really good this fall. We have really been challenging our guys and they have been responding to it. We are looking forward to getting things turned around after last year.”
Conditioning could be a factor for the Arrows this season and Hess says they have been working really hard to make sure they are in the best shape possible. “We tried to push them a little bit harder this fall. Just a little past observation, I was never a football player, just from coaching and watching the kids, it usually takes them three weeks to a month into basketball season to get their legs underneath them where they can play long stretches of basketball. It is such a different conditioning with the constant changing of direction and the long stretches that you might have to play basketball and it is a different muscle group too with some of the defensive sides and stances depending on what positions they played in football and every kid is a little bit different. I think getting our guys in basketball shape as quick as possible can only help us,” he said.
Hess says there are a couple of things in particular that they are working on to be better than they were last year, unselfish play and getting down the floor faster. “A couple of things that we have really tried to focus on. One is just trying to get our culture and team chemistry established where our guys understand the importance of being great teammates to each other an that kind of leads to playing unselfish basketball where we make batter decisions offensively and get better movement and spacing. I think at times last year our offensive execution was pretty stagnate and not where it needed to be. It is just hard to play defense for long stretches if you are not scoring points. I think we are going to try and get back to playing a little faster this year where we can get out and run the floor and use our skill sets that we have got with this year’s group of kids where they can play out in space and allow them to create and play basketball a little bit more and a little more feely,” said Hess.
Published 11/14/18
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Ashland Stands in the Way of Wooster
Ashland has a chance to keep Wooster from winning an outright Ohio Cardinal Conference title on Friday night as they visit the Generals at Folis Field.
It is a somewhat similar situation to last year when Wooster beat Ashland to stop them from winning an outright title. The difference is Ashland will not get a share if they win, they have been eliminated from the race.
Last week, West Holmes beat Ashland (56-49) in double overtime in “OCC” play.
Coach Scott Valentine says the Knights just made some big plays. “It is just one of those things. I think we have some good athletes in our league and those guys are making plays. Unfortunately for us we haven’t been able to get that one stop, or that one play for ourselves defensively to allow us to get the win. Both sides of the ball our kids are playing hard,” he said.
West Holmes quarterback Bridger Cline threw for 435 yards and seven touchdowns last week against the Arrows.
They had also given up 43 points the week before to Lexington.
Valentine says he doesn’t believe it is really a tacking issue. “I don’t think it is tackling. I think we have been pretty good tacklers this year. It is just one of those things when a guy makes a play we have guys in perfect position on coverage on defense and a guy makes a great play over top or a guy running the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Like Stover running the ball he is a big physical kid. We had two of three guys and you try to get that stop. Again, I think our kids are playing hard. We will have to go back in the off season and look and see about things we are going to have to do.”
Ashland (5-4,2-3) is at Wooster (7-2,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. Wooster beat Akron Firestone (44-12) in a non-league game last week.
Valentine says the have to make Wooster quarterback Dylan Dagley uncomfortable in some way and that is not easy. “I think there is no doubt their quarterback is the guy that makes everything go. He will run it on you and then he throws it and he has some good receivers out there. He is the guy you have got to control. You are not going to stop him, but you have to control him. Defensively, they have some big, physical kids up front that you are going to have to keep in tack if you are going to be able to move the football. Those have been our emphasis this week,” said Valentine.
Dagley ran for 98 and threw for 194 last week against Firestone. He accounted for four touchdowns.
Valentine says the Wooster game is a nice game to have at the end of the season. “I think that is something that over the years that our kids and their kids have battled and gone back and fourth with wins here and there. That is what really creates a rivalry when you have both teams battling and a certain team gets a win and the other team gets a win. That is the way it has developed over the years,” he said.
Published 10/26/18
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Ashland Must Forget Last Week; Concentrate on West Holmes
Ashland was eliminated from the Ohio Cardinal Conference race last week when they lost a shootout to Lexington, but they still have an outside chance to earn a division two playoff spot.
They need to first beat West Holmes this week.
Lexington recovered a fumble in the end zone in the final moments to compete a come from behind (43-36) win over the Arrows last week, dropping Ashland two games behind Wooster in the “OCC” standings.
Coach Scott Valentine says they made a lot of plays, just not enough. “It was a great high school game. It went back and forth. They got the last play to get themselves a win. Again, our kids gave a great effort. I told them that Saturday. It is just something where sometimes you give great effort, but things don’t work out, so we have to bounce back and get ready for this week,” said Valentine.
Ashland quarterback Mitch Heilman was 23 of 41 for 328 yards on the night. Lexington ran the ball for 346 yards on the night.
Valentine says they can’t be looking in the rearview mirror. “That is what we always say after those tough losses you going to be disappointed, but come Monday it is time to get back to work for the next week and our kids have been pretty good with that. So, we have to get ready for West Holmes,” he said.
Ashland (5-3,2-2) is at West Holmes (6-2,2-2) on Friday night for an “OCC” game. The Knights beat Beloit West Branch (30-8) last week in a non-conference game.
Valentine says West Holmes gives you a lot to prepare for. “They are a good football team. They have a group of kids that are seniors now and have played coming up through together. Offensively they give you a lot of different looks and do a lot of different things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The defensively they are pretty sound in everything they do. They play good base defense and zone coverage and just try and take away what you like to do.”
West Holmes has an outstanding quarterback in Bridger Cline, who accounted for three TD’s last week. Valentine says he is a good distributor. “When we talk about our own offense that if we can get it to different people you become a lot tough to defend. That is something he does, he gets it to different people and that is what makes them tough to defend,” he said.
Published 10/16/18
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Ashland Has to Quit Giving the Ball Away
Ashland is in a must win situation when it comes to the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night when they host the Lexington Minutemen at Community Stadium.
They are tied with the Minutemen a game behind the Wooster Generals in the “OCC” standings. They can’t afford to fall two games back.
They suffered their first conference loss last week when Mansfield Senior beat (26-21) them on a late TD pass with less than 30 seconds to play.
For them, Valentine said they just made too many mistakes. “Early on, they had changed some stuff up offensively and they controlled the ball. Offensively we couldn’t get some things going and we turned the ball over three times there in the first half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, fortunately in the fourth quarter we got some things going offensively and got ourselves back in the game and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Ashland rallied with three scores in the fourth quarter to take a (21-19) lead on the Tygers.
Turnovers were also a factor in their other loss to Tiffin Columbian (31-28) on week three. Valentine says they have to quit shooting themselves in the foot. “Turnovers were really things that hurt us in the first half because some of those were down in their territory that could have maybe turned into points. We didn’t get as many turnovers as we had had before. When you take away some of those things and look at them those are things we have to make sure don’t happen this week,” said Valentine.
Ashland (5-2,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for Lexington (3-4,3-1) in an “OCC” game on Friday night. The Minutemen held on to beat West Holmes (34-33) last week. The Knights missed a field goal at the horn.
Valentine says Lexington has found what it is good at doing. “Well, right now, I think they have some things they like to do personnel wise. Those are things we are going to have to defend against and adapt to some of the things they are doing there. You can just tell right now they are playing good team football. When you are doing that good things happen,” he said.
Cade Stover scored what turned out to be deciding touchdown last week against West Holmes and is a wrecking ball on defense is a senior. Valentine says that is a good thing for the rest of the league. “For us, he got hurt, so he didn’t play against us last year and he was out that week. He is a great player and a guy that us other coaches are going to be happy to see move on. Wishing the best of luck because I think he will have a great career in college, but glad to see go,” said Valentine.
Published 10/11/18
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Ashland Plays Dangerous Mansfield Senior
Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Ashland plays at home against Mansfield Senior on Friday night.
Ashland shares first place in the conference with Wooster, the Tygers are coming off a loss to rival Lexington (44-16) last week and have lost their last three gams in a row.
It was a fast start last week for the Arrows as they scored six times in the first half on their way to a (49-0) win Madison. After scoring only once in the first half the previous week against Mt. Vernon, coach Scott Valentine was pleased with the start to the game. “I think that was the big thing that the week before we didn’t finish our drives offensively in the first half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, it was about us making sure we did that early. We were able to do that and defensively we were able to get a lot of three and outs. A good start was what we wanted to do.”
Since a week three loss to Tiffin Columbian (31-28) the Ashland defense has allowed only three scores and only one by the starting unit. Valentine says their guys are doing a lot of good things on that side of the ball. “We are happy. Our guys are playing fast, running to the ball, we are doing a great job of hitting with our shoulder pads, tackling and getting off blocks to get there. That is something we want to make sure we keep doing,” he said.
Ashland (5-1,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Community Stadium against Mansfield Senior (2-4,0-2) on Friday night. The Tygers have also lost to West Holmes (35-20) and Maple Heights (38-14) over the last three weeks. They did win in their last visit to Ashland (45-42) two years ago.
Valentine knows they are dangerous. “Like always they are a good football team. They lost some tough ones there. They always have guys that can make plays. For us, those are always concerning things and something we have to make sure we are ready top go out and play four quarters of football,” he said.
Cameron Todd is expected to be the Mansfield Senior quarterback and Valentine says he brings a lot of athleticism to the field. “From our standpoint they do a lot of the same stuff. He is multiple and he can throw the ball. Those are things they were doing before. They could come out and do a few more different things that they might not have done. We see him as dangerous as the guy they have had there,” said Valentine.
Published 10/05/18
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Ashland Wants to Force Madison to Throw
Ashland hits the road to head down US 42 for a matchup with the Madison Rams in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night.
They broke a (6-6) halftime time with Mt. Vernon last week and went on to blast the Yellow Jackets (42-13) in their conference opener.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to make some adjustments. “I think definitely in the second half we got things going. In the first have did a lot of good things we just missed on a couple of opportunities, but I really felt in the second half things kind of came together on both sides of the ball,” he said.
Ashland has won more “OCC” football titles than anyone else and Valentine says you have to take games one at a time. “If you don’t get prepared each week then something is going to happen. This week it is about us getting ready for Madison and making sure we keep getting better as a team because if you are not getting better you are getting worse,” he said.
Ashland (4-1,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, is at Madison (1-4,0-1) this week in “OCC” play. The Rams were whipped last week (68-13) by West Holmes in a league game. They have won only once in the last 20 games.
Valentine says Madison tries to get a lot of guys around the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. “Defensively it looks like they are going to pack in the box and make you try and execute your offense against them. Defensively, they are going to bring some pressure and go some man coverage at times,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Offensively, they give you some different formations and they have some guys that run the ball hard and a quarterback that can throw it. So, those are all things that definitely we have to get ready for.”
Madison under new coach Dave Stupka would like to try and run the football and Valentine says a key for their defense is to put them situations where they need to throw. “With them they run a lot of “I” and double tights and doing some things formation wise they definitely seem like they lean towards the run a little bit. If you can get them behind the sticks a little bit or longer down and distances they have to do some things they don’t want to do,” he said.
Published 9/25/18
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Ashland Must Contend with Mt. Vernon Speed
Ashland, the defending co-champion of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, begins defense of that title on Friday night as they host Mt. Vernon at Community Stadium.
After losing on week three to Tiffin Columbian (31-28) the Arrows blasted Oberlin Firelands (48-6) last Friday.
Coach Scott Valentine says they played well in all phases of the game. “I was excited about our kid’s effort and how they came out and were ready to play and bouncing back after the week before. In all three phases of the game I thought we did a good job,” he said.
When you lose a game, Valentine says the most important thing is to handle that mentally and he feels his kids did that last week. “It’s the mental part more than anything. It’s how they are feeling. The confidence is shaken a little bit because they got beat. You have to make sure you do the little things right and that was our focus. I thought our kids did a good job with that,” said Valentine.
Ashland (3-1,0-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for Mt. Vernon (2-2,0-1) on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets were waxed (38-0) by Lexington in their conference opener last week.
Valentine says a little surprised by that score and he knows Mt. Vernon will bounce back just like their kids did last week. “They are definitely a good football team. I was shocked when I heard the score, not shocked just kind of surprised because I thought it would be a closer game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think Lexington got some big plays on them and things kind of snowballed. There is no doubt that we have to be ready to go and play four quarters of football this week.”
When he looks at Mt. Vernon on tape, Valentine says the Yellow Jackets show a lot of speed on both sides of the ball. “I think they have good overall team speed. I think defensively they run to the football. Offensively they make some big plays with the speed they have. That is something we are going to have to contend with,” he said.
Published 9/20/19
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Ashland Has to Win One on One
Ashland hosts Oberlin Firelands in their final non-conference game of the season on Friday night before beginning defense of their Ohio Cardinal Conference title next week.
The Arrows (2-1), #5 in the first Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, lost for the first time last Friday to Tiffin Columbian (31-28) on the road.
Coach Scott Valentine says they made some mistakes that ended up costing them. “It was just one of those things. I give Tiffin a lot of credit. Their kids came out and played hard. A lot of things we hadn’t done over the past few weeks we ended up doing. Those are things that will cost you. I think that is something our kids learn from and hopefully we are ready to move on,” said Valentine.
Tackling is something the Arrows have been working pretty hard on this year and Valentine says they did alright with that, but they did allow some big plays. “Our tackling wasn’t too bad. A couple times we gave up leverage and gave up a play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Again, their quarterback did nice job. He pulled the ball down and a made a few tough throws and got them in. Again, I give them a lot of credit. We have to get better.”
Firelands (2-1) beat Vermilion, of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, (21-19) last week.
Valentine says the Falcons are an aggressive team that will try and come after them with their defense. “Defensively, they play a lot of man coverage and try and come at you with some blitzes and things like that. Those are things we haven’t seem a lot this year. Offensively, they are similar to what we have seen the last couple of weeks. Again, we have to get better at some of the things we are doing. Special teams also, we have to get better at special teams,” said Valentine.
It will be a matchup between Ashland’s five wide offense and Firelands’ man-to-man coverage. Valentine says they have to win the majority of those contests. “We told our kids just the other day that we are going to win or lose the game by how we handle the one on one matchups that they give us. For us it is going to be making sure we make sharp cuts and get open for our quarterback and give him time to throw it,” he said.
Published 9/12/18
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Ashland Takes on a Better Tiffin Columbian
Ashland, a winner of its first two games, heads for Tiffin to play the Columbian Tornadoes in a non-conference game on Friday night.
The Arrows own wins on week one over Green (28-26) and week two over Clyde (28-21,) making big defensive plays in the final minutes to secure the victories.
Coach Scott Valentine says they are excited by their play, but not satisfied. “There is no doubt getting two wins in the first two football games and playing the people we did we are excited about where we are at, but again you still have a lot of football left to play and you can see a lot of things you still have to get better at, so we just have to keep getting better at things,” said Valentine.
One thing in particular has pleased Valentine this year about his Arrows and that is the way they have tackled the ball carrier. “I think defensively I have really been excited about the way I think we are doing a lot better job this year with the way we are tackling,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That has been something we have tried to emphasize this year being better tacklers and I think and that is something we have done a nice job with.”
Tiffin Columbian (1-1) endured an (0-10) season last year, but the Tornadoes dominated Elida (35-3) on week before losing to powerful Anthony Wayne (31-14) last week.
Ashland beat them (42-24) a year ago and Valentine says the Tornadoes are vastly improved. “There is no doubt. We got to see them scrimmage and you can tell can tell coach (Judd) Lutz has done a good job up there with their guys and they are definitely a better football team,” he said.
With the players Tiffin Columbian has an edges, Valentine says they have to be able to contain those guys. “Anytime guys are making plays their quarterback does a nice job and they have guys that can catch the ball and run with it. Those are things going into this week that we are concerned about on defense,” he said.
Published 9/04/18
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Ashland Faces Physical Clyde
Ashland and Clyde are two of the dynastic football programs in North Central Ohio and they meet for a non-conference game on Friday night at Community Stadium in Ashland.
It came down to a late score last year when Clyde won (22-19) at their place and it would seem to be the same kind of game this time around.
The Arrows hung on to beat Green (28-26) in a first week game, defending a two point play with less than a minute to play.
Coach Scott Valentine says they made some plays, but they also have some things to work on. “As we went back through the video we saw a lot of good things, so that is a positive, but there are still a lot of those little things you have to get better at. That is what we have been working on this week,” said Valentine.
It can be a trap for teams that win on week one, Valentine says they have to understand that they still have to improve. “I told our kids on Monday that half of teams in the state lost that first week, but it is not what you did the first week it is where you end up at the end of the season. So, there are a lot of things you try and get better at. I think our kids understand that,” he said.
Clyde (1-0) got a field goal at the horn to beat Toledo Start (27-24) last Friday.
Valentine describes them as a physical team who has left the spread for a little more of the wing-T offense. “They are a normal Clyde team. They are big and they are physical,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday, “This year they have kind of changed offensively into more of a wing-T style offense to use some of that size and strength. Defensively, they are doing a lot of the same stuff up front. They are well coached, so it will be one of those games where we are going to have to go out and earn everything we get.”
When facing the wing-T you have to watch out for fakes and Valentine says they need to be true to their keys when facing the Fliers. “That is the thing we have emphasized this week. You have to trust your reads and get your eyes in the right place. Hopefully, we can do that on Friday night,” he said.
Published 8/30/18
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Ashland Must be Patient
Ashland plays at Green on Friday night as both schools open the high school football season in non-conference play.
The Arrows are one of the favorites to take the Ohio Cardinal Conference title, which is something that seems to be the case almost every year.
Coach Scott Valentine says they are used to those expectations. “We always tell our guys it is not something you are given it is something you have to earn on the field. We try to emphasize that and I think our kids have taken it to heart you have to start each year and each year is a new year and different. We will find out where we are at and things like that as we get into the season,” he said.
Valentine says there was improvement during camp, but you are always a little concerned about hose kids that have never been under the Friday night lights. “Overall I thought we improved every day that we got on the practice field. We always talk about you never stay the same. So, I thought we improved on a weekly basis and in between scrimmages. We saw some improvement this week going into the first game, but still that first game you never know how kids are going to handle it, especially guys that haven’t been out there in a starting role, so that is something we will find out as we get into the game,” said Valentine.
Green is a big school in the Akron area and Valentine says they can do a lot of different things on both sides of the ball. “They are a multiple front defense. They are in a three man front and a four man front. They like to play a cover four and not give up big plays. So, from our standpoint we are going to have to be patient and have to move the ball down the field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Then offensively they are multiple also. They have kind of a scatback who is quick and runs hard, but is smaller. The they have a big, bruiser type back that they will use in certain situations. That is something that is concerning tackling wise because you have to make sure you tackle both of them and they are a little different. Then their quarterback throws a nice ball and scrambles a little bit, so he is a guy you are going to have to contain also.”
Patience on offense is going to be a key for the Arrows. Valentine, says they have to take what is given to them. “We always talk about that there are certain things that defenses are going to try and take away. You first have to attack where they are not whether it is running the ball or throwing the ball. As you progress they have to make adjustments and you take what they are giving you at those times,” he said.
Published 8/24/18
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Ashland Looks Good
Ashland has won more Ohio Cardinal Conference football titles than anyone and they hope to be able to put themselves in position to do that again this fall.
Veteran coach Scott Valentine says they are making the improvement he wants to see with the opener next Friday against Green just around the corner. “Well, I think it is always important as you think about where your team starts and your goals and each section. We kind of divide things between scrimmages. I think right now we are progressing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We still have a ways to go, but we are starting to see some of things we want to see from our group.”
Tackling, obviously, is a big part of the game of football and Valentine says right now his kids are doing a pretty good job of getting ball carriers to the ground. “I think on the defensive side of the ball I think we are doing a much better job this year of tackling. That was something as the year went on we got better at last year, but I didn’t think we started out the way we needed to. I like the way we are starting to tackle on defense. We can still get better. That is something I think has really improved for us,” said Valentine.
In the next week the Arrows need to continue to refine some things. Valentine says a lot that has to with the fundamentals and being able to repeat things play after play. “I think going into the first game it’s about consistency of doing assignments right and finishing blocks and getting off and reading keys. All of those little things that can make a difference. Our consistency on both sides of the ball and our execution,” he said.
Published 8/15/18
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Ashland Getting Ready for Another Season
Ashland shared in the Ohio Cardinal Conference football title last season and they have won more of those than any other school.
However, another season is underway. Veteran coach Scott Valentine says they have been pretty pleased with what they have seen, but it is very early in camp. “Like always at this time of year we haven’t hit anybody and that is a big part of the game being able to tackle people and block people and so until we are able to do that that is one of the things that we will have to wait and see,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I have liked the way we worked through the summer as far as lifting wise and getting stronger and faster. With how we have used our camp days I am happy with how we are progressing.”
The OHSAA has rules on what you can do and when you can’t do it as far as wearing pads and hitting and how much hitting. Valentine says they want to break down their preparation into segments if you will. “We break our year up into in different segments because of how things are. If you try and do too many things early then you lose some of that. So, we kind of balance that out as we go through the summer,” he said.
Valentine says they have a lot of upperclassmen this year, but not necessarily kids with a boatload of experience at the varsity level. “It is going to be a younger bunch experience wise with guys that didn’t get a lot of playing time last year, but we feel we have kids that this is their opportunity like always of taking advantage of being able to play, so that is what we are looking forward to,” said Valentine.
This is not uncommon for the Arrows because they typically have a lot of seniors that stay with the program and play a lot. Valentine says every year it a time for different players to step up. “We try to stress that that whenever your opportunity comes make sure you are ready for it and I think that is something our kids have really taken heart to,” he said.
Published 8/03/18
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Ashland Beats Mt. Vernon in “OCC” Play
Ashland got past Mt. Vernon 5-3 in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Monday afternoon.
That avenges a 5-2 loss to Yellow Jackets, the defending “OCC” champions, last Wednesday.
First year Ashland varsity coach Rick Gough knows any win against Mt. Vernon in a quality win. “Coach Gross does a great job down at Mt. Vernon and it is a quality program and anytime you can get a win over a quality program you are happy,” he said.
Brycen Light went to distance for the Arrows on Monday night and Gough says did a solid job of keeping Mt. Vernon off the bases. “Hats off to Brycen Light. He threw a complete game. Six strikeouts, no walks,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I am not sure how many hits he gave up. He pitched his way out of jams and did an excellent job.”
Light was efficient on Monday and Gough says he kept the Yellow Jackets from getting a big inning. “I think a key (Monday) night was in six of the seven innings we kept the leadoff batter off the bases and that helped tremendously with our pitch count and we were able to play defense. We did make a couple of mistakes, but we were able to overcome those,” said Gough.
Ashland has a busy schedule the rest of this week. They play Medina, Mansfield Senior, Massillon and a doubleheader against Clyde on Saturday. Gough hopes they can get some consistency going. “Right now, we are playing Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and two on Saturday. I hope we get those games in,” he said.
Published 4/24/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.com for the latest baseball resultsAshland Hammers Wooster
Ashland battled back from a loss Tuesday night to Wooster to blast the Generals (20-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Wednesday evening.
Coach Rick Gough says they didn’t play very well in an (8-5) loss on Tuesday and he was very pleased they were able to turn it around. “It was a great bounce back game for us. I didn’t feel we played our best ball on Tuesday and I was really happy that we bounced back (Wednesday) night and got the win,” he said.
Obviously, the Arrows (2-1,2-1) swung the bats very well on Wednesday at home. Gough says thy made some changes and that seemed to work pretty well. “I tweaked the lineup a little bit and the kids responded. I have one stat that says we had 16 hits and one stat that says we had 18 hits and you are not going to do that on a nightly basis, but it worked out well (Wednesday) night,” he said.
Ashland is scheduled to play Norwalk in a doubleheader on Saturday if the thunderstorms stay away and then Mansfield Senior on Monday and Mt. Vernon on Tuesday and Wednesday in “OCC” games.
Gough says he hopes they can take the confidence from Wednesday into this next stretch of games. “I think the fact that we have only played three games. We played our first game against Madison and did well. Then we had a week layoff where we were basically in the gym,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We played on Tuesday and were kind of feeling are way around I believe. So, I think we made a pretty significant improvement (Wednesday) night. Now, will we do that going forward? That is hard to say, but (Wednesday) night we will enjoy it.”
Published 4/12/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.com for the latest baseball resultsAshland to Field Young Team
Ashland is going to start the season very young this spring and their improvement is going to tell the difference between wins and losses for the Arrows baseball team.
Rick Gough, in his first year as the Arrows head coach, says they are going to have a number of kids that will be putting on a varsity uniform for the first time. “My players have worked hard and the coaching staff has worked hard. We have primarily a young team. We have got nine kids that will be seeing their first varsity action. So, it has been kind of a learning experience for this first year,” said Gough
There has not been a time out on the field either for this young team, according to Gough. “We have been able to be up on the turf a couple of times. At this point we have one scrimmage in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think as our team goes I think we will get better as the season goes. It is going to be a learning experience for a lot of them.”
Improvement can happen quickly in baseball because you play so many games in a short period of time, but Gough says it all relates to pitching. “It just depends on how much pitching you have. If you have enough pitchers to get you through then it is a good experience,” he said.
Pitching, well it is going to be young too, Gough says they only have on player back with any real experience. “We have seven or eight kids that can pitch for us. Coming back from last year we have Bryson Light that has two wins, so that’s all that we have in the bank. So, the other six pitchers are going to be on the mound for the first time. We will have to see how that goes,” said Gough.
Published 3/21/18
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Ashland Still Playing Hard
Ashland has not had as many wins as they were hoping for this season, but they have not quit playing hard.
They have three games this week as they host Massillon Perry on Tuesday in a non-conference game, travel to West Holmes for an “OCC” game on Friday night and to Norwalk for another non-league game on Saturday night.
They also played three games last week over five days and coach Jason Hess says that can become tiresome. “We just had one last week. Back to back three game weeks is kind of grueling. At this time of the year there is a lot of just fatigue and wearing down. It has been a long year. A team like us that really doesn’t have a lot of depth. We have not had a lot of good fortune this year. We have not played one single game with a full healthy roster. We have always had one guy out in one part of the season or the other with one thing or another. We have been a little bit short handed. We really have done a nice job with focus and putting out effort, but does take a toll on you,” said Hess.
The Ashland coach says that Perry is sort of the line them in a lot of ways. For one thing they play a tough schedule. “They have a really good point guard that does a lot for them. He really controls the tempo of the game. They are a younger team though, they play a couple of sophomores and a freshman. They are not a real deep team either, but they play good competition, they same as we do, with the Federal League. They are playing the Jacksons and the Hoovers and the McKinleys. Their schedule is no cakewalk. Record wise they don’t have as good a record as some of the teams we have played earlier, but yet they have definitely played a challenging schedule and they are a younger team and they have gotten better as the season has progressed,” he said.
Ashland (2-17,1-10) plays at West Holmes (5-13,1-9) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.
Hess says he is proud of how his players are working to get better this deep into a season that has been short on wins. “We have talked to our guys all year about effort and energy and we have gotten better at it. Even though we have had some letdowns most games a couple minutes here and a couple minutes there we have had some lapses, but our effort and our energy has been pretty good lately. Give our kids a lot of credit I had a coach tell me last week that they were impressed with how hard our kids play considering our record.” He told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “At this point in the season and the record we have it is easy to hang your head and pout and feel sorry for yourself or get ready for baseball or track or whatever is coming next, but our kids haven’t done that. Give our kids a lot of credit for hanging in there and having a good attitude about themselves and being a positive group of guys to be around.”
Published 2/13/18
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Ashland With Three More Tough Ones
Ashland has played as tough a regular season schedule as about anyone in North Central Ohio and that continues this week as they are home for “OCC” leader Mt. Vernon on Tuesday and at Mansfield Senior on Friday, and oh yeah, at unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s on Saturday.
One good thing is, the Arrows have tended to play their best against good teams.
Coach Jason Hess says they have been far too inconsistent though. “We have talked about that as a staff. We play to the level of our competition to a certain extent. We can’t quite put a finger on it. We just have really struggled with consistency this year as a whole and individually during games,” he said.
Mt. Vernon (13-5,8-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is coming off wins last week over Lexington (67-57) and West Holmes (52-46) in league play.
Hess says they are playing with a lot of confidence right now. “They are playing eight seniors along with a couple of other underclassmen. They brought several talented players back from last year. They got a lot of experience last year. They were a team that finished in the top half of the conference a year ago. They kind of went under the radar a year ago, but they did have some big wins,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They really competed, especially late in the season. They are playing really well right now. They have won 10 out of their last 11. They are definitely playing with a lot of confidence and they are peaking at the right time.”
Hess says the Yellow Jackets will be patient and they play smart too. “They can score in multiple ways. They can score inside and they also shoot the ball exceptionally well. I think the key is try and disrupt them, but that is a lot easier said than done. They do a good job controlling the tempo of the game. They run their offense and they don’t take bad shots. They don’t beat themselves and that is very unusual for a high school basketball team,” he said.
Ashland (2-14,1-8) has one win in the league so far and that was in overtime (65-55) against Mansfield Senior on January 9.
However, Hess knows the assignment on the road on Friday night is going to be tougher. “Mansfield, especially this year, number one is take care of the basketball. They are not a team that is prolific offensively. They have had their offensive struggles as well. When you turn the ball over and it allows them to get easy baskets it makes them a lot more dangerous. The second thing you have to do is you have to rebound. Those are two things we did a decent job of the first time around and we were able to come out on top. I know going over to Pete Henry is a different story than us playing at home,” said Hess.
Published 2/06/18
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Ashland Building Toward the End
Ashland is still finding it hard to win games, but its execution has started to be a lot better.
They play at Lexington is an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
Over the last week, the Arrows beat Orrville (56-47) and lost close games to West Holmes (64-63) and Massillon (61-59) on Tuesday.
Coach Jason Hess says they were able to take those games down to the final plays. “We did pick up the win at Orrville, which was nice, a little boost for our guys. Saturday was one of those games when we didn’t play our best and had a couple of spells defensively where we kind of were noncommitted I would say. I didn’t feel like the effort was really strong defensively for stretches of the game, but yet we made a lot of plays down the stretch and had a one-point lead with 2.1 seconds left, however, the ball didn’t bounce our way and West Holmes was able to make a shot at the buzzer and get the victory. I liked the way our kids executed down the stretch. It was a similar situation Tuesday night. I thought we did a nice job with Massillon. I thought Tuesday might have been our best overall game of the season, however, they had the ball last and hit a shot with two seconds left. That is the way the game goes. Unfortunately for us we have nothing to show for our effort Tuesday, but I thought we really play a nice ballgame,” said Hess.
The wins might not be as plentiful as they, but Hess likes what he sees in terms of execution, especially when it comes to ballhandling. “We have shown great improvement, especially recently, again I thought Tuesday was our best overall game of the year. Offensively, we executed really well against a tough Massillon team. We are right there battling back and forth. It was a good game basketball wise with lots of lead changes. It was clean basketball with very few turnovers, so that is another area that we have really improved this year. I know early on in a couple of games we had 25 plus turnovers. Tuesday night with Massillon we had seven and that is a team that pressures, is athletic, and is all over the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have got a lot of things that we have to be proud about and the improvement that was have made, but we aren’t getting victories just yet. There is still a lot of basketball yet to play. The kids have been tremendous attitude wise and continuing to work to get better each day. Good things are still ahead of us I think.”
Ashland (2-13,1-7) plays at Lexington (12-5,5-3) on Friday night. The Minutemen fell out of a share of the “OCC” lead with a (67-57) loss at Mt. Vernon on Tuesday night.
Hess says Lexington makes you execute on offense in order to score. “They are very good at half court defense and making those games just grind them out games. There are no easy points. I think points are definitely going to be at a premium and it is one of those things we have kind of been emphasizing the last few weeks is taking care of the basketball. I think our kids are starting to realize, especially with the two tough losses here lately that every possession matters, even if it is a first quarter possession, it may not get quite the attention that the last minute of the game possessions get, but in two point basketball games or one point basketball games every possession matters, every free throw matters and we are starting to realize how important each of those are,” he said.
Published 2/02/18
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Ashland Looking for Offense
Ashland has only one win this season, although it comes against “OCC” leader Mansfield Senior, and they continue to struggle to score of the ball consistently.
They lost “OCC” games to Wooster (73-54) and Mansfield Madison (60-50) last week and also lost Perrysburg (67-45) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says he saw some good things last week, but not enough. “It seems a little bit like we are moving forward in right direction and there is a little of digression last week with the way the results were. The big picture results weren’t where we want them to be, but there were still lots of bright spots in those games. At times I thought we played pretty well, especially Saturday up at Perrysburg we did a lot of good things in some stretches there in the third quarter we just couldn’t find the basket. It is hard to stay in the game against good teams like that when you are struggling to score,” said Hess.
Ashland (1-11) plays at Orrville (5-8) in a non conference game on Friday night. Orrville lost to CVCA (39-17) in the “PAC” on Tuesday night. Hess says the Red Riders are versatile. “They are similar to us. I feel like they are playing some younger guys. They are playing a couple of sophomores and freshmen and they are a little more inexperienced than some of the teams we have been playing lately that are more senior laden teams. They are good athletes that really get out and pressure you defensively. They are almost two teams within one. They have one wave of guys that are bigger guys. They have some big bodies. They have a 6’8” sophomore and some other guys that can sore in the post. They have about three or four other guys that are smaller guards that are ball hawks that just pressure the ball all over the court, all over the place. So, it is kind of a situation where they can play a couple of different styles. They’ve have good depth. They run a lot of kids in and out and have a lot of kids contributing for them.”
They host West Holmes (4-8,0-6) in a make up game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Saturday night. Hess says the Knights are not as bad as that record night indicate. “They can do some things. I thought they got off to a pretty good start this year, but then they got in the league and they hit kind of a little bit of a lull. Although, last Friday they played Mansfield and it was a single digit game, so it was definitely a tough one. Later on in the year when we go to West Holmes, playing down there is very difficult. Coach Troyer does a nice job. His kids always play hard. They have gotten better. I think they are in a similar situation to us in that they are getting better each week and doing some good things, but it is not always translating into wins,” he said.
Published 1/24/18
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Ashland Finding Some Things
Ashland picked up its first win of the season last week against talented Mansfield Senior and now they are starting to understand things a little more.
The Arrows play at Wooster on Tuesday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference as they start to play league teams they have played once this season.
Last Tuesday, the Arrows (1-8,1-4) beat Mansfield Senior (65-55) in overtime.
Coach Jason Hess says it was as much about effort as it was anything else for his ballclub. “I think the big things last week was our kids really just bought into playing hard for the whole game. We have been talking that we need to have a four quarter effort instead of just two or three quarters and it actually took about four and half quarters to get it done last Tuesday. I give our kids a lot of credit because Mansfield made a big shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime and our kids never got down on themselves, they never hung their heads, they just came right out in overtime and put the throttle down and just pulled away then for the win in overtime,” said Hess.
Hess adds there is no question they have the kind of talent to win games and hopefully the can build on what they did last week. “There is a lot of ability on this team and a lot of natural athleticism and talent. It is an exciting and fun group to coach it is just a matter of trying to put things together. We have continued to get better each day and each week. Hopefully, now we are getting close to the halfway point in season we will start compiling some wins and at the end of the year be playing our best basketball when tournament time comes around,” said Hess.
Ashland is at Wooster (7-4,4-2,) a game behind co-leaders in Mansfield Senior and Lexington in the “OCC” standings. They lost to Lexington (53-46) last Tuesday. They beat Ashland (54-48) the first time they played on December 8 at Arrow Arena.
If they are going to win Tuesday, Hess says they can’t have the high number of turnovers they have had in some games this year. “Not only the effort, but I think the big thing for us is taking care of the basketball. We have had a tendency to be a little turnover prone a couple of times this year. Our turnovers have been a little higher than we like them and those are opportunities that lead to easy baskets for the other team and also cut ourselves out of some scoring chances,” he said.
Ashland does not have as many wins as they would like to have, but Hess says this can be a much better second half of the season if they can be a little more consistent. “We have some kids that are really coming in and finding their own. Some of our juniors are really starting to step up here and be a little more consistent with their effort and learning how to play at this level and new roles that they are in this year. Unfortunately, it has taken a little longer than we were hoping at the beginning of the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Part of that has to do with the schedule and some tough opponents that we had early on, but I think that has also helped to prepare us as we go down the stretch. There is a lot of basketball left here to play over the next six weeks to two months. If we keep getting better each day we will be a pretty dangerous team when February and March rolls around.”
Published 1/16/18
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Ashland Has to Keep Senior High off Boards
Ashland has had some success against Mansfield Senior in recent years. They will go after their first win of the season when they host the Tygers on Tuesday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
They lost (60-40) to Mt. Vernon in an “OCC” game last Friday and traveled to Toledo and suffered a (74-52) loss to Toledo Whitmer on Saturday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they just aren’t getting enough of those 50/50 balls and they have to get more them if they are going to start winning games. “No matter what the record is you just want to keep getting better and keep improving and playing your best basketball at the end of the year. I think one thing that we have king of focused in on here the last week or so is to be a little more consistent with our effort. We have kind of challenged our guys that they have a little more in the tank and they need to give it for their teammates and put a little more on the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There are times during games that we are not quite making those effort plays, getting the 50/50 balls, getting offensive rebounds, we give up an offensive rebound. Little things like that, as opposed to x’s and o’s things, are some areas that we have been trying to improve here the last week or so.”
Ashland (0-8,0-4) hosts Mansfield Senior (6-2,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Tuesday night in “OCC” game. The Tygers did not play a league game last week. They lost to Lima Senior (54-47) last Saturday, that broke a six game winning streak. They are the “OCC” leaders by a game over Lexington and Wooster, who play each other Tuesday.
Hess says this is a Tyger team that gives great effort, plays aggressive defense and gets on the offensive glass. “Well, the one thing that jumps out when I watch them on film and see them is the defensive intensity they play with. They really get after it and make it hard for opponents to score. They make the games a grind. There is never a time when you can take a break. They are up in your shorts from start to finish. They just really get after it and they compete, and they play hard. They do a great job of offensive rebounding. They are not a team that shoots the ball extremely well from the perimeter, but because of their defensive pressure and because of the way they crash the offensive glass they give themselves a lot of extra opportunities to score,” said Hess.
If they are going to beat Mansfield Senior, something they have done in each of the last three seasons, Hess says they need to make the Tygers uncomfortable on offense. “When you let a team like this drive it to the basket and crash the glass and bully you a little bit they get momentum and they get energized from that and that makes it a long night,” he said.
Published 1/09/18
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Tempo Key in Ashland-Mt. Vernon Game
Ashland plays at Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night. The Arrows are trying to find a way to get into the win column.
They play at Toledo Whitmer in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Last Thursday, they fell to Lexington (63-48) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess believes this team is still very capable. “Obviously, for us we just focus on getting better each day rather if it is a practice or game situation. Just continuing to grow as a team and also individually with what we want to do as far as basketball goes, but unfortunately that doesn’t always turn into wins on game night. At the same time, it is a long season and it is about getting better each day and play your best basketball at the end of the season. I think when you look at our schedule we haven’t had a lot of easy ones and there are not a lot of easy ones on the schedule. So, I don’t know if it is fair to our kids necessarily to judge this team quite yet based on wins and losses, but I also know that is part of the game and part of what high school sports are all about,” said Hess.
Ashland (0-6,0-3) plays at Mt. Vernon (5-4,2-2) in an “OCC” game on Friday. The Yellow Jackets dominated West Holmes (73-39) last Friday and added a win over Delaware Hayes (65-52) on Saturday.
Hess says they want to be deliberate and they are very good shooters when they are open. “They are a team early on at the beginning the year I really expected them to be at the top of the conference standings with as many seniors that they have. They have a lot of experience over there. They are a team that plays a very deliberate style and it is not something a lot of teams in our league play. It is one of those things that when Mt. Vernon is able to dictate the tempo they are very tough to beat. They can be very frustrating for their opponents when they play that type of game. It slows the pace down a little bit and gets other teams out of rhythm,” he said.
Hess says the key for the Arrows is to push the pace, but be selective in their shot selection. “With the way we are built and the way we have played for years is we like to play fast. We like to get our and go in transition. We have to be smart and make good decisions in transition. Just because we are playing fast doesn’t mean we have to shoot a quick shot. We can push it if we have a layup or a wide open shot that we can’t miss the kid has to have to the confidence to step it up and knock it down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It is one of those things that getting impatient offensively is because we have been playing defense for a long stretch. That really goes back into that is the way they want us to play. It is almost counterproductive the mind set of trying to speed them up by pushing.”
Published 1/04/18
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Ashland Still Looking for that First Win
If you count just the second half the Ashland Arrows would be one of the better teams in the area, but unfortunately for the Arrows the points are added up over the whole 32 minutes.
Ashland has had a lot of inconsistency this year and that has paved the way to an (0-5) record so far over the first part of the season.
They lost (65-58) to Shelby last Saturday at a holiday tournament at Ontario High School.
Coach Jason Hess says they just couldn’t get anything going early in the game and got too far behind, something they have done before. “Saturday, we really got off to a bad start. We were really lackluster in the first half and dug ourselves a deep hole, down 18 points at one point there in the second quarter. Give our kids a lot of credit that we just didn’t hang their heads and leave with our tail between our legs. We came out fighting in the second half. We had it to a two point ballgame with about a minute and half left. We had a chance to tie it up, but we missed a pretty good look at it. That is the way it goes when you get behind early it is hard to dig it out of those holes sometimes,” said Hess.
They host Lexington (4-2,1-1) in the Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Thursday night and Hess says a win is real important for them because things are getting tough mentally for the kids. “I have said to just people around that are kids are figuring it out slowly, but the longer it takes the harder it gets. There are a lot of things mentally that start wearing on you when you can’t notch something in that win column. Part of it is we have played some pretty good competition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I will put our schedule against anyone’s in the area with the teams we have played thus far. Moral victories and feel good wins don’t count for “W’s” so we have to start making some corrections on the court to get us over the hump.”
Lexington beat Madison (54-46) in a conference game last Friday and then beat Norwalk (56-48) on Saturday.
Hess says the first thing you have to concern yourself with is how to contain junior post Cade Stover and that is a difficult task. “Well, when you look at Lexington the one things that jumps out at you is how physical they play and how hard they play and that starts inside with Cade Stover. He has got to be a fifth years senior it seems as long as he has been around, but I am pretty sure he has another year left after this one. He really demands a lot of attention when you are putting things together to get ready to play Lexington. They have some shooters that can knock down shots around him. When they are shooting the ball well they are tough to guard,” said Hess.
Published 12/28/17
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Ashland Working on Getting Better
Ashland is still looking to get over the final hurdles that would lead to a win and their next chance is Saturday against Ashland in a holiday tournament at Ontario High School.
Coach Jason Hess says they have been doing some things better, but that improvement hasn’t been enough to win games. “There is a reason we practice four or five times a week and we only play two games. That’s the way you get better is grinding it out in practice and you find out about your ball team and where you are at when the lights are on on Friday or Saturday. The time to get better is through the week. I give our kids a lot of credit that they are coming and working hard even though we haven’t tasted success yet as far as victories go. We have seen improvement each week and we are getting there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When we break through I do think these guys can continue to improve and get better and there are going to be a lot of victories and success in our future if we can continue to stay the course and just trust each other and continue to work and get better each day.”
Hess says they have addressed some offensive issues, but at times they still have some concerns with defensive intensity. “Early on we had some trouble with turnovers and some shot selection that in the end are almost like turnovers. We weren’t running any offense and we weren’t getting anything out of it. I thought we got a lot better with that last Saturday against Toledo Start. We executed offensively and got a lot of good shots in a game that we were tied and had the lead there in the fourth quarter. So, that was really encouraging to see that kind of sinking in with our guys. I think we are still lacking a little bit of defensive intensity at times. We get a little stagnate on defense and a little sluggish and not quite as aggressive guarding the basketball as I would like to see at this point. We have improved in that area, but the problem is sometimes in the heat of the moment we have the tendency to revert back to some bad habits instead of the new tendencies that we are developing,” said Hess.
Shelby (3-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has looked very good so far this year. They were upset by Clyde (64-54) on Thursday night in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Hess says they are bigger and more of a threat inside. “They have always been a good program and coach Schwemley has done a tremendous job and the one thing that has always impressed me about them is how hard they play. In the past we have had a little bit of an advantage and been able to win some close basketball games and part of that has been our size and our ability to go inside and score consistently. This year Shelby, in addition to their effort and their three point shooting that they have been known for, they have a little more height and a little more size, which makes them a very dangerous basketball team,” he said.
Published 12/22/17
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Ashland Must Value the Ball More
Ashland has been close to beating two good teams this year, but close only counts in slow dancing and hand grenades and certainly not in basketball.
They play at Mansfield Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday and host Toledo Start in non-conference play on Saturday.
It was a (54-48) setback to defending “OCC” champion Wooster last week.
Coach Jason Hess says they have to grow up. “It is a young season. It is a lot of guys in different positions and a lot of inexperience on our ballclub. It is part of growing up and learning. Hopefully, we take a little bit from each game and get better for the next one. We practice four days a week or five days a week and we scrimmage and we do all of this, but there is no substitution for turning the lights on Friday night and putting the kids out there in a real pressure situation,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It forces them to grow up and understand what they can do and what they can’t do at this level. So, hopefully we are able to learn from it and take some positives from these two close games even though we came up a little short and make some positive strides moving forward.”
When it comes to getting better, Hess says ballhandling and shot selection come to mind first. “The big thing that jumps out at us is to value the basketball on offense. I am not talking necessarily turnovers, although Friday night the turnover bug bit us pretty hard, but even our shot selection and our offensive possessions. We are little loose and casual with the basketball. Sometimes we are getting shots up, but they are not the shots we want in that particular situation. It just comes from growing up and understanding the game and understanding your teammates and trust in your teammates to make the next pass and the right play. We are getting there in bits and pieces, but it is not quite there yet,” said Hess.
Madison (1-2,0-1) lost in overtime to Mt. Vernon (55-51) in league play last Friday and won its first game (75-51) over Norwalk in a non-league game on Saturday.
Hess says the Rams are explosive on offense. “I was fortunate to see them play Saturday night against Norwalk. They were really impressive with the way put points on the board and shot the basketball from the perimeter. I think they have that type of team that can put 45 to 50 points up in a half. So, it is going to be a big challenge for us. We are definitely going to have to come ready to play and see some significant improvement from where we were the last two weeks,” he said.
When it comes to the pace of the game, Hess believes the Rams like to run the floor, but they are selective. “I have seen them play both ways. They kind of pick and choose. I don’t think they are necessarily pedal to the metal full throttle all of the time, but they will run when the opportunity is there. They are very aggressive and they have some good basketball players that do a nice job of creating for teammates and setting other guys up for easy shots,” he said.
Published 12/13/17
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Ashland has to Rebound, Shoot Better
Ashland lost to a very good Sandusky team last week and they play another on Friday night when they host defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Wooster in the league opener.
Sandusky beat Ashland (65-54) last week. Sandusky took a quick lead, but the Arrows cut it to three in the fourth quarter.
Coach Jason Hess says they want to get back on the court and prove they are better. “We just unfortunately got in a little hole at the beginning of the game and came up a little short on the scoreboard. I think our kids have really responded well this week in making the improvements that we have emphasized in practice and we are excited to get back out there. It seems like in basketball is a little different than football where they are used to one game a week stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “In basketball we tend to like to play a little more often that way it keeps your memory short as far as what happened the last game. Having a week off here between games this early in the season it gives us some good practice time to get better, but we are still very anxious to get out there and play again.”
If they are going to beat a team like Wooster, Hess says they have to get on the defensive boards and execute their offense better. “The two big areas I think are against Wooster is one defensive rebounding and the second one is just offensive execution. Wooster is a team that plays very hard and they are very aggressive in the offensive glass. So, we have to make sure we establish a physical presence when shots go up and we can go rebound their misses. Just handle their pressure and execute offensively a little bit better to try and get a little bit better shots then we got last week. I feel our kids are very capable of making shots and we arehttp://www.swankonsportshosting247.com/ better shooters than we shot last week,” said Hess.
Wooster, having lost most of its offense to graduation, stepped up and played very well in beating Massillon and Massillon Perry last week.
Hess says the Generals are playing a lot like they did last year when they won 20 games. He says they take you out of your comfort zone. “They are a team that plays with a lot of confidence. They play hard and they really, really get after it and guard the paint and guard the ball well and can shoot perimeter shots and can kind of disrupt teams with how hard they play defense and get them out of rhythm,” he said.
Published 12/08/17
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Ashland Asking Players to do Different Things
Ashland was one of the top teams in the area last season and they are hoping they can be there again.
They play Sandusky in an interesting non-conference game on Friday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they have some guys back from last year, but they are going to be asking them to fill different roles. “This year we are excited about the group of kids we have got. We have a few returners from last year’s team that had a good year. We have guys that were with us last year that we are expecting a lot from them this year. They were more role players last year. This year they will still be role players it is just going to be a bigger role,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are going to be asking a lot of our seniors and captains this year to really carry the load, especially early while are newcomers are kind of getting their feet wet at the varsity level and getting caught up with the pace of play. Even though we do all these summer leagues and open gyms and workout stuff we do there is no substitute for game action. It is going to be a little bit of a learning curve here for this opening weekend until we get everybody acclimated to varsity action.”
Hess says there will be a learning curve for some of the players as they adapt to doing some different things and it is going to take a real game to figure out if they are good at it. “Typically you rely on your returners to bring you some experience and leadership, however they also have to adjust and evolve to understand that last year they may have been more of a defensive player or a spot shooter and now we are putting them in a role where they are a primary ball handler or we are asking them to do a little more rebounding or to be a playmaker because guys we leaned on heavily last year to do some of those things are not there anymore. It is a big learning curve year to year. We have scrimmages and stuff, but like I said there is no substitute for in game action. I know we are excited to play Sandusky and turn the lights on and put the uniforms on Friday night in front of a home crowd. It will be all about how we adjust and react to that in game situation for the first time when the adrenalin is really pumping for the first time and how we can handle it,” said Hess.
Sandusky is the defending division two district winner, but Ashland beat them last year by one. Hess says it will take a very good effort to win. “It is a good test they are a well coached team. They are a very athletic bunch. They do have a couple of scorers, they are a little more balanced then maybe they were last year when they were leaning heavily on Jayreese Williams. This year’s team from what I have seen and heard I think is a little more balanced. They do have some good size and some good athletes and it is going to be a good test for us. Last year we were able to pass that test on opening night. Hopefully this year we can find a way to play a little bit of defense and really make things tough for them and hopefully some shots fall for us,” said Hess.
Published 11/28/17
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Ashland Has to Take What’s Available
The fourth quarter last week was not the time for patience really, but Friday night they will likely need a lot of it.
The Ashland Arrows (9-2) rallied for three scores down in the fourth quarter to beat Columbus Mifflin (48-47) in overtime to advance to a division two regional semifinal on Friday night against Massillon Washington at Wooster’s Folis Field.
Coach Scott Valentine says he was awfully proud of what the Arrows did last week when the chips were down. “Sometimes things aren’t going your way. We got a quick score and then our defense got a quick stop and we were able to get some momentum and get going and finish the game off. I am really excited how our kids responded there,” he said.
It was actually Ashland’s first win in a playoff game since 2010.
Valentine compares last week to a come from behind win over Warren Howland in 2009. “We tried to compare a couple of those. One year Warren Howland with Marcus Fuller we scored three times in the last four, five minutes to win that one. It was definitely right up there. When you are around it a long time you see a lot of different things,” said Valentine.
There are very few high schools with more tradition in football than Massillon. Although, they have not won a state title since the playoff system started in the early 70’s. However, I think they still give footballs to parents of newborns at the local hospital.
The Tigers (8-3) beat Youngstown Boardman (28-23) in the first playoff game. They beat arch rival Canton McKinley (16-15) in their regular season finale. Their losses come to Mentor (49-14) in their opener and Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary (13-10) on week nine. They play a great schedule, perhaps a (35-6) win over Akron Firestone the lone exception.
Valentine says the Tigers like to run the ball and then do some things off of it. “First of all, they like to run the ball and then play action off of it. They have a couple of good receivers that coming of the play action they will throw the ball to and they will make some plays,” he said.
When it comes to defense, Valentine says Massillon is fundamental and does not allow many big plays. “Defensively, they are very sound. They read their keys and they play good team defense,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are not going to give you the big play. That is one of those things when you have to be patient enough to take things and move it down the field. They are a good, sound, well coached football team.”
With their empty backfield Ashland kind of lives on the big play, example last week. Valentine says Friday night they must have some patience. “You try to stress to your kids patience as far as moving it down the field and even patience with what we are trying to do. If they are not going to give you and they are going to back off then we have to take stuff underneath and be ready to move it down the field. I think our kids have been pretty good with that. So, that is something hopefully we can do,” said Valentine.
Published 11/10/17
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Ashland Takes on Athletic Mifflin
Ashland has now been in the playoffs four straight times and it’s their seventh appearance in the last nine years. That’s consistency.
They travel to Columbus Mifflin on Friday night for a first round playoff game in division two.
Ashland has a 9-10 playoff record and went as far as the state semifinals in 2007. This season, they shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with Wooster and Mansfield Senior. Wooster did not earn a playoff berth. Mansfield Senior plays at Bay Village in division two.
Wooster railed to beat Ashland (34-31) last week to give the Arrows their only conference loss. Wooster led (20-0) in the first quarter, but Ashland battled back to take a (21-20) halftime lead. Arrows coach Scott Valentine says it was a heck of a game. “Anytime you don’t get a good start and they jump out on you, you use a lot of energy to get back in the game. I was proud of our kids. We got back in the game. We had some opportunities to get some stuff done in the second half, just unfortunately we didn’t. Their kids made some good plays, so I give them a lot of credit,” said Valentine.
Mifflin (8-2) out of the Columbus City League has won five of its last six. They did lose last Friday to Aurora (34-14) in a non-conference game. The Punchers have scored at least 40 points in half of their games. Valentine says they remind you of Mansfield Senior. “They are a very athletic team. They remind you a lot of Mansfield Senior with their athletic ability and their running. They have a quarterback that throws the ball to his receivers and they go up and get it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Defensively, they bring some pressure like we saw against Mansfield. Those are the things we are going to have to be prepared for.”
Ashland (8-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Mansfield Senior (46-20) in a regular season game.
Valentine says they have to be good tacklers or there are going to be big plays. “Especially in the open field you have to be able to get guys on the ground and if you don’t that is going to cause you problems. That is going to be an emphasis this week,” he said.
With the kind of blitzing the Punchers do, Valentine says if they there will be opportunities for big plays. “That is something we always tell our guys outside. If they are going to blitz you have to win that one on one battle outside and then hopefully make a big play for us. Those are things that we are going to have to look and see what kind of blitzes they are running and what tips them off and try to have our guys ready to make a big play,” said Valentine.
Of Ashland’s 10 playoff appearances nine of them have been under Valentine since 2003, so they seem to know what they are doing. He says they treat this like any other week. “We are not changing the way we practice. A few weeks ago, we cut down a little practice time actually on the field just because it is the second half of the season. You just have to be careful with the wear and tear on the guy’s bodies. We are going to keep on the same schedule,” said Valentine.
Published 10/31/17
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Ashland Can Take it All
Ashland will win the outright Ohio Cardinal Conference football title with a win at home on Friday night against the Wooster Generals.
They lead Wooster and Mansfield Senior by one game entering the final week of the regular season.
In a wild game last week, Ashland (8-1,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, held on to beat West Holmes (49-48) in an “OCC” game. The Arrows were able to stop a West Holmes two point conversion attempt after their final touchdown with less than a minute to play.
Ashland coach Scott Valentine says it was a game with a lot of momentum. “It comes down to how the game is going. We were in one of those games where it was going back and forth, and we had to keep scoring. Fortunately, we got the stop there on the two point play to give us the win,” said Valentine.
Wooster (4-5,4-1) is coming off a non-conference loss to Canton Central Catholic (31-27) last week. They also lost a tightly contested game to Mansfield Senior (28-21) two week ago.
However, coach Valentine says when you watch the Generals it is clear they are getting better. “Coach Haas and his staff do a great job. You can see as we watch games as they progress it is a team that has kept getting better as the year went on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday.
Wooster has scored more than 40 points three times this season. Valentine says Generals quarterback Dylan Dagley is a good orchestrator. “I think their quarterback is the guy that controls a lot of that. He makes a lot of plays. He will pull it down and run it when he needs to and makes pretty good decisions when he is running the ball. He has got some good playmakers with him,” said Valentine.
On defense, Valentine says Wooster will likely blitz a lot. “I think defensively they do bring a lot of pressure. They play some man and some zone too. Their front four guys have shown to be pretty good and their linebacker corps as far as controlling the running game. That is something that concerns you,” he said.
Ashland has won more “OCC” football titles than anyone and Valentine says their kids look forward to games like this. “I told our kids this is why you work all winter long and all summer long to hopefully be in a position to where you are going to play in a game like this at the end of the season. We are hoping for a fun night,” he said.
Published 10/26/17
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Ashland One Step Away
A win over West Holmes on Friday night will give the Ashland Arrows no less than a share of their seventh Ohio Cardinal Conference football title, the most of any school in the league.
They put themselves in that position with a (40-0) destruction of the Lexington Minutemen last week, scoring more than 30 in the first half of the game.
Head coach Scott Valentine says they could have had some more scores had it not been for their one mistakes. “We had three touchdowns called back, which came on penalties on us. Those are some things you don’t like to have happen. We looked at some of it and what we might have to change a little bit. Overall, we executed on offense and on defense we were able to get good stops and that enabled us to have good field position,” said Valentine.
Across the area there seem to be a lot of touchdowns called back this year on penalty, it’s like there was a big play look for a reason. Valentine says they tell their kids their focus has to be on the next play, not on officials. “I think this is one of those years. I know the officials are given things to look for. A lot of times in their intensity in looking for things is on a big play because something possibly could happen. They have a tough job. When they make a call, we tell our kids we don’t control calls. It is about us them coming back the next play and moving on,” he said.
Ashland (7-1,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home at Community Stadium against the West Holmes Knights (3-5,2-2,) who beat Warsaw River View (49-0) in a non-conference game last week. They have scored at least seven touchdowns in three of their last four games.
West Holmes has a new coach in Zach Gardner and Valentine says they have really started to throw the ball a lot from a spread formation. “They are doing a lot of different things. A new coach has come in and does some nice things and they have improved throughout the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have gotten wins here in the last three weeks, so they have some guys that can make some plays. They are far from the offensive type team they have been in past years.”
Ashland can score too and Valentine says they are going to have to score their share Friday night too. “When you have an explosive team you have to be able to put some points on the board too, so that is something we are going to have to do,” he said.
Published 10/18/17
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Ashland Needs to Keep Going
Ashland got a huge win last week over Mansfield Senior to remain in a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference lead with Wooster, but they can’t be satisfied and have to understand there is a lot more to play for.
After holding just a five point third quarter lead Ashland exploded down the stretch to beat Mansfield Senior (46-20) and coach Scott Valentine says both sides of the ball where able to step up. “There in the second half we were able to take advantage of some opportunities we got and then defensively we were able to contain them and get stops when we needed them,” he said.
The Arrows have won six of their seven games this year and it seems they have gotten better every game. Valentine says they make that an emphasis in their program. “I feel each week our kids have come in and really concentrated on some things our kids need to get better at and we still have things to get better at, so this week has been no different,” he said.
Ashland (6-1,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Lexington (1-6,1-2) in an “OCC” game. Lexington lost (55-21) to West Holmes last Friday.
Valentine says it is difficult to tell what the Minutemen are going to do on offense, so they have to be ready for about anything from a game plan standpoint. “There is no doubt they have some guys that can make some plays. So, that is the thing your focus has got to be on what they are going to do and how they are going to do it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The question is Stover didn’t play last week, so we don’t know if they are going to do the same stuff or he is back and how he is going to do it. That is the thing defensively that we are trying to make sure we are ready for.”
For many years this was the last game of the regular season for both schools. In fact, Ashland beat Lexington last year on week ten to share the conference title with the Minutemen. Valentine says there is a sense of rivalry here. “I know the league has changed or rotated or whatever, but that has been the last game for a long time is has been built into a rivalry like game and something I know both teams look forward to that game. We want to make sure we are ready,” said Valentine.
For Ashland a win is a must. They play Wooster on week ten, but Valentine says they can’t be looking ahead. “We told our kids that hopefully we aren’t satisfied with the just the win over Senior because there is a lot left for us to do and we have to be ready to do that,” he said.
Published 10/12/17
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Ashland Tangles with Mansfield Senior
Two of the leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference lock horns on Friday night at Arlin Field in Mansfield for the right to stay on top in the conference standings.
Wooster, who plays Mt. Vernon, also has a piece of the lead.
Ashland (5-1,2-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the big school division, beat Madison (56-13) last week. They were behind (13-7,) but then scored the next seven times they had the ball. Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to answer. “I felt we were able to get the ball moving. The turnovers you don’t like to see, but they were early. So, we had to come back and we answered some of the scores they had with our offense. Defensively, we got some stops there as we got into the second quarter,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (5-1,2-0) pounded Lexington (54-17) last week. The Tygers are led by University of Minnesota recruit Jornell Manns, who has scored at least twice in all of their games this year.
Valentine says it is not just Manns, the Tygers have a lot of guys that are home run hitters. “They have guys that are playmakers and will make plays. Those are games when you know you are not going to completely shut them down. You have to try and limit as many big plays as possible. Part of that is trying to make sure that you do things right offensively to help yourself out too and give them short fields and things like that,” he said.
The Tygers tend to be a team that will blitz a lot and try and be aggressive and make plays. Valentine says they have to take advantage of that. “We talked to our kids that last year we had some big plays because of some of the things they do give you and opportunity if you beat a guy one on one and get open you are going to make a big play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are looking to try and take advantage of those opportunities we get on Friday night.”
Mansfield Senior beat Ashland in a shootout (45-42) last season and Ashland won at Arlin Field two years also (25-21) and those are the kinds of games these two tend to play. Valentine predicts Friday night will be no different. “There is a high level of competitiveness against each other. Over the years it has been back and forth and things like that. They are always hard hitting and physical games. I don’t anticipate anything less,” he said.
Published 10/04/17
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Ashland Wants Big Plays
The nature of their team, and the way they play, makes Ashland a big play team on both sides of the ball and they have to make those if they are going to win games.
They have been doing that and that has led the Arrows (4-1,1-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, to a share of first place in Ohio Cardinal Conference.
They trailed Mt. Vernon (21-20) last week with about 8:00 to play in the game, but coach Scott Valentine says they were able to rise to occasion and win (35-21) in an “OCC” game. “I was really proud of the way the kids responded. We had some opportunities that we didn’t get. Credit Mt. Vernon that they kept battling. When we got down our kids responded on offense and defense,” he said.
Ashland runs the five wide offense and they bring a lot of people on defense. Valentine says it is about making those big plays. “We also talk about when you get opportunities to make by plays you have to be able to make them. We have been fortunate that our guys have been able to take that and make some big plays,” he said.
Ashland has also been motioning some skilled players into the backfield to run the ball and quarterback Keagan Armitage has been taking off a little more too. Valentine says it depends on what the defense is giving them. “Sometimes you get into certain games depending on what they are doing to you defensively you have to maybe run it a little bit more and then the pass comes a little bit later,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Just like you take the short passes over the long ones early and things like that. I think that has led to us running the ball a little bit more.”
Madison (0-5,0-2) lost (56-20) to West Holmes last week in “OCC” action and the Rams have just had trouble putting things together, but Valentine says their players are still putting in the effort on the field. “The thing I told our kids all along is every game is important. Madison’s kids are working hard and they are trying to do everything they can. Unfortunately they haven’t won a game. Coach Masi and their staff work hard with their kids. We have to step out there and be ready to play a four quarter game in order to get the job done,” said Valentine.
Even though they have not won a game this year, Valentine says the Rams have shown they can make big plays. “When you watch video on the plays some of their kids have made. They have had the opportunity to make some plays and they have. From a defensive standpoint we have to make sure we don’t give them big plays and give them opportunities. Plus, we have to make plays offensively,” he said.
Published 9/29/17
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Ashland Facing Stingy Mt. Vernon
Ashland opens up play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, they are defending co-champs, with a visit to Mt. Vernon to play the Yellow Jackets.
Mt. Vernon beat the other defending co-champ Lexington (15-13) in their “OCC” opener last week.Ashland (3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Uniontown Lake (21-7) in a non-conference game.
Coach Scott Valentine says they did some good things on both sides of the ball. “Going in we knew they were a good program, so we knew it was going to be a battle all four quarters. I really felt our defense did a good job containing their running back. We did a great job coming down hill and tackling him. We didn’t let them score on offensive touchdown,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Unfortunately, we gave up a special teams one. Defensively we had a great game. Offensively we made some big plays and Keagan ran the ball well for us. It was one of those things where we had to take what they gave us. They had eight guys covering the pass, so he is going to have to run it, and that’s what he did.”
Valentine believes this team is improving week by week. “Over the first four weeks. I think each week we have gotten better, but what we tell our guys is we definitely haven’t played our best game. We still have things we have to get better at doing, so we are going to go back to work this week,” he said.
Mt. Vernon (2-2) also has a (31-0) win over Newark to its credit. Valentine says they are pretty solid. “They have done a nice job. They held Lex down last week. Some of the other opponents they have played against they have done a nice job against them. We are going to have to look and see how we can try and to impact them and try and make some plays,” says Valentine.
Valentine says the Yellow Jackets are going to bring a lot of players from a lot of angles to try and get pressure on quarterback Keagan Armitage. “They run a 3-3 stack most of the time. Sometimes they get in a four man front. They are going to bring pressure from different directions. So, you are just going to have to be ready to pick up the pressures they bring,” he said.
Published 9/19/17
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Arrows With Another Good One
Ashland plays one more non-conference game on Friday night at Uniontown Lake before beginning Ohio Cardinal Conference play next week.
After spotting Tiffin Columbian a (10-0) lead, Ashland (2-1) rallied to upend the Tornadoes (42-24) last week.
Coach Scott Valentine says they tell their kids the game lasts 48 minutes and you have to play the whole time whether you are ahead or behind. “We always tell our guys that it is a four quarter game. You can have some bad things happen early or the other team just makes some plays early, but you have to keep battling and I thought our kids did that,” he said.
There are seven schools in the “OCC” now and that means every week a league school will not have a conference game. Valentine likes the fact their number came up first. “When I saw the schedule come out and that is where we were because a lot of times in those other weeks it is tough to find a game or you are playing somebody that is really good like St. Ed’s or St. Ignatius or somebody that is looking for a game those weeks. I felt really fortunate that we had that first week,” said Valentine.
Lake (1-2) lost last week to Copley (21-20) is a new opponent for the Arrows. Valentine says the Blue Streaks have a good program. “They have always been a good program. They have a great tailback that is a downhill runner. If you don’t tackle him he is going to make some big runs on you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Defensively, they have always played pretty good. They keep you in front of them and then come downhill. The linebackers run to the ball. So, it is going to be a challenge for us.”
Ashland plays as good a schedule for a big school in this area with Clyde and Green and so on. Valentine says that’s by design. “There is no doubt we are looking for people that are going to make us better and give us the challenge we need to keep getting better. Our kids know going in that they are a good football team, but we have seen some good football teams up to this point and we have to go out and play a good four quarter football game,” said Valentine.
Published 9/14/17
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Ashland Must be More Consistent
Ashland has the players to be a very good team, but they have to be more consistent on both sides of the ball to reach that goal.
Clyde edged Ashland (22-19) last week. The Fliers scored a fourth quarter TD and they sacked the Arrows on fourth down to end their final drive,
Ashland coach Scott Valentine says it was a well played game by both sides last week. “It was a great high school game. They are a good program and a good team. In third quarter we were able to get a big play and score and it kind of went back and forth. They got the lead there and we drove down and just couldn’t finish that last drive off. So, again it was a great game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I am proud of our kids and how they kept bouncing back and competing. We got better, but we still didn’t get the win, so we have to get back to work and get ready for this week.”
When looking back at the Clyde game, Valentine says they need play with more consistency in all areas. “I think there are some things on both sides of the ball and even special teams that we have to be more consistent with. Part of that is good tackling and reads and things like that. Offensively, executing things that we are doing, so anytime you play somebody good that consistency shows up a little bit, so that is somewhere we have to get better,” said Valentine.
Ashland (1-1) hosts Tiffin Columbian (0-2) in a non-conference game at Community Stadium on Friday night. Columbian lost to Elida (42-20) on week one and Anthony Wayne (42-3) last week.
Ashland beat Columbian (38-21) last year, but Valentine says the Tornadoes are better this year. “When you see them on tape coach Lutz has done a nice job and you can tell they are working on things and they are definitely better than they were last year,” he said.
Tiffin coach Judd Lutz has been talking quite a bit about wanting to run the ball, but Valentine says they still want to balanced. “I think they are somebody who team wise that is something they are looking to do, but them again they are going to be balanced, but they are definitely trying to emphasize the run,” said Valentine.
Published 9/06/17
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Ashland Must Win up Front
Ashland travels to Clyde Friday night for a non-conference football game between two of the better programs in North Central Ohio.
Clyde won (38-21) last year at Ashland.
The Arrows took a (31-14) early in the fourth quarter and hung on to beat Green (31-28) last week,
Coach Scott Valentine says they made enough plays to get the win last week. “I thought our kids did a great job. I thought we came out and initially I thought we made a few plays. Then I thought we came out in the second half and our defense really turned up the heat on the quarterback and really contained them. It was unfortunate because we had an opportunity to put the ballgame away there in the fourth quarter with a couple of plays and just missed on a couple of throws and missed a couple of blocks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When you don’t put people away then you give them that opportunity. Credit Green that they battled back through and gave themselves a chance, but our defense rose to the occasion and got the stop in the end for us.”
Valentine has great respect for the Clyde football program and he says year after year they put together a very competitive team. “There is no doubt. The kids in their program come up through and they understand what has to be done to get ready for the season and he does a great job and his coaching staff. So, you can’t expect anything less than what you get from them every year,” he said.
When it comes to this year’s team, Valentine says the Fliers are very good up front and those guys are very good at controlling the run game and the pass game. “Up front their defensive lineman are really good. They do a good job of not only playing the run, but rushing the passer also. I think that defensively makes them a pretty good defense. Then offensively they just do a good job of shifting and changing their formations and trying to get you not to recognize things and take advantage of some things that you don’t do. That concerns you defensively that you are ready for all of that,” said Valentine.
When you are trying to defend the Fliers, Valentine says you have to be ready to make the needed adjustments. “When they shift you have to be ready to counter a little bit. You don’t have to make a wholesale change. If you don’t counter then they get leverage or get position on you that puts you in a bad situation. It’s just recognizing all of the things is something hopefully we are ready for,” he said.
Published 9/01/17
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Ashland Still Preparing
Ashland will be tested when they open the season hosting Green on Friday night in their opener at Community Stadium.
Coach Scott Valentine says they have gotten better step by step, but that improvement needs to continue this week as they get ready for Friday. “I think with each of our scrimmages we have seen some improvement, but you still have to make that improvement during game week. So, there are some things we have to get shored up as we head into Friday,” he said.
The Arrows have done some good things as a team this month, but Valentine says they need to find out the things they are best at against other teams in a real game. “I think you always have a little bit of an idea as you head in, but those game situations are a lot of different. You have to find our once you get into games how things play out from there,” he said.
Green was a (2-8) football team a year ago. Valentine says the Bulldogs are a team that is going to show a lot of looks on both sides of the football, so they have to be ready for a lot of things. “They run like a 4-2-5 or 4-3 defense. They show some different looks and different blitzes, so offensively we have to prepare for those,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Offensively they give you a lot of different, multiple formations and do different things out of different formations, so defensively we are going to have to be ready to adjust to those types of things.”
Green is new to the Arrows schedule and it is the first week of the season anyway. Valentine says they have to be ready to make adjustments on the field based on what they see from the Bulldogs. “In the first game you have to find a way to adjust to anything they would throw at you. You are going against guys that haven’t shown anything and all of the sudden they are out in a whole different offense or do something totally different defensively. Those are things you hopefully have in your package that you can play so you can make those adjustments on the sidelines or in between series or even during the series you can do that,” said Valentine.
Published 8/22/17
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Ashland Building for Another Big Season
Ashland attacks a football season to be ready when Ohio Cardinal Conference play begins on week four or five of the season and just about every year they are in fact ready to contend.
Head coach Scott Valentine says sometimes it takes a little bit to find out just what you have on your team and they are in that process right now. “Each year you have guys you have to replace and you are trying to figure that out. As the team comes together some things you don’t know to about week three what a team is really going to be like. That is what we are trying to figure out here in the preseason,” he said.
Ashland plays its first game next Friday at home against Green. They play always good Clyde on road on week two and host tradition rich Tiffin Columbian on week three. There first “OCC” game is week five against the Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets.
Valentine says you want to be tested early in the season so you can make some decisions with players and approach to the game that are going to make you a better team when it counts most. “You are trying to find out early in your year where you strengths lie and where you are weak and how you can make it stronger,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Hopefully during that process you are winning games while you are doing that, but I have seen too many people play somebody not very good early and then they find out weaknesses week two, three and four and you are already in the heart of your season. We always try to play some people early that will give us a chance to see where we might need to shore up things.”
Ashland plays Dover in its preview scrimmage on Thursday and Valentine says there is a tight rope to walk when it comes to preparing and the excitement the kids have for that first game. “There comes a point where that you try to hit as many things as you can, but until you play a game you are not sure where you are at, so it comes that point like with Dover we will run half a game so we get an idea of some things we have to work on before we get into that first game. You want your kids excited for that first game, but there are a lot of things that go into being ready, so hopefully you are hitting all of those things,” said Valentine.
Published 8/16/17
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Arrows on Right Track
Ashland Arrow fans are used to winning football and they should be pretty happy again this season.
The Arrows are coming off a year in which they shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference title and made the playoffs and this year they should be in at least in position to do that again.
Veteran coach Scott Valentine says they have already learned a lot this preseason and they have to continue to make steady progress to be the kind of team they are capable of being. “I think like very year there are some things that we saw that were good and a lot of things to work on. Watching the video tape I think it was good for our kids to see the speed of the game,” he told Swankonsports.com before practice on Thursday, “That is the biggest difference is the speed of the game once we got going in the scrimmage compared to practice. We just talked about how we have to bring that speed to practice to help us get better.”
Ashland has won 78 games in the last 10 years against a very good schedule and that has helped them make the playoffs seven times in those 10 years, including the last three. They have won six Ohio Cardinal Conference titles in the last 10 years on top of that.
Speaking of tape, Valentine says technology is a big help to the modern day high school football player if they want to use it. “With Huddle our kids can watch stuff at home and some of them do and some of them don’t. The good ones are usually guys that are watching some of that stuff just see things that you can get better at is very important,” he said.
Ashland hosts Green in their opener on August 25, they play at Clyde on September 1, and at home against Tiffin Columbian on week three. They play at Mt. Vernon on week four in their “OCC” opener.
Valentine says they have the kind of personnel that could lead to a good season, but it is going to take the willingness to improve and get better. “Like every year you just have to keep improving. Right now, we just have a lot of things to improve on and if we do that and keep working hard and keep competing I think we have a shot, but you have to do those other things first,” he said.
Published 8/11/17
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Ashland Beats Holland Springfield… Again
When you do it two years in a row maybe it is not an upset.
Ashland for the second straight year knocked off a higher seeded Holland Springfield on the road this time (6-4) Monday night in a division one sectional semi-final.
Coach Rob Lavengood says it just seems that they have Springfield’s number for whatever reason. “It was a great win. This must be our lucky field. This is two years in a row that we have played them up at their place in a sectional opener. We beat them 6-3 last year and 6-4 this year. So, we will take it. Ricky Maffett gave us a great pitching performance (Monday) night for about six innings. We had some timely hitting. We had a couple of guys in Blake Holt and Tyler Croskey have big days at the plate for us. We were able to hang on in there in the seventh inning. They loaded the bases there and made it interesting. It was a good win on the road and we are just happy to move on to Wednesday’s sectional final against Anthony Wayne,” said Lavengood.
Ashland (10-11) not only got solid pitching, but they got clutch hitting and Lavengood says they were able to keep adding runs after getting the lead and that was key. “We were able to get some big hits early on to get a couple of runs on the board, but I think it was really key for us in the middle innings where we were able to have a three run inning to stretch the lead from 2-0 to 5-0 and then they came back to score a couple to make it 5-2. We came back with a really important run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-2 because they scored a couple in the seventh and had the bases loaded to end the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So, that ended up being a big extra run that we scored there in the seventh inning. Anytime you have a chance to tack on some runs in a tournament game in becomes huge. You still have to get 21 outs and sometimes that 21st out is the hardest one in the game.”
Next for Ashland in tournament play will be a visit to Anthony Wayne on the Wednesday. The Generals dispatched of Findlay (9-1) on Monday in a first round game.
Lavengood says it will be a big challenge, but not one that can’t be accomplished. “Anthony Wayne is a very good team. They are like 14-4, something like that on the year. They play a very good schedule in a very tough conference and they have a couple of pretty good pitchers. They are a solid team and we are going to have to travel to play at their place Wednesday, but I think if we play like we did (Monday) and pitch like we did (Monday) we will give ourselves a chance to win, so it should be a good game,” he said.
Published 5/09/17
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Ashland Preparing For Second Season
Ashland put together a good performance on Wednesday with a (20-1) win over Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference play and now they want to get on a grove for the postseason.
After struggling Tuesday in a (13-11) win over the Tygers, Ashland coach Rob Lavengood thinks they were much more focused on Wednesday. “We were much better (Wednesday) night. We came out and swung the bats a lot better. Bryce Stormer gave us a good outing on the mound. He threw 37 pitches in four innings and 25 of them were strikes. That is what you ask for to pound the strike zone and make them hit the ball and he did a nice job. It was nice to get everyone a chance to get some at bats and playing time and not have to sweat one out,” he said.
It looks like Mother Nature is in a bad mood and we might get to play any baseball the rest of the week. Lavengood says they have some good games coming up and he says they don’t want to be practicing inside. “Especially this time of the year when you really don’t want to have to go back inside and it looks like we are going to have to do that for the next couple of days if the weather forecast is right, which is unfortunate because we have a nice game set up with Bellevue (Thursday) night at Heidelberg College. They are a quality team for one, but also getting a chance to play on a college field to get ready for tournament. You hate to not be able to get those games in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Then we have a home doubleheader with Orrville on Saturday, which would be another nice tune up heading into tournament. So, we are hoping we are able to get those games in, but the weather doesn’t look great and Monday we have to head up to Springfield for our tournament opener. If we have to go back inside it is not ideal, but it sounds like everyone might be in the same boat as we are, but it is what it is and you just have to do your best to prepare for the tournament when we are able to get back outside.”
Ashland (9-11) plays at Holland Springfield in a division one tournament game on Monday. The Arrows upset Springfield (6-3) last season and Lavengood believes they will enter the game with some confidence. “We went up there last year and got a big win in the sectional opener at Springfield. So, we are playing someone that we have had some success with, so hopefully we are able to do it again this year. It is going to be a good game. It should be a good match-up with two teams that are pretty evenly matched and hopefully we are able to come out of there with a victory,” he said.
Published 5/04/17
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Colts Down Ashland in “OCC” Action
Mitch Dulin went the distance allowing only three hits and Thomas Staab was 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored as Clear Fork belted Ashland (9-1) in Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball on Thursday at American Legion Field.
The Colts (7-5,4-2) also got some production from the bottom of the lineup as Gage Belcher, Dulin, and Mason Cox combined for thee hits and six runs scored. “It was the first time this year that it was a 1-9 effort. We did the same thing (Wednesday) we jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then got complacent and they almost came back and beat us. We showed some resilience (Wednesday.) (Thursday) with Mitch (Dulin) it so great to have an ace that you say that we need this outing out of you and he gives it to us every time. We had some run support and played some great defense. It has been a while since we have played error free baseball, well we had an error there in the seventh, but it is starting to come around. It is starting to look better than it did a week ago,” said Clear Fork coach Rusty Staab.
Dulin stuck out eight and retired 13 in a row at one point.
Only one runner got as far as second base in the first two innings, but the Colts put up and five spot in the third highlighted by a two-run single by Staab and three stolen bases by Clear Fork.
Ashland coach Rob Lavengood says they made too many mistakes, but he says Clear Fork was the better team on Thursday. “We got off to a good start the first couple of innings. After two innings we are setting 0-0 and then they put some pressure on us by doing some things offensively and we didn’t handle it really well. We had a couple of errors, a couple of passed balls, wild pitches, some lapses on defense that allowed them to have a five run inning. When you give up a crooked number that is tough to come back from,” he told Swankonsports.com before getting on the bus, “You have to give them credit. I thought the Dulin kid pitched well and they put the ball in play and put some pressure on us. I felt like they beat us (Thursday) night and I thought (Wednesday) we beat ourselves. The difference is they outplayed us (Thursday) and you have to give them credit.”
Clear Fork got four more in the fourth highlighted by an RBI single by Staab and a two-run double by Jared Lind.
The Colts trail “OCC” leader Mt. Vernon by two games. Staab says they are going to get better as the season progresses. “I think once we get all of our guys off the “DL” I think that is really going to give us a mental push too. We are waiting for Hunter Auk to get back, and for Jarrod Smith and Luke Clark, of course. We have guys that are doing a great job, role players that are coming in and being starters, but I think when we get our main group back on the field that is when we can take the next step,” said Staab.
Clear Fork plays a tough non-league schedule and Staab says they will play one of Ohio’s best on Saturday. “We can celebrate this win, but we play one of the top D-one schools in Ohio in Olengangy Orange with one of the best players that is probably going to get drafted with Tyler Brown. So, we have our work cut out for us on Saturday. We like to play really good teams and set it as a yardstick to see where we are at. Maybe get a few autographs after the game,” he said.
Published 4/14/17
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Lady Colts Stay Unbeaten
Senior Darian Gottfried went the distance allowing just six hits and freshman shortstop Carson Crowner had three hits, two runs scored and three stolen bases as Clear Fork topped Ashland (5-2) Tuesday in Ohio Cardinal Conference softball.
They share first in the “OCC” with Mt. Vernon.
Clear Fork (9-0,5-0) took the lead in the first when Crowner singled, stole a base, advanced on an error and scored on a wide pitch. Bryanna Masters tied the game with a home run in the top half of the second, but the Lady Colts would come right back.
They scored in the bottom of the second when Zara Thomas walked, stole two bases and scored on an infield ground out by McKenzie Baker. It became (3-0) in the third when Whitney Snavely singled, advanced to third, somehow avoided being caught in a run down between third and home, and scored on a force play.
Two more Clear Fork runs scored in the fifth when Crowner again singled, stole two bases, and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Gottfried. The final run scored on a rocket shot by Haylie Miller over the left center field fence, her fourth homer of the young season.
Masters drove in her second run with an RBI double in the sixth.
Clear Fork’s first four runs were directly due to do their speed on the bases. “I think we have a good combination of some power and some speed. Against Masters you have to generate some of your own offense sometimes because she is good she is going to shut you down. You are not going to string three or four hits together to score a run. You are going to have to generate some stuff. Fortunately we had the right kids get those hits where we could use our speed and crank out some runs,” said coach Jeff Gottfried.
It has been a rough start to the season for Ashland (1-6,0-5,) who has also played unbeaten Mt. Vernon and talented Shelby. Coach Bill Herman says he is starting see some good signs. “Bry did a nice job. We are starting to come together. It is early in the season. We have played what seven games. Things are starting to fall into place for us. We will get it figured out really soon. Everybody is back from spring break and that stuff. It’s too bad we had to start with some of the tougher teams in our conference,” he said.
Clear Fork stole nine bases on the day and also picked up extra bases with the aggressiveness. Gottfried says that is the way they like to play. “It’s fun, the kids the enjoy that. Sometimes it is risky, risk versus reward, it probably all evens out in the end. I know our kids enjoy playing that way and I think our fans enjoy it certainly and I enjoy coaching that way. It’s a mentality that our kids have they know when we are aggressive I am not going to be upset about it if we make a mistake,” Gottfried said.
Darian Gottfried, who will sign a national letter of intent to play college softball at Black Hills State University on Wednesday, was again on top of her game. Her dad says the biggest thing was no walks. “I thought she threw very well. The biggest thing is stay away from those free passes. She didn’t allow a walk on (Tuesday.) Masters had two hits and drove in two runs. She is a good player and sometimes good players just get you, but overall she handled the other eight kids in the lineup very, very well. She set the tone for us out on the mound,” he said.
Clear Fork’s defense has been solid all season and again there were no errors on Tuesday. A new name, freshman Brooke Robinson made a circus catch in rightfield in the seventh inning. Gottfried says that was a huge play. “I don’t think there was anything that was outstanding or spectacular. Probably the best one of the night was the one in the last inning. I mean if that one falls they have two runners on no outs and they have something brewing with the tying run at the plate. Instead we have a freshmen come in and she had a big hit in Saturday’s doubleheader. She is one of those kids that I think will be ready maybe a year from now, but when we have a chance for her to come up and help us she certainly can,” said Gottfried.
Clear Fork and Ashland play again at Ashland on Wednesday in “OCC” play. They are both part of the Wendy’s Tournament in Ashland over the weekend.
Published 4/12/17
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Ashland Rallies to Dump West Holmes
Ashland fell behind 5-0 early, but would rally and beat West Holmes (8-7) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Tuesday.
Coach Rob Lavengood says his Arrows (2-3,1-2) really showed some heart on their field on Tuesday night to get win that they really needed. “It was definitely an important win and it was a good win for a lot of different reasons. One, we wanted to bounce back and get a win after losing our last three games. We also wanted to get our first conference win after losing last week to Mt. Vernon twice. Also we went down 5-0 in the second inning because they had a kid that hit a grand slam. To come back from down 5-0 and then we took a lead 7-5 and then we lost the lead to where it is 7-7. It was just a back and forth game and I give our kids a lot of credit for battling for seven innings and coming up with a one win with a run in the bottom of the seventh. It was an exciting game and it was really a good win for us,” said Lavengood.
After falling being (5-0) after an inning and a half, the Arrows scored four times in their half of the second inning to get back into it and Lavengood thought that was pretty big. “I think the key to the game (Tuesday) night we after they put up five runs in the second inning we came right back and put up four runs in the bottom of the second inning. If we would have gone without scoring and the momentum would have stayed on their side I think it would have been pretty difficult for us to come back and win,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I thought that was an extremely important inning where we answered their five with four of our own and got us right back into the game. There is no question our kids battled. I thought Hunter Krebs, who started for us, really pitched pretty well. He had two bad pitches where the same kid hit home runs off of him, but he settled in and gave us just about six innings and I thought at was key for him.”
Scoring right away is big and Lavengood says if you are the team that lost a lot of your lead that can really be deflating as well and that is king of what happened Tuesday. “On the flip side if you are a team that scores five runs you want your pitcher to go right back out there and pound the strike zone and get you back in the dugout as fast as you can to hit again. Again I thought that was a key their guy struggled a little bit in that next inning and we were able to take advantage of it. Baseball is such a mental game and such a game of momentum swings and that really swayed the momentum back on our side to get us back in the game. Basically it was a close game the rest of the way from then on out,” he said.
Published 4/05/17
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Ashland Ready to Compete
It’s going to be another loaded year in Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball, but the Ashland Arrows believe they can compete.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they have a lot of experience and talent back and his cautiously optimistic about what the Arrows can do this year. “I am excited. We have nine, 10 seniors coming back this year that got a lot of experience on varsity last year. I am cautiously optimistic about the season as we get ready to get rolling pretty soon,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The kids have been working hard and we have really been able to get a lot done the first few weeks. We have been able to practice on our field about nine times. I think last year we might have had nine total practices on our field the entire season. So, we are a lot farther ahead this year then what we have been able to do the last couple of years. I think we are going to be ready to go. Unfortunately the weather right now isn’t cooperating, but hopefully things will clear up by next week and we will have good weather this spring. I think our guys are going to ready to roll.”
Early in the baseball preseason the weather was tremendous and teams were able to get outside. Now, there is snow on the ground now, but Lavengood says they are still way ahead in terms of preparation. “You can certainly get some hitting done in a cage and some other things inside, but there is nothing we can do in a gym that can simulate what you can do on a baseball field with outfield cuts and relays, just ground balls on a regular baseball field as opposed to a basketball court. There are just so many game situation type things that we have been able to do already with some inter squad scrimmaging with our guys that I think we are so much more prepared to start the season this year than we have ever been really the last five, six years. We are excited, but things are different when you go between the lines and you start playing other teams. We are looking forward to season getting started,” said Lavenood.
The “OCC” has almost always been a good baseball league and with the inclusion of Mt. Vernon this year Lavengood says it will be even better. “It is always a good league for baseball and this year is not going to be anything different with the addition of Mt. Vernon to replace Orrville. Not to say that Orrville hasn’t had some good teams the last few years, but Mt. Vernon has good baseball every year. We have played them non-league the last few seasons and coach Gross is going to have them ready to go. That is going to make the league for baseball even stronger with their addition. Clear Fork went to the final four last year, Madison is always good, Wooster is always good, Lexington is always good, and West Holmes had a pretty solid team last year and I think they will be okay this year too. So, baseball wise this is always a tough league and you better be ready to play every night,” said Lavengood.
Published 3/14/17
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Ashland Faces Balanced Findlay
Ashland takes on Findlay Tuesday night in a first round tournament game in division one at Fostoria High School.
The Arrows (15-7) finished in second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference last year.
They beat Madison (80-60) in an “OCC” game on Friday night and coach Jason Hess says they have certainly gotten into a grove offensively over the last couple of weeks. “I think the last few weeks we have been playing quite a bit better offensively. We have had a lot more balance than we had earlier on and that makes us more difficult to guard. We have three or four guys that are capable of scoring a lot of points for us,” he said.
They have the division one district player of the year in Griffin Gerwig.
He says they have been able to move the ball really well in their offense and that has resulted in some open shots. “Especially there Friday night with Madison the way we moved the basketball we got a lot of open looks and our guys knocked them down. We made 15 three pointers. Anytime you are double digit three pointers you give yourselves a pretty good chance to win the basketball game,” he said.
Findlay (14-8) brings a three game losing streak into the tournament with losses to Toledo St. John’s (54-48) and Toledo Whitmer (64-52) the last two Fridays and Lima Senior (56-53) in overtime on Valentine’s day. One of their key wins this year comes over Ottawa Glandorf (65-51) back in mid-January.
Hess says they have a lot of guys that can score the ball from all over the court. “They are a well balanced team. They have a couple really solid forwards that play really hard and physical and they have a couple of younger sophomore guards that shoot it very well from 20, 22, 23 feet away so, they are definitely a team that you have to guard inside and out. They are really well balanced and they play hard and they are very good at executing their offense and offensive sets,” said Hess.
In order to have success against the Trojans, Hess says they have to handle the ball without a bunch of turnovers, continue to get good shots, and play solid defense. “Number one, which is something we have been trying to focus on here a little bit lately, is take care of the basketball. We have had a few games when our turnover numbers have creped up a little bit higher than we would like, so number one is take care of that basketball so we can get ourselves some more shots at the basket,” he told Swankobnsports.com on Monday, “Number two is to continue that good ball movement that we have had. Number three, I would say is just play solid defense where we do a good job communicating on their different screens and their different looks that they run at us, so we can contest their shots and we don’t give up uncontested open looks.”
Published 2/28/17
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Ashland Starting to Peak
Ashland has a tough tournament trail ahead at the division one level and they seem to be building momentum for it.
They chased “OCC” champion Wooster pretty hard last Friday leading (50-42) after three quarters before losing to the Generals (69-60) in the end.
Coach Jason Hess says they played about as well as they could for three quarters in that game. “We played some of our better basketball of the season for three quarters of the game last week and this the time of the year when you want to be playing your best basketball. So, it was definitely exciting and definitely a positive that we could take away from that game. We need to continue to build on it. The kids did a great job sharing the basketball offensively and we had great ball movement and the kids where able to knock down some shots and it was a direct correlation to the ball movement we had on the offensive end and defensively we were solid as well,” said Hess.
In the fourth quarter they let it get away and Hess says they had some ball handling issues and some foul trouble, which were kind of related. “In the fourth quarter we got a little out of sink offensively and turned the ball over several possessions and also we got into a little bit of foul trouble and sent Wooster to the free throw line for some free points. We had to take one of guards off the floor and I think that led to some of the turnover problems. We had some different guys handling the ball than we had handling the ball the whole game,” he said.
Ashland (14-7,9-4) plays at Madison (12-9,6-7) on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action to close the regular season. They beat the Rams (62-60) on January 20 and Hess expects this one to be just as close. “I am expecting a close game and a tough contest. It seems like when we get together with Madison we play close games. It is two similar schools. We play hard and compete. There are not a lot of unexpected things. Both schools know each other very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Coach Mergel does an excellent job with his guys and our guys come ready to compete. So, it should be a good game. It should be a fun one. One more final tune up to get us ready for the tournament.”
Tyrell Ajian scored 60 points in two games last weekend for Madison and Hess says they have to be able to slow him down. “He has been playing at a really high level since the last time we played them and maybe a game or two before that. When you look at his stats he has been shooting the ball extremely well. He has been a very efficient scorer for them. He is really what makes them go. We are going to have to do a really good job defensively. It’s can’t be just one person, but collectively as a team to make him really have to work for his points. He is not a kid you are going to be able to shut out and just take out of the game completely. You just have to find a way to make things difficult for him,” he said.
Published 2/22/17
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Ashland Takes on Wooster
Ashland will be the first team to challenge Wooster after they lost a game as they meet in Ohio Cardinal Conference play at Wooster on Friday night.
The Arrows won their last “OCC” game when they blasted West Holmes (90-60) last Friday. They also lost (60-50) at Akron Buchtel on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they had good offensive flow against West Holmes. “We are doing some good things. Against West Holmes it seemed like everything was clicking and it was one of those nights when a lot of shots where falling. The reason for that was the way we were moving the ball and playing unselfish and making that extra pass. A lot of our shots where good open looks because of our ball movement and the way we were playing offense. It was a tough loss on the road Saturday night at Buchtel. They have a nice team and are looking to make some noise in division two over there in the northeast district. We were competitive and competed with them right there to the end and just weren’t able to pull that one out,” he said.
Hess says it can be a hard thing to accomplish sometimes, but when you get kids to understand what a good shot is you can score some points.
“It is hard to get that mindset because not only do kids have to understand the game and the situation and what a great shot is versus what a good shot is and what an acceptable shot is. Sometimes we talk about taking a shot you can’t miss as opposed to taking one you think you can make depending on the game situation,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “In order for kids to make that extra pass it just comes with experience not only the chemistry of playing together, but understanding the flow of the game and the way the whole setting is going. We have trouble with kids because sometimes they get a tunnel vision and see one thing at a time as opposed to seeing the big picture in a half court situation and the spacing and all of that. It is one those things when kids and teams get that ability to make that extra pass and be unselfish and share the basketball they are fun to watch and it is a fun group to be around.”
Ashland (14-6,9-3), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (19-1,12-0), #1 in our poll, on Friday night in “OCC” play.
Wooster lost their first game on Tuesday night to Massillon Jackson (80-52) and Hess expects them to come out on fire on Friday night. “We are expecting a full strength, fully loaded Wooster team here. The way we have been after losses this year we have kind of regrouped and refocused. Sometimes it takes a game like that to get the focus of the kids back in line and everybody back on the same page a little bit. We are expecting Wooster to come out all guns blazing so to speak. They had a tough game last week with Clear Fork and have played some close haves and close quarters and Jackson was able to beat them on Tuesday night. We are going to have to come ready to play. It is going to be a tough game on the road and good environment over at Wooster, so it should be a fun one,” said Hess.
Ashland will play Findlay in the first round of the division one tournament. Hess thinks things worked out pretty well for them. “We were pretty happy with the way everything shook out. We are the seventh seed and we are going to play Findlay in the first round and they are the sixth seed. We thought it was a pretty good draw for us all things considered as far as the travel and heading up north. Findlay has a really good team. They play hard. They have several good basketball players. They have a couple of younger guards that really shoot the ball well. They have a couple of big guys that really compete and play hard and they are very physical inside, so it is going to be a tough match-up for us, but we thought considering the teams in the draw it came out about as good as we could hope for,” said Hess.
Published 2/16/17
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Ashland Knows What it Has to do
Ashland faces Carrollton in the first round in the division two state duels wresting matches Sunday at St. John Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University.
The Arrows, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, is the number six seed of the eight qualifiers, Carrollton is number three.
Coach Sean Seder says making it to Columbus was a top priority for his team. “It was one our biggest goals at the beginning of the season. Last year we wrestled down at Claymont in the regional semis and all of that. We have five pretty strong seniors and they wanted to go out and say the wrestled down at Columbus at St. John at the state duel finals. They accomplished that goal and now we have a pretty tough task with Carrollton,” he said.
The winner of the first round match will face either Woodridge or Wauseon. Of course, to win the title you have to get by powerhouse St. Paris Graham, the top seed.
Seder believes the match with Carrollton may come down to the very end. “When we look at it on paper it looks like it is going to be a super tight match. If we wrestle 10 times they could win five and we could win five. It is really going to come down to bonus points, which I am sure they know and have told their kids too. They have some buzz saws, some pretty good wrestlers and I know they are counting on bonus points or pins. We have a couple of those same types of kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Saturday, “They are really strong from 32 to the middle weight area. That is kind of where their guys are. Of course, they have the Pasiuk brothers who both ranked second in the state at 132 and 182. We have a couple of pretty good guys in the middle weights too, but we have a couple sprinkled down there at 106 and 126 and also up in the upper weights. It is going to be if our kids can get the bonus points and if our inexperienced wrestlers can last a whole match against their better kids.”
You can never tell for sure, but Seder says they should know early on in the match what they going to have to do to advance. “We draw it up on paper on how we do in a best case scenario and a worse case scenario and look at the numbers and how far apart they are. We definitely did that. We will have a pretty good idea of where are after we get through the 126 match because we are going to need some bonus points from at least two or three of those kids. We feel there are a couple of toss up 50-50 matches. There are four or five of those in the duel where we don’t have a ranked kid and they don’t have a ranked kid. If you can win more of those 50-50 matches than your opponent that is probably going to be the deciding factor. It could be a freshman that is stepping in for an injured wrestler that could decide it,” said Seder.
A couple schools out of the bay division of the Sandusky Bay Conference have first round matches in division three. Oak Harbor meets Shadyside and Edison faces Swanton.
Published 2/12/17
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Rebounding Must Improve for Arrows
The Ashland Arrows are a good team still working on getting better here in the final weeks of the regular season.
They play host to West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night and travel to Akron Buchtel for a non-conference test on Saturday night.
Last week, the Arrows came form behind to beat Mansfield Senior (42-41) in an “OCC” game on Friday night and then missed a shot at the horn and lost to Massillon (70-67) on Saturday.
Coach Jason Hess says they had a pretty good chance to win both games really, or lose them both for that matter. “It was nice to get the one on Friday night that was the league game against Mansfield, there is a little bit of a rivalry there. Going over the Massillon, whether it was any affect or not Massillon didn’t play on Friday night and we might have a little bit of tired legs, but I thought our kids played hard and competed for the most part in both games. Fortunately on Friday we were able to score enough points even though it wasn’t a really high scoring affair to come out on top. Saturday we gave ourselves a chance, we played good enough defense, and hung around even though we trailed most of the game we game ourselves a chance. We had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to tie it up. We had a pretty good look at the rim it just didn’t fall for us,” said Hess.
The last couple of weeks the Arrows have been working getting better shots by running their offense and Hess thinks they are getting there. Now he says they need rebound better as a team. “Offensively I think we are getting better. Saturday over at Massillon we did have some possessions where we moved the basketball really well against a pretty good Massillon team and got some really good looks at it. A couple of them didn’t fall for us and couple of them did, but I think the kids were definitely able to take from that what we need to do to score against the better teams. So, hopefully we can continue to build on that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The other thing we need to work on on the defensive end is just getting a little more aggressive for the 50/50 balls for some of the rebounds. We have been really fortunate with Griffin Gerwig, who averages about 12 rebounds a game and when we need rebounds he goes and gets them. When we get ready for tournament going up to Toledo we can’t rely on just one guy to rebound, so we have got to continue to work on getting all five guys to rebound the basketball.”
Ashland (13-5,8-3) plays at home against West Holmes (1-18,1-11) on Friday in an “OCC” game. The Arrows had to rally to win the first time and (66-54) and Hess says they can not take a win for granted. “We definitely should not look past them. I know when we went down to West Holmes there in January in the first half of the game we were tailing by 16 points. Our kids saw glimpses that night of what West Holmes is capable of doing. They have a couple of pretty good shooters that are shooting a good percentage from the three point line. When you can make three point shots at a high rate it can keep you in basketball games and give you a chance to win.”
When it comes to the trip to Akron on Saturday night, Hess says that game, and last week against Massillon, are ones that are going to prepare them for the postseason. “The Massillon game and this game coming up with Buchtel are two games late in the season here that are great games to get ready for tournament on the road. It gives our kids a real tournament feel to have the bus trip over there. An hour long bus ride, get off, and have to get ready to play that game with a team that is very athletic and has some pretty good guards that shoot the ball pretty well with all of full court pressure and pressure defense. We will have to get our kids ready to hand that. Just go out there and compete and see what happens,” he said.
Published 2/08/17
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Ashland Looking for Better Execution
Ashland is working this week on finding more offense as we get into the stretch drive of the regular season.
The Arrows play at Mansfield Senior in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night and then travel to Massillon for a non-conference game on Saturday.
Lexington knocked Ashland back into third place in the “OCC” with a (59-45) win last Friday. Coach Jason Hess says they have to get back to running their offense better. “We try to learn from all of our games. It is more enjoyable to learn from a win, but sometimes it is more productive to learn from a loss. It seems like those are times you get the kid’s focus a little more and their attention span is a little more locked in after a loss. We weren’t happy with the outcome Friday. We are really going to focus this week on trying to get some of our offensive movement getting back going again,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We just didn’t shoot the ball very well. I think a lot of that was due to Lexington’s defense. Some of our shots weren’t really in rhythm. We were a little hesitant at times and forced some things at times. We need to get back to playing a good, fluid offensive game and I think our shots will start falling again.”
Ashland (12-4,7-3) plays at Mansfield Senior (3-13,2-8) in “OCC” play on Friday night. The Arrows won the first meeting between the two (60-54) on December 30.
Hess expects the Tygers to give them another good run. “They are very athletic and they played us very tough at home right there after Christmas. It was a struggle for us and we were fortunate to be able to pull that one out. This is a little bit of a different team than we saw. I know that they added a couple of players that had injuries or missed some games due to academic reasons. So, this will be a little different Tyger team than we saw the first time around and they played us very tough the first time. It is definitely going to be a challenge with their athleticism. They are a team throughout the season I think hasn’t had a lot of confidence. If they can get going early they can be very dangerous,” said Hess.
With Mansfield Senior, Hess says, you know what you are going to get and that is a whole lot of pressure. “That is Tyger basketball no matter what their record is and really who the personnel is. That is what they do. That is what they have done for years is just put a lot of pressure on you defensively and really try to force turnovers because that is their best offense is getting those turnovers and allowing them to get out and get some easy baskets,” he said.
When it comes to Massillion, Hess says they are big and athletic too. They will get all over the boards if you let them. “They are going to be athletic as well. Now, they are going to be a little bit bigger than Mansfield Senior. They have several kids, 6’4”, 6’5”, a 6’7” post kid that is being recruited by Ohio State to play offensive line, so they definitely have some size. They have some athletic guards that can really penetrate in the middle. Sometimes their best offense is their guards penetrating and let the big guys crash the glass and offensive rebound. It is definitely going to be a weekend that will help prepare us for down the road here in getting ready for tournament time with the athletes we are going to see this week will be similar to what we will see when we head up to Toledo for tournament time,” said Hess.
Published 2/01/17
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Ashland Attempts to Qualify for State Meet
Ashland wrestles in the regional level of the state team duals tournament on Wednesday. If they win the Arrows advance to the state quarterfinals.
They are also the favorite for the Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament, which will be held on Saturday at Mansfield Madison Middle School.
Coach Sean Seder says this has already been a good season for them, which has included winning the J.C. Gorman title earlier this month. “We are happy with the season so far. We kind of knew coming in we had a special group and a pretty good senior class and if we continued to improve the way we thought we should we could have a really good season. Our biggest goals are still ahead of us with the state duals and then individually our kids want to place at the state. We are kind of right where we need to be. We have had a pretty darn good season so far, just a few hiccups here and there with some kids getting banged up, but others have stepped up for us pretty big here down the stretch and continue to fight through and hopefully we will kind of cap the season off right,” he said.
Ashland meets fellow “OCC” member West Holmes in the regional semi-final on Wednesday night. If they win they will face either Fairfield Union or New Lexington for the regional title.
Seder says they always emphasize the team aspect of wrestling and their kids embrace it. “One of the big things that we kind of preach in our room we have four big rules and one of them before a meet is we really emphasize the team aspect of it and team duals is a great part of that. You may bump up and wrestle a kid a little heavier than you,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The team duals are really exciting and you get some of those fun nail bitter matches that come down to the last match and everybody is into it, the comradely, the kinship, the brotherhood. Team duals we really embrace that.”
One thing that gives the Arrows an advantage in these kinds of events is the depth they have in their program. Seder says they have had a number of kids win matches this year. “I think we have been kind of blessed the past year or two with numbers and depth, this year especially. We have had a couple of upperclassmen that were state ranked and pretty good wrestlers that have gone down in the last week or two and we have been fortunate to have freshmen and sophomores step up. That is pretty awesome because when the seniors graduate they just kind of fill their shoes. We don’t necessarily completely reload, but it is not a complete retooling kind of thing,” said Seder.
Other schools that have reached the regional level include Sandusky, who wrestles Sandusky Perkins. The other half of that bracket is Defiance and Wauseon. Upper Sandusky takes on Whitehall with Logan Elm and Miami Trace in the other half. Oak Harbor, of the bay division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, takes on Genoa with the winner getting Northmor or Marion Pleasant of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. Crestview of the Firelands faces Edison of the “SBC” with winner getting one of two Wayne County Athletic schools in Smithville or Waynedale.
Published 1/31/17
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Big Game For Ashland in Many Ways
Ashland and Lexington are tied for second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference heading into a Friday night meeting at Arrow Arena.
Both trail Wooster by two games.
The Arrows kept themselves in the race with a (48-44) win over Mt. Vernon on Tuesday night.
Coach Jason Hess says they got some big minuets from some kids off the bench in that victory. “Mt. Vernon does a really good job of running their stuff and controlling the tempo of the game and getting it in their favor. That is evident in their scores. When you look a lot of their scores are on the lower scoring side. It was in the 40’s here Tuesday night and I thought our kids did a really good job of grinding things out on defense and getting some stops when we needed them. We had several kids step up and make some big shots like Kamrin Knowlton come off the bench and Manny Langston in double digit scoring for us, which was just huge to help give us a little bit of an edge and get us a win on Tuesday,” said Hess.
Lexington (13-3,7-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won the first match-up (46-45) in December at Lexington and that is the kind of game the Minutemen had been playing for most of the season, but Hess says the last couple of games they have been different. “We have noticed that on film they have done a little more pressing and making it more of a full court game. It will be interesting to see how they try to come out and attack us. They had a lot of success the first time around slowing things down and making it a half court game where we had to really work to get points in the half court,” he said.
When it comes to things they have to do better than the first time they played Lexington, Hess says they have to contain Cade Stover a little better, something that isn’t easy. “One thing for sure is when we played them as early in the year as we did I think a little bit different on both sides. We both have a lot of kids that play football and both schools were in the football playoffs, Lexington went a little father than we did, but the kids were still kind of getting their basketball legs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Even though the personnel is the same I think both teams are at a little different point and have a little different identity than we did in December. We are going to have to do a really good job guarding inside. They are getting a lot of points inside from Cade Stover. We have to get him under control to have a chance to win.”
A win is crucial for Ashland (12-3,7-2) if they have any chance to catch Wooster, but Hess says they just want to beat Lexington. “Wooster has pretty well separated themselves having a two game lead on both of us. If you want a chance to catch Wooster you have to win this game. More than that the rivalry between Ashland and Lexington in a lot of sports and it goes back to football and the way they competed down to the end and shared the “OCC” championship. Even if we can’t catch Wooster it would still be nice to win this game and be able to move ahead of Lexington,” he said.
Published 1/27/17
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Ashland and Madison Tangle on Friday
Ashland put together a good performance at home against Clear Fork on Tuesday and now they are preparing for a showdown with the Madison Rams on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
After getting belted by Wooster (75-41) in league play last Friday and holding off Norwalk (49-47) on Saturday, the Arrows stuffed Clear Fork (52-31) in a good effort.
Coach Jason Hess thought they played well on both offense and defense against the Colts. “It was nice to kind of get a little bit our edge back on the defensive end on Tuesday. I thought we were pretty solid defensively. We were very active pressuring the basketball and more active than we had been in the past away from the basketball, which allows us to get some steals and deflections and disrupt their offensive flow. That was nice to see on Tuesday night. The ball went through the hoop a couple of times too because we were able to get out and run and get some transition shots. We got a lot of inside scoring Tuesday and didn’t just rely on settling for outside jumpers,” said Hess.
Ashland has been a high pressure team this season and Hess says they believe good defense leads to good offense. “We really try to make that a point of emphasis in our program that our best offense is playing good defense. Defense travels so whether it is a home game or an away game if you guard and you play good defense you can give yourself a chance to win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We were able to do that Tuesday and hopefully we can continue to build on it. We have had a fairly solid defensive effort all year long with a couple of letdowns here and there, but overall I have been pretty pleased with our defense and I think that is a credit to our senior leaders and the size and athleticism we have on the team.”
Ashland (10-3,5-2) hosts Madison (8-5,4-3) on Friday night. The Rams edged Lexington (56-53) Tuesday on Tyrell Ajian’s fall away 25 footer.
Hess says the Rams play tough defense and show some floor balance on offense. “They are a team that is just hard nosed and will compete on the defensive end and they have given us trouble in the past years because of how good they play in the half court defense. They have some weapons with a couple of kids averaging 15 plus points a game. They shoot from the perimeter well and they have some inside scoring as well. They are a very dangerous team. They have a good record and they have won a lot of games. It is going to be a tough challenge for us,” said Hess.
Ashland is taller overall than Madison, but the Rams match them in athleticism. Hess thinks it will be a competitive game. “This is a good match-up record wise we are pretty similar and especially when you compare us to similar opponents we have played. This is going to definitely be a close match-up and I expect a close game throughout,” he said.
Published 1/19/17
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Arrows Want to Run Under Control
Ashland, a game behind in the standings, takes on first place Wooster, in a huge game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.
The Arrows are one of the few teams that Wooster plays that can match their height and athleticism.
In a non-conference game on Tuesday night, the Arrows downed Canton Central Catholic (71-54) and coach Jason Hess says they did it with another big second half. “That seems to be the way this season has gone for us. In the first half we don’t necessarily get off to a great start, but we play good enough defense to kind of hand around and then find a way to win games in the fourth quarter. A lot of credit should be given to our kids for the way they make adjustments throughout the game and the way they have learned and been able to make plays down the stretch to win basketball games,” he said.
Ashland (8-2,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Wooster (10-0,5-0), #1 in our poll, on Friday night. Wooster beat Clear Fork (71-50) an “OCC” game last Friday and Elida (69-67) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Hess says they put a lot of pressure on you the entire game and you have to handle the ball. “That is really what this game Friday night is going to boil down to. If we can take care of the basketball, value the basketball, and limit our turnovers that will lead to easy baskets for them and make them work to score in half court situations. That will give ourselves and chance and it should be a close basketball game. If we get a little loose with the basketball and it turns into a track meet where they are able to get out and run it could be a long night for us. Hopefully, we can find a way to take care of the basketball and be solid with the basketball against their pressure,” said Hess.
Trevor Smith has been the Generals leading scorer in their last two conference games. He is a transfer from Northwestern and Hess says he has made Wooster a better half court team. “Anytime you add a guy that is capable of shooting the three as well as he does, not only the three, but the 25 foot three pointer, that stretches the defense out. That is just an extra weapon and a weapon that you have to guard. So, that makes them a lot better in the half court,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Also with their size. They are very similar to us with their size and athleticism. It is a very good match-up and it will be a very even match-up on paper with physcialness of the kids and how the kids play. It should be a fun one and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Ashland wants to push the pace of the game themselves, but Hess says they must be under control. “We are going to continue to run and push the basketball because that is when we are at our best and we have to play to our strengths. The key though is to be under control when we are running. Not to get caught up in the chaos that they try and cause on defense and get ourselves out of control, but to stay within our system and stay with what we are doing as a team. We have been very good when we have been out running, but occasionally we have kind of got into the habit of shooting some bad shots. It will really help them out if we do that,’ said Hess.
Published 1/13/17
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Ashland Hosts Talented Mansfield St. Peter’s
Ashland plays at home at Arrow Arena Tuesday night against a very good Mansfield St. Peter’s team in a game between two of the better basketball teams in North Central Ohio.
The Arrows (5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Mansfield Senior (60-54) in Ohio Cardinal Conference action last Friday.
They rallied in the second half to do it, but coach Jason Hess says they need to quit putting themselves in a hole. “I told the guys Saturday morning we need to start figuring out how to put four quarters together and try to get off to a better start so we don’t have to go into the locker room each week down five, six points and put extra pressure on us to play a perfect second half to win,” he said.
Mansfield St. Peter’s (8-1), #1 our poll among the smaller schools, dismantled rival Mansfield Christian (76-42) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday.
Hess says the Spartans play solid fundamental basketball and they have four guys that can really score it against anybody they have played. ”They are a very good team. They are four very capable scorers that can go off for 20 plus points any night. They are a team that went to the reguonals last year and play with a lot of confidence. They have good size with their guard-forwards, 6’3”, 6’4”. They have good length there and good guards at the top of their defense that put a lot pressure on the basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are a well balanced team they are not just relying on one guy. They execute their offense, they take good shots, they play an up tempo style, they get out and run and take advantage of that stuff. They are capable to stepping out and shooting the three as well. There are a lot of different ways they can beat you.”
Ashland has one of the tallest starting lineups in North Central Ohio this season. Hess says they need to take advantage of that against the Spartans on both offense and defense. “I think we might have a little bit of an advantage with our size because I think more of the strength of their team is with their guards and their perimeter players as opposed to their inside guys. We also need to use our length to defend them and not give them easy looks at the basket. So, hopefully you can guard them tightly on the perimeter and defend their shot and not have to crowd them where they can go bye us on the dribble.”
Published 1/03/16
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It’s About Handling the Pressure for Arrows
Ashland, just a game behind “OCC” co-leaders Wooster and Lexington, entertains Mansfield Senior at Arrow Arena in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night.
They rallied to beat Mt. Vernon (62-48) in conference play last Friday, erasing a one-point deficit after three quarters of play. Coach Jason Hess says eventually they were able to make their size and athleticism a factor. “It was a game where Mt. Vernon really shot the ball with confidence and did a good job of controlling the tempo and it wasn’t finally until the fourth quarter when were able to use some of our size and athleticism to wear them down a little bit and force some uncharacteristic mistakes and turnovers out of them that we were able to capitalize on and stretch it out a little bit,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (1-6,1-2) plays at Ashland (4-1,2-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. The Tygers lost for the first time in more than 30 years to Clear Fork (60-53) last week and were buried by Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary (85-49) on Tuesday night.
However, Hess says this not a team void of talent. “They are a very talented team and they are extremely athletic. I think they are in a situation maybe like where we were a year ago where they are just trying figure things out. When you look at the pieces they had last year in Mario Young and David Hall and some of those guys the last couple of years. Those are guys they relied on to fill a lot of baskets and make a lot of shots when times got tough. Right now they are trying to figure out who is going to be that step up guy and make baskets for them and make plays for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Last year we started out 1-6 turned things around and ended up with a pretty good year. So, when I look at Mansfield and I have been telling the guys all week we can’t assume anything. It doesn’t matter who is wearing the uniforms Mansfield is still Mansfield until we go our there and prove differently. I hope we can get our guys ready to play against a good team. I think it is going to be competitive and fast paced game and hopefully our guys are ready to play.”
Over their first five games Hess says the Arrows have been the most aggressive team and that is not going to be the case on Friday. He says they have to handle the Tyger pressure. “We really haven’t seen that type of pressure defense yet this year. In the games we have played we have tried to be the more aggressive team and the more athletic team and we have tried to apply that pressure defense to our opponents and we have not had anybody try and guard us in that manner. We have tried to practice against it this week. I have asked some alumni guys to come in who are home from college break and do some different things to try and simulate that in practice. Hopefully are guys will be up for the challenge and be able to handle that pressure and be able to attack that pressure and get some baskets,” said Hess.
Published 12/29/16
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Ashland Wants to Get Better at What They do
Last week, Ashland suffered its first loss of the season, but they were able to rebound from it and get a win the next night.
They lost an “OCC” game to Lexington (46-45) on Friday night and their share of the conference lead along with it, but they were able to come out on Saturday night and beat Shelby (59-56) in the “OCC/NOL” challenge.
Coach Jason Hess hopes his team learns form the experience at Lexington. “I thought we played really well on the defensive end on both nights. Lexington does a great job with their half court defense and unfortunately we weren’t able to capitalize on some scoring opportunities that we had in that game. We just needed a couple of more buckets. It was a good experience for our kids and hopefully we can learn from it and grow. We will see here in the upcoming weeks as we continue to play conference games and close games how we finish those and we can look back that it was a productive loss for us even though we came up a little bit short and suffered our first loss,” said Hess.
In the Shelby game, according to Hess, they were able to make the plays at the end of the game to pick up the win. “Saturday night we rebounded well after that loss and the kids competed, even though we were down early against Shelby we just kept battling and competing and stepped up on the defensive end a little bit more, make some plays, and make enough free throws down the stretch Saturday that we didn’t do Friday. It was nice to see the guys come back Saturday night after the way we got beat Friday,” he said.
Hess says they are still trying to refine the things they do with the ball and without the ball. “It is one of those things where you have to make adjustments a little bit although what I have told our guys is we need to get so good at what we are doing that even though other teams know what is coming they still have a hard time guarding us. The thing we are try to teach in our offense and our system is the kids make basketball plays and they make reads on the defense and they take what the defense is giving them as opposed to running a set play or a set look every single time down the floor that is easy to scout and easy to guard because the kids are doing the same thing over and over.,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We tried to give our kids some flexibility, but encourage them to make reads and make plays within the structure of an offense so they can hopefully read what the defense gives them. Obviously there are tendencies and stats throughout a season and all of that stuff kind of levels out. The coaches we play in our league and the coaches we play in our out of conference schedule do a nice job of preparing their kids. So, the kids have to make adjustments, we have to make adjustments and we were able to do that a little bit with Shelby. We changed some things up defensively in the second half and our kids did a really good job of making those adjustments even though we didn’t spend a lot of time on them in practice.”
Ashland (3-1,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Mt. Vernon (3-3,1-1) in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
Hess says they know they are going to have to get out and guard the perimeter.
“It is a new league opponent for us, but we have been playing them the last few years in a non-conference game, so we do have a little bit of familiarity with Mt. Vernon. I think they are a good team that plays hard. They do shoot a lot of perimeter shots from what I have seen in looking at their stats and a couple games I have seen them play. So, we are going to have to get out and guard the perimeter. Coming off of playing Shelby that is what we had to do there. We would like to be able to force an up tempo game and get out in open space. You will hear that week after week that our kids are a lot better in open space when we play fast and make the game up tempo. Hopefully defensively we can continue to raise our pressure and intensity and speed teams up,” said Hess.
Published 12/23/16
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Ashland Tangles With Lexington, then Shelby
Ashland has started the season in fine fashion, but they face their toughest weekend yet with Lexington and Shelby in back to back games on the hardwood.
After a (57-49) win at Clear Fork last Friday, the Arrows are (2-0,1-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division. Coach Jason Hess says they are happy, but know a lot more work needs to be done. “We are excited to get off to a 2-0 start. It is one of those things where we have only played two games and a lot of other teams have played four games, so we have definitely had a small sample size compared with some other teams. So, we are still learning about our team and trying to get better each day in practice to get ready to play our next opponent,” he said,
Hess would like to see some more balance on the floor offensively rather than relying on one guy per night to carry them. “We need to get better just with our offensive chemistry and offensive flow. We have done a pretty good job of isolating a couple of match-ups. The first game (against Sandusky) Griffin Gerwig had a really good night and we got a lot of points from him. Then Garret Denbow the second night (against Clear Fork) was able to make some shots for us. We are still looking to get that consistency offensively where we can get two or three guys scoring each night as opposed to just relying on one guy,” said Hess.
Ashland travels to Lexington (4-0,1-0), #3 in our poll, for a big, early season match-up in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night. The Minutemen beat Madison (51-49) in overtime in their first league test last Friday.
Hess says sophomore Cade Stover has embraced the new role he has stepped into this year for the Minutemen. “They are a good team. He is a big kid, a strong kid, a good athlete, and he is going to be a handful for us. He did really well against us last year. He was in a little different role for them last year where this year he is more of a main guy where he was part of the supporting cast last year. He got better and better each game last year and he is off to a great start this year, so he is definitely going to be a handful as we put a defensive game plan together,” said Hess.
Will this be a tempo driven game? Hess says they don’t want to face that tough Lexington half court defense very much, they prefer to run the floor. “When you look at their scores they haven’t been extremely high scoring games, but they were pressing and they were trying to push the ball a little bit. It will be interesting to see how this game unfolds. I think we are better when we are playing up tempo and they definitely play good half court defense, so that is something we want to avoid as much as possible,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Hopefully we are able to get out and run a little bit and do a better job than we did against Clear Fork of taking care of the basketball and not turn it over. It will be a big challenge for us here early in the year.”
Ashland meets Shelby (2-2) in the “OCC/NOL” Challenge on Saturday at Ontario High School. Hess says the Whippets will be the ones trying to force the tempo. “Shelby is not a team you have to try and get out in transition. They start running as soon as they get off the bus. They are going to play fast, they are going to spread the floor. It is going to be a big challenge for us, especially on the back half of a double weekend to see where our guys are conditioning and stamina wise playing two nights in a row for the first time this year. We are probably going to need to use our bench more than we have the first two games to give our guys a little bit of a rest when we can to try and steal a minute or two here for those guys that play a lot of minutes to keep everybody as fresh as possible,” said Hess.
Published 12/15/16
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Ashland Starts Well, Needs to Get Better
After an outstanding performance on the opening Friday, the Ashland Arrows have established themselves as one of the contenders for the Ohio Cardinal Conference title this season.
They beat a very good Sandusky team (60-59,) the defending Northern Ohio League champion, last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says they gained a lot of confidence from beating such a good team in their first game. “There is a lot of confidence coming off that win at Sandusky last Friday. It was definitely a game that will go a long way as far as confidence goes. The kids are starting to believe. As a coaching staff we kind of thought all fall that and through early part of preseason with our scrimmages that we have a lot of pieces in place and this could be a good year for us, but you still have to go out and play that way each and every game. There are no guarantees that just because you could be good it is going to happen,” said Hess.
Hess says they knew they had the potential to be a solid team this year as they have height and athleticism. However, Hess says they understand that one game does not make a season.
“We are just starting and it’s a goal here that each week we have to get better so when March comes around that is when you are playing your best basketball. We are still working at fine tuning things and working on improving things we saw we needed to improve last week and getting ready to play a game this week,” he said.
Ashland starts the attempt to win the “OCC” title, something they did two years ago, on the road at Clear Fork on Friday night. The Colts also won on the road last week, beating Mansfield Christian (51-46) in a non-league game on Saturday night.
Hess says the Colts have a blend of youth and experience and they have some kids that they can make some plays. He says this is an important game for them to build a foundation. “It was fortunate we didn’t play Saturday and I was able to go watch them play against Mansfield Christian. They do have some experience back, but age wise they are still young. They are still starting a couple of sophomores and a freshman. It is an important game for us to get off to a good start and establish ourselves early and set the tone with how we want to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Clear Fork is a dangerous team. They didn’t have a lot of success last year, but they got a lot of guys experience last year. The more they play together and the more experience they get and the more confidence they get they become more dangerous.”
Published 12/09/16
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Ashland Shows Well in Wrestling All-Star Matches
The area high school wresting season kicked off on Monday night with the annual North Central Ohio Coaches Association All-Star preview held on Monday night at Shelby High School.
As a warning to the rest of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, the Ashland Arrows had nine of their kids participate with seven of them winning matches.
The Arrows are the defending “OCC” champs and they are seeking a repeat.
Coach Sean Seder, speaking to Swankonsports.com after the matches, says they have a lot of confidence heading into the season. “We have some pretty high expectations to have a good year this year. We have a lot of upperclassmen back. We have a pretty competitive room right now. I am hoping it all pans out,” he said.
Austin Mcnamara, Matt Taylor, Landon Plank, Sid Ohl, Devin Groschinski, Josh Bever, and Tyler Newlan all won their matches on Monday night. Ohl, Taylor, Plank all qualified for the state tournament last year and
Seder says he likes the experience that they have this year. “We have a lot kids that are kind of battle tested. They started as freshmen and sophomores and now have worked their way up as seniors. They have been through it and seen it and been in those tough situations. So, hopefully that experience pays dividends,” he said.
Madison’s LeConte Merrill and Carson Speelman also won their matches as did Nick Dillon of Lexington.
Seder says the “OCC” will have a number of pretty good individual wrestlers and some good teams too. “I think that Madison, West Holmes, Lex will have a couple of kids. Wooster always has a couple of kids. Mt. Vernon is new this year and it will be interesting to see what they bring to the table. In general the “OCC” has tough kids in just about every weight class. It should be a good one,” he said.
Published 11/29/16
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Ashland will be Big and Mobile
Ashland is going to be among a number of petty good teams in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season.
They are certainly going to be one of the biggest.
Second year head coach Jason Hess says things are coming around pretty well for the Arrows with the regular season opener at defending Northern Ohio League co-champion Sandusky on Friday night. “We have had a pretty good preseason with all things considered. We got a little bit of late start with the football team making the playoffs in the first round. We also had a few nagging injuries from football season that we had to give the kids a little extra time to get over. Things have come around a little bit here and progressed a little bit faster the last week. We are still working and trying to figure out some of our rotations and lineups as far as what guys play well together. What five guys fit together on the floor at all times in different situations. The kids have done a great job of being patient working together and learning new spots. Our scrimmages have been very beneficial to us. We are trying to fine tune some things to get ready Friday,” said Hess.
With a big front line this season the Arrows are going to be tough to handle for a lot of teams, especially because those guys also have some athleticism, according to Hess. “We are very fortunate. I think this is the first year in my years of coaching that when we are in a team huddle that I am looking eye to eye with most of them. That is a good thing to have when you are a coach that you are not looking down on your players. The old adage is you can’t teach height,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are blessed this year with several guys on the roster that are 6’4”, 6’5”, 6’6” and have good length and athleticism. They are mobile guys that can move, that can run the floor. We want to push the basketball and play that up tempo that we have done for several years now. This group can do that and hopefully our length and athleticism will help on the defensive end as much as anything.”
Sandusky features the talents of last year’s division two district player of the year in Jayreese Williams. They lost to Lexington in the district final a year ago after winning it two seasons ago.
Hess says the Blue Streaks, who beat the Arrows in the football playoffs, are going to be a big challenge. “There is no doubt about it this is a Sandusky team that is very talented, especially kind of spearheaded by their three guard attack with the Williams brothers and Croom that has a lot of experience at the varsity level. They have had a couple of long tournament runs when March came around. They know how to win games. They play hard. They are very athletic. It is going to be a great test for us to kind of find out where we are at when the lights come on Friday night,” he said.
Published 11/29/16
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Ashland Wants Better Start
Ashland would like to start this season like they were playing in the second half of last season and be competitive in the tough Ohio Cardinal Conference.
The Arrows has some length this year and some athleticism. Coach Jason Hess says they have the kind of raw materials that can make up a good basketball team. “So far we are excited about this year we have a few guys coming back that played some minutes last year. We have guys coming up off the JV team that have good length to them and good size. When you look at our roster I don’t know that we have had this much height and length for a long time. We are a pretty athletic group, so we are really excited, but we are still early in the season. In fact, (Monday) night is the first night we have had everybody here. With football we have been a little slow getting started,” said Hess.
Height is a big part of basketball, but it isn’t everything. Hess says they have to work hard if they are going to be in position to be ready to good when the season starts a little over two weeks against Sandusky. “It is nice to have that length and size, but the skill and the effort is still really important. If we can get that skill to come back for these guys that are coming off of football and get the rust off and teach the young guys what effort it takes to play at the varsity level and if you can put that all together you have the makings to have a special year,” he said.
Ashland lost six of their first eight last year, but railed to finished (11-12) on the season. They beat “OCC” champ Lexington on the road in late January.
Hess says with a little longer preseason and the experience he gained as a coach hopefully this can be a better season from start to finish. “Last year the football season went the same length, we lost in the first round of the playoffs, but we lost two weeks out of our preseason, this year we only lost one, so that makes a big difference. The other thing is as a second year head coach you are little more used to the expectations of getting through the preseason and organizing the workouts and scrimmages and how you want to manage your time to get your guys ready,” he told Swankonsports.com when we visited Arrows practice on Monday, “Hopefully with the guys we have coming back and the minutes that they played last year everybody will be able to transition to the second year a little smoother and we can get off to a little better start than we did a year ago.”
Published 11/15/16
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Ashland Has to Get Sandusky Out of the Box
Ohio Cardinal Conference co-champion Ashland plays at Northern Ohio League winner Sandusky in a regional quarterfinal game in division three on Saturday night.
Ashland (7-3), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, has kind of been playing playoff football for a month now as they had to win their last four games to make the postseason. “There is no doubt about that. That is one of those things when you get to that point sometimes you have teams that figure out how hard you have to practice to get ready for things. As you go through the year that is one of those things that when you get to that point that the level of intensity in practice goes up and that has been the case for us the last few weeks,” said coach Scott Valentine.
They beat Lexington (24-21) last week to earn a co-title with the Minutemen in the “OCC” and Valentine says you want to take some momentum off a big win into the playoffs. “You don’t want to lose a game at the end of the year as you are heading into the playoffs. I guess you have to recover from things if you do. Being able to come back last week and get that win and it gives us a share of the conference championship and gets us into the playoffs was a good way to go in for us,” he said.
Sandusky (9-1), #1 in our final poll, is coming off a (23-8) win over Norwalk last week. Valentine says the Blue Streaks are a team with speed to burn. “They have some great athletes. I would say they are a comparable team to Mansfield Senior. They have athletes in a lot of different positions. If you don’t contain them they will make big plays. That is the big thing we are trying to concentrate on this week,” said Valentine.
Sandusky has an outstanding quarterback in Ja’vez Alexander. Valentine says he does a lot of things that add up to big plays for the Streaks. “He is a very good player. One that concerns me a lot. You are not going to stop him completely, but you do have to try and contain him and try to limit the big plays that they have,” he said.
The Blue Streaks have been really successful at containing the run this year, especially against teams like Shelby, Valentine says they are going to open some things and make Sandusky guard them on the perimeter. “Defensively they play a 4-2-5 and they pack guys in the box and their number one goal is to stop the run. That is one of those things when we look at things we are going to have to be successful at throwing the ball. We have to get guys out wide and open up the run for us,” said Valentine.
Published 11/03/16
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Ashland Win Means Shared “OCC”
Ashland must beat Lexington on Friday night in order to share the Ohio Cardinal Conference title with the Minutemen and that would also give the Arrows a chance to make the division three playoffs.
The Arrows (6-3,4-1) beat Mansfield Madison (42-20) lat week in order to set up this opportunity.
Coach Scott Valentine says they were focused on what they had to do last week. “With our kids that is the way we approached it nothing happens in week 10 if you don’t take care of week nine. We had a good week of practice last week and we were able to go out and get the job done,” he said.
Lexington has one of the better defenses in the area this year. Valentine says they have good speed and they peruse to the ball well. “They have guys that run around and do a great job of running downhill and play good team defense and they have kept people out of the end zone. I think that is definitely a great part of their team and the success they had this season is that defense,” he said.
Lexington beat Mansfield Senior (42-20) last week and also scored 40 points the week before. Valentine says the Minutemen are getting better on offense. “They have a lot of the same guys playing on both sides of the ball. They have playmakers and when you have playmakers they are going to make plays and put points on the board. They definitely have that,” he said.
Ashland has dominated the series with Lexington having won nine of the last 10 meetings. Lexington’s only win coming in 2008, the only time until this year they won the “OCC” title, that’s one was outright.
To win this time Valentine says it is all about big plays and who makes them and he knows that special teams are often a factor in these kinds of games between good teams. “Defensively we have to be able to contain their big playmakers and not give them the big play. You are not going to stop them, but at least not let them get a lot of big plays. Offensively for us we are going to have to make some big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have to execute our offense against their defense and make some big plays and get some scores. Special teams in these tight games are always big. The Ohio State game last week special teams were a big part in that game, so that is something we are definitely going to emphasize going into this game.”
Published 10/26/16
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Ashland in Position
Ashland trails Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Lexington by a game and they play the Minutemen next week with a chance to do no worse than share the title.
However, first things first.
They play at Mansfield Madison on Friday night and must have a win to keep those conference title hopes alive.
They beat Clear Fork (23-14) last week, stopping the Colts twice inside their own 10. Coach Scott Valentine says his kids were up to the challenge. “I thought defensively, the kids when we had to get some stops down there by the goal line we got those stops. Then offensively we were able to drive down and get the ball in the end zone. Like I always say anytime you get a win it’s a good win and I felt we played pretty good defense there in the second half,” he said.
Ashland controls its own destiny terms of the league title and Valentine says that is all you want at this time in the season. “At the end of the year you want to be in that discussion for a championship and you would like to control your own destiny. That was something we talked about on Monday after the game that starting this week the opportunity is there and are we going to get ready and get the job done or not. I think we have had a pretty good week of practice, but we still have to do it on Friday night,” said Valentine.
Ashland (5-2,3-1) plays down the road at Madison (2-6,0-4) in “OCC” play on Friday. Madison has shown the ability to score points this year in bunches, but they have given up even more.
Valentine says they have to be able to lock down on the Rams big playmakers. “They have a lot of big play capabilities offensively. They score a lot of points and so that is something that is a challenge for us defensively to get stops on them and not give them big plays. They have some big play makers and you have to keep them in tack,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Defensively people have been able to move the ball on them, but at times they have looked really good too. They are a team that definitely we have to be ready for and be ready to play four quarters of football on Friday night.”
When asked if they would deploy a strategy to keep Madison’s offense off the field by eating some clock, Valentine says it depends on the game situation. “When you get into games you look and see what are some possibilities as the game gets going. I think you kind of have play out as the game gets going and maybe change out a little bit here and there as you get going. We aren’t going in with that definite idea, but we talk about all of the different possibilities with how the game might play out and be ready to adjust if we have to,” he said.
Published 10/21/16
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Ashland Must Stuff Clear Fork
Ashland travels to the Clear Fork valley for the final time to play the Colts in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
The Colts are leaving the league after this season.
The Arrows beat Mt. Vernon (49-36) last week in a game between schools that will both be in the “OCC” next season.
It was a game in which Ashland led all night, but they couldn’t quite put the Yellow Jackets away until late in the game. Coach Scott Valentine says every week presents a different challenge. “That is one of the things we tell our kids all of the time that is why this is greatest team game that there is because you have to be able to do things on either side of the ball depending on the game. We had to score a lot last week and have our defense get some key stops for us. The special teams did a nice job too. That is what we are looking for,” said Valentine.
Keagan Armitage has been the Ashland quarterback pretty much since early in week three after starter Grant Dendow suffered a thumb injury. Valentine says their game plan has been pretty much they same. “We have not changed our approach much on offense. We knew we weren’t going to have to change a lot. He has run our system since he was a freshman. He is a junior now, so he knew everything,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We thought he had a pretty good shot to be pretty good. We haven’t changed a lot and he has been able to handle everything that we are doing and has done a really nice job for us.”
Ashland (4-3,2-1) trails Lexington and Mansfield Senior by a game in the “OCC” standings, while Clear Fork (3-4,1-3) last week won their first conference game over Madison (31-28) at Ram Field. They have also had to replace their quarterback as Thomas Staab is out for the season with a leg injury and has been replaced by sophomore Jared Schaefer.
Valentine says the Colts want to run the ball, but they are doing in different ways than years past. “They are doing a few different things this year by spreading it out and with some of their sweeps. They still come at you with the run game. Defensively our focus is going to have to be on stopping them running the ball the way they like to run it,” he said.
On defense, Valentine says the Colts are going to be very aggressive and bring some pressure that they are going to have to handle to be successful. “Defensively they still bring a lot of pressure and they come at you with different looks. Those are the things we are going to try and prepare for. You always know you are going to have to play well against Clear Fork because it is always going to be a tough battle,” he said.
Published 10/11/16
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Ashland Has to Move on
Ashland plays a non-conference game against future “OCC” member Mt. Vernon on Friday night.
Mt. Vernon is in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this year in every sport except football due to some contracts with other schools and threatened legal action.
Last Friday, the Arrows were involved in another shootout, losing to Mansfield Senior (45-42) in “OCC” play.
Coach Scott Valentine says there were a lot of big plays. “It was one of those games that went back and forth. We had our opportunities and so did they. They ended up getting that one more play than we did. Credit to them and the effort they gave. We are focusing on getting better and moving on,” he said.
Mansfield Senior running back Brian Benson set a school record for rushing yards with 388 yards on the ground.
Ashland (3-3) has suffered some injuries at key positions this year, including quarterback, but Valentine says next man up. “That is one thing we have always talked about with our kids that you have to be ready for that next one. The next one of the most important one and there is nothing you can do about the past. I think our kids have really adapted to that. They take it to heart because we have had some guys step in and really play well for us,” said Valentine.
Their front seven was young to begin the season, but Valentine likes they way they have matured. “I think they have come together. That is something I think you are always looking for. We have had to make some adjustments for some people and you always look for units to come together. I am happy with the way we are progressing there,” he said.
Mt. Vernon (1-5) has lost its last five, including (42-0) to Hilliard Darby last Friday. They have lost to “OCC” members Wooster (44-8) and Lexington (34-15) this season.
Valentine says the Yellow Jackets like to feature the power running game. “I think they are a team that likes to run the ball. They get in the “I” and flat backs and a tight end. They are going to come at you and run some power and counter stuff. It is similar to some of the stuff that we used to see from Wadsworth a couple of years ago and things like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively they are a 3-4, similar to some of the stuff that Mansfield does. They don’t play a lot of man like Mansfield did, they are cover 2 and cover 3 out of a three man front. Those are things we have seen. This week we have to get better at the little things.”
Published 10/05/16
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Ashland Can’t Live in the Past
Ashland won likely the most exciting game in North Central Ohio last Friday when they rallied to beat Wooster (43-36) in triple overtime in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
Keagan Armitage, Ashland’s back up quarterback to start the season, scored the deciding touchdown for the Arrows.
Coach Scott Valentine says there were a lot of big plays in the game they just made a few more. “I think there was great effort by both teams. I’ll tell you it was just one of those games where you make a play and you might be there and they make a play. There was effort throughout that whole game and the overtime by both teams. It was a great game and we were just fortunate we could get the win,” he said.
It was a great win, no doubt, but Valentine says they have to sort of file and forget that one now. “The thing we tried to stress to our kids is that it was a great win and everything, but it is a new week and if you don’t get ready and don’t practice the way we need to you are not going to feel good after Friday night. That is one thing we have emphasized and our kids have taken it and moved on and are getting ready for Mansfield,” said Valentine.
Ashland (3-2,2-0) plays at Mansfield Senior (3-2,1-0) in an “OCC” game on Friday night. The Tygers outlasted Clear Fork (42-39) last week in a game where only eight points were scored in the second half. Valentine says the Tygers did what they had to do on both sides of the ball to win. “It is a team game and you go in spurts sometimes and with them last week there were some spurts. Their defense was able to help them finish the game off. That is part of the game. They are a good football team and we are going to have to play really good football to have a chance to win,” he said,
There is no question that Mansfield Senior has explosive athletes again this season, including Brian Benson, the school’s all time leading rusher.
Valentine says they must be good pursuers and tacklers on defense this week. “Defensively it has to be great team effort. You have to have maximum guys around the football and running to the football in case something happens you have extra guys there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “That has been our emphasis this week about running to the football and being sure tacklers when we get the opportunity.”
Published 9/29/16
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Ashland Meets Unbeaten Wooster
Step by step the Ashland Arrows have improved as football team over the first four weeks of the high school football season, but they face their biggest challenge of the season as they travel to Wooster on Friday night to play the unbeaten Generals.
The Arrows (2-2,1-0) last Friday beat West Holmes (35-7) to open play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Coach Scott Valentine says he thought last Friday his team did a pretty good job against West Holmes’ wing-T offense, improved their tackling, and made stops when they had to have them. “With the style of offense they played that is a tough thing on your defense. I didn’t think we had a great early part of the week practice wise, but we talked to the kids and the last couple of days we really focused in on what we needed to do with their offense,” Valentine told Swankonsports.com, “We gave up some yards, but when we had to we stopped them in the red zone and got some turnovers and we have tackled better and you look for that as you progress through the season.”
Having been injured early in the game with Tiffin Columbian, the Arrows played their second game without starting quarterback Grant Denbow. Valentine says it will likely be some time before Denbow can return at quarterback with his injured thumb. “Right now it is going to be week to week. With the thumb when you are the quarterback you have to be able to hold the football. So, he wasn’t able to play. He is anxious to play and we are looking some other possibilities with maybe some defense and stuff like that. Quarterback wise it could be another few weeks. Guys heel at different rates and you just never know and you kind of see as you go on. Keagan Armitage has been doing a great job for us,” said Valentine.
Last week, Armitage was nine for 13 for 151 yards passing against West Holmes.
Wooster (4-0,1-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, shutout a Madison team (38-0) that had averaged over 45 points a game of its last two last Friday in their first “OCC” game of the season. Valentine knows the challenge will be tremendous both in preparation this week and the game on Friday and Folis Field in Wooster. “They are very good and we have to get to work because that is a very big game as far as the league is concerned,” he said.
The Generals have been very good on offense with running Trey Mathis and quarterback Peyton Bennington, but Valentine says the Generals might be better on defense. “They have a lot of guys back this year and they run downhill. Offensively they have some weapons, but defensively they are really playing well right now and we are going to have to find some way to get some points,” he said.
Published 9/19/16
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Discipline the Key for Ashland
Ashland uses a tough non-conference schedule to get ready for the Ohio Cardinal Conference season and that portion of the season starts at home Friday night with the West Holmes Knights.
Starting quarterback Grant Denbow was knocked out of the game last week with Tiffin Columbian and his status for Friday night is uncertain at this point.
They beat Tiffin Columbian (38-21) last week to pick up their first win of the season. Coach Scott Valentine says it was a big boost in confidence. “The loss in the first game was a tough one to take. The next week I thought we improved, but we just didn’t do it enough. Anytime you can get a win, especially before conference play it is big,” he said.
Ashland lost week one on the final play of the game to Wadsworth (27-24) and the next week to a solid Clyde team (38-17) to start the season. However, Valentine believes the schedule prepares them well for the “OCC.” “That is why we try to play a tough schedule. You always find out where you are at. Good teams can expose some weaknesses. You kind of go from there to find out what else you can do. Our kids feel like they have gone through some tough games and hopefully we are ready to go for the conference,” said Valentine.
West Holmes (0-3) is coming off (41-7) loss to state power Steubenville. This summer former coach Kevin Maltarich resigned sighting differences with the school’s administration. However, Valentine says things have stayed pretty consistent with the Knights. “They played a great non league schedule. The staff that has taken over is a group of guys that have been on staff and have been there. Even though they lost coach (Kevin) Maltarich I think the change over for the kids wasn’t as big as it could have been with the guys they hired,” he said.
The Knights have traditionally featured the wing-T offense and have emphasized the running game. Valentine says against them you have to be very good at getting off blocks and getting to the ball carrier. “The things that they do offensively are different than we see a lot of times. For us we are going to have to be able to get off blocks and make tackles because of the different things they do in their offensive package,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We need to stay disciplined and stay where we need to be nx play our responsibilities. With what they do offensively that is one of the biggest keys for us.”
Published 9/14/16
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Ashland has to Limit Mistakes
Ashland plays one of the tougher non conference schedules in North Central Ohio and they face another challenge this week as they play at Tiffin Columbian against the Tornadoes.
They lost on the last play of the game to Wadsworth (27-24) in their opener.
Last week, they lost to Clyde (38-17) on week two. Arrows coach Scott Valentine says you can’t make mistakes like they did against real good teams and have success. “There was a point where we tied it up 7-7 and they got a couple of big plays, but it was 17-14 right before the half and they got a big play on us right before the half. It is one of those things where we look at ourselves and I thought we improved at tackling and blocking and some of those things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We went back and looked at big plays that we gave up and those are things that you can’t do against good football teams. Clyde is a good football team and we got ourselves in a hole and we weren’t able to get back out. We have tried to work on some of those things and get better at the fundamentals that we need to get better at.”
Big plays often tell the story in high school football. You have to make them and stop the other guys from doing it. Valentine says they were not able to do that last week. “We gave them an interception for a touchdown, you just can’t give turnovers up. We had them stopped a few times on fourth down and like 16 and a third down and real long and we end up giving them first downs on a long run. Those are some things that you can’t do against really good people. That is something we have got to correct and get better at,” he said.
Tiffin Columbian (1-1) lost to Clyde (49-0) on week one, but they got a late defensive touchdown to get past Bryan (21-14) last week. They have a new coach in Judd Lutz. Valentine says the Tornadoes and clearly a team to be reckoned with. “They have some young players playing, but they got the win last week and they improved like you want to every week. So, we are going to have to go up there and be ready to play four quarters of football and make sure we don’t give up big plays and we don’t have mistakes,” he said.
Published 9/07/16
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Ashland Meets Clyde in Battle of Good Teams
Ashland and Clyde are two of the better high school football teams in North Central Ohio and they collide at Ashland’s Community Stadium on Friday night.
Last week, Ashland lost (27-24) in agonizing fashion as Wadsworth scored on a “Hail Mary” pass at the gun. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says it was a good game and it is too bad somebody had to lose. “When you are in those types of games, a great high school game, you are disappointed for your kids because of the outcome not going your way, but overall I was proud of the way our kids battled. We were down and came back. Those things happen and we have been on the other side of some games over the years where it is going our way. More disappointed for the kids than anything. I told them at the end we have a lot of football left to play and we have to bounce back and we have a tough Clyde team that we play this week, so we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Valentine.
They certainly did some good things and some bad things this week, but mostly Valentine says they have to learn from it and move on. “We watched the tape of Saturday morning and saw a lot of good things, but there are a lot of things to get better at. So, that has been the focus this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I just reminded them you think about the games last year when Michigan got beat by Michigan State on the last play and the Green Bay Packers beating Detroit on the last play. It happens at all levels and it just happened to happen to us. You have to move on and I think that is something we have done pretty well this week as far as practice.”
Valentine says they have to be better at the fundamental elements of the game, tackling and blocking. “We have to become better tacklers. It is not like we are not hitting, but we are not finishing our tackles by using our feet and running through those tackles. We can still get better at getting off blocks on defense. Offensively, blocking wise we just hit some people and stopped our feet. A lot of that stuff comes with game experience and we have to work through understanding we have to finish things with our feet,” he said.
Meanwhile, Clyde overwhelmed Tiffin Columbian (49-0) last week, scoring six touchdowns in the first half of game. Valentine says the Fliers have players all over the field. “Offensively they have a running back that runs really hard. They do a lot of looking over their keys and making sure they are in the right stuff. Those are the things offensively that make them very affective. They have some big, strong lineman up front on defense. So, we are going to have to find a way to neutralize some of those things to help us be successful,” said Valentine.
Ashland plays Columbian next week and they have a very good non-conference schedule. Valentine says that is by design. “To play somebody that isn’t very good doesn’t benefit us at all. We feel the teams we are playing non conference are going to prepare us for our conference schedule. There are things you see and learn from in the first game and you have to get ready for another tough opponent. The type of practice we are trying to have this week hopefully pays off in the end,” he said.
Published 8/31/16
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Ashland Hosts a New Wadsworth
Ashland and Wadsworth has become a traditional opener, but this time there is going to be a new twist.
The Grizzlies have a new coach in former Loudonville coach Justin Todd and he has turned the Wadsworth power run game into more of a spread look.
Ashland Coach Scott Valentine says his kids have looked pretty good in their preparations for the season. However, he cautions that they do have some new starters, especially on defense. “I think we are coming together, but you just don’t know for that first game when you get out there and how kids respond to situations that come about. I think we have moved in the right direction. Friday night is that first test and we will find out where we are at,” he said.
You don’t practice the special teams in scrimmages and Valentine says just the tempo of a scrimmage is different than a game and you don’t know for sure how players will react. "There are so many different situations that come about. Then you throw in special teams and how those special teams are going to respond. There are a lot of different variables when it comes to actual games and how those kids do things. If you have never been in that situation sometimes those kids respond differently,” said Valentine.
Todd is bringing a different look to the Wadsworth program and Valentine knows they Grizzlies will bring a stiff challenge to Community Stadium on Friday. “Justin did a great job at Loudonville. Went to Mt. Vernon for a year and did a great job there. He is a guy that knows the game and has a good coaching staff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I know they will be well prepared. The thing is I know they have a good running quarterback. That is something we are going to have to be ready to contain defensively.”
Both teams like to spread you out, but Valentine says they will do it in different ways and look for different things. “I don’t think they are quite like us. He does a lot of read option stuff with the quarterback running the ball or handing it off. They do a little more play action stuff. We are a little different. We like to throw the ball first then running. I think that is the style he likes,” he said.
Published 8/25/16
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Ashland Working Things Out
Ashland has a week to go to be ready to open the season against the Wadsworth Grizzlies and new head coach Justin Todd next week and they are making moves to affect that result.
Veteran head coach Scott Valentine says they have made some decisions they believe are going to help the football team this fall. “I think we are headed in the right direction. We still have a lot of things, like always, getting ready for that first game, but I think we are headed in the right direction. We made a few position moves we think are going to help us. So, those are all things that you have to get done and we are trying to get that done before that first game,” he said.
Valentine says he and the coaching staff have to make choices that benefit the team as a whole and that may include moving a kid to a new position on the field. “That is what we try to tell kids. As coaches we are trying to make decisions early enough to give them the opportunity to get time playing at that position. Sometimes we look at things in the off season and try to make some,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “You have to be careful because you don’t want to take a kid out of a position that they are used to, and might play at a high level at, to another position where he can not keep up and play to his potential.”
Ashland has been a program that has been a consistent winner over the years and Valentine says they try to get their best kids on the field where they can make plays. “We always try to evaluate our top 20 guys and for those top 20 guys you have to find a spot on the field. If three of them are in the same position you not where you want be. Those are things as coaches that we try to look at and evaluate and try to make some moves that are going to benefit us as a team,” he said.
When it comes to having players go both ways for the whole game, Valentine says that is not something they want to do very often if they can help it. “We usually try to go what we call one and half. If we have a guy that is starter on one side of the ball he will play half time on the other side of the ball. We want to find a guy that can get in there and play half of the game at that other position. I just think it is too tough for a kid to go both ways for the full game. At some point there is going to be a let down and sometimes that can cost you. So, we try to work more one and half than we do two,” said Valentine.
Published 8/18/16
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Ashland Has Good Talent Again
You just expect that Ashland is going to have one of the better football teams in North Central Ohio every year and it looks like this year should be no exception.
Ashland brings back a lot of talent on offense as Grant Denbow will be calling signals again and will have some veterans to try and move the ball. Meanwhile, on defense, the Arrows will need to rebuild what was a very good front seven last fall.
Coach Scott Valentine says they have looked pretty good so far in workouts, but he will really be able to tell what he’s got when they start hitting in practice on Saturday. “I think our kids are learning everything. The older guys should know it by now and I think we are moving fast with that stuff. It all comes down to if we can hit and what we can do there,” he said.
Valentine says he loves having a quarterback back, but he knows they have some work to do on the defensive side of the football. “Definitely it is nice to have a third year quarterback back, which we haven’t had for a while. We have some of our skilled guys there,” he told Swankonsports.com when he entered Community Stadium on Thursday for practice, “We have our defensive secondary back, but we lost a lot of our other guys defensively. Those are the question marks. Like always you hope the guys that it is their turn to step in, you hope they are ready to go.”
With Denbow in the fold Valentine says it makes things a little easier when they get practice started, but he says there are some steps he has to take in developing a relationship with the new players. “Here the first few days a lot of that stuff he knows and the guys know him. It is still him getting used to some knew guys too. So, that’s part of the process. You can give him some more freedom to do some things that make you look like a good coach when he makes those decisions,” said Valentine.
Ashland had one the best front sevens in the area last year, but Valentine says they have only one of those guys back, so they are going to have to have some new players step up. “We had a great group up front last year. We have one of those guys coming back. Like I said we have guys that feel have had some experience and it’s their turn. We will find out what they are like here pretty quick,” he said.
Published 8/05/16
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Ashland Upsets Third Seed
Ashland, near the bottom of Ohio Cardinal Conference standings, and not having an Ashland like year, rose up Monday night and beat third seeded Holland Springfield (6-3) in the first round of the division one baseball tournament.
The Arrows (4-14) scored five times in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead in the game.
Going in coach Rob Lavengood thought they matched up pretty well against Springfield. "After talking to a couple of coaches leading into the tournament draw the word on Springfield was they pitch and the play good defense, but they aren't a great hitting team. I thought you know what? If we can pitch and play defense ourselves. We really haven't scored a whole lot of runs this year either. Maybe it can be a low scoring affair and we can scratch across a couple of runs and get a "W." It was just a great win," he told Swankonsports.com after the tournament win, "We had a lot of guys step up and make plays and do a variety of different things to get us a chance to win. The kids never quit. We got down 2-1 heading into the seventh and just had a big inning and put some pressure on them. We got a few breaks. They misplayed a few balls and the next thing you know we through five runs up on the board and then hung on."
Ashland has had a lot of tough luck losses this spring and Lavengood says he is just excited for his players. "Just happy for the guys. We haven't won a whole lot of games, we have been close, but we have lost a lot of tough ones. (Monday) night we were able to get the breaks and get a "W" and really proud of the guys," he said.
Ashland was able to play some small ball in that critical seventh inning and Lavengood says they were able to force Springfield to make some plays. "We did some things in that seventh inning to put some pressure on them. We tried a couple of suicide squeezes, they threw a couple of wild pitches, we stole a couple of bases, and really tried to put some pressure on them. Fortunately for us they misplayed some balls and gave us a chance to put up and crooked number and score five runs," said Lavengood.
It's another trip northwest for the Arrows on Saturday afternoon as they play Perrysburg, a (5-0) winner over Toledo Start, in the next round of the tournament. Lavengood says they will need a similar effort against a similar team. "Essentially Perrysburg is a lot like Springfield. They pitch pretty well, they play solid defense, but they are not a great hitting team. They haven't scored a whole lot of runs this year. I think it is a very similar team. They are a couple games under .500 overall. I think if we can put another game together like we did (Monday) I think we can go there Saturday and have a chance to win a sectional championship," said Lavengood.
Published 5/10/16
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Ashland Breaks Through
Ashland has been team that hasn't been able to finish off the job, but they were able to do that on Tuesday night and beat arguably one of the hottest teams in North Central Ohio.
The Arrows (3-8,3-6) downed Lexington (4-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game to pick up their first quality win of the season and knock Lexington three games behind the conference leaders in the process.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they were able to do some things that they haven't been able to execute so far this spring. "This was a big win for us. We have really been struggling lately scoring runs, getting big hits with guys in scoring position, keeping other teams from getting big hits with guys in scoring position," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, "So, for us to go on the road and beat a good quality Lexington team that was 10-4 I think going into the game, and really get some key hits and making some huge plays defensively was a big win for us. Hopefully, this will be a huge confidence boost for us moving forward and we can start to get on a roll here and get a little run and win some games here."
Down (1-0) entering the fifth inning, Ashland was able to put three runs on the board to take a lead they would never give up. Lavengood says they were able to execute some small ball. "We were kind of able to do some things to put some pressure on them defensively in that inning. We executed a beautiful hit and run that allowed us to score. We got a sacrifice bunt down, which they ended up throwing away, which allowed us to score. We really played a little bit of small ball and executed well in that inning doing that. Fortunately for us they made a few mistakes defensively and we were able to take advantage of that by executing and putting some pressure on them and give us a little bit of a cushion with a three run inning. Logan Brewer kind of took it from there and pitched a good ballgame for us and gave us a chance to win," said Lavangood.
Lexington (10-5,5-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, and #1 in our new Twitter fan poll, closed the gap to (4-2) in the sixth, but Ashland pitcher Logan Brewer was able to get out the jam. Lavengood says Brewer was finally rewarded. "He was big (Tuesday) night. Really he has pitched well all season long without a whole lot of run support. I jokingly, about a week and half ago, called him Corey Kluber, because the last few years Kluber has pitched really well for the Indians and just didn't get a whole lot of run support. That has been Logan all year long. He was 0-4 coming into (Tuesday's) game and had an ERA of 2.10. He just hasn't had a whole lot of run support. He has had some bad luck. I felt good for him that he was able to get a win (Tuesday) and really give us a good performance," he said.
Published 4/27/16
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Ashland Shuts Out Mansfield Senior
Hunter Krebs tossed a two-hit shutout and Ashland picked up their first win of the season in beating Mansfield Senior (10-0) in five innings in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game Wednesday afternoon.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they needed a confidence builder on Wednesday. "We definitely needed a win. We haven't had a whole lot of games up to this point and time due to the weather. We were 0-3 coming into (Wednesday) night, but we have actually played some pretty decent baseball even though we were 0-3, so it was definitely nice to get the monkey off our back and get a "W" (Wednesday) night. Hopefully that will be a jump start for our guys and we are able to get on a role," he said.
Lavengood says Krebs did an excellent job of hitting his spots and throwing strikes. "If you can get good pitching and play good defense you are going to have a chance to win every night. Hunter Krebs had the ball for us (Wednesday) night. He threw five innings, a complete game, two hit shutout. He did a nice job of attacking the zone," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, "I think he only walked one guy and his pitch count was only about 60 pitches in five innings, so pretty economical. If he pitches like that on a regular basis he is not only going to give us a chance to win, but give himself a chance to go deep into the game and be able to throw six or seven innings."
Ashland (1-3,1-3) plays at Mansfield Senior (1-6,1-4) on Thursday afternoon at Arlin Field and then they play Wooster (5-4,3-1) on Friday in "OCC" action. Lavengood says they want to get on a streak here. "We are preaching to our kids that we have to take one game at a time and not overlook Mansfield (Thursday) night and make sure we go over there and take care of business and not look ahead to Wooster. If we can get a couple more wins this week and get ourselves to 3-3 in the league as well as overall then we are feeling pretty good about ourselves heading into the weekend and next week with a big, two game set with Madison next Tuesday and Wednesday. We just want to get some momentum, get some confidence and start playing consistent baseball game in and game out," said Lavengood.
Published 4/14/16
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Ashland Needs Wins Against Wooster
Ashland needs to plays some baseball and they need to play well too as they face Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Wooster in back to back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, if the weather permits.
The weather has been lousy for about the last week and Ashland coach Rob Lavengood that has not allowed them to get on the field. "The weather here these last several days hasn't been real good. We had a doubleheader cancelled on Saturday up at Sandusky Perkins with them and Olentangy Orange. We haven't played since Wednesday and we just want to get back out there and get some momentum going and playing some good baseball," he said.
Ashland (0-2,0-2) has started the season a little slowly, with back to back losses to the other "OCC" co-leader Clear Fork, but Lavengood says they have done some good things, a lot of good things on the field, just not enough to win. "We want to have some success out there and get some confidence going with our kids. Even though we lost two games to Clear Fork we played some good baseball. We played three games last week. We were tied 1-1 after seven in a suspended game versus Shelby and then we lose 1-0 and 12-5, but in our 21 innings, 19 of those 21 innings, we gave up three runs," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "We just had two bad innings versus Clear Fork on Wednesday where our defense and pitching let us down and we really didn't swing the bats well on Monday and Tuesday. So, we are sitting at 0-2, but in all but two of the innings in the 21 that we played we gave up three total runs. So, our pitching and defense was really pretty good other than two bad innings. We just have to get the bats going. We swung them better on Wednesday. I think we are going to be fine, we just have to be consistent and I think good things are going to happen."
Wooster (4-3,2-0) beat Lexington in both of their "OCC" game last week, (6-3) and (7-1), and the Generals have put together a solid team. However, Lavengood believes they can compete. He says they have a good rivalry with the Generals. "We have had some good games against them the last couple of years. We battled for a conference championship against them three, four years ago. I think the next couple of days, if we get the games in, should be hard fought, spirited games. Hopefully, our pitching and defense hold up and we swing the bats a little and we get a couple of "W's," he said.
Published 4/05/16
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Colts Edge Ashland in "OCC" Game
The only run scored on a suicide squeeze, but Clear Fork senior Shane Klenk made it stand up as he threw a three hit shutout to lead the Colts to a (1-0) win over Ashland in their first "OCC" game of the season on Tuesday at Legion Field.
Clear Fork coach Rusty Staab says Klenk was outstanding and he was able to throw all three of his pitches for strikes and again they played some pretty good defense. "I fell like we are the Cincinnati Reds of '90 with that great pitching staff or any of teams that have just had guys go out and throw strikes. We talked about it at the beginning of the year. Shane throws 78 pitches (Tuesday.) Mitch threw 67 (Monday.) Both had compete game shutouts. I feel like I should go out and play the lottery or look for an eclipse," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "I was telling them in our meeting after the game when a pitcher knows he can throw all three pitches and if he makes a mistake and it is hit hard it is still going to be played. They got three hits and there was some and there was a little bit of a possible rally going and boom we get out of it with a fly ball and we get out of it with a ground ball. So, hats off to our defense and Shane pitched a great game."
Ashland pitcher Logan Brewer was the hard luck loser. He also gave up only three hits and struck out six. Brewer also had one the hits, a ringing single in the third. Clear Fork left fielder Mason Cox ran down a Brewer drive that appeared to be destined for the leftfield corner to start the sixth.
Arrows coach Rob Lavengood says both pitchers were at the top of their game. "You have to give their kid a lot of credit. He kept us off balance. He threw a lot of breaking balls. We were out on our front foot. Our guy pitched well. It was just a good, well pitched game. I mean the game only lasted about an hour and 20 minutes. We ended before the softball game, which doesn't happy very often. You have to give the pitchers a lot of credit. I though Logan pitched really well for us. Unfortunately we weren't able to score a run. Maybe we can get the bats going here pretty soon and put some runs on the board," said Lavengood.
The only run of the game came in the home half of the third when Luke Clark and Klenk led off the inning with back to back singles and were advanced to second and third on a bunt by Ricky Bartrum. Lane Belcher then laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt between the mound and third base to allow Clark to score.
The Colts threatened again in the fourth and sixth, but couldn't score. Ashland second baseman Ricky Moffett somehow was able to keep a Clark smash if front of him an defuse a Clear Fork rally in the sixth. "Ashland made some good plays too. That ball that ate up their second baseman, he at least kept it on the field and we able to throw Luke out. I thought if that gets by then we have first and third and then maybe we can sneak a run in. Our only run was a suicide, so we are struggling a little bit offensively, but we are still getting a "W" and that is way more important than anything else," said Staab.
The two teams meet again Wednesday at Ashland and Staab says the plan for them will be the same. "I told Lane (Belcher) no pressure, but there were back to back shut outs and you get the ball (Wednesday.) He laughed, but we will see what happens. It is supposed to be warmer. I'll tell you what Brewer pitched a heck of a game. His slider was really working an it was really baffling our hitters. For him to lose that kind of game that kind of stinks, but we were very fortunate," he said.
Published 3/30/16
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Ashland With Answers and Some Questions
Ashland has some kids that can play baseball, but they also have a lot of players that are going to be knew to varsity competition this spring.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they graduated 10 players that played quite a bit for then in 2015 and they are going to have to develop some guys that can play at the varsity level. "It is still kind of hard to tell where we are going to be at. We will have our first scrimmage on Wednesday and a couple more scrimmages over the weekend an early next week we will have a better idea of were we are at. I like our pitching at the top of rotation. We have a couple of guys that every time they are on the mound they are going to give us a chance to win games. There are some question marks, especially on the infield," he told Swankonsports.com, "We graduated our entire infield from last year. We have to find guys that can step in and replace those guys. We had 10 seniors last year. Quite a few of those guys were in the lineup at some point and we have to find guys to fill those holes and get on base and score runs for us offensively. I like the kids that we have. I kind of cautiously optimistic, but also there are a lot of question marks that have top be answered going into the next couple of weeks."
There two guys back from last year that will be at the top the Arrows starting rotation and Lavengood says they need to find some other guys now that can get varsity guys out. "I feel pretty good about the two guys at the top of our rotation with Logan Brewer and Hunter Krebs. Both of those guys are back from last year and they pitched quite few innings for us at the varsity level. I think we have some other guys that are going to be able to give us some innings this year and compete for our number three, four and five spots in the rotation. I like our pitching depth. There are some other things we are going to have to do well to be successful," said Lavengood.
With so many sports open in the everyday lineup for Ashland there has been a lot of competition for those openings. Lavengood says that is always a good thing and it makes you better. "Competition is great. The more guys that are competing for a job, pushing each other to get better is not only going to make just the players better, but it is going to make our team better. I love when you have more than one guy competing at a specific position and pushing for playing time and trying to make each other better. There is no question that you want to have guys competing every day. If you don't have that sometimes complacency sets in and that is not going to make you any better," he said.
Published 3/16/16
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Ashland Must Handle pressure
Ashland makes the two hour bus ride to Toledo Central Catholic on Tuesday night to play Toledo Whitmer in a first round tournament game in division one.
The Arrows advanced all the way to the district final last year before losing to Lima Senior.
Ashland (11-11) finished up the regular season last Friday losing to Wooster (76-62) and coach Jason Hess says they didn't handle Wooster's press the way they wanted to. "We were able to see some of the same style play that we'll see Tuesday night. Unfortunately we didn't handle it really well over at Wooster and came up on the short end. We just had a couple of lapses in the game on Friday, especially at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter where we didn't respond to their pressure and intensity," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They really got up to a sizable lead and then we were not able top come back from that. Definitely it was an eye opening experience for our kids. We have had a couple of really good days of practice here gearing up for Whitmer, so hopefully we will be able to make the adjustments we need to and go up there and compete and have no regrets. No mater what the outcome is if we go up there and play hard and we do the things we are capable of doing we will see what happens."
Whitmer is the third seed in the district and Hess says they are going to see a team that will put a lot of pressure on them and can balance the floor on offense. "We are expecting to see pressure defense, full court pressure, and some half court 2-3 extended zone pressure. The are going to play hard, they are to play fast, they are going to push the ball and be very aggressive offensively. They have a forward guard combo that is a very nice player. He is averaging about 17 points a game. He can shoot it from outside and get it to the basket off the bounce. They have a physical, strong post player that is averaging close to a double double. It is going to be a tough match up for us and we are going to have to be ready to play for 32 minutes because they keep coming at you with their defensive pressure the entire night," said Hess.
Regarding the two hour bus ride to Toledo, Hess says they have to not let that bother them and be ready to give their best effort. "Unfortunately we didn't have any control over the bus ride. We have to make sure when we get off the bus at Toledo Central Catholic we are ready to play. We can control our effort and what we do. There are a lot of things about the game that are out of our control. So, we have to get our kids as ready as possible and focus on controlling what we can control ," he said.
Published 2/23/16
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Ashland Challenges Wooster in "OCC" Game
On of Ashland's best wins this season was when they beat Wooster at their place last month and Friday night they get a chance to do it again, this time on the road.
After blitzing West Holmes (79-47) in an "OCC" game on Friday, the Arrows lost in overtime (56-53) to Massillon on Saturday. Coach Jason Hess says that was a night when they just couldn't make shots and sometimes you have those nights. "On Saturday we missed some good looks at the basket. We had some good looks at the basket that we knocked down the previous two weeks that unfortunately Saturday didn't fall for us. Some of our shot attempts were hurried a little bit by Massillon's pressure and their athleticism, but overall I thought our kids played really hard. They competed like crazy on the defensive end and held Massillon to 56 points in an overtime game and that allowed us to hang around and gave us a chance to win, but we just couldn't make a couple of shots that we needed to," said Hess.
Ironically, Wooster beat Massillon (89-85) on Tuesday night. Hess says, as everyone knows, the Generals (14-6,10-3) will press all night long and they have to be able to handle that. "At this point in the season there aren't a lot of secrets left. Wooster's calling cared all year has been pressure defense for four quarters the full length of the court and swarming the basketball with one or two or even three guys at times. We were fortunate the first time to be able to handle the pressure and make some plays against the pressure and we have to be able to do that again," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "It will be a great game for us on the road just like the Massillon game was here last Saturday to get us ready for tournament. These two opponents are similar to Toledo Whitmer that we will see in the tournament."
Ashland (11-10,7-5) beat Wooster (68-50) on January 16. Hess says thy know this a team they can beat them and his team believes in itself and what it can do on the floor. "Our kids believe we can compete and beat any team on our schedule and we have proven that this year. We have been in a lot of close games and we have beaten a lot of the good teams on our schedule. Confidence wise our kids are not intimidated at all by Wooster with the way they play and some of the points they put on the board, which has been impressive at times toping 100 and getting close to 100 other times. I think we will be ready to come out and play hard and give it our best shot," said Hess.
Published 2/17/16
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Ashland With Two More
Ashland continues to take steps forward as the Arrows get ready for the division one postseason tournament coming up.
They travel to West Holmes for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night and host Massillon Washington in a non-league game on Saturday night.
Last week, they lost to Mansfield Senior (75-64) in an "OCC" game. Coach Jason Hess says it was a night when they made a lot of shots, but so did the Tygers. "Losing when you shoot 60 percent isn't easy, but it is a little easier when the other team shoots 62 percent. It was a game last Friday when baskets looked about twice as big as they really were. Both teams shot it really well from the perimeter as well as inside. It was just a tough night for defense. Unfortunately Mansfield's pressure defense was able to force a few more turnovers than our pressure defense was able to create and that was really the difference in the game," said Hess.
Then on Saturday, Hess says they did a pretty good job in bouncing back and getting a win (59-52) over Mt. Vernon. "Saturday the kids did a great job of rebounding from the loss on Friday night by going to Mt. Vernon and beating a nice Mt. Vernon team on their home floor. It was nice to see the kids respond and not hang their heads and be down after a tough one Friday and come right back and compete against a non-conference team that will be in the conference next year," he said.
Ashland (10-9,7-5) pays a visit to West Holmes (1-17,1-11) on Friday night in an "OCC" match-up. It has been a rough year for the Knights, but Hess says they are still dangerous. "Coach Troyer does a great job of trying to get the players to play hard and to buy into the system. Anytime you are away from home in the conference it is tough. For some reason history is what it is and the last two times going down to West Holmes has not been easy for the Arrows," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "It is definitely a challenge that we are going to have to be up for. We need to get off to a good start because when you have a team that has struggled to find wins this year and if you let them hang around and they start to gain confidence they become really dangerous."
On Saturday night, it is a non-conference match-up with Massillon Washington. Hess says it is a game that should a good tune up for the tournament. "It is a point in the season where it would be nice not to have double weekends because you want to get your kids rested up and ready for the tournament run, but it is a very good game for us as far as they type of team we will see in Toledo Whitmer in the first round of the tournament. Massillon is very similar as far as the athleticism and the pressure defense. It is a good game to get us ready for that. It will be senior night for our guys, so it will be exciting and emotional night, so hopefully we will be able to come out and play well and send our seniors out on a positive note," said Hess.
Published 2/11/16
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Ashland is Believing
Ashland beat "OCC" leader and state ranked Lexington last week and they believe they can do the same at Mansfield Senior on Friday night in conference action.
The Arrows knocked off Lexington (61-51) last Friday and followed that up with a (68-41) win over Orrville the next night. Coach Jason Hess says they really do have a smile on their face. "It was a great weekend for us with two big conference wins. There was a lot of excitement Friday night going down to Lexington and getting a win down there. It is a tough place to play, especially this year with them being state ranked and in first place in the "OCC" at the time and are still in a tie for first place. That was a big win for our kids. Then Saturday we came back and really shot the ball well and were able to beat Orrville at home. It was a great double win weekend for us in the "OCC." Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence right now and they playing hard and playing together. That is a good recipe to make things happen," said Hess.
They face won seven of the nine games they have played since the new year and Hess says the Arrows really found some things during the holidays and have been able to carry that forward. "I think the few days off there at Christmas break was just what the doctor ordered for our team. It allowed us to refocus and get a couple of kids healthy that had been battling from fatigue and injuries here early in the year. It allowed us to get back on the same page and doing what we need to do as a basketball team," he said.
Ashland (9-8,7-4) is at Pete Henry Gym to face Mansfield Senior (9-6,8-3) on Friday night. The Tygers are again loaded with talented players who can do a lot of things. Hess says their strategy is very similar to what it has always been. "There are no surprises year and year out. I don't even need to look at a roster and I can tell you what Mansfield is going to do and what they are about. But, they are very good at what they do. They are very good at that pressure defense. They get up and guard you all over the court and they have multiple guys. They play eight or nine guys and they are all capable defenders," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Offensively they like to create off the bounce, get to the rim, and then offensive rebound. It is not a complicated game plan, but it is a lot easier said than done when you are going against the Tygers."
Just like when they played at Lexington last week, Hess says you have to believe you can win and they do. "That is one of the things we have battled here at Ashland over the years. I think with the success that they have had last year and able to compete with them the first game this year our kids feel like they can beat Mansfield. That is the first step in doing it is believing that you can. We have had good teams that could never get over the hump against Mansfield and find a way to beat them. Just like last week against Lexington, I know there are a lot of people outside our locker room that won't give us much of a chance, but our kids believe we can compete with anyone on our schedule right now," said Hess.
Published 2/03/16
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Ashland Right There
Beating Lexington isn't easy. The fact that is has only been done once this year should tell you that, but Ashland might have the components.
We shall find out as they play at Lexington on Friday night.
Last Friday, they almost beat Mansfield Madison, losing in the final moments (40-36) to the Rams. Coach Jason Hess says they were just one play short really. "On Friday night against Madison we were just never able to get into the rhythm offensively like we like to. Madison did a great job of controlling the tempo and slowing us down from getting out and running with it and getting out in open space like we like to play offense. Defensively we kept battling, we kept grinding the whole night and we kept the game close. We even had a chance there with 30 seconds left we had the ball and we missed a pretty good look, it just didn't go down for us or we might have been able to pull that one out," said Hess.
They did win at Clear Fork (57-41) on Saturday in "OCC" play.
Lexington (16-1,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has lost only once in conference play and that was at Wooster (69-66) a couple weeks back. They lead the conference standings by one over Wooster and Mansfield Senior. Hess says they have all of the elements of a very good team. "They are very balanced and they can beat you in multiple ways. They can play fast. They can get out and pressure. They can slow the game down and execute in the half court. They are a very good team and they are ranked in the top five in division two in the State of Ohio for a reason. When you win 16 games versus one loss you are doing something right. They are a tough match up for everybody. Going over there is never easy. It is always a tough place to play," he said.
Hess says it is going to take a lot of good things to have a chance to beat a team like Lexington. "If they press us, and the usually press for some potion of the game, we are going to have to handle that pressure. The big key I think to slowing them down defensively is to make them work for everything they get. They do an excellent job of the offensive glass to give themselves some second and third chances. To give themselves some easy baskets by getting offensive rebounds. Another thing they do with their defensive pressure they force a lot of turnovers and that leads to easy baskets for them," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "If we can make them earn their baskets instead of giving up some easy points here and there we will give ourselves a pretty good chance. Another thing is we have to make sure we finish and capitalize on the offensive situations that we get. We have to be able to make those shots in the paint and we have to be able to make free throws."
The first time Ashland (7-8,5-4) played Lexington they took them to the end before losing (60-55) to the Minutemen. Hess says they know what it takes. "We have a team that can match-up with Lexington. We have some good size with 6'4", 6'4" and 6'5". We are not quite as big as Lexington, but we have some good size. Lexington is a very good team and they are senior led and that makes a difference. When you have seniors on the floor they have that sense of urgency and this is their last go around. We played right with them for three plus quarters over here at our place. We beat Wooster. We played with Mansfield Senior, so we have been right there with all of the top teams in our conference," said Hess.
Published 1/26/16
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Ashland Needs to be Aggressive Against Madison
Ashland hosts Mansfield Madison on Friday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game that may go a long way in determining who is a contender and who isn't in the conference.
The Arrows (6-7,4-3) played likely their best game of the season in a (68-50) win over Wooster last Saturday night. Coach Jason Hess says it was a solid performance, but they can still get better. "We are definitely starting to come together. Saturday night was one of those nights when we kind of saw some things come to fruition with what we are capable of as a basketball team. I think we can continue to get better, but we were finally able to get over that hump and beat a quality opponent in a game that we need to win on keep pace in the "OCC." It was a big win for us and it gave our kids a lot confidence and a lot of momentum here going into this weekend," he said.
Wooster is a team that will press for 32 minutes in games and Hess thinks they did a good job of handling that on Saturday night. "I don't know that we did too much different or out of the ordinary of what we normally do. The big thing that stood out to me is just how we executed offensively against their pressure. That is something we had struggled with the week before against Mansfield Senior. We did a much better job of being under control and not panicking against the pressure and made good basketball plays and good decisions of moving the ball around and finding the open guy," he said.
Madison (8-6,5-2) beat Ashland (58-42) on December 4 behind 18 from Tyrell Ajian and 16 from Billy Buckley. Hess says this is a team that is more than just Ajian. "They are a good team. They are right in front of us in the "OCC" standings. They are in that bottleneck there in second place and we are behind them, so this is a big game for us to climb up the ladder in the "OCC" standings. I know the first time around Tyrell Ajian hurt us a little bit and Billy Buckley shot the ball well. They have other guys that can contribute and can have big games. They are a good team, they are well coached, and they play hard. They are aggressive. It is going to be a good match-up for us and hopefully we can see how far we have come since the first time around," said Hess.
Madison has reputation of being aggressive on defense. Hess hopes they can get the get the Rams in foul trouble, but he adds they have to be aggressive themselves. "They play good defense. The guys that come off the bench still contribute to the team, but they are in that role for a reason and primarily your starters are logging most of the minutes and their usually is a little bit of a step down from you starters to your bench guys. So, anytime you can get into an opponents bench by getting them into foul trouble is a good thing. Typically the best way to do that is being aggressive yourself on offense and attacking the basket," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "When you settle fro jump shots there is usually not a lot of fouls called. So, we will have to look to move the ball on offense and look to attack. Things we open up if we look to move the ball. We have done a much better job here of working inside to out and getting some inside touches to our post guys. The guards have been able to feed off of that and take advantage of some openings."
Published 1/19/16
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Just a Few More Points For Ashland
Ashland beat Mansfield Senior three times last season, including in the division one tournament, and they almost did it again last week. This time with a different set of characters.
However, there have been a lot, too many, almosts this season for the Arrows.
This week it is a doubleheader of Ohio Cardinal Conference games for Ashland, both at home, West Holmes on Friday and then the Wooster Generals on Saturday at Arrow Arena.
Coach Jason
Hess says they have been good enough to get themselves in games against good
teams, but not good enough to beat those teams on most occasions. "We are
right there with the best teams in the league night in and night out. We
just need to find away to make those plays down the stretch when it is
winning time. Make those basketball plays, get those defensive stops. In
that game against Mansfield Senior we had a few turnovers there at critical
times that got us a little hole with a couple minutes to go and we weren't
able to climb out of it," he said.
West Holmes (1-10,0-5) plays at Ashland (4-7,2-3) on Friday
night. Although the young Knights haven't won many games, Hess says they
are well drilled on what they are supposed to do. "They are a well coached
team, they play hard, and they have some talent on there. They are a young
team. They play a lot of sophomores and other underclassmen, but they do
play hard. It is going to be important for us to get off to a fast start,"
he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "With a team like that that has
struggled record wise this year you don't want to let them build any
confidence and let them think they have a chance to win this game. They are
just as hungry as any other team to win a basketball game."
Wooster (7-3,4-1,) the only team to beat Lexington this year (69-66) last week. Hess says, like Mansfield Senior, they are going to bring a lot of pressure. Hess says they have to do a better job of handling that press is they are going to win. "Wooster is a team that plays very similar to Mansfield Senior and what we saw there last Friday night with that constant pressure for four quarters after made shots, missed shots, it's just a lot of pressure. We are going to have be able to handle the basketball. Hopefully we can learn from some of the mistakes that we made in the Mansfield Senior game and be ready for Wooster," he said.
Published 1/13/16
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Ashland Knows the Drill
Ashland beat Mansfield Senior three times last year when they won the Ohio Cardinal Conference title, now they need to find out how to do it this year with a different group of players.
The Arrows rallied last Saturday to down Shelby (62-58) in non-conference play. Coach Jason Hess thinks that was a big win in terms of momentum. "It was an important win for us. We had been making some strides all season long. You could see the improvement, but you can only go for moral victories for so long eventually you need to start knocking some up in the win column. It has definitely given the kids a lot of confidence going into a big game this week with Mansfield Senior," he said.
Ashland (3-6,2-2) hosts Mansfield Senior (5-3,4-0), who shares first place with Lexington in the "OCC," on Friday night in a conference game. Hess says it isn't hard to figure out what the Tygers are going to do, but executing against it is a different animal. "It is not a complicated system that they run and it is not a surprise. We have gone against Mansfield for years now and the formula to beat them really doesn't change. The difficulty of going up there and getting those wins is a challenge sometimes. Last year, we were fortunate enough to do it three times and we are going to have to find a way with this group. We need to execute our game plan and find a way to and hopefully give ourselves a chance to win the ball game," said Hess.
The keys against Mansfield Senior are the same as they almost always are through the years, reducing turnovers and finding ways to keep them off the offensive boards, according to Hess. "They get a lot of their offense based off the turnovers they create that lead to easy baskets. You need to eliminate the easy baskets for them. We are not going to not turn the ball over. There are going to be turnovers. There are going to be turnovers in a high school game. We need to make sure those turnovers don't lead to easy baskets at the other end. We have turnovers that go out of bounds and we are playing hard and we are running those are going to happen and it will give us a chance to set up our defense. All we are asking for really is to give ourselves and chance to play defense and make them earn their points," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They do a great job of attacking the glass. They are a tough team to box out because of their athleticism and quickness. A lot of time because of their dribble penetration you have guys rotating over to cover the drive and that frees up other guys to dive in there and go after an offensive rebound. Part of offensive rebounding is guarding the bounce and the other is when that ball goes up finding a body, making a good check out, and going after the ball."
Published 1/06/15
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Arrows Rally to Beat Shelby
Ashland made four of five of five free throws in the final 1:23, outscored Shelby 33-19 in the second half, and they beat the Whippets (62-58) in a non-conference game at Shelby High School on Saturday night.
Trailing (39-29) at halftime, Ashland coach Jason Hess thought they forced Shelby to take tougher shots in the second half. "We challenged the kids at halftime that they were going to win the game on the defensive end. I told them the way Shelby plays and the way we want to play 10 points isn't a huge margin. Two weeks ago against Canton Central Catholic that is a huger difference. I said they are going to keep shooting and we are going to keep playing and give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. The kids chipped away, we actually had it tied there in the third quarter, and they made a little bit of a run and got back in the lead, but we did have the lead cut in half by the end of the third," said Hess.
Brady Hill scored with :01 second left in the quarter to give the Whippets a (53-49) lead after three quarters.
Shelby coach troy Schwemley says they let Ashland back in the game, it was tied at 44 with 2:24 left in the third after Ashland's John Wolfe scored in the lane, and he says they didn't get to the line enough. "I think the first three minutes we turned the ball over two or three possessions. We really didn't execute defensively and get high percentage shots that we need to get. They cut back into the lead, but I thought we recovered," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "I believe we were up at the end of the third quarter, so even though we had the slow start to the third we were up four. When you shoot one free throw for the game and the other team shoots 17 you are at a disadvantage. That's pretty simple."
Logan Brewer led Ashland with 18, while Wolfe added 16. Davey Hipp paced Shelby with 18.
Hess says the pace of the game can make it difficult to get out on Shelby's shooters. "It is tough because of how fast they play and you start getting tired. When you start getting tired, your hands are on your knees and you don't close out. I thought Grant Denbow did an outstanding job defensively in the second half. Him being able to guard number 24 (Davy Hipp) might have been the difference in the game," he said.
Hess added they were able to bring some guys off the bench to give their starters a rest. "We have some nice depth. The guys that come off the bench play hard. They are still learning, but that is the nature of high school basketball. You don't have eight guys with experience every year. You have to get them experience as you go. This was a great game, a great atmosphere to get experience and to learn from," he said.
Ashland caught Shelby at 56 all with 2:46 to play on a pair of free throws by Griffin Gerwig and took the lead on Gerwig's basket 30 seconds later (58-56.) Hipp tied the game at 58 with 1:55 remaining.
Schwemley says he thought there were times when they had opportunities to get the foul line and were not given that chance. However, also have to do a better job of being stronger. "I thought there were times we needed to be a little stronger in the paint. Some loose balls, some situations, that we could control, you can't control the officials call or what the other team does, but there are things we can control. We have to play through those and overcome some of those obstacles and we just aren't to that point yet," said Schwemley.
The Whippets (4-5) have been in this position before, a one point loss to Norwalk (42-41) and four point loss to Ontario (61-57) and a three point loss to Galion (64-61) are examples. "You have just watched how we have lost five games in similar fashion. Every game we have had leads or opportunities. We need to make those big plays and need those big stops in those tight moments that we haven't figured out how to do and we need to figure that out," he said.
Published 1/02/16
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It is time to Win for Ashland
Ashland has been playing some good basketball against good teams, but they haven't been winning and that's what needs to happen starting now.
The Arrows have lost close games to both of the "NOL" co-leaders in Sandusky, by three, and Norwalk, by two, and the "OCC" co-leader, Lexington, by five.
However, coach Jason Hess says they need to find a way to get over the top. "I told the guys after the last game we aren't into moral victories. We aren't looking for that, we are looking for "W's" and they have responded this week and had a good week of practice. We have to find a way to put together some complete games, four solid quarters, instead of just two or three minutes at a time. The good thing is there is still a lot of season ahead of us," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The bulk of the conference schedule is still ahead of us even though we have played seven games we have only played three conference games. Orrville here on Wednesday is a conference game on the road, so that is one where we need to start making those steps and get over that hurdle and start getting some wins and start building some momentum when we get into the grind of the conference schedule."
Ashland (1-6,1-2) will be at Orrville (2-3,1-2) for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Wednesday night. Hess says the Riders have had a similar season. "They are very similar to us. They don't have an outstanding record, but they have played well in spurts. They are another team that has some young players, inexperienced players, and then they have some kids that have some varsity experience. They have kind of been growing as the years goes. Coach Slaughter does a great job with those guys. They always play hard and as the year goes they get better. Hopefully we can get them here before they get things breaking and get things figured out here before they do," he said.
To come up with the win, Hess says they have to do a good job of the slowing down the Orrville guards and they must do a better job of getting on the boards. "They have two good guards/forwards in Marcus Conway and Luke Smith that are 6'2', 6'3" and can push it and really like to go offensively. When they get rebounds there is no outlet pass, they just get it and go. So, we have to be able to slow those guys down. They have other guys are round them that are capable of making threes and knocking down perimeter shots. Defensive rebounding has kind of been a struggle all year, but we have to do a much better job of doing a consistent job of the glass," he said.
Published 12/30/15
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Ashland Getting Closer
Ashland is clearly improving as a basketball team, that was proven when they nearly knocked off unbeaten Lexington last week, but they are just falling a little short.
They also took Northern Ohio League co-leaders Sandusky and Norwalk down to the end.
Last Thursday, Lexington beat them (60-55) and coach Jason Hess says it was free throws that cost them that game. "We are definitely making improvements and making strides and now we have to find a way to get over that hump and start marking up some "W's." The kids are playing hard, but there are a few little things that we need to do. On film we saw things we could correct, the one glaring thing was our free throw shooting," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Last Thursday night we were 6-18 from the free throw line, which is really hurts in a five point game. We think we are a much better free throw shooting team than that. For whatever reason last week they just didn't go in for us. Hopefully, we can get that corrected and start knocking down some free throws."
With a number of kids in new roles this season there have been some issues with execution, but Hess says he has never had to worry about kids playing hard. "I think the thing that has stood out for me and that I am most happy with is our effort. It has been consistent effort even though we haven't been really polished at times and our execution has been a little rough we are still growing as a team an guys that are figuring out their new roles compared to what they were a year ago the effort has been there every single night. I told the kids after last Thursday that although weren't perfect yet the nice things is I haven't had to worry about coaching effort. The kids show up every night and they are ready to play hard and they go out there and compete and they leave it all on the floor," said Hess.
Ashland (1-5) travels to Canton Central Catholic on Tuesday and Hess says Central Catholic is still sort of putting their team together. "They are team that is starting to figure things out about themselves. They are in a different situation than we are because they made it to the state finals in football, so they had a few games early pushed back. They are still trying to sort things out here and kind of getting everybody on the same page coming out of football. I know they had some scrimmages early, but they didn't have their football guys. That takes a little getting used to coming out of football season," said Hess.
He says they certainly have the building blocks of a good, solid team. "They have a really nice post player, he is about 6'5", a big strong kid that finishes well around the basket and can step out and score form about 17 feet. He shoots the ball well from the free throw line. They have a guard that is a very good scorer as well," said Hess.
The Ashland coach also says it will interesting to see how his team reacts to going on the road. "It definitely going to be a good test because we are going on the road and we have only played on the road once this year. It will be interesting to see where our guys are in terms of our mental focus after the bus ride and it is a good long bus ride over there on a Tuesday night," he said.
Published 12/22/15
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Ashland Has Hands Full
Ashland, the defending "OCC" champ, plays host to conference co-leader Lexington at Arrow Arena in a rare Thursday night game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this week.
The Arrows (1-4, 1-1) got their first win last Friday against Clear Fork (65-44) and then lost a tough one in no-conference play to Norwalk (52-50) on Saturday night.
Coach Jason Hess believes his team is getting better, but he knows Thursday night they are going to see a very good team. "We are definitely improving each week. We are getting healthier too, which is a good thing. We are almost getting up to full strength here as far as personnel goes. We are still waiting for Grant to get back to 100 percent, but he is playing and that helps. It gives us a little more depth on our roster. We have a big test ahead of us with Lexington this week. They are setting their (5-0) and in first place in the league and were the preseason choice to win the league and always make some noise when March comes around, so we definitely have own hands full," said Hess.
Lexington has five guys 6'4" or taller and quality guards like Zahn, Vore and Nickoli. Hess says they can balance the floor, which makes them hard to guard. "They have a really nice combination of perimeter playing guards and big guys, not to mention some pretty good athletes. They have some roles players they can mix in with them that are very good defensively cause a lot of havoc. They cause a lot of turnovers and get easy baskets. They are definitely playing really well to start the season. It is what everyone expected. They have a lot of guys coming back from last year's team that ended on a hot streak at the end of last season and that has kind of carried over into this year for them," he said.
With their height and athleticism Lexington (5-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, can be very hard to score on. Hess says the Minutemen can turn it on. "We have seem some film on them. We have seen them live and they kind of fool you in the first half. They have had several games that have been pretty close at halftime and it seems like they come out in the third quarter and they can just ratchet up that defensive pressure a couple of notches and then just run away with the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They do things with their athleticism, their length, their size, that a lot of teams can't do. It is one those things that it is hard to prepare for. This week in practice we are putting extra bodies on the floor to try and simulate that as much as we can. It is one those things that before you get in a game like situation it is hard to prepare for."
Published 12/17/15
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Ashland Facing one the State's Best Big Guys
Ashland has some done some good things, but not enough of then early in the season as have dropped they first two games to good teams.
Madison beat them (58-42) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game last Friday. Ashland coach Jason Hess credits Madison, but says they have to try some different things too. "I don't know that I would say it was a step back. Obviously, we didn't improve quite as much as we wanted too. You have to take your hate off to Madison. It was a little misleading in Madison's first two games because Friday night was the first time they have had a full roster. Without Billy Buckley and the Kohler kid they are a different team. They did a great job against us on Friday. They shot the ball extremely well. The made 10 threes. We have to make some adjustments to get out and defend the perimeter a little bit better and find a way to score. Right now, we are struggling to get some offense. We are looking at doing some different things and trying to play to our strengths a little bit more and make some adjustments this week," said Hess.
They take on the Medina Bees (1-0) and their big guy o Tuesday night in a non-conference game. Hess says John Teske is big and he is skilled. "When you talk about Medina you have to mention John Teske. He is 7'1", a senior, that is going to play basketball at the University of Michigan. He is a big part of the Medina team at this point. He can score from the inside, he can step out and score from the outside. One of the strengths of his game is how he alters the game defensively with his shot blocking and his presence in the paint. The have some pretty good guards and a couple of other good forwards. It is going to be a big test for us. They made it to the regionals as well last year with several kids coming back. They beat Solon on Friday night and I am sure they will be prepared," said Hess.
Then on Friday night the Arrows (0-2,0-1) host Clear Fork (0-2,0-2) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game. Hess says their focus is on Tuesday with Medina, but Friday will be very important game for the defending "OCC" champs. "We do have Clear Fork in the back of our minds because it is a league and it is important to get that first league win and be able to get back to .500 in the league. You need to get some momentum there you don't want to drop down two games early. It's a home game for us. Coach Bechtel has got his kids ready to play every game. They are going to come fighting the get their first league win as well. They are learning on the fly and they are getting better every night. Hopefully, we can get our first league win," he said.
Published 12/08/15
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Ashland Learning How to be Better
Ashland, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, begins its defense of that title on Friday night when they visit Madison to do battle with the Rams.
In their first game last Saturday, the Arrows lost (57-54) to one of the top teams for the "NOL" in the Sandusky Blue Streaks. Coach Jason Hess feels that could be a great teaching tool for them. "It was a good test for us. We knew going in that Sandusky had a lot of players coming back from a regional team the year before. They were really athletic with a couple of talented guards. We learned a lot about our team last week unfortunately we came out on the short side of things. Our kids showed a lot of fight. We were down by double digits in the third quarter and battled back and got it to within two late in the fourth. We even had a shot to try and tie it and send it to overtime. I am not upset at all with the effort. There are definitely some execution things and some other things that are correctable, but there were a lot of bright spots as well," he said.
Nobody wants to lose, but Hess feels the game with Sandusky could be a good loss for them if they can continue to focus on getting better. "I said after the game that it was a loss, but if we can learn from it then it is a loss that may help us a lot down the road. It is not going to define our season, unfortunately it is a loss at home, which we don't like. But, at the same time with team goals that the kids set out for themselves, all of those are still on the table," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "You take that experience that we gained playing a good game against a tough team and learn a little about ourselves and make adjustments and improve here. We have had a couple of good nights of practice, so hopefully the kids are starting to make the adjustments and realize what varsity basketball is about. Sandusky had a lot of kids coming back and we had a lot kids seeing their first varsity action there last Saturday."
Madison (1-1,1-0) has a (63-39) loss to Shelby and a (55-33) win Tuesday night over Clear Fork to its credit. Hess says Madison is an athletic teams that can do a lot of things and will be getting a couple of players back on Friday night. "Madison has a good team. They have quite a few more pieces than just Tyrell Ajian. Unfortunately with their game last week against Shelby and (Tuesday) night they had a couple of kids that are key kids for what they want to do that haven't suited up yet. The real Madison team hasn't been on the court yet. Unfortunately for us on Friday night it is my understanding that they are going to be at full strength. They are very talented, they definitely have some kids that can shoot the ball well. They play hard and coach Mergel does a great job. It is definitely going to be a test for our guys going on the road Friday to try and get our first "OCC" win." said Hess.
Published 12/03/15
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Depth to be key for Ashland
Ashland returns some very capable players from their Ohio Cardinal Conference champions from last season, but their relative success this year is likely to be determined by their bench.
Ashland plays host to Sandusky in a non-conference game on Saturday night in their opener.
Coach Jason Hess says really they are still in the process of determining the personnel and the roles that will their bench. "As a coach I don't know if you can ever really say that you are satisfied. I thought our kids have had a pretty good preseason. In four scrimmages we have learned a lot about our basketball team. We are still searching a little bit for our depth chart. The kids are aware that we are still looking for a rotation. It may take a couple of games down the road here, and a little real game experience, until you figure out how everybody fits in and how all of the pieces fit together. We have a good group of kids coming back that have some experience. I am really liking our initial group and what we are searching for right now are a couple, two or three kids, that will fit in as reserves and back ups and role guys that will fit in and do the little things and how they will jell with the guys we have coming back with the experience," said Hess.
Hess really feels that his bench is going to be a big factor in how good the Arrows, and how consistent, they can be this year. "Last year as good as our top level players were what made that team special, and what makes special teams special, is when everybody buys into their role. The team is really only as good as the bottom guys on the depth chart. It takes a whole unit to make a team and you need those guys. Not only do you need them in practice, but you just never know when in games it is going to be their time to step up," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Everybody is gunning to take away your first, second and even third option. So, it is those other guys that might not necessarily get all of the hype and the publicity that have to step up at different times throughout the season and they always have to be ready, it's a tough role to be in because they never know for sure night in and night out whether they are going to be playing four minutes or 20 minutes and they have to be ready to step up and answer the call."
Sandusky won the division two district title last season. Hess says the Streaks are going to be very good this year again and they are going to get a good test on Saturday night. "We are going to find our right off the bat where we stand. They are bringing a lot of guys back. They are a senior laden team with a lot of experience from that regional run. They are well coached and they are going to do a lot of things that are going to impact us early and we are going to see if our young guys are ready to answer the call. I feel confident in the guys we have back that have the experience because they have been through it. So have Sandusky's players though Sandusky has a few more of them than we do. We have three, four guys that are going to be getting their first varsity action and we will have to see what they do when we put the lights on for real," he said.
Published 11/26/15
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Ashland Expecting More of the Same
Ashland enjoyed a tremendous season last year which resulted in an Ohio Cardinal Conference title, a district final appearance, and a number of schools records
Even with losses to graduation and a new coach this promises to be a very good season too.
First year coach, but former assistant Jason Hess, says there are still a lot of good players at Ashland. "Last year was a special team and there is no doubt about that. The good news for me is coach Fralich definitely did leave the cupboards bare. We have six guys that were key parts of that team last year and saw playing time at the varsity level and competed in practice every day with that group. The good news is we have a little bit of experience even though we did lose quite a bit from that team as well," he said.
Hess says he isn't going to try and reinvent the wheel. He says they are going to continue to try and do a lot of the same things. "As far as this year's Arrows we are going to continue to do the things that we have done well in the past. We are going to continue to emphasize the defensive end of the court and put an even bigger emphasis on the defensive end. Mixing up our defenses between some zone and some man and little bit more pressure. We have got some good sized athletes, some length and athleticism. We have several kids that are 6'4', 6'5" and can run well. We would like to get our guys out into the open floor and hopefully with our defensive pressure and our length we can get out and run and create some easy baskets for ourselves," said Hess.
Already being
an assistant in the program was a big factor in him taking the varsity head
coaching job according to Hess. "That is part of the reason why I am in the
position that I am in because when coach Fralich talked to me in the spring
and it was time from him for family reasons for him to move on from his job
as head coach here at Ashland. It was one of those things where I never
really thought too much about it, as far as taking over a program with my
career and profession it is kind of hard and kind of time demanding way to
take on that responsibility," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "These
are special young men and it's a joy to coach them and because of the
relationship and comradely I have with these guys is what brought me to the
sidelines, being able to hang out with these guys and experience practice
every day on a daily basis. They are a special group of kids and we have
been very blessed with great kids and great parents."
The players are familiar with Hess, the way he coaches, and his
expectations. So, he thinks it will be an easy transition. "The nice thing
is they know me, they know what I'm made of, they know what I am expecting
as a coach and they are willing to meet those expectations and they also
know what we stand for as a program. At the same time they don't have to
learn a new system. We are going to continue a lot of stuff that coach
Fralich put in place over the last five years. So, it is an easy transition
for the kids. They don't have to change all of their basketball know how
and terminology. So, a lot of the stuff is going to look the same to them.
That's helped me as first year coach that we have guys that understand the
system as well. We don't have to do a lot of teaching with our younger
guys. Our older guys are already familiar with the system and can help
teach it," said Hess.
With the season the Arrows had a year ago (22-2) there was a lot of winning going on a Hess says this year's players participated in the that and they learned from it. "It is one of those things where these guys expect to win. They know how to win. They have been part of winning. They have paid their dues. They realize what it takes to win at this level. The guys that we lost to graduation last year did a tremendous job of raising the bar of expectations for our program and doing it the right way. The came to practice everyday to work and put the time in in the off season and these guys saw that," he told Swankonsports.com, "They saw the success and were able to reap the rewards of that hard work. We have several kids that have put in a lot of extra time this summer in the gym, in the weight room, improving their skill, and athleticism because they want to have a successful season on the basketball court. They realize that is doesn't just happen because you were good last year. You only get the opportunity to win championships if you put the time in. There is no one that is going to take a back seat and just hand you the trophy. The kids are working hard and doing a great job."
Hess says this year's Arrows want to win and they know how to go about doing it. "It's about knowing how to close out a basketball game, knowing what needs to be done down the stretch. We saw last year with the group we had that sometimes you just have seniors and they make plays. As coaches we can't take credit for that, we just have to shake our heads and tip our hats and that is part of the joy of having seniors and they have been through the gantlet and they know what it takes to win," he said.
Published 11/19/15
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Ashland Will Have to Stop the Run
Ohio Cardinal Conference co-champion Ashland will play host to Bay Village in the division three regional quarterfinals on Friday night at Community Stadium.
They belted Lexington (38-6) last week to secure their share of the conference title.
The Arrows own a six game winning streak and coach Scott Valentine says the are going to continue to try and do the things that have made them successful as they prepare. "We are going to try and keep our schedule the same and how we have been working through the week. You want to try and keep that routine for the kids. They are going to realize the importance of where you are at and what is going on. You just want to try and keep things and build on what you have been doing throughout the year," said Valentine.
After a loss to Wooster (21-7) on week four, in their first conference game, Valentine says they have had a better approach, especially when it comes to making needed adjustments. "After that loss to Wooster I think each week we got better at some things. We definitely handled some adverse situations that happened during the ball game a lot better. We didn't handle some of the situations against Wooster that way. Those are always things you want to be able to do throughout the year and we have been able to do that," he said.
Ashland (9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, meets Bay Village (9-1) on Friday night. Valentine says the Rockets are going to try and run it at them. "They are a team that definitely has a good running back. He does a great job of running the ball, so he is somebody we are going to have to be able to stop the run and try to make sure we can get him stopped or at least contain him, I don't think we can stop him," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Defensively, they are one those defenses that has some big, strong guys up front that are trying to not let you run the ball. They haven't faced teams that do some of the things that we do, so we are going to have to wait and see how they defend us."
In terms of their approach to the game, Valentine says Bay Village reminds him a little bit of West Holmes, a wing-T, run first team in the "OCC" they face every year. "I think they are somewhat similar to some people in our league. I would say a team maybe like West Holmes and some of those teams that have bigger, physical kids and have big strong runners. We can see some similarities to some teams in our league," he said.
Published 11/03/15
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Intensity a Key for Ashland
Ashland is in a three way tie for first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with Mansfield Senior and Wooster and a win at Lexington on Friday night will give them no less that a share of the conference title.
They outscored Madison (19-0) in the fourth quarter last week and they beat the Rams (36-14) in conference play. Coach Scott Valentine says they made some big plays in the second half. "I was really happy for our kids. I think our defense really got after them in the second half and that allowed us offensively to get some plays. I think our special teams, our kicker Bryce Stormer, kicked a couple of field goals for us that spread it to eight, and then from then on we were able to do a lot of good things," said Valentine.
Second half play has been a hallmark of the Arrows (8-1,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, this season. Valentine says they have been able to make changes and execute those things. "I'll tell you what it has been a good second half team for us. We have been able to take the things we have talked about at halftime and then go out the second half and put those things to work on the field for us. That has been a really big surprise for us," he said.
Lexington (6-3,2-3) won their first five games of the season, but they have lost three of their last four, including a (45-28) setback to Mansfield Senior last week. Valentine says the Minutemen are certainly good enough to challenge them. "Their coaching staff has done a great job with their kids, they have a good group of kids and they have played good football. That is definitely something we have talked to our kids about. For us it is going to be important to go down there and understand it is going to be a four quarter game in order to be successful," he said.
Valentine says Lexington quarterback Joey Vore has been a playmaker this season and their defense has been tough at the point of attack and been good at stopping the run. He says they must go to Lexington and play in top gear for 48 minutes. "They are a group of kids that keep battling and battling throughout the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I think their quarterback does a great job of distributing the ball, has quickness and runs it when he needs to. Defensively, they attack downhill, their linebackers attack downhill. Those are things that we have go to try and control on offense and be ready for the blitzes they are going to throw at us."
Published 10/30/15
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"OCC" Leaders Clash
Ashland and Madison, two of the leaders in the wild Ohio Cardinal Conference, play each other in a huge "OCC" game on Friday night at Community Stadium in Ashland.
Those two, along with Mansfield Senior and Wooster, have 4-1 conference records with two weeks to play in the regular season.
Ashland (7-1,4-1), 32 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, downed Clear Fork (44-12) last week in conference action. They had to battle back after Clear Fork produced the first two scores. Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to do that. "They always have a good game plan and do some things that can give you some trouble. Their quarterback made a nice long run against us and then they got another drive. The thing I was proud of was our kids didn't panic," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We went back and offensively we got some scores there before the half and then offensively we did the stuff we needed too."
Madison has worked its way into the share of the conference lead on the back of a three game winning streak, including a (49-14) win over Orrville last week.
Valentine says the Rams (5-3,4-1) have a lot of home run hitters. "They have those big play makers and a lot of different guys making plays for them. They stretch your defense out a little bit and give you some different formations that can give you trouble. I think that is the key for us to try and limit their big plays and be able to attack them with some of our weapons," said Valentine.
Plus, according to the Ashland coach, Madison does a number of different things on defense designed to take you out of what you want to do. "Well defensively the thing that I have noticed is they can do multiple things. They can bring pressure from different areas with blitzes. Those are things we are trying to prepare for and be ready for," he said.
There have been a lot of games in the "OCC" this year that have come down to the fourth quarter. Valentine believes this is going to be another one and they have to ready for that kind of game on Friday night. "That is thing that I have trying to instill in our kids that every week in our league if you are not ready you could lose. You have to go into each game ready to play a four quarter game and their is no doubt with the things they do and things they have going that this is going to be a four quarter battle, definitely," said Valentine.
Published 10/23/15
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Adjustments are Big for Ashland
Ashland is a three way tie for second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference along with Mansfield Senior and Mansfield Madison, a game behind Wooster.
They play at home on Friday night as they host the Clear Fork Colts in "OCC" play at Community Stadium.
Last week, the Arrows (6-1,3-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in large school division, pulled away in the fourth quarter to belt Orrville (54-25) in a conference game. Coach Scott Valentine says they had to make some adjustments and they were able to get that done successfully. "I thought in the first half they did some things offensively that we hadn't seen them do. They ran the option a little bit. It was one of those things where our kids had to make adjustments at halftime," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We turned the ball over a couple of times, which you can't do anytime. I think our kids came out the second half and focused in and stopped them on defense and made our plays on offense."
Valentine believes that good teams are the ones that make those adjustments when faced with the job. "Sometimes they come out on the field with different things they are doing that you didn't practice for. The kids have to make adjustments and you have to make adjustments on the sidelines. If you can do that it really helps you," he said.
Clear Fork (2-5,0-4) has had its problems in the "OCC" this year scoring only five times in four games. However, Valentine says one thing about Clear Fork is you are never sure what you are going to get and you must be able to adjust that's for sure. "That is one thing that we know every year. Dave is a guy that will switch up week to week and come out with something a little bit different. You just have to be ready to adjust. They do a good job during the week coaching their kids up to do those things. We know this week we are probably going to have to make some adjustments early in the game," said Valentine.
Ashland plays Madison and Lexington its last two games, but Valentine says if they want to have a chance to win a piece of the "OCC" they can't take this week off. "We tell our kids all of time that you have to be ready each week. If you are not, anybody in our league can beat anybody. That is the thing that maybe they haven't won very many or as many games as they probably would have liked, but they play good football, hard nosed football, and we will have to be ready for four quarters of football," he said.
Published 10/13/15
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Ashland Playing Good Football
Ashland is right in the thick of the Ohio Cardinal Conference race with more than half of the conference season remaining.
They trail Wooster by a game in the conference standings.
Ashland rallied to beat Mansfield Senior (25-21) last week by recovering a fumble for a score and kicking a field goal in the fourth quarter. Coach Scott Valentine was excited with the play of his kids. "They are a very good football team and I was proud of way our guys handled some of the ups and downs of the football game. During the Wooster game we didn't handle those ups and downs, but our kids did that against Mansfield and that was a big win," he said.
The coach feels that they have gotten pretty good leadership this year and that certainly has helped them be a good team. "That is the thing. Each year you have a new group of leaders. Who are going to be the guys that pull the guys through some of those ups and downs? That is always a learning experience and that is something we learned from Wooster and I was proud to see us handle that," he said.
Ashland made some big plays in the special teams against Mansfield Senior and Valentine says that has been a strong area for them all year. "I think that is one thing we have talked to our kids about our special teams have been a positive for us. We had two huge punts. Our punter dropped a snap, but got it off and got it down there. Then we had a 73 yard punt that helped change the field position for us," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our kickoff team has been doing a great job of covering. We have been able to pin teams within the 20-yard-line. We have had a couple of big returns on punts and kickoffs. I have been happy with our progress. Like always you can get better, but that has been a plus for us."
Ashland (5-1,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in large school division, plays at Orrville (2-4,1-2) in an "OCC" game on Friday night. Valentine says Orrville has some players that can do some things. "I think they have some playmakers, some guys that can make plays. So, those are the guys that you really have to contain. Form a defensive standpoint you have to control those guys and not give them opportunities for big plays. They made some big plays and really got some things done against West Holmes," said Valentine.
Having already lost to Wooster (21-7) this year Ashland does not control its own destiny. Valentine says all they can do is keep winning. "You just have to keep taking care of yourself. We are focused this week on things we still have to get better at. If we are going to be a good football team throughout the year we just have to keep better. That is one thing we want to focus on ourselves and get better at the things we need to," he said.
Published 10/08/15
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Ashland Facing a Quick Mansfield Senior Team
In a crucial match-up in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night Ashland entertains the Mansfield Senior Tygers.
Mansfield shares the "OCC" lead with Wooster and Lexington, Ashland trails by a game after losing to Wooster (21-7) two weeks ago.
The Arrows (4-1,1-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, responded last week to beat West Holmes (42-12) in an "OCC" game.
In a game they had to win, Ashland coach Scott Valentine says they came out and played very well. "I thought we came out and did a lot of really good things on both sides of the ball. I thought it was good for us. We kind of took what they gave us. They were trying to cover the pass. Our line did a great job blocking and we were able to get our running game going," he said.
Ashland was one of the first schools to embrace the empty backfield, four wide out, spread offense, but this year Valentine says their personnel dictates they run the ball a little more. "We think we have some guys that we can hand the ball to and we thought our offensive linemen were pretty good at getting at people and getting on people. We thought that could be a positive for us to be able to mix in a little bit more balance than we have had the past few years," he said.
Mansfield Senior (4-1,2-0) has beaten Clear Fork (30-0) and Orrville (49-14) in their first two conference games. Valentine says what they want to do on offense is turn around and hand it to Brian Benson and Tyquan Vickers. "They have two good guys back there and they both do a good job running the ball," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "That is going to be a big challenge for us containing those guys. Like always you have to be able to contain them and keep them from making the big play."
As this season has gone on, the Tygers have gotten better on defense. Valentine says Mansfield Senior relies on its quickness and has a defense designed to take advantage of those skills. "Their schemes are designed to allow their kids to move and run to the ball. That's what they are good at. They seem to have been getting better at tackling and making plays that way. that is the thing that impresses you the most is their speed and quickness on defense," said Valentine
Published 10/02/15
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Ashland Knows What it Has to do
Ashland lost their first Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the year last week to Wooster and they likely can afford no more if they expect to come away with the conference title.
The Generals held Ashland to only one score in downing the Arrows last week (21-7) in the conference opener. Wooster held them to just 194 yards passing last week, that's is not up to Ashland's usual total. Ashland had less than 100 yards on the ground.
Ashland coach Scott Valentine credits Wooster for a great game plan and solid execution. "Wooster has a very good football team. Defensively they played a very good game and we just couldn't get things going offensively. I thought our defense did a great job there were just a couple of big plays they made. I give Wooster a lot of credit they are a good team. I told our kids were are 3-1 and we can't feel sorry for ourselves it's time to get going and get moving again," said Valentine.
There were 10 penalties for 66 yards for Ashland and Valentine says you can't have those kind of mistakes and be able to beat good teams like Wooster. "Last week we hurt ourselves with turnovers and some big plays penalty wise. Some big plays that were called back after some penalties. Those are things we will emphasize this week," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We were still kind of inconsistent with our mental mistakes, we are still kind of inconsistent there. You know I think we are progressing, but when you are playing good people those mistakes really count."
It's back to league action for the Arrows (3-1,0-1), #5 in this week's Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, this week as they travel to West Holmes (1-3,0-1) on Friday night. The Knights are coming off a (42-21) loss to Mansfield Madison. They totaled more than 300 yards rushing in their only win over Wooster Triway (46-40) on week one. Valentine says Holmes wants to run the ball. "There is no doubt that is what Kevin has done. That's what he believes in and their kids believe in it too. That's the thing they believe in it and they are going to come at you. They do a good job in hiding the ball, so it makes you be very disciplined when it comes to you defense," said Valentine.
The Knights feature the deceptive wing-T offense.
It's only week five, but Valentine says this a game they have to win to remain in the "OCC" race. "You have to stay one game back until somebody can knock off Wooster or the teams that won the first week you have to stay one game behind. You can't afford to have two losses," said Valentine.
Published 9/22/15
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Ashland and Wooster Lock Horns
Ashland and Wooster are two of the teams expected to contend for the Ohio Cardinal Conference title this fall and they meet in the conference opener for both schools at Community Stadium in Ashland on Friday night.
The Arrows (3-0,0-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, are off to their first 3-0 start since 2006. Coach Scott Valentine is excited by what he has seen on the field. "We really came through the preseason and kept getting better and they were able to get a good start like they wanted too," he said.
Allowing only two scores over the last two weeks, wins over Medina Highland (41-7) and Tiffin Columbian (16-7,) the Arrows have been outstanding on defense. Valentine says defense has really kept them in games early. "Our defense has kept us in games and allowed our offense to adjust to some of the things that people are doing defensively to us and then we were able to get big plays after that. That has been a big key to our success," he said.
Wooster's only loss in conference play last year came to Ashland (21-14) at their place. They went on to share the title with West Holmes.
The Generals (2-1,0-0) lost their first game this year last week to Green (21-7) to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Valentine says have speed and lot of it. "They are a good team. They have some good skilled guys and do a lot of things and make big plays. From our standpoint we are really going to have to defend and keep them from getting big plays," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Then like us they have some speed. They are similar to us on defense as far as getting to the ball. So, we are going to have to adjust for that."
Winning that first conference game is key because if you don't you always feel you are looking up at someone and Valentine says it is especially important considering they are playing Wooster, one of the other contenders. "There is no doubt that you want to get a good start in your league anyway. With them having won the league last year and then coming back this year with some guys that are back. We definitely wan to get a good start against them," he said.
Published 9/18/15
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Two Outstanding Defenses Meet as Ashland hosts Tiffin
Ashland and Tiffin Columbian, two of the more successful programs in this part of the state, collide as the Arrows host the Tornadoes at Community Stadium on Friday night in non-conference play.
The Arrows (2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, pounded Medina Highland (41-7) last week, forcing six turnovers in the process. Coach Scott Valentine says they played very well in all phases of the game. "There was no doubt that our guys got after it on both sides of the ball and on special teams. I thought our kick coverage was pinning them back in there. So, it was definitely an all around team win," he said.
They have scored some points, beating Wadsworth (28-20) on week one, but Valentine says it has been their play on defense that has stood out to him. "I think defensively we have really come on with the speed we have on defense. I think we are doing a good job of tackling and running to the ball. Those are all things that are important, so we have been able to hang our hat on our defense. Last week, we got six turnovers and that led to a couple of scores for us," said Valentine.
Tiffin Columbian (1-1) lost their opener to Clyde (15-8) and beat Bryan (35-0) last week on week two. Valentine says the Tornadoes are pretty good on defense too. "They have some big kids up front that hold that line of scrimmage. You don't get a lot of push on them and their guys all run to the ball. They play that 3-5 defense and the five linebackers, those kids all run downhill. So, we are going to have to find a way we can move the football on them," he said.
On offense, Valentine says Columbian can do a number of things, so they will have to a good job of reacting to what they see before the snap of the ball. "They play a couple of different quarterbacks. One of them is a kid that can sit in the pocket and throw the ball and the other guy is a guy that kind of runs the ball a little bit more," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "So, you have to kind of look and see who you are going to face and try to prepare for both of them. They spread it out a little bit. They have a couple of kids that run the ball and a couple of playmakers outside. So, we are going to have to be prepared for a few different things."
Columbian beat Ashland (23-20) in the first meeting between two last season in Tiffin.
Published 9/09/15
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Ashland Picks up Solid Win; Moves Forward
Ashland broke a four game losing streak to Wadsworth and beat the Grizzlies (28-20) last week in their opener of the season and now they hope to take that momentum forward.
They host talented Medina Highland (1-0) in another non-conference game on Friday night.
Coach Scott Valentine thinks they did just a wonderful job on defense in containing Wadsworth's power running game. "I am so proud of the way our kids played. Defensively we were able to contain, we weren't going to stop their tailback, but we were able to contain him for most of the night. We made a lot of big plays sacking the quarterback. Offensive, for most of the night, we executed most of the stuff we wanted to. Just a good overall win," he said.
However, even after a good performance like they had last week, Valentine understands the Arrows have a lot of growing to do on the gridiron. "That's what I told our kids. They last four, five years we have been the ones that have been 0-1 and lost that first game. It doesn't make any difference if we win or lose it we have nine games left and we have to get better at a lot of things. We saw those things on video tape, so that is our goal this week in practice and get better at the things we have to get better at," he said.
Highland, who beat Brunswick last week (17-7,) is new to the Ashland schedule. Valentine says they are a team that used to success and will be aggressive on defense. "They are a team that has been in the division two playoffs the last five to eight years. They execute their offense. Their quarterback runs the ball very well and makes you be a disciplined football team and that is something we are really going to stress on defense to be disciplined and make sure we get our assignments," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Defensively they have some big guys up front and they are going to stop your run and they cover you with man coverage. Offensively, we are going to have to be ready to beat some guys one on one."
With the win over Wadsworth and another tough game with always good Tiffin Columbian coming up, Valentine says a win on Friday would be huge for them when it comes to the playoffs. "Definitely our non-league schedule is something that you always want to try and win those non league games because hopefully they have a good season in their league and they can help you. That is something we have struggled with the last few years. We keep reminding our kids that we make sure we get another one this week," he said.
Published 9/01/15
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Ashland Defense Must be up to the Task
Ashland is at Wadsworth to open the season on Friday night against the Grizzlies in what shapes up as a tough, physical game between two traditional powers.
With any football team their health can be a big factor when it comes to their success and that is probably magnified at the high school level. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says they have been fortunate enough this season to not have many injuries. "I felt scrimmage wise we had some good scrimmages and practice wise I felt we were able to be physical some and when it comes down to it we came out pretty healthy," he said.
Ashland has some experience back at the skilled positions, but they have some youth up front. Valentine says those guys in trenches have shown some pretty good improvement this month. "I think we were getting better and I think that is a never ending process when you are young. Those guys are going to have to keep progressing throughout the year," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We have always talked about that you have to take jumps after games and especially after week one. I think they are getting prepared and hopefully we are prepared for Friday night."
Wadsworth is kind of like they have always been, a tough, physical, run first team. To slow them down, Valentine says they have to be sure tacklers and they must get good pursuit to the ball. "Coach Dennison and his staff do a great job. They are an "I" team, and a lot of people don't run the "I" anymore, but that's what he has been very successful with. He has a great tailback, who is an All-Ohio player. He is somebody we are going to have to tackle and make sure we get a lot of people to the ball. He is a big, strong runner and they come right at you that way," said Valentine.
Valentine says the Grizzlies are going to be aggressive on defense and that young line is going to have to be able to give the offense the time it needs to make some plays. "Defensively they bring a lot of different blitzes. We are preparing for them and hopefully we can pick them up and give our quarterback some time to throw the ball," he said.
Published 8/27/15
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Ashland Has Some Experience
Ashland has been the most consistent football power in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and you have to figure the Arrows will at least be a factor in the "OCC" race this fall.
The Arrows (6-5,4-2) finished a game behind co-winners Wooster and West Holmes in the "OCC" last year and lost to Lewis Center Olentangy (33-6) in the first round of the division two playoffs.
Coach Scott Valentine says they will have some ball handlers back this year that played significant roles for them a year ago. "In certain year we have lost some skilled guys and have experienced linemen and other years we have the opposite," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday. "I think this year we have some experience back in our skilled positions, but up front on both sides, especially the offensive side, we are a little young, and defensively we have some experienced guys that had a big impact for us. It is kind of one of those years when you have some balance, but you have to have some guys step in and do the job."
He says this will be an important camp for some of those guys that are going to be counted by to be part of that offensive line where teamwork is so important. "There is no doubt. You talk about that all of the time until you start playing and being able to hit you haven't found out what kind of football team you are going to be," he said.
Teams can put on pads and start to hit each other starting on Friday and Valentine says that is going to be a key part of the season for the Arrows. "You have your five day acclamation period and you try and get some work done, especially the mental part. Once those five days are over you start to find out. In your scrimmages you start to find out who some of the people are that are going to be ready to go and where you have to get better," said Valentine.
The "OCC" is usually completive when it comes to football and Valentine, the dean of "OCC" coaches, feels that this season will be no different. "I think it's going to be similar to last year where it is kind of up in the air. Everybody has lost some pretty good players. I think each year the league it is who can play the schedule through. I think it's similar this year, who can play week in and week out," he said.
Ashland opens the season on August 28 at traditional non-conference opponent Wadsworth. Their first "OCC" game will be at home against Wooster on September 18.
Published 8/06/15
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Clear Fork Downs Ashland
Clear Fork scored four times in the first inning and went on to beat Ashland (6-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Wednesday in the valley.
Thomas Staab started the bottom of the first with a double, followed by a single by Nick Schoonyan, and Ashland misplayed a ground ball by Lee Snyder allowing Staab to score the game's first run. Luke Clark then drove in two on a ringing double. Later in the inning Caleb Merendino drove in a run with a single.
Coach Rusty Staab they were able to take advantage of situations. "Anytime you can come out and hit the ball. We always tell the kids keep it out of the air. When you hit it on the ground three things have to happen. They have to field it, they have to throw it over, and someone else has to catch it. Ashland kind of struggled in the first inning. For once in a long, long time we were able to capitalize on their mistakes because we got a couple of key hits after those errors. It is awful nice to see Lee (Snyder) out there with a 4-0 lead, 5-0 lead and he can just go out there and throw his fastball and his change up," said Staab.
Ashland coach Rob Lavengood was disappointed that his players were not mentally prepared for the game. "We weren't ready to play offensively and defensively. We have three guys strike out in the first inning. Obviously our mindset when we stepped in the batter's box wasn't very good. The defensively we come out and have three errors, allowing them to score four runs, probably only one of them was earned. We have to come ready to play a lot better than we did (Wednesday) night. You spot them four in the first inning and you lose 6-3 and that was really the ballgame right there," said Lavengood.
Snyder struck out nine Ashland hitters over four innings. Staab says he kept the Arrows off balance. "He has a great change up there is no doubt about that. He can throw it at any time in the count. It just freezes them. Rob (Lavengood) was getting frustrated because they froze and they just wouldn't swing and it was strike three. Lee has had two great outings in a row and we hope it continues because it is tournament time," he said.
Clear Fork upped their lead to (6-0) on RBI hits by Snyder in the second and Ricky Bartrum in the third. Ashland got a run in the sixth and two in the seventh.
The Colts (11-7,6-4), #5 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, didn't make any errors over the first five innings, but Staab says they kind of lost their focus. "We fielded the ball great until the sixth and seventh then their brains kind of drifted towards the clouds and some of the nice looking girls from Ashland and everywhere else. That's what I talked about in our huddle after the game. A good team, and not that Ashland isn't, a good team in the tournament is going to turn that error into a four run inning and now they are back in the game," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "Ashland darn near did it because we had a throw to second where he is dead out and our second baseman misses it. We get a routine grounder to short and it goes right through his legs. Those are the things that can't happen and the kids know it."
Clear Fork plays host to Galion (8-14) in the division two sectional semi-finals on Saturday. "We got the seventh seed and no one sees us play. We were 10-6 at the time of the draw. We just didn't win enough big games. If we would have beat Madison and maybe swept Highland. Those Sandusky teams they don't see us play they just look at records. We got a seventh seed that I wasn't happy about, but what can you do. It really didn't matter we got a home game against Galion that we just beat last Saturday. I know we are probably going to see (Chad) Karnes, who is probably their ace. We'll see what happens, hopefully we will continue this," said Staab.
Ashland (10-8,6-4) will be at home with Toledo Central Catholic next Thursday in a division one tournament game. "It was nice to be able to play a home game for a sectional final next Thursday against Toledo Central Catholic. With 20 teams involved in the sectional draw there are a lot of good teams. We were hoping to be one of the top eight so we could host. Toledo Central Catholic has a nice team, they are 9-8. They play a tough schedule, so we are going to have our hands full, but we are going to be playing on our home field, which is nice," said Lavengood.
Published 5/07/15
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Ashland Dismantles Mansfield Senior
Ashland scored 10 times in the first inning and five more in the second and went on to destroy Mansfield Senior (17-0) in five innings in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game Tuesday at Arlin Field.
The win came on the heels of a tough loss to co-leader Lexington (12-2) on Monday in a conference game. Coach Rob Lavengood it was good to get some momentum again. "It was obviously nice to bounce back and get a win and put some runs on the board (Tuesday) night. We swung the bats pretty well and we can build off of that and get ready for another game (Wednesday) night at our place and get a sweep," he said.
Mansfield Senior (1-11,0-7) has been run ruled in four of their last five league games and their pitching has been sub par all season. Lavengood says they had to sort of take the Tygers previous performance on the mound our of their minds. "We told our guys before the game when they step into the batter's box the goal was to have a quality at bat, whatever that may be. We were able to draw eight walks (Tuesday) night, we got some hits. We moved runners. We had a lot of quality at bat's and that is good to see, no matter who is on the mound," he said.
Ashland (10-7,6-3), two games behind co-leaders Lexington and Mansfield Madison, is at home for the Mansfield Senior on Wednesday. Lavengood says they have to take a fresh approach to the game. "We told the kids after the game (Tuesday) night that come (Wednesday) we have to treat the game as 0-0 and starting fresh and you don't have a 17-0 lead when the game starts. So, we have to come ready to play (Wednesday) night. I like the way our pitchers threw the ball (Tuesday) night. In five innings we didn't walk anyone. We went right at them and were aggressive in the strike zone and that was the key," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win over the Tygers, "Unfortunately we didn't do that they night before against Lexington when we walked nine guys. It was nice to see us throw strikes, aggressive in the strike zone on the mound and our hitters had a good approach at the plate."
Ashland also has two games series with Clear Fork and Madison left on their regular season conference schedule.
Published 4/29/15
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Arrows Rally For Big Win Over Wooster
Alex Stefaniuk, Logan Brewer, Jake Jones and Ryan Gray all drove in runs in the pivotal seventh inning as Ashland topped Wooster (5-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Wednesday afternoon at Wooster High School.
Ashland led (1-0) going to the bottom of the sixth and Generals put up a three spot to take the lead heading to the final inning. Facing the prospect falling two games behind conference co-leaders Mansfield Madison and Lexington Arrows coach Rob Lavengood says they rose to the occasion and came up with four big runs. "It was a huge win (Wednesday) night, especially after getting beat up pretty good (Tuesday) night on our home field," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "To go on the road and to be able to come back after having a lead. We were up 1-0 to going into the bottom of the sixth and we give up three runs and then were able to come back in the top of the seventh and score four and get a win. It was just a great win for our guys and a huge momentum swing for us going forward into this weekend and they rest of our conference schedule."
Wooster (6-5,5-3) had beaten Ashland (11-0) on Tuesday night.
Ashland has already spilt there series with West Holmes and Lavengood knows it was very important to do the same against Wooster and he says the players showed how tough they were. "We have a lot of character and a lot of heart on our team. Our guys battled against a really good team on the road in some awful elements to tell you the truth I mean the weather was pretty brutal for both teams out there. Our guys showed a lot of toughness and that was good to see. Hopefully, a win like that is one that can really propel you the rest of the season. When you have a chance to battle in the close games it gives you the confidence that they can make plays down the stretch and get big wins," said Lavengood.
Ashland (9-5,5-2), #4 inn the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, faces its second game of the season against Lexington (8-6,6-1) on Monday and then plays Mansfield Senior on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week in "OCC" play.
With so many teams near the top of the standings, Lavengood says you are going to have to have a lot of quality arms if you are going to end up with the title. "I think it could come down to pitching depth in the end. For example, we are supposed to play Madison twice the last week of the conference schedule when both of us are going to be involved in tournaments. So, you might be in a situation when you are not able to throw your number one, might not even be able to throw your number two. So, it is going to come down to pitching depth, you know, how good is your number three, how good is your number four in some of those games. That might end up deciding who wins the conference championship," said Lavengood.
Ashland plays in a big regular season mini tournament at Newark this weekend.
Published 4/23/15
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Ashland Blasts Orrville
Ashland kept itself in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race with a (13-3) win at Orrville on Wednesday afternoon.
The Arrows (5-4,3-1) played some outstanding teams last weekend in the BW3 Ashland-Madison Baseball Classic, splitting their four games, beating Perrysburg (3-2) and Massillon Perry (7-4) and loosing to Mt. Vernon (3-0) and Mentor (9-4). They shutout Orrville at home on Tuesday (4-0) in conference play.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they are starting to hit their stride. "We are playing a lot better here recently than we were at the beginning of the season, especially pitching and defense. That is good to see that we are making improvements, making strides. It was also nice to see us swing the bats a little bit better (Wednesday) night. We haven't quite swung the bats as well as I would like early on in the season, so to put up 13 runs was nice to see," he said.
They got some key hits with runners in scoring position on Wednesday and Lavengood says they need to stay aggressive at the plate, especially in clutch situations. "That is one thing that we have kind of struggled with early in the season. We are putting guys on base. The problem is when we get guys on base we are not driving them in. It seems like some of our guys are changing their approach when they step into the box with guys on base as opposed to not having anyone on base. We are getting a little bit less aggressive," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, "We are watching too many pitches in the strike zone that we are not swinging at. We have talked the last couple of days about of making sure we have the same approach no matter what the situation is and step into the box with confidence. Finally we were able to get some hits with guys in scoring position (Wednesday) and put up a good number on offense."
Ashland plays host to Lexington (5-4,4-0) in "OCC" play on Friday and Lavengood says that is going to be a very important game for them. "Friday is a huge game. Lexington so far hasn't lost a conference game. There are a handful of us that are one game behind them, Madison, Wooster, Clear Fork and us with one loss. So, this is a big game for us. It is a make up game from last week when we had two rain outs with Lexington. We are playing on our home field. Our big junior Logan Brewer is going to be on the mound for us. We are looking forward to the game. We are playing a lot better now. Our kids are playing with confidence and hopefully that carries over into Friday and we have a good outing and are able to get a win," said Lavengood.
Published 4/16/15
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Ashland Facing Great Competition
Ashland has really strengthened its schedule this season and that will be highlighted by a big weekend this weekend if the weather allows them to play.
So far, the Arrows have only played three games, and only one in the last week. Coach Rob Lavengood says they really want to get out on the field and show what they can do. "It definitely is frustrating. I know our kids want to get out there and play games. We are just at the mercy of Mother Nature right now and she isn't cooperating really well this week. We had a tough loss to a really, really good team on Monday with Cleveland St. Ignatius and our guys just want to get out there and play a game and we get rained out Tuesday and Wednesday with Lexington. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we can get a game in with them (Thursday) night at our place, but you just never know it doesn't look really good right now," said Lavengood.
On Monday, statewide power Cleveland St. Ignatius pounded the Arrows (12-0), but Lavengood says that is one of the best teams in the State of Ohio. "They are 7-0 and they are probably one of best teams in the state this year. They are really loaded and have five or six kids that are going to go play division one baseball. I think our kids understand the caliber of team we played Monday, but that doesn't change the fact that they want to get back on the field and have success. Hopefully we will get a chance to do that the next time we play, whenever that is going to be," he said.
Ashland (1-2,1-1) hopes they can play at home against Lexington (3-2,2-0) on Thursday in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.
Then this weekend two teams out of the "OCC", Ashland and Madison, are hosting a big regular season tournament. Lavengood says some of the best teams in the state are going to be here. "Doug (Rickert) and I talked back in June about trying to set something up and try to bring in some top notch talent from across the state to play for a weekend. We have a great weekend set up for Saturday and Sunday and the weather looks great for those two days. I'm just hoping both of our fields are able to recover from the rain that we are going to get this week," Lavengood told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "We have Perrysburg and Massillon Perry coming to our place on Saturday for a three way. Mentor and Mt. Vernon are going to Madison for a three way on Saturday. Then the teams are going to flip flop sites Mentor and Mt. Vernon come to our place on Sunday and Perrysburg and Massillon Perry will go to Madison on Sunday. Those are four very good division one teams in the state that are going to provide some great competition for both of us. It should be a great weekend if we are able to get it in and hopefully we are able to play well and compete against those teams."
Published 4/09/15
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Ashland Downs West Holmes in Extra Innings
Ashland survived a game when they left 15 guys on base and didn't make the plays in the field and they beat West Holmes (6-4) in eight innings in their Ohio Cardinal Conference opener on Tuesday.
Coach Rob Lavengood, now his fifth season at the helm of the Arrows, says it might not have been a work of art, but they will take it. "It was definitely nice to get that first win under our belts. It was a little closer than what I was hoping, but we will take a win no matter how we get it. Going on the road to West Holmes is usually a pretty tough place to play. So, we will take it, getting that first win in the "OCC" and hopefully we can come back (Wednesday) at home and get another one," he said.
Lavengood says they eventually made some big plays in the game. He says for most of the night hey just can't get the big hits when they had a chance to establish the lead. "Even within the same game you have to have a short memory from one at bat to the next. If you have a bad at bat in the first or second inning and you come back up in the third or fourth inning you have to put that one behind you and be ready to swing the bat and have success the next time up. Baseball is definitely a sport where you have to put things behind you and move on if you are going to be successful. We had some guys that did that (Tuesday) night. There were some good things out there, but there were definitely some thins that we have to improve upon and get better. We had base runners all night long and we stranded 15 guys. We had our opportunities to bust the game open. We just couldn't quite get the big hit when we needed to, but our pitchers threw the ball well, which was a good sign," said Lavengood.
Ashland (1-0,1-0) will host West Holmes (0-1,0-1) in another "OCC" game on Wednesday.
Pitching was the key to their success on Tuesday. Lavengood says both guys they ran out there pitched well. "Logan Brewer, our junior, coming off a long basketball tournament run, for him to go out there and throw four solid innings for us, gave up two unearned runs, struck out nine, that was a great first outing for him. Our sophomore, Hunter Krebs, our lefty, came in and threw four innings, and got his first varsity win, gave up two unearned runs, and pitched really well, and had six strikeouts. We struck out 15 guys between the two pitchers, so I thought our two pitchers threw the ball very well," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, "We did show some patience at the plate and had 10 walks, which was good. Those were some things that definitely put a smile on my face. We just didn't come up with the clutch hit, but it is early in the season and I think we are going to swing the bats it is just a matter of time before the bats heat up and we come up with hits with runners in scoring position."
Published 4/01/15
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Ashland With Some Talent
With Some talent back, the Ashland Arrows figure to be competitive in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season.
Ashland won the title three years ago.
They have been able to get out in the field this spring and coach Rob Lavengood says that is a very good thing. "Anytime you can face live pitching and put your players in game situations that helps to get you ready for the regular season. We were fortunate enough to get outside all of last week on our field practicing. Then all of the sudden this week we run into some bad weather. We did a get a scrimmage in Saturday against Massillon Jackson and Tuesday against Crestview and hopefully (Wednesday) against New London to get us ready for the season," he said.
The Arrows played a scrimmage against state power Massillon Jackson on Saturday and Lavengood says that plus scrimmages against Crestview and New London should get them ready for the season. "Massillon Jackson is the defending division one state champs. They had a great season last year and they have a great program every year. They reload instead of worrying about rebuilding. That was a good scrimmage for us Saturday to get a chance to see some really good pitching and some guys that swung the bats really well. It kind of gave us a gauge of where we are at at this point in time and where we need to get to be successful this year. Now, this week we have a couple of teams that are a little closer to home. Some smaller schools with good baseball traditions. Hopefully these will be a couple of good tune ups to get us ready for this weekend," said Lavengood.
Ashland plays host to Norwalk and Sandusky Perkins in a three team regular season opener on Saturday if weather permits. Lavengood says they have some talented players, but they will be challenged this year. "We have quite a bit back. We feel we have a chance to have a pretty solid team this year. A lot of it is going to depend on our pitching depth and our health. We have 10 seniors and we only graduated four guys off of last year's team, so we have some experience coming back. Hopefully that will translate into some success," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "On the flip side we have a killer schedule. This is probably the toughest schedule that I have put together in my five years as head baseball coach. We have some very good non-conference teams we are playing along with our conference schedule. Our conference is always pretty tough top to bottom baseball wise, so we are going to have to come ready to play every day."
Ashland's basketball team won the "OCC" and advanced to the district final. Lavengood says they have a couple of guys that were part of that team. "We have two guys coming in from the basketball team that had a great season. Trey Smith is our one senior coming back at shortstop. He was the point guard on the basketball team. Logan Brewer was also a starter. He will be a pitcher for us as well as a corner infield guy. Hopefully those guys will bring a good winning attitude over from basketball to help along with the rest of the guys we have coming back," he said.
Published 3/25/15
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Girls' Basketball Players to Showcase Talents
Wednesday night, girls' basketball players of all ages will get an opportunity to show what they can do to fans and college coaches with Shelby Rotary NCO Girls' All-Star Basketball Classic at Shelby High School.
Kyle Fenner of Colonel Crawford and Eric Mitchell of New London are the coaches in the senior game, which includes two ten player teams.
Fenner has done this before, so she knows what to expect. "This will be the second time coaching the all-star game. I believe in 2000 I coached the all-star game over in Ashland, so this will be my second time," she said.
She will coach team black, which will include: Anna Hintz of South Central, Deijah Swihart of Clear Fork, Gabby Stephens of Shelby, Shelby Stamm of Bellevue, Ellie Richmond of Wynford, Hannah Adams of Willard, Sydnie Carpenter of Ashland, Mekaila Grose of Mansfield Madison, Ta-Sharra Jeffries of Sandusky and Emily Wagner of Sandusky Perkins.
A real key to this format is to get everyone into the game with a chance to showcase there skills. "It's not really hard we will have ten kids and we will probably put them in groups of five and let them play for four or five minutes then we will substitute. We will approach it that way and let them get up and down the floor and show their skills. If it's a game at the end we will probably go with the five or six best kids that we feel can win the game for us," said Fenner.
Some of the players might know where they are going to college, but some may not. Fenner says this is their chance to impress. "There are going to be a good portion of college coaches there that night. They have done a great job of getting college coaches there. It will a great chance for these kids to show their skills off to not only the area, but also some college coaches that will be there," she said.
On team white will be Carly Santoro of Bellevue, Valesha Province of Tiffin Columbian, Shelby White of Ashland, Jeryn Reese of Mansfield Senior, Morgan Bailey of Clear Fork, Hunter Feltner of Willard, Alexis Smith of Mansfield Madison, Makayla Cook of Norwalk, Megan Flaherty of Bucyrus and Samantha Reer of Norwalk St. Paul. The coach of the team will be Eric Mitchell of New London.
There is also an underclassmen game on Wednesday night, a first due to a change in OHSAA rules and Clear Fork coach Heidi Roush is one the coaches in that game.
She was an MVP in an all-star game as a player, but this will be her first as a coach. "It is my first time coaching anything like this. There are some stipulations as to who can coach the younger kids. You couldn't have one of your own players on the team. I think that is how they kind of stumbled on me. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a lot of fun," she told Swankonsports.com.
Her team members are: Renee Stimpert of Crestview, Abigail Fogle of Upper Sandusky, Sarah Ogden of Wynford, Gabbi Baldridge of Willard, Ashley Painley of Norwalk St. Paul, Shelby Kin of Carey, Maggie King of Willard, Jisselle Thomas of Norwalk, Paige Leitz of Monroeville and Leah Bouillon of New Riegel.
She says she will judge playing time by performance during the game. "With you know you have talented kids, they wouldn't be on the team other wise. I think for the most part you just go with who is playing well. Get everyone in there and let them show their skills," said Roush.
There are only a couple of practices before them game and Roush says the players sort of have to get used to each other. "There are some larger schools and I know those players and what they are capable of and there are some players that I haven't seen before and I only know their stat lines checking on then throughout the season in the paper. I think it will be a little bit of a challenge for the kids knowing each other. Some of them will have played against each other in summer league, some during the season and then there are kids they really don't know each other," said Roush.
Playing for team black in the underclassmen game are Seina Adachi of Seneca East, Sydney Wentling of Carey, Kamryn Troike of Fostoria St. Wendelin, Payton Shays of New London, Kelci Simms of Bucyrus, Jenna Strayer of Bellevue, Sydney Holderman of Riverdale, Emily Yeager of Mansfield St. Peter's, Jackie Garrett of Shelby and Alexus Burkhart of Colonel Crawford. They will be coached by Jon Dawson of Willard.
Roush thinks it is pretty cool that underclassmen get to participate too. "In this sport most of the time you are going to end with a loss and it can be so disheartening. Now, these younger kids are going to get a chance to play again this season and pump them up and get them ready for next season," she said.
There will be a halftime three point shooting contest among girls in district 6. Some boys will be there for dunk contest as well.
The underclassmen game starts at 6 PM, with the senior game at about 7:45. Tickets for the game are $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free for 18 and under who donate a gently used or new children's book to the Shelby Rotary's "Big Red Book Shelf."
Published 3/23/15
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Ashland Has to be Beat Mansfield Senior Again
Ashland has beaten Mansfield Senior twice this season and they must do again if their are to advance in the tournament.
They play the Tygers in the division one district semi-finals at Liberty-Benton High School on Thursday night.
Ashland (21-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won its 21st game in row last Friday when they beat Anthony Wayne (61-52) to earn a sectional title.
Coach Tim Fralick admits they are going to have to play better against Mansfield Senior. "This time of year the sense of urgency form opponents and it's supposed to be from your team as well is definitely at a higher level . It is just a little bit different game come tournament time. Teams have a little bit better idea, usually, of what you are going to do and what you strengths are. The tempo of the game sometimes can slow down. There is a little bit more emphasis on each individual possession and being efficient with your possessions, so the tempo slows down a little bit. That may favor a team that does not run like us. We need to have the ability to execute even better in the half court setting. I don't think we have been deficient in that area, but our strength is pushing the ball and getting out in transition and pressuring defensively and creating opportunities offensively. That being said we have been working more on our offensive execution and working against pressure with a team like Mansfield Senior," said Fralick.
Mansfield Senior (16-7), #3 in our poll, downed Perrysburg (61-39) last Friday. Fralick says in many ways this is a typical Mansfield Senior team they will be facing. "They have done for years what we have done this year and that is making their opponent uncomfortable and they do that through pressuring you into doing something different. A lot of teams that run a lot of sets, which we don't do, are used to getting the ball to their better players in specific spots and specific situations and by consistently pressuring you are taking them out of that typical flow of their offense. That can be extremely affective and I think that is something they have been doing for years," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "On offense they have been able to get out on transition and create from their defense and do a good job of the defensive glass and getting the ball and going. When you look at their team this year probably everybody but Levins can get a defensive rebound and just go with it, so the break doesn't slow down at all. Whoever has it goes and the other guys are running. When Wilder has the ball in his hands he is a force. He makes that ball go just a little extra faster with a guy with his type of speed. They can really do a good job with a variety of different people. Defensively they have some really good athletes that can get up an pressure you. That is what they have done for years and that is what we anticipate them doing and you have to do a good job in those areas."
Basketball is a game of momentum and never more than a game between two teams like this. Fralick says they have to create those bursts, while limiting Mansfield's. "Both teams feed off of runs with momentum and runs. We are a team that can score 10 points in a minute and a half and they are too. Whoever can whether the storm, can keep their head, can handle that adversity, can trust in what they are doing, can have that type of internal leadership that can calm a group down and keep them moving forward will be in a better position for success," he said.
Published 3/12/15
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Ashland Opens Tourney Against Anthony Wayne
Ashland, the outright Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, and holder of a 20 game winning streak, plays Anthony Wayne in the division one sectional final at Lexington High School on Friday night.
Obviously, the Arrows had great success during the regular season, but coach Tim Fralick says they understand the tournament is different and they have to put it in another gear. "There is definitely a different level of intensity and a little extra sense of urgency to each possession, to each game, come tournament time. You do have the raise the level another notch in order to be fully prepared to compete come tournament time. I think our guys are ready for it, excited for it. We put ourselves in pretty good position by how we competed throughout the season and being rewarded with the number one seed and having the opportunity to select for a bye. We had a chance to go see that game on Wednesday night have a live look on them as well as a number of different game films," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We have been able to prepare and some of the things we have been doing throughout practice throughout the season to help us improve as a group. Obviously we have a nice winning streak right now and I think we have continued to make strides throughout it. We haven't been complacent, at least in my eyes, at any point. I think we are heading into the tournament playing some pretty good basketball."
Anthony Wayne (8-14) beat Oregon Clay (74-55) on Wednesday night to advance. Fralick says they are kind of like a combination of two teams they played in the "OCC" this year. "As far as comparison to conference opponents, in talking to our assistants about it, kind of a cross between Wooster and Clear Fork. Wooster in that they have some size and pretty good athletes and Clear Fork in the fact that they do rely on a couple of their key guys to be big time scorers for them and their complementary guys are more glue guys type defenders, rebounders, in that they don't rely on them to score as much. Both of those teams have had some pretty good games throughout the season. When you look at Anthony Wayne's schedule and who they have competed with they are a quality opponent," said Fralick.
One of the keys to the Arrows (20-1), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, season has been their pressure defense. Fralick says they want to use that to force the tempo of that game. "We have to continue to do the things that we have done to put ourselves in position for success. Guard wise they have some ball handlers that are younger guys that might have some difficulty against our pressure, so we need to continue to focus on those things and making our opponents uncomfortable on the defensive end and getting them out of the stuff they typically run. You can tell that they are more comfortable in a half court set type situation and if we can disrupt that it will certainly be to our advantage," he said.
Published 3/06/15
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Ashland hosts Madison
Ashland just keeping rolling along like a cement mixer going to down a steep hill as they have now won 19 straight high school boys' basketball games.
They beat Lexington (70-67) in overtime in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game last Friday and then bludgeoned Massillon (88-54) on the road on Sunday.
Coach Tim Fralick says the Massillon game was one of their better efforts of the entire year and that is great to see this close to the end of the year. "We played pretty well. It was one of our better games of the season, which was good to see this time of year heading into tournament time. You want to be playing your best ball at the end of the season and we showed sings of that on Sunday. We played in the "Motor City Roundball Classic" earlier in the year with Saturday and Sunday games. It's a nice event, but you don't get as many people and it's a different atmosphere," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think that may have prepared us a little bit to play on Sunday at Massillon. We travel decent, but there wasn't a ton of fans there overall. The guys created their own energy. I think they were hungry to play better than we did on Friday night and I think they did. It was nice to see them respond the way they did."
Ashland (19-1,13-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at home for Madison (11-9,6-7) in league play. Fralick says Madison will be physical and make it tough to score. "I think coach Mergel has done a really nice job with his group. They took a tough break with their best player going down. They have found ways to patch things together and compete in games and win a lot of them. They are going to play hard and they are going to play physical. They are going to do a lot of different things in order to try and stay in the game and give themselves a chance down the wire to try and win the game. We are going to have to be prepared to just be real aggressive defensively and continue to give up good shots for great shots by making the extra pass," he said.
They certainly can operate in half court situation, but Fralick says they want to create some fast beak opportunities against the Rams. "We ran the floor really well on Sunday. When you run the floor you are not always going to get the ball, but if you run it every time you are going to give a teammate a chance to score by dragging the defense over. And another thing you will give yourself an open look or an opportunity. You have to stay consistent with those things. I think if we do that we are always going to put ourselves in position for consistency against any defense," he said.
Published 5/25/15
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Ashland Isn't Going to Stop Working
Earlier this week, the Ashland Arrows won an outright Ohio Cardinal Conference title with a win over West Holmes, but they still have three games to play and they aren't going to stop trying to get better.
Coach Tim Fralick says this is not the time of the season to ease up and take the foot off the pedal. "This certainly isn't the time of year to take a rest, I guess there is never a good time of year to do that, but especially at this time of year. You have to find way to continue to get better and improve through the course of a long season. When it comes down to it where we want to be at the end of the season we are going to be playing some teams who are just as good, or better than us as far as talent goes, so we are just going to have to try and continue to get better as a group so if we do run into one of those really talented teams along the way we can try to outlast them by being the better team. You do that by controlling the controlables and every day at practice our leaders finding a way to set the tone for practice day in and day out," said Fralick.
Ashland (17-1,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, travels to Lexington (11-9,6-6) for an "OCC" game on Friday night.
The Arrows took apart Lexington (78-33) last month, but Fralick says the Minutemen have developed into a very good team. "They had some guys that were sick early in the season and I think that affected them the whole week heading into the first weekend and they ended up loosing a couple of close ones there. It took them a little bit of time to find themselves as a group with some guys being out and a different flow that what they had during the entire preseason. They have done extremely well the last six, seven games, lost a close one at Mansfield Senior, other than that they have won the majority of those, if not all of them," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We know that the Lexington-Ashland rivalry is big and not only are they going to be ready to play us because of that they are going to be extra prepared to play us because we played extremely well against them earlier in the season and they certainly don't want that to happen again and they will be looking to make their mark."
Ashland has won 17 straight games and has not lost since the first week of December. Fralick says their opponents, including Lexington, are aware of the season they have had. "With them and with any team we are going to be looked at as a targeted group right now. We are going to get our opponents best shot and that's a great challenge for us. I think it helps continue to get better as a group," he said.
Ashland's game against Mt. Vernon, postponed earlier this month, will not be rescheduled.
Published 2/20/15
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Ashland Wins Outright "OCC" Title
Ashland pulled away in the second half Tuesday night to beat West Holmes (61-44) and secure the school's first outright Ohio Cardinal Conference boys' basketball title.
Brett Vipperman scored 23 points as the Arrows won their 17th straight game to remain unbeaten in the "OCC" this year. Coach Tim Fralick says they wanted take care of business Tuesday night. "We had a great environment and a good win against a good team. Friday we had clinched a share of the title, but obviously wanted to take the next step. We knew we had three opportunities to do so. As competitors we wanted to get it done as soon as you can. We were able to play some good ball in the second half and clinch the outright title. We have a group of guys that have really put a lot of time into the game and committed to our system and what we do," said Fralick.
They have a nice combination of two, three and even four year varsity players and Fralick says they know winning the conference title wasn't easy. "The "OCC" formed in 2003 and Ashland hadn't had an "OCC" basketball title and fortunately we were a team that was able to break that streak. I think we are the sixth team in the conference to win a title and we are proud to do it. We know it has been a heck of a conference. It is my fifth year at the high school and there have been some really good teams over the years. So, we feel really proud to represent the Ohio Cardinal Conference as its champion this year," he said.
With more success this year than in quite a while on the basketball floor Fralick says they have been able to bring more fans to the gym. He says they were excited to win the title at home. "Tuesday night sometimes you don't get as many people out there and as exciting environment as you would on a Friday night or even a Saturday night, but is still nice to do it and home. You have a lot people there that have supported you for years. There have been some people that probably haven't been to the gym in a number of years that are coming out and we are getting some good feedback from them," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "The thing that you love to hear as a coach is they love the way we play defensively and they love our energy and how unselfish they are. Those are things as a coach that you are extremely proud of."
West Holmes had led Ashland in the second half at their place 10 days ago and Fralick says they play the game the way it should be played. "They did an excellent job and were right there with us for quite a while (Tuesday) night. Fortunately we were able to pull away in the third quarter. Coach Troyer does an excellent job. They really do some good things and they play exceptionally hard. Unfortunately they have lost a lot of close games. I think with some experience for their young guards that next year they will be able to win some of those close games," he said.
Published 2/17/15
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Ashland Can Earn a Share
A win Friday night over the visiting Wooster Generals will give the Ashland Arrows no less than a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship.
The Arrows rallied to beat West Holmes (53-47) in an "OCC" game last Friday and did the same against Shelby (70-57) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Coach Tim Fralick says his team was able to show their mantle. "We were put to the test a couple of different times. In the third quarter in both games the opponent took a lead, all be it by just one or two points, and really forced up to elevate our game to another level and fortunately our guys did do that within our system. Their energy level increased and I feel like their focus was there and their execution. It was great to seem them have some adversity and fight through it and find a way to come out on top. Where it stems from was our ability to get stops defensively," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Offensively we do feel like we have a number of weapons that over a course of a game we are going to find a way to score points. I just though we were able to come up big when we had to on the defensive end. Our pressure did what it was suppose to do. We executed well and forced our opponent into tougher, contested shots and were able to come up with the first miss."
In their first match up in January, Ashland scored the last 12 points of the game and beat Wooster (58-53) at their place. Fralick says he is sure the Generals remember that and likely think they should have won that game. "They are definitely a very god ball club. They beat West Holmes, a team we struggled with on Friday, by 21 on Tuesday. We know they are going to give us all we can handle. They will be ampped up to play us. Over there we needed a 12-0 run in the last two minutes to prevail. Fortunately for us since that game we have continued to improve and we have been fortunate enough to win. Since that game they have lost some close games. They are probably feeling that is a game that could have gone either way and could have turned the fortunes of their season a little bit. They will certainly be ready for us and their is a lot of season left for them. I am sure they want to finish the season off strong heading into the tournament. In their mind and their eyes probably no one better to get that started than us," Fralick said.
Ashland (15-1,10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, have done a lot of great things, but Fralick says all of their goals lay in front of them. "We are certainly happy with what we have been able to accomplish, but we aren't going to settle on it. We feel like we have a lot more things we can accomplish. The goals we set out for ourselves at the beginning of the season we haven't attained any of them yet. They are all in front of us, so we have some work to do. I think our guys realize that. They are a mature enough group, an experienced enough group, to keep putting their best foot forward. Control the controlables, our attitude and our effort. If we can do that we will put ourselves in great position to get those goals. Hopefully, one of those is an Ohio Cardinal Conference championship. something that hasn't been done here at the school. I know our guys, and our school, would really be happy about that," said Fralick.
Published 2/13/15
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Ashland Has a lot of Skills
Ashland enjoys a three game lead in Ohio Cardinal Conference after wins over Mansfield Senior and Orrville last week.
The win at Pete Henry Gym (73-59) over Mansfield Senior was a huge win for the Arrows. Coach Tim Fralick says they knew if they were to reach their goals they were going to have to beat the Tygers. "We were really happy with the win, especially over there on the road. It was a good accomplishment for our kids. Heading into the season we wanted to win the conference, that is one of our team goals, and we know in order to do that we were going to have to take care of business with Senior High, which we hadn't done in quite a while. It was exciting and we celebrated as a team, but at the same time we realize we need to continue to work to get better. The goals we put out in front of us as a team we are on our way to them, but we haven't achieved any of them just yet," he said.
Isaac White became Ashland High School's all-time leading scorer on Saturday night.
The Arrows have really good shooters and defenders in their group, but Fralick says a real key has been their depth of ball handlers. "That is a big difference between the teams of my first couple of years, this is my fifth year at Ashland, and my teams now is we have better ball handlers and we have more of them and obviously that is a great thing. When you talk about Isaac White, a four year varsity guy, playing mostly point guard throughout, Trey Smith, who has been a very good combo guard for us for three years, and even John Wolfe, who is now a sophomore, and had some varsity experience last year as a freshman and he is a tremendous secondary ball handler for us," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The likes of Brett Vipperman, he plays the four and the five for us, and we feel just as comfortable with him handling the ball out front for us as most of our guards. When we are in a stretch situation to try and get the last shot of a quarter or to finish the game lots of times we will have him out in the mix on the perimeter. Lots of times it is beneficial for us with bigger guys on him it is a good mis-match for us. Our depth and our talent with the ball has really prevented teams from pressuring us. It is a better situation for us when you can create off of the bounce."
Ashland (13-1,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at West Holmes (6-11,2-7) on Friday night. The Knights lost to Berlin Hiland (58-53) on Tuesday night. Fralick says the Knights play with great intensity. "Coach Troyer, in his second year there, has them playing extremely hard. I was wowed by how hard their guys got after it. When you do that you are going to continue to get better. They have played a lot of close games here as of late. I like the way they play. They play similar to us in some ways. They try to pressure defensively and try to get up and run offensively. It should be a game that is up and down and probably quite a few points put up on the board. They have a guy in Josh Neer that is their leading scorer and leading rebounder. He is a 6'2", 6'3" forward that plays the guard position. He is a tough match-up and has shown the ability to score in bunches, so we are going to have to do a very good job on him," said Fralick.
Published 2/04/15
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Ashland Expects Big Test
Ashland is the leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, and by two full games, over Mansfield Senior and Wooster, but they are looking at maybe their biggest test since the opening week of the season when they play the Tygers at Pete Henry Gym.
The Arrows (11-1,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, have won 11 in a row since an opening night loss to Medina. Coach Tim Fralick says they are playing pretty confidently. "I think you can do that even when some of them are not pretty you are on a nice little roll and you have quite a bit of momentum behind you. We have certainly been happy with the streak and we have been able to break a couple of recent records with that streak. I think the last team to win that many in a row was the 69-70 team, something like that. Our guys feel proud to be doing something like that. I think they also realize that it hasn't been easy.," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We have a group of seniors, Isaac White has played all four years on varsity and his first year we were 9-13 and really just starting to develop and move this program in the right direction. The other guys, Drew, Trey and Brett played as sophomores, this is their third year. The program has continued to improve with their leadership and them modeling the kind of effort you need to put in in the off season. Our program has really been able to make strides and put ourselves in this position."
In their first meeting December 19 at Ashland the Arrows won (59-57) and Fralick says this is a better Mansfield Senior team, much better. "Senior High at Senior High, or Senior High period, has always been a tough game and when you taking it over there that adds to the challenge and the toughness of the game. I think our guys are excited with the opportunity. I think there will actually be some nerves, but more excitement than nerves, which is a good thing. I think our guys feel that we have the experience, talent, leadership and toughness to go out there and put us in great position for success. With that being said we are going to have to play extremely well. They are a team that has improved throughout the year," he said.
With the addition of David Hall, a transfer from Mansfield St. Peter's, Fralick says they Tygers have more depth and that makes them even more difficult to deal with. "They have some good young guards that are going to be picking up some experience as the year goes on and we expected them to improve. They are a little bit more aggressive you can tell some of their skill levels have increased throughout the course of the season. David Hall is a guy that is averaging five points and five rebounds right away. You know once he gets into the system and into the flow that will probably increase. That adds another guy with some size and athleticism to the mix. The Levens kid is 6'3" with a wide body and he didn't play much early on. He is playing a lot more. That adds to their depth and the way they want to play, getting up and down the floor, they can shuffle a couple more kids in and out. We are excited for the challenge. As a group we know we are only going to get a couple more of these opportunities and we just want to go out there and control the controlables and put ourselves in position for success," said Fralick.
Published 1/30/15
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Ashland Holds Off Colts
Ashland scored the first 12 points of the game, built an 18-2 lead, and then held on down the stretch to beat Clear Fork (58-51) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Saturday night.
The Arrows (11-1,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys basketball coaches poll in the large school division, have won 11 straight games. Coach Tim Fralich says they got things going early and that was key for them. "We came out with some energy and played well and made some shots early on and put some pressure on them. We have been doing that the last few games," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "We certainly did that again (Saturday) night and we needed it because in the second half we didn't have the same execution. We were a little unfocused at times leaving shooters open. You know, not making some of the plays we typically make in a game situation. I think overall it was a good challenge for us because we have had a couple of games here when we have had big spreads and for our guys to be in those pressure moments and get that adrenaline pumping in those situations, making the adjustments needed, and then making the plays."
Sophomore Grant Denbow led four Ashland players in double figures with 14. Brett Vipperman had 13, Trey Smith 11, and Isaac White 10 for the winners.
Clear Fork coach Steven Bechtel said his kids never gave up even when down by as many as 18 points in the game. "After 23-7 after the first quarter. I commented about that after the game I said down 18 you guys just continued to fight every single possession. We did a great job of that this weekend. My hat is off to them they have big hearts and a lot of pride," he said.
Mansfield Senior rallied to beat the Colts (70-65) on Friday night in league action.
Clear Fork actually outscored the talented Arrows in the second half (29-23) and cut their deficit to as few as six (52-46) with 4:51 to play in the game. Fralick thought it was good test for them, especially after easy wins for them over Lexington (78-33) and Madison (80-54) in their last two games. "I think it is the mark of a good team when you don't play your best and you are still able to come away with a win. I think overall it will be a real positive for us. There were some breakdowns that we had that we can really focus in on heading into a really critical game with Mansfield Senior. These types of things get your guys attention. I think it guards against complacency and maybe that's what we need at this point.," said Fralick.
Kadin Chrastina had 21 points, 18 in the second half, for the Colts and Griffen Robinette had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Bechtel says they picked up their execution in the second half. "Kadin only had three in the first half and I thought he really picked up his game and got some shots to fall a little bit better. That opened up the shots for Leedy and Snyder out on the perimeter. Griffen did a great job of rebounding the ball down the stretch and he got some easy baskets too," he said.
Ashland plays at Mansfield Senior (9-5,6-2) on Friday night. The Tygers trail Ashland by two games and Fralick says it is a great opportunity for them. "Our guys are excited to play Mansfield Senior. They have been a power in our conference, our area, our district for a long time. It is a fun place to play and we know they are going to bring it and we will have to play extremely well. I think our guys will be up for the challenge and it would put us in position to have some success and that's what we want," he said.
Published 1/25/14
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Ashland Has to be Ready For Anything
Ashland has won its last nine games and that streak has helped them build a two game lead over the field in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
They play two "OCC" games this weekend as they travel to Madison on Friday and host Clear Fork (3-6,1-4) on Saturday.
Last week, Isaac White scored 19 points as Ashland outscored Wooster (12-0) down the stretch to win an "OCC" game (58-53) at Wooster. Coach Tim Fralick says they made some plays in the late going, but they also got some help. "To be able to beat two conference opponents we were happy with that. Friday night was one those games when we felt very fortunate to come away with a win. Wooster is a nice ball club. 17 days between games we were a little rusty at times. Our defensive rotations where a little slow. At the end of the game our guys were able to step up and make some plays. Unfortunately they missed a couple of free throws that probably would have sealed it for them. We will certainly take it and run it was a good road win for us," he said.
On Saturday night, Ashland picked up its game even more as they destroyed Lexington (78-33) in a conference game. Fralick says they were able to give the Minutemen some problems with their pressure defense. "I felt our guys were going to be a little bit better off Saturday night after a having chance to get back under the game lights. I felt like they were ready to execute better that they did on Friday and we certainly did that on Saturday and we played the best we have played all year and made a bunch of shots. Defensively our pressure and our energy really hurt them," he said.
Ashland (9-1,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at Madison (8-5,3-3) in "OCC" play on Friday.
Madison is without Tyrell Aijan, their leading scorer, with a broken ankle, and Fralick says that means the Rams are going to be different. "I think they have to re-event their team a little bit because he is a guy that had a huge impact on the game in a variety of ways. He is a great player. He can defend, he can create, he can shoot, he can create off the bounce for himself. He is a tremendous athlete, so when you take away a guy like him from anybody it going to have an affect on them," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I know they are a proud group that came out this year and did a lot of good things. Coach Mergel always has those guys playing hard and physical. So, we are going to have to match that and we are going to have to play just as hard or harder and play physical to put ourselves in good position there."
Fralick says the Rams are likely to try some new things, so they have to be ready for that on Friday night. "I think we are going to have to be prepared for some different looks from them defensively. Lots of times when you loose a key guy or you might be undermanned compared to where you had been you try to find ways to neutralize that. One way to do that would be to play a different defense than you typically play, a box and one or stuff like that to go up against some of our more efficient offensive players, so we need to be ready that. We also need to make sure we are still doing what we need to do on the defensive end to keep their point total lower," said Fralick.
Published 1/23/15
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Ashland Ready to Play
Ashland has a seven game winning streak, but they Arrows have not played since before New Year's Day. They do have two Ohio Cardinal Conference teams to play this weekend, and both are good teams, in Wooster and Lexington.
Coach Tim Fralick says they have been doing some different things over the last couple of weeks in an attempt to stay fresh. "I know our guys weren't too excited by the cancellation on Friday. It will be 17 days between games and that will be a long layoff for this time of year, but we have tried to put a positive spin on it be allowing us to do some more cross training stuff and hit the weight room a little harder to in an attempt to keep our guys getting in stronger and more athletic and do some flexibility stuff. We have tried to vary our workouts so we don't get stale. When we are on the court our energy and focus is still there. Hopefully it turns into a real positive where we are well rested and yet read to roll. We were disappointed we couldn't get on the floor last Friday, but we have to continue to control the controlables and let everything else take care of itself," said Fralick.
Ashland (7-1,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the large school division, plats at Wooster (7-2,4-1), #3 in our poll, in a key game in the "OCC" on Friday. Fralick says Wooster's guards are improved, but it still boils down to controlling Cam Daugherty. "They have a very good shooter that can open things up inside in Schilling. He is a guy that has really improved from last year. With that being said the majority of their scoring is inside. Daugherty is a force down their with his size and athleticism and that makes for a difficult match-up for any team. He can score in a variety of ways. He can face up and get to the rim that way. he can score a little bit with his back to the basket and he does a tremendous job of scoring off of offensive rebounding," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Another thing that he has really improved on is his passing out of the post to cutting guards and passing off outlet pass, he is kind of like Kevin Love. He has his guards running hard because they know if they run hard they are going to get the ball. We are going to have to do a good job of guarding inside and also make sure we are finding Schilling at all times. They have three guys in double figures. They have some nice athleticism and probably a better over skill set than they have had in years past."
Lexington (6-6,1-3) makes the tip to Ashland on Saturday night. Fralick says the Minutemen are a dangerous team who is going to get better. "They are big and strong and tough and coach Hamilton have always done a good job with their teams and gotten them to over achieve I feel like and I am sure that will continue to be the case this year. They had some hiccups earlier mainly because they had some injuries and sickness on their team coming into the first weekend and that really hurt them and they have lost a couple of close games as well. I think they are a legitimate league contender now and as the season goes on. With their size it is another team that you are going to have to do a good job of guarding inside and limiting their second chances," he said.
Published 1/14/15
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Ashland's Defense Pretty Good Too
When you are playing as well as Ashland it seems like everything you do is good and for them defense is no different.
They held Orrville to just 11 points in the first half last week on their way to a (68-31) win over the Red Riders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference play. Coach Tim Fralick says the biggest difference between the Arrows this year and the Arrows last year is the way the play defense. "I think that is the biggest change with our team would be defensively. We have ratcheted up our defensive pressure. We decided during the summer that with our man to man defense we were going to mix a couple defenses together," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We really wanted to be more of a pressure oriented defense where we could create a little bit more for our offense and try to make our opponents a little more uncomfortable. At the high school level obviously there is no shot clock and we wanted to find ways to speed up the game and get the game open because that is where we feel we are best. We thought be pressuring and creating more kayos on defense was the way to do that."
Both Isaac White and Brett Vipperman have been explosive scorers this year, but Fralick says actually they have not seen a lot of junk defenses from the opponents they have seen so far this season. "We are worked on that stuff in practice, but you don't want to spend too much time working on it because you want to focus on what you do and do that well. We have worked on it, but we haven't seen too much of it. When it comes we hope to be prepared for it. We do have some other weapons around them. That is one area of big improvement for us I feel not only are our so-called star players improved with Brett and Isaac and Tre (Smith) would be in that mix there, but you have complementary pieces Grant Dembow, Logan Brewer, Drew Dickinson, John Wolfe, Zack Stoops, Brad Sherman. I feel they are really good complementary pieces. It would be tough for opponents to do that because on any given night they have the ability to score in bunches as well," said Fralick.
Ashland (7-1,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts West Holmes (4-4,0-3) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night at Arrow Arena. Fralick says the Knights are going to be physical. "They are a group of kids that play really hard and are extremely physical. I have really been impressed by how hard coach Troyer has gotten them to play last year and this year and when you do those things you are bound to get better. We are just going to have to match that effort and physicality," he said.
Published 1/08/15
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Ashland Bolts to the Top
With a big win in an out of state tournament, the Ashland Arrows have taken the top spot in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll.
With wins over Troy (70-55) and Detroit Country Day (75-45) Ashland improved to 6-1 on the season and were voted as the number #1 team in our coaches poll released on Tuesday.
Coach Tim Fralick says picked up their execution to a new level over the weekend. "It was a good weekend for us. We did a lot of things well. We played better for longer spurts of time. (Sunday) was the best I have seen this group of guys play and we are bringing back the same exact team as last year and that is best I have seen them play. It was encouraging to see our guys continue to work to improve as individuals and work on things we need to help improve the ball club as a whole," he said.
Ashland claimed Motor City Shootout title with that win over Detroit Country Day on Sunday and Fralick says they played as well as this group has ever played. "Our guys were excited to beat Detroit Country Day, especially with the way we did it. We came out really strong. We are doing a great job of making extra passes. We are turning down good shots for really good shots right now. We are shooting the ball extremely well right now and doing a good job of getting inside touches. Things just started coming together. We were able to pull out to an early lead and hold onto it and extend it a little bit more the second half," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Being able to do that against a team like Detroit Country Day gives us a lot of confidence and momentum. They are a traditional power in class "B," which is our division two equivalent. I'll be honest I think it is going to be similar this year. They have some things they need to iron out, but with the talent they have by the end of the season they are going to be an excellent team. We have been able to do an excellent job defensively of making our opponents feel uncomfortable and get them out of their normal rhythm with our pressure. I think that hurt them."
The Arrows beat Tim's father's team in the semi-finals on Saturday and that was also a good performance, according to the son. "My dad's team had a nice group of athletic forwards and they kept working us and they curt our lead to three on a couple separate times, but we were able to extend it out again by getting a couple of stops and executing offensively. It was kind of bittersweet because it was your dad and I always root for him and my alma matter, but obviously when we go head to head we throw that out the door. We are happy to get that one as well," said Tim.
It is a long road trip to Detroit and back, but there is no rest for the weary. The Arrows (6-1,2-0) play at Orrville (2-3,1-1) on Tuesday in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game. Fralick says the Red Riders have a physical team that makes outside shots. "They play hard, they are physical, they have some size, and they have some good young players. Coach Slaughter always does a nice job with that group. They have three guards that are all averaging in double digits and we will have to do a good job of making them feel uncomfortable. They have a lot of rhythm to what they do. They play a lot in the half court with a little bit slower tempo. We will have to disrupt them in that because they have some guys that can make nice plays and score form the outside and do a little dribble drive and get in there and score as well," said Fralick.
Published 12/20/14
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Ashland Standing Tall
Right now, Ashland stands in a share of first place with Mansfield Madison and Wooster in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, all three have 2-0 conference records.
Last Friday, Isaac White scored 20 points and the Arrows (4-1,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat perennial power Mansfield Senior (59-57) in the "OCC" play.
Coach Tim Fralick says it is a win they will treasure because it came against Mansfield Senior. "They are still a very good team. They lost some talent from last year, but they still have some talent there. The have some young kids that are still learning how to play. Pressure wise and athletically you just don't see that, so they are tough to prepare for. They are extremely tough out, we got one, and we are certainly going to take it and run. It puts us in good position in the conference. We have only one kid on the team Isaac White, a senior, that as a freshman was on a team that beat them, it has been quite a while. We are certainly happy with that," he said.
On Saturday, Fralick gets to coach against his dad Gary for the second year in a row. Last year, it was dad that got the win in a close game and his son wants to get him back. "We need to move forward are focus on our next opponent. We do play Troy High School in the Motor City Roundball Classic Saturday and that just happens to be my alma mater on the northern side of Detroit. It is not only my alma matter but my dad was and is the coach there. I played for him and graduated in '99 and we were fortunate to have some good ball clubs and he has stayed there since. We played them last year and they had a really good team and they won their conference. They actually ended up beating us on a buzzer beater," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "It was kind of a tough one to take. We feel like we have a little better team than we did last year. I don't know if they are as good as they were last year, but they certainly have some pieces that could come together and be awfully good. It's a big school with over 2,000 kids with a lot of talent, so we are going to have to play well. It's an opportunity and hopefully we can bounce back with a "W" from last year."
Tim Fralick says coaching against his dad is different, but he looks forward to it. "Last year we played on the 26th, the day right after Christmas. Christmas Day spending the whole day with him cutting Christmas ham and doing whatever families do, always something kind of cheesey so top speak, but everybody enjoys doing it, playing board games and stuff like that. Then the next day we are going at it as competitors. We certainly respect each other and we root for the other's team any other day of the year. But, Saturday it will time to get after it a little bit in a great high school basketball game," said Fralick.
Published 12/24/14
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Ashland Pumped to Play Mansfield Senior
Ashland is playing some excellent basketball, maybe its best in quite a while, and now they face their personal "Waterloo" in the Mansfield Senior Tygers at Arrow Arena on Friday night.
After an opening night loss to Medina (49-42), the Arrows have strung together wins over Sandusky (69-56), Clear Fork (65-41) and Norwalk (57-33), each more impressive.
Coach Tim Fralick says they are really putting things together. "I think we had a good weekend, we played well. We improved from the weekend before where I though we had played well for shorter spurts and we were able to really extend those spurts. We were able to continue to do what we want to do on both Friday and Saturday. We try to make our opponent uncomfortable this year more than any other year. We want to push the ball. We want to pressure defensively. I think we are able to do those things and over the course of time I think we were able to wear our opponents down," he said.
They have some excellent scorers like Brett Vipperman and Isaac While, but Fralick says a big difference from last year is the way they are defending. "We made an adjustment this summer to what we are doing in our man to man. We play man to man about half of the time and lots of time we will go to it full time when it comes to crunch time the last three or four minutes of a tight game. We made an adjustment of where we are pressuring more. I'll just call it our five p-defense. We try to give our guys a bigger concept of what we are trying to get done. They really did a nice job this summer when we put it in before we went to shootouts and team camps of adjusting to that scheme and that philosophy. I feel like it has carried over here to the season now that we have had more time to work on it. It has been a huge bonus for us and we feel like we have the depth this year and the athleticism to play that kind of defense for the duration of any game," said Fralick.
Ashland (3-1,1-0) hosts Mansfield Senior (0-2,0-1) on Friday night. Fralick says the Tygers play different than anyone they play all year long. "There is nobody like Senior High in our area or our conference. They are by far the most athletic team that we play. They pressure the most defensively . They just have a winning tradition. No matter who they have they believe they are going to go out there and win games. It is always going to be a quality game for us and a challenge," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I know our guys are really looking forward to it as they always do. We have had numerous close games with them over the last few years, but unfortunately we haven't been able to get them. We have had some really tight games that could have gone either way, but we haven't been able to get it done. Our guys are hopping to change the course of that streak."
It's early and Mansfield Senior is winless, but Fralick says that the Tygers are still a very talented team and one that will be hard to beat. "They haven't had the start that they have wanted in losing to Madison and North Canton Hoover. They are a team with their athleticism and their youth that is really going to improve as the season has goes on. Even from Friday to Saturday they really played much better and we are going to have to be prepared to play against a typical Senior High team that is going to do a lot of things well, especially defensively," he said.
Published 12/19/14
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Ashland Getting Ready For Clear Fork
Ashland expects to be a factor in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race this year and they play their first conference game on Friday night in the valley against Clear Fork.
They started the season last week with a loss at Medina (49-42) on Friday and a win at Sandusky (69-56) on Saturday.
Against Medina coach Tim Fralich says they got intimidated a little bit and didn't shoot the ball very well. "We went up to Medina on Friday and unfortunately didn't shoot the ball very well. There were a lot of factors that went into it. Medina is very good defensive team. Maybe their best defensive weapon is seven-foot Jon Teske, who is headed for Michigan. He disrupted half of the shots we took. We just got behind early and unfortunately we didn't recover. I thought it had to do with first game jitters too. Also seeing the big fella, missing a few early, having some blocked and it was kind of a snowball effect. We had multiple chances as we cut their lead to three twice in the fourth quarter. I was proud of our guys for bouncing back. It was not a good game for us, but we did hang in there with a good team," said Fralic.
Then against Sandusky on Saturday night they were able to get the game going a little faster and Fralich says that was a little bit more to their liking. "We bounced back the next night against a much improved Sandusky team. Coach Irish is doing a nice job and they have some good young players. It was a battle for quite a while then we opened it up midway through the third quarter. It was an up and down game, both of us played fast. I think our commitment to consistency really paid off. We had big, big numbers from Brett Vipperman with 27 points and 12 rebounds. He had 17 points and nine rounds against Medina. He had an excellent weekend," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Logan Brewer really chipped in for us. He hit four threes for us at Sandusky to open up that game. Drew Dickinson was a horse on the glass for us as well. We got contributions from a number of guys and we certainly didn't think we played our best ball."
When facing the Colts (0-1), a (75-47) loser to Ontario last week, Fralich says they know who they need to stop. "Chrastina and Robinette are their go to guys. I think they are trying to feel out their roll guys and see who fits best with what they want to do. One things is for sure and that is coach Bechtel is going to get a lot out of them and he is going to get them to play hard, play tough and play good defense. We are going to have to do a great job on Chrastina and Robinette. Chrastina is a three, four year varsity guy with a lot of experience. He s very athletic and has the ability to do a lot of things inside and outside, he can score, and causes a lot of havoc defensively. He kind of has the freedom to roam around and make deflections and steals. Robinette is a guy that can really get on the glass and has expanded his role to be more of a perimeter and post guy. We will have our hands full with those two. We haven't played particularly well there in the past, so hopefully we can change that," said Fralich.
Published 12/10/14
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Ashland Already Battle Tested
Ashland is one of the preseason favorites to win the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season they played a tough preseason schedule to get them ready. Their first regular season game is Friday against a very good Medina team.
With most of their roster back from last year coach Tim Fralich says they were able to pick up where they left off and get better as a team during November. "We have seen some improvements here, and that is what you want to see on a day to day basis from week to week and scrimmage to scrimmage. I think every coach before their opener would like to extend their practice for another week or so to work out some kinks and work on some special situations, the little things that maybe you just haven't had the time because their is so much to do and you don't want to overwhelm your guys you want them to be able to play free and have things be somewhat simple to them so they can play hard," said Fralich.
The Ashland coach says they were not afraid to play some of the best teams in the state during their scrimmage schedule and he feels they did pretty well too. "We have had some really tough scrimmages. We had Mentor High School come to our place and they are very good and are tough and play hard. I thought we competed pretty well against them. We went down to Olentangy Liberty against them and Licking Heights. We got beat up a little bit by Liberty and we took it to them a little bit in spurts. They are going to be a pretty good team," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We played a pretty tough, and strong inside Dalton team. Over the last two weeks we played with a lot of energy and pop and made a lot of shots. Initially we hand Medina Highland and Twinsburg, which were good scrimmages. We really challenged ourselves in the preseason and we hope that helps us in the season."
The Arrows tip off their 2014-15 season at Medina on Friday night in non-conference action. Fralich says they are going to face a very good big guy. "Medina had a great team last year. I think they won 18 or 19 games. They have some very good players starting with their big kid Jon Teske. He is 6'10" and has been offered by Ohio State and Michigan and he is committed to Michigan. He is a typical coach Beilein, University of Michigan kind of guy. He is more of a skill guy. He can handle it a little bit. He shoots the ball well and passes it, so he offers some challenges for you on the defensive end he moves well and he is long, so he is a big time shot blocker. We are going to really have to go after him and use the shot fake to kind of get him off balance a little bit. They are going to do a lot of things defensively so we have to be ready for that as well," said Fralich.
Published 12/03/14
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Ashland Looking at Big Things
Ashland closed last season by winning nine of their last 14 regular season games and the Arrows have everybody back and that bodes well when in comes to competing for the Ohio Cardinal Conference title.
This year, coach Tim Fralich says they are getting better leadership and they are tougher than they were a year ago. "We realize that we have a lot of experience back. We had eight guys that played significant minutes for us last year and every single one of them is back. Also, we have a lot better leadership than we did last year. We have everybody back, so they are the same personalities, but Isaac White and Bret Vipperman have put in a lot more time to find out what is means to really be a good leader and take their leadership to a new level not just by example, but vocally. I have been really impressed by how they have improved in those areas. I think we have more toughness just having a year of maturity under their belts and going through some of the struggles that we did early on last year and kind of rising up from it and finishing the year really strong I think that naturally makes you a tough group an a more competitive group," said Fralich.
There some saying Ashland is one of the better teams in the area and Fralich says they have that potential. "We think we have what it takes to be a good team this year. Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into it. Hopefully we stay healthy and hopefully our leadership continues to grow and our guys continue to learn to play with each other at a whole new level. We were doing that pretty well at the end of last year, but we need to take that to a different level and understand each others weaknesses and strengths and giving up good shots for great shots. We do have a chance to be good , so we are excited about it," he said.
If they are going to reach their goals this year, Fralich says they have to be better on defense and more aggressive when it comes to defending the other guys. "Defensively we need to ratchet it up another notch. In the past defensive we have sort of sat in the gaps and been more of a team that hasn't given as much resistance pressure wise and really try to force teams to shoot contested outside shots. At the high school level you have more success if you have athletes and get up and pressure and create turnovers and steals. When you can create offense from your defense that really puts you in a lot better situation. That is something we need to do a much better job of. We have focused on that in the off season and done a better job of that," he said.
Can Ashland win the "OCC" this year? Fralich thinks they are in the mix, but he understands that there are a lot of good teams in the league too. "There are a lot good teams in our conference and year in and year out I am impressed top to bottom. When you look at us, we finished tied for fourth in conference last year and we have everybody back. We would be disappointed if we didn't finish ahead of that and put ourselves in position to compete for a league championship. If things go well for us and we get some balls to bounce our way and some good momentum early on in the season I think we could put ourselves in position to compete for a league championship," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "When you look at other teams Lexington is a team that had some really good young players, Wooster has really talented group of guys, and Mansfield Senior is team that is going to give teams in our conference a lot of trouble because they play so differently than everybody else. It is not like you get a chance to play a Mansfield Senior like team around here often. They are going to get up and pressure you and force you do things that you don't typically do."
Published 11/19/14
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Ashland Wants to Test Olentangy Throwing the Ball
Ashland is another North Central Ohio area football team that is not a stranger to the football playoffs.
They are in for the eighth time.
As the eighth seed in their division two region the Arrows (6-4) will play on the road at top seeded Olentangy (10-0), now coached by former Crestview boss Mark Solis.
Solis actually took over the Crestview program after the previous coach Rick Brindley left to become the athletic director at Ashland, a job he still holds.
They have won four their last five games and Arrows coach Scott Valentine believes they are playing pretty good football right now. "I think we have really gotten better each week and it has been key for to do that and especially at the end of the year. I think we are playing pretty good football. We just have to make sure as we get into practice here that we get ourselves ready. I feel pretty good about how our guys are playing," he said.
Valentine thinks they have pretty good personnel on defense, they just need to be sure they are playing consistently on Friday and not allowing the big play. "Anybody that is in the playoffs is a good team. Defensively you are going to have to limit big plays, you are going to have to tackle well and then you are going to have to execute your offense," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I think defensively we have had our spurts were we have tried to do too much or haven't played our assignment and that has gotten us into trouble, but overall I have been pretty pleased with how we have played defense,"
Olentangy beat rival Olentangy Liberty by a point and Mt. Vernon by a touchdown, but they have won all of the rest of their games by at least 33 points. They have never scored less than 35 in a game. Valentine says normally they get off to a pretty good start. "I think their offense usually gets them out in front. They have been in front early in the game. Teams are always trying to battle back, so defensively that is going to be the task to try and contain them and keep them from getting points early and not give up those big plays," said Valentine.
Ashland throws the ball more than anybody in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and Valentine says they want to force the Braves to defend the pass. "Offensively with the way we like to throw the ball they are in a league that doesn't have a lot of people that throw the ball the way we do. They are in a league that runs a lot. It is going to be to our advantage if we can make them defend the whole field," he said.
Published 11/06/14
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For Ashland the Most Important Thing is Winning
Ashland is hanging on to the seventh spot in their division two computer region, but they do not control their own density when it comes to making the postseason.
They lost that control when Mansfield Madison beat them (41-25) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game last week. Coach Scott Valentine says it was an excellent game and Madison just made a few more plays than they did. "It was a great game. Unfortunately in the first half they executed some things on offense and we didn't execute some things on defense and they got up on us. Our kids fought back and we had an opportunity. We had a couple of stalled out drives in the fourth quarter that could have got us the win. It was two good teams and in the end one is going to win and one is going to lose," he said.
Quarterback Grant Dendow completed 32 of 56 passes for 366 yards against Madison.
Ashland (5-4,4-2) plays host to Lexington (0-9,0-6) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night. The Arrows trail leaders Wooster and West Holmes by a game, but would need big upsets to have a chance at the league title.
Lexington lost (64-15) to Mansfield Senior last week, but Valentine says the Minutemen will come to Community Stadium and play hard. "Like I told our kids they are a group of kids that except for a few seniors are all coming back next year and they have kept improving all year long," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I know they are going to get better this week an their coaching staff is going to do a great job top getting them ready and they are going to go out and play hard. If we aren't ready, like with any game in the league, you are going to get beat. It is about if we are ready to play a four quarter game."
The Minutemen have wanted to be a run team and they have concentrated on that, but Valentine knows Lexington could come out with any kind of game plan. "There is nothing to lose there as far as what they can do. I know they have tried to stick to the stuff that they are going to be doing, but on week 10 they can try a lot of different things. We just have to prepare for what we plan on seeing and adjust to anything else that might come up," he said.
As far as the playoffs are concerned Valentine says the only thing they control is beating Lexington. "I told our kids if we don't win Friday then nothing else matters. That is the most important thing and the other people in our region have some tough games. You win and you worry about that after the game and hopefully get that opportunity to play week 11," he said.
Published 10/29/14
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Ashland Faces Madison in Big Game
Ashland goes to Madison on Friday night with a lot on the line for both sides. The Arrows still have a chance at a piece of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title and both can make the playoffs.
The Arrows are fourth in their region in division three and Madison 10th in theirs in division four.
Ashland (5-3,4-1) pounded Clear Fork (42-7) last week as quarterback Grant Denbow completed 17 of 23 passes for 359 yards and five scores. Coach Scott Valentine says they went to the valley with a plan an executed it. "That is one thing that we said going down there that we had to be ready to play four quarters. I thought that we got a good start and offensively made some plays and defensively got some stops that allowed us to get out to a lead and then finished the game off," said Valentine.
They were inexperienced on offense to begin the season, but Valentine says they have shown a lot of improvement in the way they have played on that side of the ball. "Definitely on the offensive side of the ball we are playing more consistently then we were earlier. I thought on defense we were pretty consistent, but still giving up the big play here or there, that is always a concern," he said.
Madison (5-3,3-2) has won three straight games with victories over Lexington (21-8), Clear Fork (49-27) and Orrville (50-16) over the last three weeks.
They have been pretty balanced run and pass during that stretch. Valentine says the Rams have athletes all over the field. "The thing with them offensively is they are doing a couple different things and throwing the ball a little bit more and have had a lot of big plays. So, for us defensively it is very concerning. We have to make sure we can contain those big plays," he said.
On defense, the Rams are back to where they were at the start of the season. Valentine says they will bring a lot of pressure and get up in their face on defense. "Defensively they like to play man to man and play some match up zone and really bring some pressure or get after you a little bit," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We are going to have to prepare for those sorts of things and be able to execute our offense against that."
Published 10/23/14
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Ashland Has to be Focused
Ashland, along with Wooster, trails Ohio Cardinal Conference leader West Holmes, by a game in the standings with three to play, and they need some help because West Holmes has already beaten them.
The Arrows (4-3,3-1) beat Orrville (49-6) last week, scoring three times in the first quarter. Coach Scott Valentine says they played a pretty consistent game. "We felt really good about the way everything went. Offensively we were really efficient with the things we did. We executed our stuff. Defensively we kept them from big plays except for the one in the second half, but overall it was a good game for us," he said.
They have the reputation of a high octane passing game and they still get in a five wide formation a lot, but Valentine says they have been running the ball a little more this year. "As we got into the season we started to look at running the ball a little bit more. We kind of try to take what the defense is going to give us. We ended running the ball against some teams because they had four men to our five guys inside. If you are going to do that you better be able to run the ball," he said.
They gave up only 120 yards to Orrville last week a 78 of those came on a touchdown pass in the third quarter. Valentine likes the improvement of the defense, but he says they have to quit giving up the big plays. "I think we have gotten better, but we still have a lapse every once in a while where we give up a big play. Those are things that you have to keep from happening. Some of those might be mental mistakes and some of them might be communication mistakes. That is something that we really have to make sure we get figured out these next few weeks," said Valentine.
Ashland plays at Clear Fork (3-4,1-3) in an "OCC" game on Friday night. Although the Colts have been giving up some points, Valentine says they still have some explosiveness on offense. "Clear Fork is always a tough place to go down and play. We have to go down there and play. They have some really good athletes. Chrastina is a very good athlete," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "He really hurt us last year with the things they did offensively, so defensively we are going to have to be ready to contain him. Defensively, they are a regular Clear Fork team they are going to come up and hit you and run to the ball."
Chrastina had 338 total yards in a (49-27) loss to Mansfield Madison last week. Ashland beat Clear Fork (31-30) last year.
Trailing West Holmes by one game, Valentine says this is another must win for them. "We have to keep ourselves one game back and hopefully somebody can help us with and beat West Holmes," he said.
Published 10/14/14
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Ashland has to keep Pace
Ashland remains a game behind West Holmes in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings and they need to keep winning if they are to have a chance to share the title.
Last week, they had less than 160 total yards, but they beat Mansfield Senior (30-25) in an "OCC" game. Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to take advantage of some short fields. "I think the big thing was we got our special teams going. We got two big kickoff returns from Andrew Koerper last week that really gave us a short field. Offensively that helped us and we were able to take advantage of it. Our defense made some big plays for us also," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "So, offensively we didn't have to drive the field, which is something we have had to do quite a bit this season. For us to take advantage of those opportunities was really big."
This time they were able to put away a close game and Valentine hopes that helps to build their confidence. "We have lost quite a few one possession games that could have gone either way. We played good enough to win and we didn't. Sometimes that can turn you down and kids don't keep going. Our kids have kept going and that was a big win last week," he said. All three of the Arrows "OCC" games has been decided by a touchdown or less.
Orrville (2-4,1-2) comes to Ashland (3-3,2-1) for an "OCC" game. Valentine says the Red Riders still possess some game breakers and you can't allow them to have big plays. "I think like every year they have some athletic kids and some kids that can make plays, so from a defensive standpoint you have to make sure you don't give them the big plays. Then offensively we just have to execute our stuff. They like bringing pressure, so for us we are going to have to be able to get the ball out of our hands and protect our quarterback when we are throwing it," said Valentine.
West Holmes plays Mansfield Senior this week and they have Wooster left to play too. Valentine says they want to be in the right position to take advantage of a possible loss by the Knights and do that they must keep winning. "That is one thing that we talked about after our loss to West Holmes that is up to us if we want to be in there and if they win out they deserve to be the champ. If not, we want to be there and in position so we can get a share of that," he said.
Published 10/09/14
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Arrows Need Win to Stay in "OCC" Race
With a loss last week to West Holmes, Ashland almost must have a win this week at Mansfield Senior if they are to remain a factor in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race.
Last week, the Arrows spotted the Knights a 20-point fourth quarter lead before falling just short (34-28) and losing their first league game of the season.
Coach Scott Valentine says they gave up too many big plays on defense and it cost them. "It is too bad because we gave up some big plays. They are a good football team, but we gave up some big plays because of missed assignments. As we look back on it it is something we can get better at. We have talked about missed assignments and we can't have those and it hurts us against good football teams," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Our kids battled for four quarters and had an opportunity if we could have gotten a stop and maybe get a tie or even a win. I was proud of the way our kids fought we just have to get better at some things."
Ashland (2-3,1-1) plays at Arlin Field against Mansfield Senior (3-2,2-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, in "OCC" play this week. Valentine says with the Tygers ahead of them in the standings this becomes a must win. "I think in our league there is a lot of possibility for people beating other people. The one thing that we know is Mansfield is one of the teams that hasn't been beaten in the league yet and if we want a shot we are going to have to beat them first. That is why this is a very important game for us," he said.
The Tygers have put up 95 points in "OCC" wins over Clear Fork (62-41) and Orrville (33-14) and Valentine says they just hope to slow them down. "One thing you know is you aren't going to be able to stop them completely, but you want to make sure that you try to contain all of the big plays they can get and have been making. One thing we focus on defensively is playing fast and trying to contain them and trying to stop them from getting big plays," he said.
Ashland features a wide open offense that often scores quick TD's. Valentine says they are not going to change their approach much just to keep the ball away from Mansfield Senior. "I think you always try to think about if you can keep the ball away from them that keeps them from getting big plays, but with our style of offense when the opportunity comes for you to make a big play you have to make it. It is kind of our approach that we are going to take what they give us. If it's a big play we'll take it and then hopefully play good enough defense to keep them out of the end zone," said Valentine.
Published 10/03/14
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Ashland Faces West Holmes
Two teams that won their Ohio Cardinal Conference openers last week play on Friday night at Community Stadium when Ashland plays host to West Holmes.
Ashland broke a (7-7) halftime tie with two third quarter scores and went on to beat Wooster (21-14) last week. Coach Scott Valentine says their defense kept them in it until the offense was able to start clicking. "We struggled a little bit in the first half offensively, but our defense did a nice job and kept them contained except for a couple of big plays. Defensively we got a touchdown, but the offensively we got it going to the second half and that allowed us to get the win," he said.
In a day and age when lots of points are being scored everywhere the Arrows (2-2,1-0), #4 in he Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, have yet to allow 30 points in a game this year. Valentine says they have been getting a lot of guys to the ball carrier. "I think our kids are playing fast and we are getting to the football and we are tackling pretty well. Now, this week against West Holmes we have another challenge because of the things they do, so we are going to have to get a good week of practice in," he said.
The offense has been a little slower to come around this year. Valentine says they haven't had the explosiveness to make up for the big mistake. "It seems like we execute then if we have a bad play and it puts you back we are having a tough time overcoming some of those things. That is one of things that we are trying to work on to be more consistent and not have a bad play and when we do be able to overcome the play and keep drives going," said Valentine.
West Holmes (1-3,1-0) downed Mansfield Madison (34-21) in their "OCC" opener. Valentine says he wasn't surprised by the at all by the performance the Knights put together last week. "They played a good non-league schedule. Triway is a very good football team. Then they played New Phily, who is always a good football team and then Coshocton. So, it wasn't like they didn't play a good schedule," he told Swankonsports.com, "Then you get in the league, and everybody starts over, and you get a little new life, and they definitely did a nice job against Madison the other night."
West Holmes has the reputation of a power running team, but Valentine says they have been doing some different things this season too. "I think they want to run the ball first, but I think they have been more balanced with the quarterback bootlegging with the option to pass, but he is still a good runner. I think they run a lot, but they are able to pass the ball with the bootleg," he said.
To improve to 2-0 in the league, Valentine says they have to win the trenches, score in the red zone and make some plays in the special teams. "Defensively, we are going to have to control the line of scrimmage, but also be great tacklers because they always run hard and if you don't tackle them they will make yards. Offensively, I think it's take advantage of our opportunities. Like anytime special teams is going to be a big part of that game too, so we have to be on top of our special teams," said Valentine,
Published 9/23/14
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Ashland Ready for "OCC"
Ashland may have lost two of their first three games, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to be a factor in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race. They are likely to be a real factor.
Last week, Tiffin Columbian's Cliff Miller scored with less than a minute to play to give the Tornadoes a (23-20) win in non-conference play. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says both sides played well. "It was a great high school game. Two teams battled right down the end. They scored with 30 seconds to go and we still had a chance right there at the end to try and score. Those are great high school football games and two good teams," he said.
Ashland has a new quarterback this year in Grant Denbow. He completed 26 of 39 passes for 278 yards two scores against Tiffin. Valentine says they matured a bunch on offense. "We were definitely young as far as varsity playing time and lost a lot of guys on offense, but I think we have gotten better and have hit our stride, but we are still hurting ourselves with some things. That's the disappointing thing when we look back at it. We missed a few opportunities. We have to get more consistent, but we have made some jumps," said Valentine.
Defense has been the Ashland mainstay over the years and they have played pretty well on that side of the ball this year, especially the last two weeks. Valentine says they have been fundamental. "There is no doubt. I think our kids are playing fast and they are hitting and we are doing a pretty good job of tackling. There are still some things we have to get better at, but I think defensively we are doing a lot of good things and we just have to keep getting better on that side of the ball," he said.
Ashland lost on week one to Wadsworth (26-15) and beat Dover (16-14) on week two. Valentine says that tough non-league schedule gets them ready for conference play. "There are some different philosophies on non-conference schedules, but our staff believes that you have to play some people that are good to find at where you are at with a couple of different styles to prepare yourself for your league because that is always one of your goals to win your league and I think our non-league schedule definitely does that for us," said Valentine.
Ashland (1-2) plays at Wooster (1-2) in their "OCC" opener on Friday night. Wooster also lost a tough one to Akron Green (21-20) last week. Valentine says the Generals, led by quarterback Cam Daughtery, are very athletic. "They are always athletic. They have some skilled guys that can run around. They have a quarterback that this is his third year under his belt. When you have an experienced guy like that has been through the different battles. He is a guy that we have to ready to contain. They have some big skill receiver wise," he told Swankonsports.com, "Defensively we are going to have to find a way to stop him from making big plays. Defensively, we saw them scrimmage Dover and they run to the ball. Those are things that we are going to see from everybody in our league."
Something they had to deal with when playing Dover a couple weeks back is speed and Valentine says you have to know what your up against. "You have to adjust your pursuit angle to what they are speed wise. Sometimes if you don't take the right angle you can give them big plays. We have to make sure we understand the speed that they have and make sure we adjust to that," he said.
Published 9/15/14
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Ashland Meets Tiffin Columbian in Crucial Match-up
Ashland and Tiffin Columbian are two of the most consistent winners in northern Ohio and they face each other in big non-conference game at National Field in Tiffin on Friday night.
The two schools are both 1-1 and share the #5 sport in our first Swankonsports.com football coach's poll in the large school division.
Last week, Ashland scored with just over two minutes to play on a Grant Denbow run to upend Dover (16-14) in non-conference play. Coach Scott Valentine says they did a great job of containing the wide open Dover offense. "It was one of those games that I felt really good about we played well. Our defensive staff put together a great game plan. Our kids went out and held them to 14 points and we made plays on offense to help us win the game," he said.
Valentine says they made some adjustments to match the concerns that Dover presented them and it worked out pretty well. "The thing was we made a lot of changes. We put some guys in some different positions for speed purposes because their quarterback was very quick and contain wise we needed to contain him. Offensively I thought we made some big strides there too. And special teams we didn't give up a lot of big plays. I think in all three phases of the game we improved last week," said Valentine.
Columbian lost the opening week of the season to Clyde (23-20) and then hammered Maumee (48-21) last week. Tiffin has been the dominate power in the "NOL" over the last decade and Valentine says they are good again this year. "I think they are a typical Tornado team. They have big guys up front. They have running backs that run hard. Defensively they are very aggressive and come down hill and get you. It's kind of like going back to week one we are going to have to be ready for a physical football game like we did against Wadsworth," he said.
This is the first match-up in recent memory at least between the two schools and Valentine says it should be an exciting game for fans to watch. "That's why when we talked to each other about scheduling the game we knew it would have some interest because of them being one of the top teams every year in their league and hopefully we want to be in the top of our league every year," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "In non-league games that's what it is all about trying to play someone good. I think it is going to be a real good football game."
And to the winner will come a lot of playoff points too and Valentine says that makes this game very important to both sides. "We feel that if we can win that game they are going to win a lot of games in their league. You never know once you get in your league and things happen," he said.
Published 9/11/14
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Ashland has to Get Better
Ashland is a football program that is a consistent winner and one reason is they are constantly trying to get better.
They play the Dover Tornados this week.
They lost on the opening night of the season to Wadsworth (26-15) but coach Scott Valentine was pleased they didn't quit and that was shown by the fact they scored twice in the fourth quarter of the game. "To get some things going late for us was important because of where we were and that is one thing that we look for playing four quarters and I thought we really did that. We need to become more consistent early on. We gave up a big play on special teams, which you never want to do against a good team. There are some things we need to get better at," he said.
Valentine says they were really on the edge of making some big plays against Wadsworth it is just a matter of execution. "Offensively we had some opportunities. We scored a touchdown right before half that got called back because of a holding penalty that would have made it 12-7 hopefully going into the half. We talked about how we can't keep hurting ourselves with penalties. Special teams is place where we need to get better," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "I thought overall we did a pretty good job tackling and blocking, but those are things we still need to get better at. They played some man coverage and we just missed on about five passes just off our finger tips. I told them that is 35 points right there and half of those would have won the ballgame. Those are things we have to get better at here this week."
Dover beat a team form Canada (49-0) in their first game last Thursday. Ashland and Dover have battled for a number of years and Valentine says this is just another very good Dover team. "I think they are a normal Dover team. They spread you our and they have quick guys they like to get the ball to. Defensively it is the same thing they use their speed to get pressure on you when we spread them out. For us this a team we practice against all summer long, unlike Wadsworth where we are going against a team that does some completely different. We just have to get better on some of our stuff," said Valentine.
The key for this week is the get better. Valentine says he challenged the players on Saturday morning. "That is what I told our kids on Saturday. Half of the teams in the state lost their first game now where do you go from there? We are one of the teams that lost, but are we going to get better? Some teams get satisfied with a win and don't get any better. So, we have to take a big jump this week, so that is going to be an important thing for us," he said.
Published 9/02/14
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Ashland Ready to take First Step
Ashland has one of the more consistent football programs in North Central Ohio and the Arrows are ready to go again as they face Wadsworth in their season opener on Friday night.
After scrimmages against North Canton Hoover and Brunswick, Ashland coach Scott Valentine believes they are well prepared for their first real game. "I think we have had two good opponents in our scrimmages and that have allowed us to see some things that will need to get better at. I think our kids have come out to practice and I think they have worked hard to get better," he said.
They are known for their five wide sets and wide open offense. Valentine says they not going to change much. "I think we have some guys in some places. We have to become a lot more consistent in some of the things we are doing. I think for our guys overall it has been a pretty good preseason and now we are into game week so we really have to get going," he said.
On defense the Arrows have some new guys this year, but Valentine says they have been tested against good personnel this month. "We have a lot of inexperience and not a lot of guys with varsity time out there. We will see when we get into those Friday nights, especially that first game with the nerves going sometimes you react differently. I think our guys have been under the gun a little bit and I think they will respond okay," said Valentine.
Ashland plays a more difficult non-conference schedule than anyone in the "OCC" and Valentine says the Grizzlies will be tough to deal with on Friday night. "I think they are the same type of team. They are going to try and run the ball out of the "I" backfield. They have a couple of skilled guys that they put out wide and try to get the ball too. Defensively they have a good core of linebackers that run to the football. Those are things that we are going to have to prepare for," said Valentine.
With Wadsworth's concentration on the run game, Valentine and his staff know they are going to have to be able to compete at the point of attack if they want to slow the Grizzles down. "That is the one thing that scrimmage wise for us the two teams that we faced this year they got in the "I" and came at you. With our offense you don't see that a lot. We can try and do that, but against somebody that does that it really helps you. Our two scrimmages gave us a good look at it," he said.
Published 8/26/14
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Ashland has Things to Work on
It seems that Ashland is always one of the better teams in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and this year should be no different.
They played North Canton Hoover in their first scrimmage on Wednesday. Coach Scott Valentine says they found out that Hoover was pretty fast and they had to find ways to control that speed. “You always think you are doing some stuff and you’re going fast in practice and I think it was good for our kids to see someone else because we saw the speed that they had and the things that thay did were definitely a raise from what we did practice wise. That is one of the things that we talked about that we need to get more of that speed into our practices. It was a very good day as far as learning and stuff, so now we have to go get better,” said Valentine.
Sometimes simulating that speed in practice can be a difficult thing and Valentine says that’s why scrimmages are important. “Your first level guys are your first level guys for a reason. That is because they are a step quicker or a step faster than the guys that you have below them. Until you see guys that are the same or maybe a step faster or quicker you just can’t simulate that, so that is the good thing,” he said.
They say speed kills and it often does, but there are ways to control that and Valentine says you have to be able to take the proper pursuit angles on defense. “Our first series we struggled with that because we were taking bad angles, but the good thing about it we got into the second and third series and out guys adjusted to that speed. That’s what you hope that your kids know that sometimes that guy might be faster so my angle of my pursuit needs to change. That was the positive out of today we made some adjustments to that and got better as we got going,” said Valentine.
With one more scrimmage before opening the season with Wadsworth in a little over two weeks, Valentine says they clearly have things to work on in practice. “The game is still blocking and tackling and defensively getting off blocks. Those are the things we definitely have to get better at between now and when we go against Brunswick a week from Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There were things that showed up (Wednesday) that we have to get better at. We have to take that jump because if you don’t take that jump then you are already into week one and that can be trouble.”
Published 8/14/14
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Ashland will Adjust
Ashland has what every high school football program in North Central Ohio wants, consistency.
A bad year at Ashland means six or seven wins and a good year means 10 or more and a deep playoff run.
Last season, the Arrows finished second in the tough Ohio Cardinal Conference, their only loss in the league coming to champion Mansfield Senior.
Coach Scott Valentine, the winningest coach in program history, says he feels they got some good things done in the off season heading into preseason practice last Friday and that is important. “I think like every year you have different variations of kids playing sports. This was one those years when we had a lot of kids involved in winter sports and also spring sports, so that led to our numbers maybe being down a little bit. For the most part our guys that weren’t involved in the sports for the most part were in the weight room and put in the time that they needed too,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Then we got into our summer program, you like kids to be kids and get some time away, but when our kids were in town and not on vacation and got into some conditioning.”
Ashland was one of the first school’s in this area to go with a spread offense and feature an aggressive passing attack. Valentine says the seven on seven competitions they participated in in June are a key for them, as long as they keep them in focus. “For us with the way we throw the football there are some good things that you get out of it you just hope you don’t develop some bad technique stuff during that time. You can get into some bad habits. Overall I thought we competed against some pretty good teams and they showed some things that we really need to work on. As we always say it comes down to if you can block and tackle once you get the pads on,” said Valentine.
The Arrows are replacing some kids at the skilled positions and they are going to be young there, but Valentine doesn’t anticipate a big change in the way they go about things on offense. “We really like the things we do. We have a few skilled guys back, but we are young in those skilled positions. We are going to have to play to the strengths of those guys. We feel good about those guys being out in space and maybe making a guy miss or breaking a tackle. If we get into it a little bit more and find out a little bit more about our guys. We are going to be little bit the same and a little bit different,” he said.
However, there are always going to be some tweaks in any team’s approach from year to year and Valentine says that will be the case with his team in 2014. “I heard Larry Kehres from Mount Union talk once, and with the success they have had you always listen to those guys, and he said they look for the players that are going to make plays for them and the looked at how they could best use those talents and what they had to do. So, I think that’s what we try to do every year. We look at guys that are going to be playmakers for us on both sides of the ball and what allows them to use those strengths to help us be successful,” said Valentine.
Published 8/05/14
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Ashland Hitting Their Stride
It has taken a while, but the Ashland Arrows are starting to play the kind of baseball we are used to seeing from the Arrows.
They won their first tournament game with ease and now they are setting their sights on punching a ticket for the division one district tournament. They play Fremont Ross (7-17) in the sectional finals at Fremont on Thursday, weather permitting.
Last Saturday, they drilled Marion Harding (12-0) in a semi-final game at Marion in a game that coach Rob Lavengood describes as one their best efforts of the year. "We played one our best games of the year. We got a great pitching performance from Collin Lefelhoc. He threw a one-hit shutout on just 75 pitches, you can't ask for much more than that. Defensively we played as well as we have played all year long. We made some really nice plays in the field and we were errorless for seven innings and I'm not sure we have had too many games where we could say that. We swung the bats well," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We had 16 hits overall as a team and we had some hits with runners in scoring position. Really in all three areas of the game we were pretty solid. When you can do that you are going to put yourself in position to win a lot of games."
Ashland (8-13) played Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Madison pretty tough last week and beat Firelands Conference leader New Loudon last Friday. Lavengood says they might be at the top of their game. "Over the last week or so with have played petty good baseball and hopefully we can continue to do that as we head into the sectional finals against Fremont and see what happens. We made a few changes defensively to allow us to be a little more athletic in the infield, especially up the middle and it has paid off and hopefully those guys continue to play well," he said.
There are no two ways about it the Little Giants have struggled like a duck in a desert over the last month. Lavengood says they have found it hard to compete. "They got off to a pretty good start this year at 6-2 and then they have really struggled ever since. Their record right now stands at 7-17, so they have lost 15 of their last 16 games, but they play a pretty good schedule against teams like Toledo St. Francis, Toledo Central Catholic, are few teams in their league, Findlay, who has a real nice team, so they do play good competition. They are playing on their home field, so we are going to have to go on the road and play well," said Lavengood.
The Ashland coach says it is going to be important for them to get off to a good start and establish control in the game. "I told the kids (Wednesday) night after practice that despite the fact that they are struggling when you go on the road the longer you let a team like that stay close the more confidence they can build and believe in the fact that they can win. We have to get off to a good start and put some runs on the board and settle in and hopefully put them away early," he said.
Published 5/15/14
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Ashland Making Too Many Errors
Ashland will host Firelands Conference leader New London in a non-conference game on Friday afternoon as they prepare for the post season tournament, which for them begins Saturday at Marion Harding.
The Arrows (6-12,5-7) lost two games to Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Mansfield Madison (4-1 and 5-0) this week. Coach Rob Lavengood says they got good pitching, but not good fielding. "We didn't pitch real badly. We actually pitched really well in both games. Collin Lefelhoc on Tuesday night and Nick Zurcher on Wednesday both pitched very well against a good hitting team. Where I was disappointed is in our defense and our hitting. Tuesday night we had seven errors and Wednesday night we have five errors. So, we gave up a handful of unearned runs. We did not swing the bats very well on Wednesday at Madison, we only had three hits. We actually out hit them Tuesday six to four. There we definitely some good things that we can take out of the two games against Madison, but there are also some disappointing things especially how we played on defense," said Lavengood.
Ashland travels to Harding on Saturday morning for a first round game in division one and Lavengood says they can't afford to make a bunch of errors. "You can't give the other team extra outs, you can't force your pitchers to make extra pitches. You aren't going to beat good teams if you can't make plays. That was certainly the problem against Madison this week. I think realistically, and I think if your ask (Madison coach) Doug (Rickert) he would say the same thing, Tuesday was probably a 2-1 game and Wednesday was a 2-0 or 3-0 game. That definitely makes a difference in how the game unfolds in the late innings, the fifth, sixth, seventh inning if it is only a one or two run game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Does the pitcher make a couple of mistakes. It is a lot easier to pitch when you are up four or five runs compared to being up one or two runs. It would have been interesting if we could have kept it close throughout that game if we would have been able to make some plays down the stretch and get a couple of clutch hits but that wasn't the case."
Lavengood is a graduate of New London and he says he looks forward to match-up against the Wildcats (13-3) and he knows they will come ready to play. "They were looking for a game and I was actually trying to find someone top play Friday to get us ready for tournament Saturday morning against Marion Harding. I always look forward to seeing some people from New London, where I grew up. They have a very good team, so it will be a good tune up for us because I am sure they are going to bring their "A" game and want to come down and knock off the division one team in the area as a division three school, so it's a big game for them as well," he said.
Published 5/09/14
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Ashland Leaves Ducks on the Pond
Ashland stranded 10 runners, three times striking out with runners in scoring position, and lost to Clear Fork (5-2) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Tuesday.
Travis Born went the distance for the Colts (6-8,3-6) and Ashland coach Rob Lavengood says they were never able to get the big hit off of Born. "I thought we swung the bats pretty well at times (Tuesday) against a pretty good pitcher. I mean the Born kid from Clear Fork, I think he is a four year letter winner and a pretty solid pitcher. I thought we hit the ball well at times, but we just couldn't get the clutch hit where we were able to push across more runs while they were able to do that and that was really the difference in the game is they came up with a couple of clutch hits and we didn't. I think we did some good things we just didn't find a way to get a "W," said Lavengood.
The Arrows (6-9,5-4) did steal a couple of bases, but they also were caught stealing once and picked off another time. Lavengood says they couldn't get their running game going Tuesday and that has been a key to their success this year. "That is certainly one of things we have been able to do throughout the year is to steal bases and take extra bases on hits and utilize our speed. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that quite as much (Tuesday). Born does a nice job holding runners on so we weren't able to seal as many bases as we have been able to do over the last few weeks," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, "Sometimes the wrong guy got on base, not that we don't everyone to get on base, but our faster guys didn't get a chance to do some things on the bases as much as some of the guys that don't quite have as much speed. That factors in to what we can do offensively."
With game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth Ridge Winand led off the inning with a single for Clear Fork and stole second and scored on a ground ball by Born. Then in the sixth he doubled and stole third and scored on a single by Lee Snyder. Lavengood says Winand is a difference maker, but they have to play smarter on defense. "He is a great athlete and he has a lot of speed on the bases. He was able to steal a couple of bases and get himself into scoring position. Now from our aspect we have to do a little better job of holding him on. Our pitcher fell asleep and allowed him to steal third and those are things that we have to improve upon. We also had few mental mistakes in the fifth inning when they scored a couple of runs that allowed them to make a 2-2 game into a 4-2 game. We have to do a little better job of understanding where we need to go with the baseball and knowing what we have to do before the ball is hit to us. Those are things that 15 games into the season we have to do a little better job of. I thought Collin Lefelhoc threw a pretty good game. Some of the little things ended hurting us," said Lavengood.
Published 3/30/14
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Ashland Back at .500
Ashland is starting to round into form as they got a second straight outstanding pitching performance from Collin Lefelhoc and beat Mansfield Senior (10-1) on Wednesday afternoon in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
After beating the Tygers (12-8) on Tuesday, coach Rob Lavengood says they turned in a much better effort on Wednesday and it started with the guy on the mound. "I was really pleased with how we played (Wednesday) night. We got a great pitching performance from Collin Lefelhoc. He went the distance and only gave up four hits and only threw about 85 pitches in seven innings. He did a great job of just pounding the strike zone and giving himself a chance to be successful. We also pounded out 15 hits. Overall it was a good night for the Arrows and really we played much better than we did (Tuesday) night in the game at Mansfield. I just thought we were a little sloppy (Tuesday) night, but we were pretty sharp (Wednesday) and played good defense behind a good pitching performance and overall it was a good game," said Lavengood.
Successful high school pitchers are ones that trust their stuff and don't nibble and Lavengood says that is something that Lefelhoc has been very good at his last two outings. "I made a point to point that out (Wednesday) after the game to our other pitchers saying I hope you learned something from Collin, not just (Wednesday) but Saturday. Collin pitched against a very good Massillon team and beat them in eight innings 2-1 and Collin threw a complete game and threw 82 pitches on Saturday. Again he was pounding the strike zone and throwing strikes," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "It is so important at the high school level to not give up walks and not fall behind hitters and if you can do that you can be a pretty darn successful high school pitcher. He showed the last two times out how to do it the right way. He has really solidified himself as our number two pitcher behind Nick Zurcher."
With at least seven runs each over their last threes games Ashland has started to do some things on offense. Lavengood says that has allowed them to get their running game going. "We were a little inconsistent early on, but here over the last week we have really started to swing the bats better and that is definitely good to see because I think we can do some things offensively. We have good team speed, but as I have said before you can't steal first base. You have to find a way to get on base and put pressure on the defense, so it is good to see our guys starting to heat up at the plate and start to swing the bats a little bit better," he said.
Ashland (6-6,5-3) plays Wayne County Athletic League power Hillsdale on Friday, competes in a tournament at Newark on Saturday and then plays slumping Clear Fork in their "OCC" series next week.
Published 4/24/14
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Ashland Faces Wooster This Week
If the weather continues to get better Ashland will play Wooster in two Ohio Cardinal Conference games this week and its a chance for the Arrows to get back into the conference race.
Unfortunately, the weather has made it very difficult for baseball teams this year. Ashland coach Rob Lavengood says they just haven't had much of a chance to develop any consistency in their play. "It has been really frustrating. This has been the worst weather in the spring that I can remember in a long time. It is just frustrating for everyone the players, the coaches, the fans. You get a game in and then you have to go back inside for a few days and then you might get another game in and you have to go back inside for a few days. It is difficult for the players to get any type of continuity to really settle into the season and to get any type of rhythm with as many days that we have had to adjust what we are doing with practices and games, so hopefully things get better in a hurry," said Lavengood.
It is not just than canceling of games, according to Lavengood, but more so the inability to get outside and practice things that coaches need to review with players. "It is not so much the games, but we can't even get outside to practice. We have only been able to practice on our field twice so far. Now we have been able to get on the turf a few times and then we have been inside the rest of the time. So, to really evaluate your team defensively and where guys might be able to help in certain areas and to be able to get outside and work on some situation type things at practice," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We just haven't been able to do some of the things we have done in the past. It kind of puts behind and all of the sudden we are in mid-April and there are things we haven't had a chance to work on that we have worked on in past years."
Ashland (2-4,2-2) plays at home against Wooster (4-2,3-1) on Wednesday if the field conditions will allow and then the teams play at Wooster on Thursday. The Arrows trail Madison by two games and Lavengood says this is a big series for them. "It is a big week for us. Right now, Wooster is 3-1 in the conference. They beat Orrville twice the first week in a couple of really close games. Last week they spilt with Clear Fork. In talking to a few other coaches they have a nice team and we are going to have to come ready to play. We are kind of coming off a rough doubleheader at Shelby where we lost two one run games where we maybe didn't play our best baseball. I would like to think if we make a few plays here or there, come up with a big hit, we could have won both of those games. It would be nice for us to bounce back and have a couple of good games against Wooster and get a couple of wins," said Lavengood.
Published 4/16/14
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Ashland Right There
Ashland topped Orrville (4-2) on Wednesday afternoon to remain a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race and the Arrows look like they are going to be real factor this year.
On Wednesday, Ashland got a solid effort on the hill from senior Nick Zurcher, who allowed only four hits and coach Rob Lavengood says they played really good defense too. "We got a great performance on the mound (Wednesday) night from Nick Zurcher. He gave us a complete game victory and any time you can get that you are happy. He was very sharp. His pitch count was right where it needed to be. He threw a lot of first pitch strikes. He was aggressive in the zone. He only had two walks. He struggled a little bit with his command in the opener last week against Lexington," Lavengood told Swankonsports.com after the win over the Red Riders, "He was much better (Wednesday). Not only did he give us a great pitching performance, but we played great defense behind him. Anytime you get good pitching and good defense you know that is a good recipe for winning baseball games."
A real key for the Arrows this year will be that ability to play defense, something they struggled with a year ago. Lavengood says they more than did the job against Orrville. "We did struggle defensively last year. We just weren't real consistent with making plays behind our pitchers and that hurt their pitch count and put them in some difficult situations and they had to pitch with guys on base and in situations where they shouldn't have, but that wasn't the case on (Wednesday). We played some nice defense behind him and we made some nice plays and really picked him up on a couple of balls that were hit hard and guys made plays on them," he said.
Ashland (2-1,2-1) is at Orrville (1-3,0-3) for the second game in the two game series on Thursday night. Lavengood says the team that wins the "OCC" this season is going to be the team that doesn't take anybody lightly and is ready to play every night. "You not only have to keep winning, you have to come ready to play every night. There is a lot of parity, there is a lot of balance in the league. There are some very good pitchers across the board in the league. It is good baseball. Anyone can beat anyone on a given night. We have to keep plugging away and taking one game at a time. We have to go over to Orrville (Thursday) night and get a sweep and keep ourselves in position to compete with the rest of the teams in the league for a conference championship," said Lavengood.
Published 4/10/14
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Ashland and Lexington Square off in Opener
Ashland travels to Lexington on Tuesday for what will serve as both the Ohio Cardinal Conference and season openers for both teams.
Ashland was not scheduled and the Lexington's games were claimed by Mother Nature.
Rob Lavengood, the Arrows coach, says his kids really want to get on the field and show what they can do. "Our kids are excited to start the season and looking forward to playing our first game. It is supposed to be a great day weather wise (Tuesday). It is really the first great day we have had basically since the fall I think. It should be an exciting day and hopefully our kids are ready to play and we have a good outing and give ourselves a chance to win against a very good Lexington team," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They won the conference last year. They have three pretty good pitchers coming back. They should be pretty tough. Hopefully we give them a pretty ball game."
Could Tuesday be a pitcher's battle? Lavengood knows they are going to have to take advantage of their opportunities to score runs against the Minutemen. "Pitching is always the key no matter what team you are talking about. Lexington has three pretty good ones in Zach Temple, Brody Basilone and Evan Lee. Regardless of who we face (Tuesday) it is going to be a solid pitcher. Our guys are going to have to step in their with confidence and have quality at bats, put the ball in play, and scratch across some runs whenever we get the chance. Hopefully Nick Zurcher gives us a quality outing on the mound and we play good defense behind him and hold them down offensively as well," said Lavengood.
The Lexington baseball twitter account tweeted Monday night that Basilone would get the call against Ashland on Tuesday.
Lexington, the defending "OCC" champions bludgeoned some teams last year and Lavengood says they have to do a good job of controlling the Lexington offense. "Usually early in the season the pitching tends to be a little ahead of the offense. So, I don't look for a high scoring game (Tuesday), but you never know what might happen because both teams probably haven't been able to get outside a lot because of the weather. We did a chance to get on our field for a scrimmage on Friday, which was nice. We got a chance to see some things and iron some things out. So, hopefully that will pay some dividends for us as we head into our first game on (Tuesday)," he said.
Lexington put away the "OCC" title last year with two wins over Ashland (13-4 and 6-1) on the final week of the regular season, but a lot of their offense graduated last June.
Published 4/01/14
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Ashland Kicking at the Stall
Ashland hopes they can put a pretty good baseball team on the field this spring, but they need a chance to prove it.
They had three scrimmages to play this week, but coach Rob Lavengood says they have not been able to play any of them. "Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot you can do about the weather and it hasn't been very good so far. We are still supposed to open up next week. I know we are all still in the same boat. I don't think anyone has had a chance to get out on their field a whole lot, but still its frustrating, your kids are excited. You are looking forward to getting your scrimmages in to get ready for the season and you have to cancel them. We had scrimmages scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week and we haven't been able to play any of them yet because of the weather. Hopefully the weather warms up and dries out soon so we can get outside and get on with the baseball season. It has definitely been a frustrating start so far," said Lavengood.
A scrimmage against Crestview has been rescheduled for Friday and the Arrows open the regular season next Tuesday and Wednesday against the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Lexington Minutemen.
Being inside Lavengood says it has been hard on the pitchers and making sure they are confident in the field. "Those are two big parts of the game and if you are going to be successful you better have good pitching and good defense. We have tried to do as much as we can when we are inside to get guys ready. Our pitchers have been throwing live in the cage to batters. Our batters are getting to see live pitching," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our pitchers are throwing to batters, but still it is not quite the same as being out on a mound and being outside in the elements in those situations. We have been able to get on the football tough four or five times for practices and one scrimmage, but it still not being out on a baseball field. There is just so much you can do to be ready. Hopefully when it's time to play games the guys are going to be ready to go and play well and give us a chance to win ball games."
Lavengood admits his players are a little frustrated that they have not been able to get much competition. "Our guys are frustrated. Our scrimmage (Wednesday) was supposed to be at Kent State University against a real good Massillon Perry program. Our kids were excited and ready to go up there and play a quality opponent and play on a really nice facility and with this weather you really can't scrimmage in that because you don't want to put your pitchers in a position where they could get injured. They were bummed. They were excited to go and it just didn't happen," he said.
Published 3/27/14
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Ashland Looking for Answers
Two years ago Ashland was the Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball champion, but this year they are going to have to have a lot of younger kids step up if they are going to be competitive.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they do not have a lot of experience coming into the season and they are going to have to mature quickly. "We have a lot of question marks to answer. I like a lot of the young guys in the program. The question is are those young guys going to be ready to win varsity games this year or not. That is a big question that we are going to have to find answer to as we get ready to start. We only have four seniors, so not a lot of seniors on the roster, but I think we have a good group of juniors and a good group of sophomores that are going to fill in other spots on the roster and mix in with our four seniors and hopefully our guys grow up in a hurry and put ourselves in a position to win. I think there is some talent there it is just whenever you have to count on sophomores and first year juniors to win varsity games you are not sure what you are going to get," said Lavengood.
A lot of that youth comes on the mound and Lavengood says a number of guys that were successful at the junior varsity level are going to have to make that transition to varsity. "It definitely starts with pitching and defense. I guess that is where some of our question marks are going into the season is on the mound. We have one pretty solid starter returning from last year in Nick Zurcher, he is one our seniors, and our number two starter last year, and was the quarterback on the football team, but after that we really don't have any varsity innings coming back," he told Swankonsports.com. "We have some guys that pitched some very good innings on the JV team last year and now they are sophomores and juniors this year that are going to be competing for varsity innings and I think there are some talented pitchers in that group of guys, but it's just a matter if they are ready to step on the mound and win varsity games this year or are they going to have a one year learning curve this year before they become solid varsity pitchers next year."
Ashland is one of those teams that needs to get some time on the field before they start playing games for real in a less than three weeks. "Those are questions we are going to have to answer as we get into the preseason and hopefully get a chance to get some scrimmages in before we start playing games and kind of iron our some of those things we need to do," said Lavengood.
Ashland opens the season with a pair of Ohio Cardinal Conference games against defending conference champion Lexington on April 1 and 2.
Published 3/12/14
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Ashland Facing Some Unknowns
Ashland tangles with Mansfield Senior in the division one super sectional final at Galion High School on Thursday night.
The Arrows (12-11) have won their last five games, including a (69-41) win over Fremont Ross in a first round game last Friday night. Coach Tim Fralich says they were able to start the game quickly, which is something they have done recently. "We kind of came out the same way we have the last four or five games. We were able to get after them early and create some havoc defensively and get the game opened up and get our shooters some more open looks through that open game. Some guys were able to knock some down here and there just like they had in the previous four games. It just had a snowball effect as we were able to get some momentum and build some confidence. We just kind of put the pedal to the metal there and it was just one of those nights that things were going our way and things have seemed to go more and more our way as they season has gone on," he said.
Point guard Trey Smith had 18 points to lead four Arrows in double figures and Fralich says they are really clicking on offense. "We feel like we have a group of guys that are capable of knocking down some shots at a high rate. They shot the ball pretty well last year and they put a lot of time in in the off season. Although some of them struggled here at the beginning of the year we knew it was just a matter of time before they started knocking some down," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Once you start knocking some down then the defense has to start guarding you differently. You are able to space the court out and get to the hoop a little bit more and be a little bit more versatile in how you attack things. Our average if you were to jot down the points per game over the first half of the season and then the second half we are probably about 15 points higher in the second half of the season, we have really turned it up a notch and also defensively in how we are pressuring the basketball."
Mansfield Senior (15-7), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the large school division, continues to prepare and play as controversy swirls around them. Robert Singleton, the Principal of the Integrated Learning Center, and four teachers have been placed on paid administrative leave. The district will not say if it is related to a situation which resulted in the forfeiture of a basketball game. Head coach J.T. Reese did not return calls made by Swankonsports.com to ask for comment on the Ashland game.
Donovyn Benson, ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season, was the leading scorer in both the Tygers wins over Ashland during the regular season. Fralich says they were able to hurt them by consistently getting the ball inside. He knows the approach will be different this time. "That's a good question. We know that they are still a very good team and we are going to have to play well to beat them. They are a different team. They don't have that inside presence. He scored 22 points on us in each of the first two games. We didn't do anything specifically to really clamp down on him or double him or doing any specific kind of zoning actions. I guess maybe we should have done it in hindsight. They were able to pound the ball inside to him and he can score around the basket with a great touch. They were able to give their shooters some open looks and play off of a close out and really attack the rim and they were already able to attack them rim at a really good rate,' said Fralich.
The Ashland coach says they expect the Tygers use more pressure defense in the full court and try to spread the floor when they have it. "Overall they are going to try and turn it into a positive. I am sure they are going to come out and pressure more. We have seen them pressure more in recent games. They have run a diamond press and did some running and jumping in the full court. Then they are going to try and space you out a little more offensively to create some driving lanes, which they are really good at," he said.
Published 3/06/14
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Tempo is the Key For Ashland
Ashland opens up play in the division one tournament at Galion on Friday night as they meet Fremont Ross.
With wins over Massillon (66-63), Orrville (65-52), Mansfield Madison (54-35) and Clear Fork (67-50), the Arrows have won four straight heading into the tournament.
Coach Tim Fralich says they are playing some pretty good basketball heading into the post season. "After kind of resetting our goals there after a slow start going 2-7 we had a lot of team talks about the mental piece and moving on. Our goal was to go 9-4 and get to .500 and we were able to do that. That was a tough goal considering we were 2-7 and didn't look like a very good ball club at times. We played a lot tougher and we played better as a team in pushing the basketball and pressuring a lot more defensively, which is what we have had success with in the past. We have won four games in a row and they were against quality opponents. We are pretty happy with our progress overall and we hope we can keep it rolling here. It's about surviving and advances and keep playing hoops," said Fralich.
Fremont Ross has had some ups and downs this year, they have lost three of their last four. Fralich calls the Little Giants a physical team that likes to pound the ball inside. "Not being in our area we didn't know much about them until this week. We watched a bunch of film on them. We did get a chance to see them play live once. They are a team that has a lot of size. They start 6'4", 6'5" at the forwards, their point guard is actually 6'5", he is the coach's son. He is going to Defiance or Capital to play college hoops. They like to pound the ball inside and their point guard posts up as well. They will shoot it and just attack the glass," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Their forwards are bigger, burlier kind of guys. They will throw it in there at the drop of a hat. They aren't hesitant. Their guards will throw it in there if there is just a sliver of an opening. So, we have to do an excellent job of limiting their points in the paint. They are not an excellent shooting team, but again they can get it to the hoop. They can create and get some easy points in the paint."
A lot of Ashland's success lately has been getting out and running the floor. Fralich believes the Little Giants will have trouble guarding them if they do that on Friday night. "Our guys have been doing a better job of executing our game plan. We need to get the game open. They don't necessarily want the game to be an up and down game. We believe that kind of game is kind of in our favor with our shooters creating some things offensively in open space," he said.
Published 2/28/14
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Ashland Finishes Regular Season with Three "OCC" Games
It's the final week of the regular season and Ashland still has three Ohio Cardinal Conference games to play Orrville on Tuesday, Mansfield Madison on Friday and Clear Fork on Saturday.
After that they play Fremont Ross in the division one tournament at Galion High School next Friday.
Coach Tim Fralich is hoping the Arrows (8-11,3-8) can kind of catch fire here at the end of the regular season. "There is always a chance for us to do that and improve and get some momentum going into next week and the tournament in this case. I think our guys are just excited to get to play some conference opponents to right the ship here in the conference. We haven't done nearly as well as we would have liked at this point in the conference and we want to go out there and play well and to notch a couple of wins would be great for us and it would gives us a little momentum going into the tournament. We are fortunate this year to just have five teams in our sectional. Being the number two seed we got a first round bye and we don't have to play Tuesday and I think that helps us, especially having a three game week. It gives us a little chance to rest and really prepare for Fremont Ross," said Fralich.
The Arrows are at Orrville (12-8,6-6) on Tuesday night and Fralich says they will have to deal with one of the better players in the league in Orrville's Trevor Summers. "They have been a little up and down. They have had quite a few ups during the year. They are a bit of a surprise team. They have had a couple of transfers come in that have really helped them at the guard position. You can tell that those guys have brought some toughness to them and have given them even a better ability to shoot the basketball. You can see that a couple of their other guys really put time in the off season as far as getting shots up and becoming better basketball players," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Luke Smith shooting the three at an extremely high rate and Trevor Summers is shooting it at and even higher rate. When you talk about player of the year you always have to throw in there Brady Arnold, with Mansfield Senior's success every year, you always have to look at one of their guys, Benson has to be up there, but Trevor Summers has to be right up there too. He is shooting 46 percent from three and from the field about 50 percent and about 75 percent form the line. He is an extremely efficient player."
Then it is over to Mansfield Madison (5-15,2-10) on Friday night to meet the improving Rams, who just beat Orrville (54-47) last Friday after the Red Riders beat Mansfield Senior (55-54) the week before. Fralich knows Madison is better than the first time they played them, a (69-49) win for Ashland. "I think Tim (Mergel) is doing a great job over there. He has a lot of young guys. He is certainly improving his squad and they are playing hard and they are continuing to play tough like most Madison teams have, we are going to have to be prepared. I was thinking we would see a couple of new things and try to mix it up a little bit against us. No matter what they do we have to remain aggressive and continue to try and play Ashland basketball by pushing the basketball and being extremely aggressive on the defensive end. We have also been doing a better job of just making our own plays, making those little sacrifice plays that give us more chance for success, If we do that we feel it puts in position to win. I think the guys are excited to go over there and play in a new gym," said Fralich.
Published 2/18/14
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Ashland Finally to Play Clear Fork
Ashland and Clear Fork were supposed to play way back on week two of the boys' basketball season and after three different cancellations they are going to play on Wednesday at Clear Fork and then the final day of the regular season, next Saturday, at Ashland.
Arrows coach Tim Fralich says this year has been a different one that's for sure. "I have never been part of something like this before with five postponed games whether it was early in the season with the football playoffs with Loudonville, three snow ones, and the power outage out there. The funny thing with the power outage out there is we are on the bus ready to get going and about 6:45 the power comes back on, but at that point the officials had left and their players had left and the fans. Hopefully we will get to play them (Wednesday) and again on the 22nd, so we will play them twice in 11 days," said Fralich.
Clear Fork (6-8,3-6) has struggled at times to find the right combination this year, but Fralich says they understand what they are supposed to be. "Coach Bechtel does a great job with them they play really tough. They play well within their motion game. They do a good job of finding their key players too. I think their role guys understand what their role is and that is to get (Ridge) Winand and (Kadin) Chrastina the ball in scoring positions that they are comfortable with because they are dynamic scorers. At the same time they do a lot of little things for them and they can knock down open shots," said Fralich.
With both teams featuring the up tempo game, Fralich says it should be a game with a lot of fast paced action. "They are a good ball club and I think we are a similar type team. In a lot of ways our perimeter is our strength with the depth and experience that both have there in that area. I think it will be a heck of a game, up and down a little bit too. They have been pushing the ball a little bit more than they have in the past and we are going to continue to push that basketball," he said.
Ashland (7-9,3-6) plays at home against Lexington (11-8,5-6) on Friday night in league play and Fralich says a (44-30) loss at Lexington last month was sort of a low water mark for them. "That was probably a low point in the season for us. We were really struggling at 2-7 after that game and now we are sitting here at 7-9, so we have really turned it up a notch here. That game got us to really look at a lot more film and sit down and talk about who we are as a team an where we are going as a program," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think we have some things figured out and the guys have bought into it and we have been able to head in a different direction since then. I think we are a much better offensive team than 30 points and it has showed here in recent games. We have been pushing the basketball and applying a little more pressure and that has been able to create some offense too."
Published 2/12/14
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Ashland Faces Clear Fork, Wooster
Its seems like games between Ashland and Clear Fork in boys' basketball this year are cursed. It seems like there is always something in the way of getting them played.
On December 6 the game at Ashland was cancelled due to hazardous road conditions. The they tried to play on January 18 at Clear Fork and the power went out. The game at Ashland was rescheduled for Wednesday... enter winter storm "Nika." When did we start naming winter storms by the way?
Both teams are playing some pretty good basketball right now.
Ashland (5-9,2-6) took West Holmes, the second place team in the "OCC" to the wall last week (71-65) after loosing to first place Mansfield Senior (64-61) at the horn the week before, then they beat Shelby (75-61) on Saturday.
Coach Tim Fralich thinks they are playing pretty well. "I think we have shown improvement here over the last few weeks. We lost a close one there to Senior High in a game that we really wish we could have back on a buzzer beater. We played West Holmes pretty tough there. We went through one stretch at the beginning of the fourth where they outscored us 10-0 and that ended up being the difference in the game that we lost by six. Brady Arnold is a pretty tough cover for just about anybody. We have played a lot better and we were able to beat a Shelby team that we feel is a pretty good team. Coach Schwemley does an excellent job with them and they play really hard. Their big kid Kehres is an excellent player and he has been putting up some big numbers and he certainly did that against us too," said Fralich.
If they get to play Clear Fork (6-7,3-5) on Wednesday, Fralich says they have to contain the Colts two big guns in Ridge Winand and Kadin Chrastina. "They are on of the best one-two punch guards in the area and the conference. They have put up some big numbers. They count on them to put up big numbers. They have taken a lot of shots for them. They do a little bit of everything. They shoot the three well and have made a number of threes throughout the year. They have also shot a lot of free throws and they do a lot of that by getting to the rim and attacking. Not only do they have a good skill level, but they are athletic, so they can jump up there and finish around the rim and finish through contact," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "When you talk about Clear Fork those are certainly the first two guys that come to mind, but they have some tough, physical role guys around them that make them a quality team. They had some tough breaks early on, kind of like we did, and had kind of one their better players out in Kadin, and we had Drew Dickinson out for six games."
Fralich looks for the this to be another close game and they have to find a way to win these types of games. "We feel we are kind of similar type teams, so it should be a heck of a conference match-up. We expect it to be one of those games that goes down to wire. For whatever reason this year we have lost a lot of close games and I think some of that is due to not having seniors and understanding how to make plays come crunch time and I think through experience we will do a better job of making those plays and have attention to detail and be focused in on what we need to do in those critical situations," he said.
Ashland is at Wooster (7-10,6-6) on Friday. The Generals lost to West Holmes (73-60) on Tuesday night when Brady Arnold scored 40 on them. Ashland beat Wooster in their first meeting (46-39), but Fralich knows winning at Wooster will be tough. "We have done some different things over the years to defend their size. They have just been so much bigger than us. We have been fortunate we have had some guys come up and make some big plays against them and we have shot the ball well against them, so hopefully we can continue to do those things. They are a team that is playing pretty well right now. We are going to have to do a good job. The Daugherty kid is dynamite for a guy 6'6" to be able to move and do some of the things he does is pretty darn good at our level. They are a team that has some good quality role guys around him that are capable of stepping up and having good nights in O'Brien, and Beckett too, and a number of other guys," said Fralich.
Published 2/05/14
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Ashland faces "OCC" MVP
Last week, Ashland played "OCC" leader Mansfield Senior and this week they get West Holmes, the second place team in the conference.
Last Friday, Isaac White scored 28 points and Ashland took Mansfield Senior right to the end before losing (64-61) when Jalen Reese executed a three point play with just over a second to play.
Arrows coach Tim Fralich says they certainly had their chances in the end, but they just came up a little bit short. "We certainly didn't do everything right that's for sure, that would be almost impossible to do, but we played hard, and competed, and gave ourselves an opportunity. We were down 11 two separate times in the first half and we fought back and we took our first lead with about four or five minutes left in the fourth. We had plenty of opportunities. It was one of those things were we just weren't able to make a play down the wire offensively when we really needed it," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "There were a couple of balls that squirted loose that didn't go our way. I know our guys were very disappointed in it. At the same time we thought we did some things well and we certainly thought we showed some improvement over the last couple of weeks. We are happy about that and we are just trying to get better and try to take the positives and roll with it."
The first meeting between the Arrows (4-8,2-5) and West Holmes (11-4,7-2) was way back in November and the Knights won (58-55) when the Arrows missed a tying three at the horn. Fralich says they have to play with the same kind of energy as they did last week. "We expect it to be tight like it was the first time around. We have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. We had our opportunities there and we just feel like that has happened to us a couple of times through the course of the season. I think our guys will be ready to compete with them and play well. We have played better over the last few weeks, but we realize they are one of the better teams in the conference and we are going to have to come out with that same level of intensity and that same completive spirit and that same work ethic that we did against Senior in order for us to get a win," said Fralich.
Obviously the focus of the Knights is senior guard Brady Arnold, who scored 27 points in the second half of West Holmes (66-53) win over Lexington last week. Fralich says they have to make Arnold earn his points. "They have Brady Arnold, who is a keck of a player and probably conference player of the year and I'm not going out too much on a limb by saying that. He averages 25,1 point per game and he is pretty efficient too. He is not a big time volume shooter. He shoots a pretty good percentage from the floor, from the three and the free throw line. He is a guy that we will have to zero in on and try to do a good job of making him a volume shooter. If we can hold in the high teens we will put ourselves in good position. They play awfully hard. They are going to come out and pressure us defensively and play some diamond, some full court man, some 2-2-1, and kind of run and jump a little bit in the full court with Arnold. We are going to have to do a good job of getting out and going with it and take care of the ball,' said Fralich.
Published 1/28/14
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Ashland Finds Something
Struggling offensively for most of the season, Ashland exploded last week in an Ohio Cardinal Conference win over Mansfield Madison.
Isaac White scored 25 points and Brett Vipperman added 19 as the Arrows beat Madison (69-49) last Friday. Coach Tim Fralish says got back to some things they are good at. "I think our guys bought into some of the things we were emphasizing through the course of the week in practice. They got excited about getting back to emphasizing like running and being more aggressive defensively. They stepped up and made some plays. Some shots fell for us that for whatever reason hadn't been falling for us on and off for most of the season. We were able to take a deep breath and take the weight off our shoulders and just play ball. We were impressed and it was fun to watch the guys play with that kind of energy and aggressiveness,' said Fralich.
On Wednesday night, they host Loudonville (4-8), a (64-48) winner of Hillsdale on Tuesday night, in a non-conference game. Fralich says the Redbirds have some players, most notably Garett Quickle. "Oiuckle is a nice player. He is athletic. he is a scorer. He causes havoc defensively with his speed and quickness. Earlier he was averaging 17, 18 a game, I think he is averaging about 16 now, but is capable of putting up big numbers. We will have to do a good job against him. Coach Seboe does an excellent job with what he has year in and year out. We just have to be prepared for just about anything. He has been known to play a lot of different defenses and mix things up with some junk defenses and be creative with how he attacks different teams," he said.
After the success against Madison, Fralich says they just have to continue to do the things they do well. "Overall we just need to do what we do and stay the course with that. Try to push the ball and create a little more havoc at certain points in the game defensively. In looking at our schedule we have 11 games in 22 days," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We have three these games coming up here that have been postponed with Loudonville with the football playoffs and then weather and Clear Fork with the weather and then a power outage. The crazy thing with that one was we were in the parking lot ready to head back to Ashland and the lights come back on, but at that time the officials had already left, Clear Fork's players had left, the fans had left. We are trying to keep these boys fresh and limit their court time here from time to time and do a lot more film work."
On Friday night, it's a return to Ohio Cardinal Conference action for the Arrows as they host "OCC" leader Mansfield Senior (10-1,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the large school division. The Tygers won the first match-up (56-41) in Early December. Fralich says against the Tygers sometimes you have to change your approach. "We have done that is the past with them, sometimes we have and sometimes we haven't, I guess it depends on the flow of the game and how we feel we are playing and how they are playing going into that game. They always bring a different level of defensive pressure and athleticism that you don't typically see around here. It is something that our guys are going to have to make in game adjustments too. We are certainly going to have to handle their pressure and take care of the basketball and get good shots. They are able to hurry you up so much we want to play fast, but we want to play smart. They are able to hurry you up so much that we were putting up fast and bad shots, so its almost like a turnover and its coming back down the other way. We have to make sure we get good looks," said Fralich.
Published 1/22/14
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Ashland Wants to Start Running Again
Click here to listen to an interview with coach Tim Fralich
It has been a disappointing season so far for the Ashland Arrows, but they have a chance to get that turned around during the second half of the season.
Ashland is last in the Ohio Cardinal Conference in scoring this year. Coach Tim Fralich says there have been a number of factors that have led to the lower output. “We haven’t had a lot of depth and we have had out big man out for six games with mono. Once that happened we decided not to put as much emphasis in pushing the ball and running. That may or may not have been a mistake. We thought that gave us the best chance to win at that time. With him being out we were able to generate some depth. Now that he is back we feel we are eight, ten deep and we can get out and go. That is what our strength is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Over the last couple of games defensively we have tried to apply some more pressure. We are a team that can shoot the ball pretty well. For whatever reason we haven’t put the ball in the hole as much as we are capable of. We hope that it is just a matter of time here, hopefully sooner than later, that we kind of have a break through night and get some confidence going that will help us finish up this season strong.”
Ashland (2-7,1-4) is at home for Mansfield Madison (4-7,1-5) in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night. Madison is coming off a win over Lexington (46-41) on Saturday night and Fralich says the Rams will come in with some confidence. “They had a good win there and they have a good young team. Coach Mergel certainly has them playing hard as he always does. I’m sure that got some confidence for them and they want to build on that and get a streak going. We are just going to have to play our game. We are at the point, certainly we will have some keys against them, but we have to get back to what we do and try to continue to be strong defensively and on the glass where we have seen some improvement. Offensively we have shifted some gears toward. Hopefully we can get out there in the open court and make some plays. They have some young guys out there that shoot the ball well and can penetrate and finish. They get out a little bit and pressure defensively too with some man-to-man, diamond, and run and jump action,” said Fralich.
It’s a double weekend in the “OCC” for the Arrows as they travel to Clear Fork (3-6,1-4) on Saturday night. Fralich is concerned about the Colt guards Ridge Winand and Kadin Chrastina. “(Winand) is a nice player. He is a bigger guard for our league and athletic. He can step out and shoot it and get the ball to the rim. When we saw him earlier in the year they were doing a great job of getting him the ball in transition and really pushed the ball at got it to him in the open court. He is really able to create for himself and his teammates. Chrastina I think will be back. He is a guy that really gives them a huge one, two punch in the back court. We will have to do a good job containing their back court and they are always a physical team,” he said.
Published 1/16/14
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Ashland Has to Get on Those Boards
Ashland got its first Ohio Cardinal Conference win last week and hopefully they have started to turn things around a little bit as they meet Lexington in a conference match-up this Friday night.
Coming out of the holidays coach Tim Fralich says they were hoping for a better record (2-6,1-3), but all things considered he believes they are heading in the right direction after a (46-39) win over Wooster. “We would love to be record wise in better position coming out of the break. Our expectations were higher, but unfortunately we had some tough breaks here and there. The ball just didn’t bounce our way in few close games. Our big guy was out with mono for all but two of those games. Coming off the New Year’s we played Wooster at home on Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Although it wasn’t pretty we found a way to win and we did a much better job on the defensive glass, especially in the second half and that has been a key point of emphasis for us. We fell as a team we do enough other things well that if we can do a good job of the defensive glass with the other teams having a little bit more size and athleticism we are going to be in a lot of games and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Ashland was scheduled to play Loudonville (2-5) in a make up game on Tuesday night, but the weather might get this one and Fralich says they have turned their attention to Friday night. “That game against Loudonville was supposed to be our opener and now it looks like it is probably going to be postponed again. That cold air isn’t quitting until probably Wednesday afternoon, so we are looking ahead to Lexington,” he said.
Lexington (6-4,2-2) will host the Arrows on Friday night. Fralich says this is another good Lexington team they will be facing. “Coach Hamilton has done a very nice job since he has taken over the program. They might not have had as much talent as Jamie Feick had, but they are close and he just gets those guys to play so hard. They do a very good job defensively, and on the offensive and defensive glass. They are typical a team that is going to try and pound the ball inside as they usually have a lot of size. They do a good job of emphasizing those things and working on those things and making them true strengths for them for the entire season, so we know we are going to have our hands full. It’s a rivalry game and it will be on the road. We lost twice to them last year and both of them went down to the wire, obviously we are hoping for a different outcome this year. Our guys need to go out there and continue to get better here in the new year. Again we feel like if we do a good job on our defensive glass that we will give ourselves a chance to win the game,” said Fralich.
Published 1/07/14
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Being Physical a Key for Ashland
Ashland is seeking its first Ohio Cardinal Conference win on Friday night when they host Orrville.
They have lost tough ones to West Holmes (58-55) and last week to very talented Mansfield Senior, #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, (56-41) at Pete Henry Gym.
Coach Tim Fralich says they just got behind by too much early in the game. “It is tough to do that against any team, but especially against a team as good as Mansfield with the type of pressure that they put on you it can make it a tough hill to climb when you get down as much as we did. We were down 17-3 after the first quarter and then from there they beat us by one point. We end up losing by 15. We definitely feel like we didn’t fold the tent and our kids kept competing and playing hard. We didn’t just go in there to compete with them for three quarters, we went over there to win and we were unable to do that, so we were disappointed with that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The next time around we get them at home and hopefully we will see them in the sectionals and will be able to put four quarters together. They are a very, very good team. We thought without Keon (Johnson) they might be down a little bit compared to last year, but that is not the case. They have a transfer in from Lima Senior. They have a group of guys that have been waiting in the wings for their turn and they have been taking advantage of that. They will be tough to beat anytime we play them.”
Orrville (2-2,1-1) pulled a mild upset last week in beating Wooster (49-48) in league action. Fralich says the Red Riders are very physical. “They are tough defensively. On the glass they are physical and are strong athletes. They are kind of a typical Orrville team. Throughout the course of last season they showed a lot of improvement. They have a lot of those guys back. They may have only lost one or two guys of the seven or eight they were playing. We expected them to be better this year and they are better. They have had a lot of close games where they were able to squeak it out and that provides confidence for a team a lot of times and can really propel them to have good seasons. We are going to have to do a really good job of matching their physicality and defensive rebounding because they have a lot of big, strong guys inside that do a good job of giving their team second chances.”
With as good as Mansfield Senior is the battle in the “OCC” maybe for second place and Fralich says they want to be in that conversation. “There might be a decent gap between first and second through eighth in our league, but that’s yet to be determined. We would like to be a factor in that and focus on getting better each and every day with our young group. They are extremely talented and there is still a good group of teams in our league. Mansfield is fortunate to have quite a bit of talent and quite a bit of depth and a lot of seniors. Their seniors are good leaders for them. They have that senior sense of urgency to them. I just think teams are going to have to play extremely well against them. It will probably have to happen at home too. I don’t know if they are going to lose a game at their place. We have a lot teams that can compete for a top spot and we think we are one of those teams,” said Fralich.
Published 12/19/13
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Ball Handling, Defense Keys For Ashland
Ashland suffered a set back to the Northern Ohio League favorite last week and they will face another team from that same league on Tuesday night in non-conference play.
Last Saturday, Norwalk (1-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll of the season in the large school division, downed the Arrows (72-61) in a non-league game. Ben Haraway scored 25 points and Jeff Thomas added 20 for the Truckers.
Ashland coach Tim Fralich says the Truckers are just a very good team. “I would consider Norwalk very good. They have some very talented players. Jeff Thomas is a division one commit to Georgia State and Ben Haraway committed to play at Malone University and I think he has a chance to be an exceptional player in that conference. Then they have some really good complementary pieces. The (Jordan) Johnson kid is a wing that is extremely athletic. He is a sprinter on the track team and won the “NOL” 100 meter dash. He is going to Malone to play football. They have a tremendous shooter in the (Grant) Hull kid. He really forces you to space out the floor and the other kids are going to create,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have another couple of guys coming off the bench that are really athletic. They are certainly one of the better teams in the area and have a chance to have an exceptional year. On top of that they are very well coached and coach (Steve) Gray does a nice job with them.”
Norwalk had a four point lead after one quarter and it became 11 at the half. Fralich says they weren’t able to get close enough. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to hang with them like we wanted to and give ourselves a chance at the end of the game to win it. It was always a 10 to 12 to 13 and then back to a seven, eight point spread. We weren’t able to cut it to five points after that first quarter. We saw some good things from our guys overall. We improved from our first game. We will watch film and try to improve and get ready for Sandusky,” he said.
The Sandusky Blue Streaks (1-1) come to Ashland on Tuesday night. Fralich says they offer a lot of athleticism. “They have a sophomore guard. He is a very good player for them. He is playing the point guard. He has really added some athleticism and a defensive presence to their team and he is a very good driver. He is good at creating for himself and his teammates. He is a guy that we are certainly going to have to key in on. He has had double digit points in both games and he had over 20 in one of those games. Delk is a returner for them and was very good player and he is back. They also have some guys that crash the offensive glass strong,” said Fralich.
They are going to have to make shots, but Fralich says they need play great defense and compete on the boards. “We certainly have to contain penetration against them. We have to do a good job on the defensive glass, which is something we have to do as a team each and every night to give us a chance to win. We have to be able to handle their pressure. They are going to change up their defenses and do some full and half court stuff, some man, some zone. We have to remain aggressive, yet smart,” he said.
Published 12/10/13
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Ashland Has things to Work on
Most of the time you don’t open your season with a conference game, but that was the case this year for the Ashland Arrows and it was a tough loss.
A three pointer bounced off the rim in the final seconds and the Arrows fell to the West Holmes Knights (58-55) last Saturday.
Coach Tim Fralich says it was certainly a game they could have won and they have been working on their offense and defense this week in practice. “As a coach you are never fully content typically with the play of your guys. That was certainly the case on Saturday. We left a lot out there. I think our guys know that, especially after watching film. We played selfishly in the first half and in the second half we really improved in that area and made some extra passes and passing the ball up the court instead of just dribbling it and setting screens and cutting with a purpose,’ he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “In the second half we just had too many defensive breakdowns, mainly defensive rebounding. It really hurt us, especially in key situations. We have been focusing on those two things over the last two days of practice. I think we will make improvements on those and put ourselves in a better position for this weekend. Opening up on the road in the conference isn’t easy. They had some nice production from guys outside of Brady Arnold that we didn’t necessarily anticipate. If they can continue to get that they are going to have a nice ball club this year. Their new coach, coach Troyer, has them playing hard.”
Ashland plays host to Clear Fork (1-0) in their second Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the season on Friday night at Arrow Arena. Clear Fork blitzed Crestview (80-46) in their first game as Ridge Winand scored 31 and Kadin Chrasina added 20. Fralich says they have to make those guys take tough shots. “Clear Fork has two of the better guards in our league in Chrastina and Winand. We are going to have to do a really good job of forcing them into tougher shots. They are good players and they are going to make some tough ones and we will tip our caps to them, but we have to make them shoot tough shots and hopefully force some misses and get that first miss is probably the biggest key for us. That was our Achilles Heel on Saturday night. They always play well against us. For whatever reason since I have been at Ashland we haven’t played our best games against them. They have kind of had our number. It would be nice to play well and get evened up here in the conference,” he said.
The last two seasons Norwalk has been the best basketball team in North Central Ohio and the Truckers come calling to Ashland for their opener on Saturday night. Fralich says they have great personnel led by Jeff Thomas and Ben Haraway. “Norwalk is one of the best teams in the area. They return one guard-forward in Thomas and a point guard in Haraway. They are both legitimate college guards. Haraway is committed to Malone and Jeff Thomas committed to Georgia State. Whenever you have, especially in our area, two legit college players you know you are really going to have your hands full. Coach Gray does a tremendous job with them. He has a ton of experience to draw from. He will mix things up offensively and defensively. We just have to be prepared to handle any kind of situation they throw at us and continue to be aggressive,” said Fralich.
Published 12/4/13
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Ashland Ready to Contend
Any discussion about the Ohio Cardinal Conference boys’ basketball race begins with Mansfield Senior, but perhaps right after that is the Ashland Arrows, who have two of the better players in the league in Isaac White and Bret Vipperman.
Coach Tim Fralich says they continue to count on a lot of guys that that are underclassmen and those players are going to assume big roles with this year’s team. “It has gone pretty well so far. We have shown improvement for the most part from scrimmage to scrimmage and that is what we want from our guys to improve everyday. We have had some good ones and have been able to play against some teams that have different styles and different systems. Hopefully that will put us in position to play against all of the teams we will have to play against throughout the year. We are really young. We do return four starters from last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Those starters are now juniors, so we are really relying on them to be seniors and provide senior leadership. We only have one senior and he was a JV guy last year. He knows he is a guy that won’t play a whole lot for us. We won’t rely on him much in game situations, but he plays hard and is an energy guy and he is a good guy to have in the program. We have three sophomores we think will contribute for us. They are going to have to step up and get a little bit tougher and have a little bit more urgency to them because they haven’t played at the varsity level. Then we have a freshman, who has stepped up and shown us he can be a contributor at the varsity level.”
Fralich knows they have some talent and he thinks those guys have worked hard in the off season to get better. “We are young and that will be good for us as the season goes on because our zeal is a little higher. We are happy with the progress of our key guys like Isaac White, he was first team all conference, third team all district, averaged 15 points a game and really became an all around player as the season went on and we are expecting a lot of productively out of him. Bret Vipperman and Trey Smith were honorable mention all conference and honorable mention all district. Bret averaged 10 points a game and six boards. He put a lot of time into his game in the off season. He has gotten a lot stronger and we expect big things from him. Trey has done the same in the off season. We expect him to be a little bit more of a scorer and continue to distribute for us, be a defensive stopper and create chaos for us on defense like he has done and also become a better team defender, which he is doing each and every day,” said Fralich.
Ashland really isn’t very tall and that means they are going to have to work hard to play defense in the post and get rebounds. Fralich says they are working on those things. “When we went out and scrimmaged against multiple different teams and we played a team that really pounds the ball inside and had some big strong guys and they hurt us in the post. We hadn’t worked too much on post defense. We had really focused on guarding on the perimeter and help and recover and rotations, but we really hadn’t done much in the post. So, we have really focused on guarding the post and doing our early work and how we wanted our footwork to be depending on where the ball is and different screening actions. As always we need to keep working on our rebounding. We are one of the smallest teams in the area even though we are one the bigger schools. We have done a decent job of team rebounding. This year we are bigger, but we are young. We are not as physically strong or developed to where we can just jump up and get a rebound and sky above everybody. We are going to have to focus on creating contact and have everybody rebound,” said Fralich.
Published 11/20/13
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Winning on Ashland’s Mind
No matter what happens in terms of the Ohio Cardinal Conference or the playoffs the Ashland Arrows expect to finish this season better than they did last year and they can do that with a win at Lexington on Friday night.
Right now, the Arrows are a game behind unbeaten Mansfield Senior in the “OCC” and would also need an upset of the Tygers by rival Mansfield Madison to get a share of the title. Ashland is also ninth in their computer region, just one spot from the playoffs, but they are almost two points behind eighth place Columbus St. Charles. They need some other things to go their way like a Sandusky win over Bellevue and again a Madison win over the Tygers.
In beating Madison (42-0) last week Arrows coach Scott Valentine says it was a compete performance against the Rams. “That is one of the things that we challenged our kids throughout the week. We just felt we didn’t play a good first half the week before and really hadn’t played a good four quarters, but I felt our kids came out in our seniors last home game and put together a good four quarters,” he said.
Lexington (1-8,0-6) has had some struggles this season and they will carry a seven game losing streak into the game. Offensively, the Minutemen have done some good things this year, including scoring more than 30 points in losses to Ontario, Madison and West Holmes. Valentine says they have some guys that can make plays. “I think they have some dangerous weapons there and if you don’t contain those guys they will make big plays, quarterback wise and things like that. From our standpoint we just have to make sure we are ready each play, read our keys and stop those big plays from happening,” he said.
The Minutemen have had some problems being consistently physical this year on defense, but Valentine says they will try to get into the backfield and cause problems. “I think defensively they are trying to do some things coverage wise they can catch you if you are not careful,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “With us throwing the ball we have to read those coverages and execute our routes against what they are doing coverage wise. They run a six man front, really a 4-2, and they will bring backers. It’s a concern anytime for us to pick up those guys rushing.”
Over the last decade Ashland and Lexington have become pretty serious rivals. Valentine says he knows the Minutemen will be ready to play. “We talk about the year they came over here and they were approaching an undefeated season and we were having not a very good year. We went out and played well and I think it ended up 9-7, or something like that, late in the game they kicked a field goal to win it. So, it doesn’t matter record wise where people are with our teams, we go after each other every year,” said Valentine.
The conference and playoffs aside Valentine says a win will accomplish one their preseason goals. “Our kids came into this year, we have been 6-4 the last two years, good years, but our kids wanted to make sure that they broke that string of 6-4, so that is a big thing for us as we approach this game. We want to end up 7-3 and not 6-4,” he said.
Published 10/31/13
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Ashland Riding High
After a big win over Clear Fork last week the Ashland Arrows remain in second place in the tough Ohio Cardinal Conference, a game behind Mansfield Senior.
They play host to the Mansfield Madison Rams on Friday night.
Last Friday, they rallied by scoring 20 straight points in the second half to beat the Colts (36-35) in an exciting game. Coach Scott Valentine says he is proud of his kids effort in the third and fourth quarters. “I was proud of the way our kids kept battling and came out in the second half and made the plays we needed to win,” he said.
With the way their offense can score points, Valentine says they are really never out of a game. “We have had some teams in the past that have done that and we always bring up some of those things and I think our kids understand that with some of the things we do on offense can help us never be out of a game as long as we keep battling and we end up playing pretty good defense then,” he said.
Ashland (5-3,4-1) has had great success under Valentine, wining more “OCC” titles than any other school. He says their younger players learn what takes to be winners from guys older than them. “I think part of that is they see examples or they hear about examples and learn from some of the older guys. As long as they are willing to learn and take that with them that is going to benefit them down the road,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “That is one of the things we stressed when you are younger you get an opportunity to learn from some guys that have been through a lot of the wars and the battles and have learned things form other people. You have to learn as a player and if do that you have a chance to be pretty good.”
There is no doubt that Madison wants to run the ball and Valentine says they have to be very good tacklers. “They are going to run it at you. They are one of those teams in the league that you know you have to strap it up and play four quarters against them running the football and make sure you tackle them because if you don’t they are going to get big plays,” said Valentine.
Madison (3-5,2-3) has won two of its last three games and lost to Clear Fork (24-22) in the third game in that series. Valentine believes the Rams have sort of hit their stride. “Anytime you have some of those injury problems it takes some adjustment. I think that is something that they have done. Their coaching staff does a great job. They have settled in on some things and you better be ready to stop them,” he said.
Published 10/24/13
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Second Place Teams in the “OCC” to Clash
Like they always seem to do the Ashland Arrows have gotten better as the season has gone along. They have won three of their four Ohio Cardinal Conference games and four of their last five overall.
Quarterback Nick Zurcher threw three touchdown passes and ran for another in last week’s win over Orrville (30-10) in conference action. Coach Scott Valentine says they expected a good game against Orrville and that’s what they got. “We went into that game knowing that they were a good football team and they played some good people. The only games they had lost were to good people. We knew it was going to be a test and a battle. I was happy with the way our kids came out and got the job done,” he said.
In their first two games Ashland lost to two pretty talented squads who have good records in Wadsworth (6-1) and Dover (5-2), but they learned from those losses. Valentine says they have gotten better on both sides of the ball. “They first two games for us were against some really good opponents that have only lost a couple of games. I think for us up front we had some guys that hadn’t had a lot of playing time. Anytime you are trying to get those guys to play together that’s important. I think we have really gotten better up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think defensively we have definitely become better tacklers an understanding everything defensively from a team concept because again we had to replace a lot of guys on defense.”
On Friday night, Asland (4-3,3-1) plays host to Clear Fork (5-2,3-1), who has also won four of its last five. Valentine thinks the Colts have shown a lot of improvement too. “When you look at them on tape they are doing a lot of things and getting better at some things. There is no doubt this is going to be one of those games that everybody is going to have to play four quarters and it could come down to the last possession,” he said.
Like Zurcher, Clear Fork quarterback Kadin Chrastina has enjoyed some huge games this year. He has run for around 500 yards against the Colts last three “OCC” opponents in Lexington, Wooster and Mansfield Madison. Valentine says they will have to do their best to contain Chrastina, who never came off the field last week against Madison. “You are not going to stop him. You have to contain him. You have to make sure you read your keys and you always have to have somebody account for him. He does so much for them on both sides of the ball and special teams wise he does. You just have to find a way to contain him some,” he said.
Published 10/16/13
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It’s Back to Winning for Ashland
Like all six teams they have played this year, the Ashland Arrows found out last week that Mansfield Senior is pretty good, but their assignment this week is to get back on the winning trail.
Ashland (3-3,2-1) did something that Clear Fork and Orrville couldn’t do when facing the Tygers and that is score. Still Mansfield led 17-0 at the half and went on to beat the Arrows (30-14) last Friday. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says the Tygers are just very good. “They are a good football team. There is no doubt that they do a lot of good things and have a lot good skilled players that make plays for them. It was one of those things that they made a lot of plays. We gave them a couple of things, but there are very good football team and they are going to keep being successful,” he said.
If they reach the playoffs this year Ashland might see another team like Mansfield Senior again or they could see the Tygers themselves. If they do, Valentine says they certainly learned some things from last week’s loss. “For us when you play a team that has the speed they have you have to take better pursuit angles and you have to tackle better defensively. Then offensively we have to sustain our blocks better because of their quickness and getting off those blocks. Those are some things we took away and want to work on this week as we head into this Friday,” said Valentine.
Ashland is at Orrville (4-2,1-2) on Friday to face the Red Riders, who lost a tough one (28-23) to West Holmes last week when time expired with Orrville inside the Holmes 20 in Ohio Cardinal Conference play. Orrville was one of the first schools in this area to feature the spread formation. However, Valentine says this year they have went away from that a little bit. “They are doing some different things and are giving you some different formations. They try to outflank you and get you out of position. They have been able to do that and get some big plays. For us it is about recognizing the formations they are in and the things they are doing and try to make sure we contain their running game,” said Valentine.
Also, Orrville has played some pretty solid defense this year. Valentine says the Red Riders like to bring some pressure. “Their defensive guys run to the football. They are very active. They like to blitz and put you in pressure situations and try to have you make a mistake, so those are some things that we are going to have to handle,” he said.
Mansfield Senior now leads Ashland, Clear Fork and West Holmes by a game in the “OCC.” So, Ashland needs some help to get a piece of the conference title, but Valentine says most importantly they have to take care of their own house. “I told our kids that there aren’t many years in our league that a team goes undefeated in the league. For us to get that opportunity we have to make sure we take care of our business. I told them if Mansfield Senior does it then they deserve to be champs. The important thing for us is making sure we take care us what we can take care of,” said Valentine.
Published 10/9/13
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Ashland Must Defeat Mansfield Senior Speed
Ashland and Mansfield Senior share first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference after two weeks and they play each other at Community Stadium in Ashland on Friday night.
The Arrows (3-2,2-0) know about handing someone their first defeat of the season. They did it last week to West Holmes (48-21) in Millersburg. Coach Scott Valentine calls it a great overall performance by the Arrows. “I felt really good about a lot of things we saw on tape and they way our kids battled for four quarters,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Defensively as far as keeping them out of the end zone after they were scoring a lot of points per game. Overall, it was a great team win. I told them to enjoy it over the weekend, but when we come back on Monday we have to be ready to go.”
Valentine says they were able to stop the big run play and that was a real key is slowing down the Knights. “I think a big thing was not giving them the big long runs that they had in the first four games. They had a lot of runs over 50 yards. Their kids run hard and I thought that was really one of things making them have to earn it and that led to a lot of good things for us,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (5-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division for the fourth straight week, has been very impressive on the both sides of the ball. They have outscored their two “OCC” opponents, Clear Fork and Orrville, by a combined score of 85-0. Valentine says the Tygers just have a lot of speed. “There is no doubt they are a good football team. They have playmakers all over and they are tough to contain. They do a good job running the ball and throwing the ball both. That puts a lot of pressure on your defense. With their speed on defense they can run and stop you from making big plays. Those are things we are going to have to take a look at and see where we can kind of help ourselves to be successful on Friday,” said Valentine.
When it comes to slowing down the Tygers, Valentine says if they don’t have the ball they can’t score. “I think part of it might be to keep the ball away from them. Form our standpoint that might change a little bit of what we do. If we can keep the ball away form them and keep it in our hands and convert third downs that is going to help our defense. Other than that I just think you have to be great tacklers in the open field because they have the speed and if you let them get out of there and don’t make that first tackle it’s going to be a big play,” said Valentine.
And when they have the ball, he says they can not hesitate at all. They have to take it right to them. “I think you have to find areas where you can go at them whether it is running or throwing the ball. Your guys can’t dance around. They can’t try to make moves they just have to get up the field and sometimes that turns into a big play. You can not be a lateral type team and expect you are going to get around the edge on them,” Valentine said.
Published 10/1/13
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Ashland Where they Want to be
After winning last week against Wooster with another win the Ashland Arrows have a chance to separate themselves from some of the rest if the Ohio Cardinal Conference. It won’t be easy they played talented West Holmes.
Last week, they topped Wooster (38-17) in a game that was stated on Friday and ended on Saturday night due to the storms that roared through North Central Ohio.
Coach Scott Valentine says it was a win that put them in good position. “You always want to win that first game in the league. It was definitely unusual circumstances. I have only been through one other game when we had to go to the next day. I thought our kids were able to make some adjustments and it was definitely good to get the win,” said Valentine.
The game was tied at 14 when it resumed on Saturday at Community Stadium, but after that it was pretty much all Ashland. Valentine says their defense kept them in the game early. “We gave them a touchdown offensively and we gave them one big play on defense. On Saturday night when we came back the defense really held us in the game because we struggled a little bit on offense and we put them in some bad situations turning the ball over. They battled and kept us in the game until we got things straightened out on offense,” said Valentine.
Turnovers were about the only thing that could stop the Ashland offense. Valentine says they are going to have to work on securing the ball. “When you look at some of the things that happened they were just some things that don’t normally happen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We saw a blitz and tried to get away and didn’t tuck the ball away and that led to a turnover. We had a missed handoff just with a lack of connection about what was going on. Those are things that you have to keep from happening.”
Ashland (2-2,1-0) makes the trip to West Holmes (4-0,1-0) in their second “OCC” game of the season this Friday night. The Knights have averaged better than 50 points a game, including a (42-14) win over Mansfield Madison in their league opener. Valentine says they are talented. “They are a good football team and the kids they have back are really carrying the load for them. It is going to be one of those games that hopefully we can slow them down a little bit because they have definitely been scoring a lot of points,” he said.
He says sometimes with the rhythm of a game you just have to be able to score points. “It’s a team game and when one area is struggling the other is got to carry you. When you go in sometimes you anticipate you are going to have to score some points with as much as they have been scoring,” said Valentine.
With Mansfield Senior playing Orrville this week, the four teams that won “OCC” games last week play each other. Valentine says that gives them an opportunity. “That is the thing about the league you have to try and get wins and get them every week. With all four teams that won last week are playing each other, so that means its going to leave two people that won’t have a loss in the league and that is a big jump up on people to start the league,” said Valentine.
Published 9/24/13
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Ashland Has to Stop Big Plays
Over the last several years the Ashland Arrows have used a strong non-conference schedule to propel themselves into contention for the Ohio Cardinal Conference crown.
Two years ago the Arrows lost all three of their conference games and went on to win the “OCC” title.
They earned their first win of the season last week when they blasted Sandusky (41-13) at Community Stadium. Coach Scott Valentine says that was one they had to have. “The first win is always important and we were able to get that one after a couple of tough weeks. That is one that you really like to have,” he said.
Ashland has been young in some spots this year and Valentine likes the progression that he is seeing from his team. “We are getting better each week and that has been the most important thing. If we can keep getting better that is going to help us as we get into conference here. I think we have and we are trying to get better another week,” said Valentine.
Wooster (0-3) will be at Ashland to kick off “OCC” action on Friday night. The Generals have lost to Medina Highland (45-17), Wadsworth (14-13) and Chagrin Falls (28-15) over the first three games. Valentine says Wooster has played a great schedule too. “You look at their non-conference schedule and they play very good people. You can see on tape how they are playing. They have some playmakers. They have a lot of things that concern you and that is what we have been trying to get ready for this week,” he said.
Wooster has number of outstanding athletes on its roster. Valentine says they have some guys that can score from anywhere on the field. “That is the scary thing. They are similar to Sandusky. It seemed like Sandusky had a lot of big plays in their games and Wooster is the same way. If you don’t contain them they can make big plays at anytime. That is the thing that you have to be ready for on defense,” said Valentine.
Like a lot of teams these days, Valentine says the Generals are trying to get those athletes the ball in space and force the opponent to make the tackle. “They have shown some balance where they are trying to get the ball to their guys. They try to get their backfield guys the ball in space and have guys blocking for them outside. They do spread it around and are balanced in that aspect of the game,” he said.
Ashland’s offense has scored 40 plus points the last two weeks and Valentine says they are working hard to find a way to make some plays against an aggressive Wooster defense. “Defensively they run to the ball and coverage wise they have been able to cover some people. We need to find out where we can attack them with our offense and how best to do that,” he said.
Ashland has won more “OCC” football titles than any other school and Valentine says a good start can be a key. “There is no doubt that the first one is important. The thing with our league is I don’t think anybody has gone through undefeated for a while, so you can’t say it is over if you lose it. But, you are always a step behind somebody, so the first one in the league is always important,” he said.
Published 9/18/13
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Ashland Ready to Win
Ashland has played two pretty good football teams over the first two weeks and came up empty and their coaching staff is putting an emphasis on coming up with the win as they host Sandusky this week.
Last week, the Arrows (0-2) had 426 total yards and scored 28 points in the second half only to lose (47-42) when Dover scored in the final minutes. Coach Scott Valentine thought they did some good things against the Tornadoes. “I think we played a lot better. I think we competed a lot better, especially in the second half. We saw some improvement in some areas. We didn’t have a great first half defensively. We had to adjust to some of the things they were trying to do. I thought our kids made some adjustments in the second half that allowed us to make some plays and get us back in the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It was disappointing because when you come all of the way back you want to win them. We saw some positives, but we have to keep getting better because we want to get some “W’s” now.”
Nick Zurcher passed for 274 yards against Dover and Valentine says the offensive line was able to give him some time to throw the football. “We came in and we had worked on some things all week to get better up front. I thought our guys not only did a great job running the ball, but with pass blocking in giving our quarterback more time. Those are things that really helped us last week,” he said.
Sandusky (0-2) has given up some points over the first two weeks of the season in loses to Fremont Ross (64-30) and Sandusky Perkins (47-7) last week. Valentine says those were two excellent opponents. “They are like they have been the last couple of years. They have real good athletes. Their first two games were against good teams. They played Fremont Ross and Sandusky Perkins. They are in a similar spot like we are in that we have played two tough opponents early and weren’t able to get a win. It’s going to be whoever gets the job done and comes to play this Friday,” said Valentine.
He says the Blue Streaks still have some home run hitters they can get the ball to. “As you contain them you have to make sure that you are in spots where you don’t give up and big plays,” he said.
Valentine says they understand that this is pretty much a must win for them as far as their season as a whole is concerned. “We are in a situation right now where we have had two tough games, but you can’t sit back and worry and feel sorry for yourself. You have to get ready for the next one and go out and get the job done,” he said.
Published 9/10/13
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Ashland Needs Third Down Execution
Ashland played a good first half last week, but that wasn’t good enough for the Arrows.
Wadsworth put up 21 third quarter points and went on to beat the Arrows (35-7) on the opening night of the season.
Coach Scott Valentine says Wadsworth was able to put some drives together in the second half. “I thought we played a good first half. We missed a couple of opportunities offensively to put up a few more points. Came out and did a lot of things defensively that we wanted to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “In the second half they came out and took the first drive right down the field on us. Then we pinned them back and they took it 99 yards and got up two scores. We just couldn’t put anything together offensively. We moved the ball, but just couldn’t finish drives. We just have to learn to finish that second half.”
High school football is often times a game of big plays, however, you have to be able to drive the ball too, especially against good teams. Valentine says they are working on their third down efficiency. “One of the things that we are working on this week is finishing on third down and getting first downs because we were able to move down the field, but we got down in that shortened field and had some trouble on third down getting the first down. We had a couple of penalties that didn’t help. We need to sustain blocks like usual,” he said.
Getting those first downs when you are down near the red zone is especially tough. Valentine says you have to win those individual battles. “You are down in that area and lots of times defenses like to blitz, bring pressure, and try to go man to man. In those situations you have to win some man to man battles. We had some guys open and just missed them a little bit. Like I said some penalties hurt us too, but we will get better this week,” he said.
Ashland travels to Dover (1-0) on Friday night to meet the Tornadoes. Dover beat a team from Canada (60-13) in their opener last Thursday. Valentine says this is another good Dover team. “Like every year they are a good football team. They have had to replace a lot of guys this year, but they have guys in their program that are ready to go. They are a team that has a home field advantage. They just put in field turf. They opened up last week with that. Traditionally they are always pretty good,” said Valentine.
Valentine says Dover does a lot of things they do. “They do a lot of similar things that we do. They move into some different formations a little bit more. Their quarterback is a guy that has to be able to throw and run the ball. They are about the same they have been every year,” he said.
Ashland Getting Better
Ashland is a program that expects to win and this year is no different.
They open the season this Friday on the road at Wadsworth against the Grizzlies.
Coach Scott Valentine, who has won more Ohio Cardinal Conference games than any other coach, says his players have really learned a lot during the preseason. “Our kids have come back and are really learning from what they are seeing on the video from our scrimmages and video from our practices. They are working to try and get better and that’s all you can ask as a coach to have kids that really want to work on a daily basis,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think we are headed in the right direction. You never know until that first game how things are going to turn out. I am happy with where we are heading and hopefully we can do a lot of good things.”
However, the coach knows that playing well in scrimmages and playing well in games that count can be two different things. “The emotion is a lot different and that is one the areas that you have to keep in check with your kids is their emotions because sometimes they try to do way too much and get out of position and things like that. That is all part of that first game in finding out how you kids respond if something doesn’t go right. Games are definitely different than scrimmages,” he said.
Valentine says there really aren’t going to be many surprises in the game Friday night. He says they know what they have to do. “Offensively both of us do what we are going to do. We throw the ball around and do things and their offense is running at you and play action pass. After playing each other for two years there is not a lot of difference in what we do. Now you are working against that on a daily basis and try to make sure you cover your bases coaching wise and that your players understand what they are going to have to do in certain circumstances,” said Valentine.
Wadsworth hasn’t changed much. Valentine says they are a run first team. “They have their 1,000 yard rusher coming back. He does a great job. Thy have a fullback that does a great job blocking, but when he carries the ball he has some speed and when he gets through there he can get away from you. There is no doubt we are going to have to be ready to stop the run,” he said.
However, Wadsworth will run some misdirection plays and they are pretty good with the play action pass, according to Valentine. “They do some misdirection stuff. Their trap play is big on that. They fake to the tailback and all of the sudden that fullback is popping through there. Then they run the counter play with the tailback a little bit. Then they have a couple of reverses that they run. They try to catch you downhill and then beat you with the misdirection,” he said.
Valentine says the Grizzlies are pretty good on defense too and they are going to have to be very good at finding the holes. “Defensively they have probably six or seven kids back from last year’s defense, so those guys have matured and you can tell they know what they are doing. They run to the football and they are good tacklers. They are pretty solid on defense. We are going to have to find some places where we can get some plays and get our going in position to make some big plays for us,” said Valentine.
Ashland Making Progress
Ashland is predicted to be one of the top teams in the Ohio Cardinal Conference again this season, but if they are going to do that they are going to have to mature quickly as a team.
They play Brunswick in their final tune-up on Friday night and then open the regular season with Wadsworth next week, followed by traditional powers Dover and Sandusky before opening the “OCC” portion of their schedule.
Coach Scott Valentine, who has been the head of the most consistently successful program in the “OCC,” says he has seen some steps in the right direction from his young kids. “I think we have seen some growth from some guys. We don’t have a lot of varsity guys coming back with a lot of playing experience, but we thought our guys that have been waiting their turn have really shown some improvement in some things. We have learned a lot from the first scrimmage so hopefully we can show that gain as we keep going through the season,” said Valentine.
The coach has been impressed by how on defense they have been hungry to get to the ball carrier. “I felt good about the way we ran to the football on defense and used our shoulder pads. We have to get better at tackling overall, but I felt that was the one thing was that pursuit of the football was a really positive thing that we liked to see,” he said.
However, when you get to the guy with the ball you have to be able to take him down and that is not something that has happened on a consistent basis for the Arrows. Valentine says that has to change. “I think defensively tackling. We have to get better at that. Wadsworth, we have been able to see them in scrimmage, and we are going to see a big back that can run,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We see that every year, so we are going to have to become good tacklers. We need to finish our blocks on offense. I think we are getting better, but we have a ways to go as far as finishing the play out blocking wise.”
Ashland has been consistent because they have had kids that understand the tradition and want to be part of it. Valentine says when the time comes you have to be ready to play. “That is something that over the years we have tried to emphasize. You can’t just show up and think that things are going to get done. There is a period of time where nobody is playing on Friday night that you have to get some work done and then you get started you have to keep improving. I think our group of kids are working hard and hopefully that can play out as we go through the season,” he said.
In the final scrimmage against Brunswick Valentine wants to polish game like situations so they are ready to execute those come the opener. “I think that is when you get into actual game situations. You get into your down and distances. We talked to our kids about how important it is to make adjustments on the sidelines and then be able to take it to the field and get those adjustments made on the field,” he said.
Ashland Gets Tournament Win
Ashland got only its second win in May on Monday night, bu it cam in the division one sectional tournament at Madison where they beat Mansfield Senior.
The Arrows (9-13) cruised past the Tygeres (11-1) in five innings. Coach Rob Lavengood says they did some good things on the mound and at the plate. “It was really good effort. It was probably our most compete baseball game that we have played in two or three weeks. We got a really good pitching performance from Nick Zurcher. He only game up three hits in five innings and one run. We played pretty solid defense behind him and we swung the bats well. So, those were good signs. It was nice to see us maybe turn the corner a little bit (Monday) night and get a win and play as well as we did. Hopefully that carries over to some big games later this week against Lexington and then Norwalk,” said Lavengood.
The Ashland coach hopes this turns the momentum around in right direction for them because they have some tough games this week. “We have had a couple of different momentum swings that we have had throughout this year. We started the season of playing pretty well at 7-3 and then before (Monday) night we lost 10 of 11 games to drop to 8-13. We have lost some tough games along the way, but regardless they are still losses,” he told Swankonsports.com o after Monday night’s victory. “It was nice to get a win (Monday) and hopefully turn things around and hopefully get things headed back in he right direction. We need to get our kids just playing with some confidence and gong into the game feeling good about our chances to win a baseball game.”
Ashland is the defending “OCC” champion and this spring they have a chance to play spoiler as they host first place Lexington on Tuesday. The Minutemen lead Wooster by a game. Lavengood hopes they play inspired baseball. “(Tuesday) night they come to our place. I am sure they are going to be focused and locked in to play well because if they beat us twice they can win an outright conference championship. Hopefully we can give them a battle and make them play their best baseball if they are going to win a conference championship. I think our kids are going to ready to go against Lexington and hopefully we have a good performance,” said Lavengood.
The Arrows biggest game of the week comes Thursday in the sectional final against Norwalk (23-4), the outright Northern Ohio League champion. Lavengood says that will a huge challenge. “They have a really nice team. We played them right at the beginning of the season. We had a three way doubleheader at their place with them and Sandusky Perkins. They beat us pretty good. We are hoping with our ace on the mound Wednesday night we play baseball they way we are capable of playing. Hopefully, we can give them a good game and give ourselves a chance to win a sectional championship,” he said.
Ashland Learning
It has not been a season that Ashland High School baseball fans are used to, but things are starting to turn around for the Arrows… maybe.
They lost (5-2) to the second place team in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, the Wooster Generals, on Saturday.
Coach Rob Lavengood saw some good things from his team. “Well, I saw signs of a turnaround. Now we just have to put it together and get a “W” and I think that will go a long ways in gaining that confidence that we need as we get ready for tournament. Defensively, we didn’t have an error Saturday, so that was a good sign. Tyson (Vogel) threw the game for us. He struggled a little bit the first few innings, but he settled in and threw a really good fourth and fifth inning. It was probably the best two innings he has pitched in two weeks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There were definitely some sings Saturday that were good for us as we head into this week and we hope it carries over and gives a chance to get some “W’s” this week.”
Ashland (7-11,5-5) plays at West Holmes (12-7,5-5) in “OCC” action on Tuesday. This has not been the season the Knights expected either, but Lavengood says that has been due to injuries. “I think they have kind of righted the ship a little bit and started to play some pretty good baseball here these last couple of weeks. They have struggled through with some injuries the first part of the season to their pitching. They are trying to get things straightened out for tournament. I think they are in position to make a nice little run because it sounds like the Baird kid is getting healthy, their number one. The Snyder kid, who has hardly pitched at all has finally started to throw a little bit these last couple of weeks. If those two guys are healthy they are as good as anybody in the area. I would hate to have to face them come tournament time, that’s for sure,” said Lavengood.
With the West Holmes pitching staff back in tack Lavengood says that means they have to have a good approach at the plate to have any success. “We have been talking to our kids here the last couple of weeks about making sure we have a good at bat every time we step into the batter’s box. We need to know our zone and not expand our strike zone, swinging at strikes and laying off balls and making the starting pitcher for the other team make some pitches. These are some things we have struggled with the last couple of weeks. Saturday even though we only scored a couple of runs off a very good pitcher, the Buckingham kid from Wooster, their number one, I thought we had some pretty decent at bats, so I’m hoping that will finally show up in he box scores this week as we face West Holmes,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Needs to Pick it Up
The high school baseball season is short, 27 days to be exact, and you really can’t afford any prolonged slumps.
Unfortunately that is just what the Ashland Arrows are in at this point in the season. After a loss in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game to Mansfield Madison (15-5) on Wednesday evening the Arrows have lost seven of their last eight games.
Coach Rob Lavengood says they haven’t been making good pitches and they have been making a lot of errors and that adds up to losses. “We are definitely going through a pretty rough stretch. We started the year 7-3 and now we have lost seven of our last eight. The old adage is you win games with pitching and defense and we have been struggling quite a bit in those two areas for the past two weeks or so. (Tuesday) and (Wednesday) against Madison was no different. When you give up 24 runs in two days you are not going to win too many games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the loss, “Again it starts on the mound. Our pitchers have really struggled with their location recently. When we have thrown strikes we have caught a lot of the plate and at times we are struggling finding the strike zone. When we fall behind and we are throwing 3-1 pitches and 2-0 pitches the other team is sitting fastball. When we throw strikes they have been hitting it.”
Lavengood says Madison played well, but they didn’t given themselves much of a chance. “You have to give them credit, Madison swung the bats extremely well this week against us, but he have to do a little bit better job on the mound of hitting our spots and working ahead in the count. Then we have to do a better job of making plays behind our pitchers, so they don’t have to throw extra pitches and get extra out every inning,” he said.
It is not a lack of effort for the Arrows. Lavengood says they have just had trouble throwing quality strikes and they have not been making the routine plays in the field. “It’s not like our pitchers are stepping on the mound trying to throw balls. They are working their tail off. They are trying and sometimes the harder you try, the harder it is. There are two things that are frustrating that really put you in a hole and that’s walks and errors. We have really struggled in those areas. We have given too many free passes and we have made too many errors. That is a recipe for disaster when you are trying to win games against good teams,” said Lavengood.
In most cases the Arrows have been scoring enough runs to win, but Lavengood says they have been putting themselves behind the eight ball too many times early in games. “The thing that has really hurt us here recently is we have fallen behind early and not just 1-0 or 2-0 we have fallen behind six, seven, eight to nothing the last couple days. That limits a lot of what you can do on offense. One of the things that I think is a strength of ours offensively is our team speed. Our ability to steal bases, bunt, move some guys over, do some hit and run and do some things to put pressure on the defense. When you are down six, seven, eight to nothing you are not going to sacrifice bunt. You are certainly not going to steal too many bases. If you get thrown out down six or seven that doesn’t make you look very smart, so we have really been limited in what we can do because we have fallen behind big. We have got to get off to better starts our pitchers have to give some quality innings early in the game to give us a chance to do some things offensively and get things rolling and we just haven’t been able to do that. (Tuesday) night against Madison we are down 8-0 after three innings and (Wednesday) we are down 9-0 after three innings. There is not a whole lot you can do to be aggressive offensively when that’s the case,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Gets Big Win
Ashland broke a three game losing streak and earned a big win over Clear Fork in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Tuesday night.
The Arrows downed the Colts (10-5) to remain in a share of second place in the “OCC,” game behind Lexington. The Minutemen beat Mansfield Madison (9-3) on Tuesday.
Arrows coach Rob Lavengood says they played better defense than they have for most the season. “(Tuesday) was definitely a good start. We saw some good things that we hadn’t quite seen in the last week. I thought defensively we played much better. We made some nice plays. I thought we had some clutch hitting, especially with two outs and runners in scoring position to be able to put some runs on the board. It was nice to see Tyson Vogel get a complete game victory on the mound,” he said.
Ashland (7-6,5-1) is the defending champion and Lavengood says they need to get on a streak of good play here. “When you get into a grove where you playing with confidence and playing well that can carry into a four, five, six game winning streak. On the flip side if you go through a stretch were you aren’t playing very good baseball and you have a week where you play four or five games you can quickly get yourself into a tough losing streak. Coming into the game we had lost three straight and it was nice to get back on the winning side of things and hopefully that will carry through (Wednesday) when we go down to Clear Fork and hopefully we can get a sweep,” said Lavenood.
If the rain gets out of the area in time, the Arrows will play Clear Fork (6-6,0-6) in the valley. Lavengood says Lexington is a strong team, but this race is far from over. “There are a lot of games still to be played. I think there are a lot of pretty good teams in our conference. Lexington is definitely off to a good start and they are very solid ball club, but they still have some tough games on their schedule,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Anything can happen, especially when we get into May when everyone starts to get into the sectional tournament and you have to shuffle your pitching staff and you might not be able to throw your one or your two in league games once your get into the tournament. That really challenges your pitching depth. You kind of find out who has solid number three and four starters that might have to pitch in conference games.”
Last season, Ashland was able to win the conference title with basically two pitchers, both whom have graduated. Lavengood says they have used basically four pitchers this season, but they made need more, especially next month. “That was one of our concerns coming into this year that we weren’t sure how deep we were. I think that is still a concern that we have. Fortunately we have been able to mix and match situations and we have only had to throw basically four guys. That might change over the next couple of weeks. Nick Zuecher will have the ball (Wednesday) at Clear Fork. He is really our number two guy. Austin Bouque and Corey Gets have given us pretty solid number three and four guys. Those four guys have really thrown the bulk of our innings. We are still not as deep as I would like, but so far we have been able to use those guys as starters and also for an inning here and a inning there in relief and really not have to go and deeper than that,” said Lavengood.
Defending “OCC” Champs Lose to Mansfield Senior
Ashland coach Rob Lavengood has been harping on the lack of fundamentals and Wednesday it bit them in the butt.
In the first game, a continuation from Tuesday, they beat Mansfield Senior (8-4), but they were stunned in the second game (3-2) at Bud Plank Field. The loss dropped the Arrows (7-4,4-1) from a share of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Coach Ron Lavengood was disappointed in the effort, especially in the field. “We have been talking over the last few weeks about how we have struggled defensively making plays and having three, four errors every game. It came back to hurt us in the second game (Wednesday). We had five errors and gave up three unearned runs. You have to make plays. We have been struggling and we continue to struggle. We just have to get better. You just can’t afford to force your pitcher to make extra pitches every inning and give the other team four or five outs every inning because you are not making plays. On top of that we just didn’t swing the bats very well. We only had four hits and two runs,” said Lavengood.
Mansfield Senior (2-7,1-4) won its first conference game of the season and Lavengood says the Tygers are clearly better fundamentally than they have been in recent seasons. “You have to give Mansfield a lot of credit. I thought their pitchers threw strikes and I thought defensively they made some plays. They gave themselves a chance to win and that’s what you have to do. You have to tip your hat to them,” he said.
Lavengood says there is no time for pouting. They need to get right back at it because they play a talented Wooster (6-2,3-1) team on Friday on the road. “We have a big one coming up Friday, a makeup game against Wooster on the road from last week. So, we will see how we bounce back. It will be interesting to see how the kids react to the loss (Wednesday). We’ll come in (Thursday) and have a good practice after school if the weather cooperates and lets us get on the field and do some things defensively. Hopefully we can bounce back and get back on the winning track against Wooster,” said Lavengood.
Last year, Ashland won the “OCC” and advanced to the regionals. Two years ago they finished second and lost in the district tournament. Lavengood says they need to develop some leaders. “That is a huge loss. We had some guys that were on the team last year that were three and four year lettermen that had been through the wars for quite a few years. They knew how to go about their business and they knew how to lead by example as well as being vocal leaders on the field. Right now we are trying to search for some of that. We have a few guys that were part of our success the last couple of years at the varsity level, but those guys were able to fly under the radar and follow by example the kids that graduated last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Now they are being put into those roles where they are the leaders. Hopefully, they are ready to kind of get us through some of the tough times like (Wednesday) and keep us working hard and plugging away and showing some of the younger guys how to go about their business and bounce back from a tough loss.”
Ashland Sits on Top
Well, it is so far so good for Ashland, kind of.
The Arrows (4-2,3-0) are the co-leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference along with Lexington. They have played well at times, but not nearly as consistent as they would like.
Like everyone else pretty much, including the Indians, Ashland was rained out of Wednesday night and coach Rob Lavengood says they wanted to play because they had good momentum. “It is doubly disappointing when you are coming off a nice win like we had a Tuesday. We had a nice win against Wooster 4-2 Tuesday night. The kids were excited about playing (Wednesday). It is just unfortunate that we got rained out. We are supposed to play on Thursday night, but that probably isn’t going to happen. Who knows when that game is going to get made up. I think our kids are just kind of anxious to get back on the field and build off a win from Tuesday,” said Lavengood.
Although the game is scheduled now for Thursday things don’t look to promising after heavy rains most of Wednesday. Lavengood says he is hoping this is not a repeat of 2011. “We saw that two years ago. We had just an awful spring. We got some games backed up at the end of the season where we had to play three, four conference games within a short period of time. We end up losing a couple of them and losing conference championship. Now, last year we had a great spring and I don’t think we had to make up any of our conference games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We were fortunate enough to have two really good pitchers and we were able to keep them on schedule and win a conference championship. You are kind of at the mercy of the weather when you are talking about baseball in springtime in Ohio. If you run into bad weather you are hoping your kids can adjust to the situation and themselves in a position to be successful when it comes time to play those games.”
Lavengood knows there are some things that need to be improved if they are going to continue to win. The first thing is better defense. “We have done what we have had to do to win. We have kind of been a little up and down. We started the season off by playing three pretty solid games. Then we stumbled over the weekend and then really (Tuesday) night despite winning 4-2 and getting a big win against Wooster defensively we were awful. We were lucky to win. We had eight errors. Tyson Vogel pitched one heck of game and only game up three hits. He was able to get us out of jams the whole game because of how well he pitched. We didn’t play very good defense at all. That is something we have to become better at because eventually those errors are going to hurt you and they are going to cost you games,” he said.
If the weather clears up and Ashland plays Wooster (4-1,2-1) on Thursday, Lavengood knows they will be playing a a very strong Wooster team, led by Nick Buckingham. “They have a nice team. Buckingham pitched against us (Tuesday) night and he pitched very well. He had eight strikeouts and only gave up five hits. He has a very good curveball to go with a pretty good fastball. We were able to scratch across four runs and manufacture some things by bunting and moving runners. We were happy to get out of there with a win. Wooster has a nice team and that was their first loss. They are definitely going to have some say in the “OCC” before it is all said and done,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Gets Big Win to Start the Season
Ashland, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference, lost many of their players to graduation, but they are not going to give up their conference title without a fight and it looks like they have plenty of fight in them too.
The Arrows (1-0) beat Cleveland St. Ignatius (6-5) on Monday in a non-conference game. Coach Rob Lavengood says that win gave them an immediate blast of confidence heading into the conference schedule. “It makes us feel really good. You always want to get the season off to a good start with a win. We got a quality win against a quality opponent and that makes it even better. On top of that it was the 1,000 win in Ashland High School history for baseball. That makes it even a little bit sweeter. It was a big win and I’m excited for our kids. It was definitely a good way to get the season started,” said Lavengood.
High schools sports are often times games of momentum. Lavengood says they got two kinds of momentum on Monday. “You can talk about momentum in a season and you can talk about momentum even in a game. We saw that (Monday). We were able to jump out to a 4-0 lead after one inning. That allowed our kids to settle in and play with confidence. It allowed our pitchers to pitch with a lead. They were able to pitch with confidence and that just makes a big difference,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “It was nice to get out a good lead. We saw some really good things from some guys (Monday) that make us fell a little bit better about our team coming into the season. Hopefully this is a win that gives our kids a lot of confidence as we head into our conference opener (Tuesday) against Orrville.”
Last year when Ashland won the “OCC” title and advanced to the regional final they had the habit of scoring early. Lavengood hopes they can do the same kind of thing a bunch of times this year. “We had some pretty good pitchers last year, but we also put them in some pretty good positions where we were able in many games to score early and then settle in and pitch with a lead. It is an awful lot easier as a pitcher when you are up 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 in the first or second inning, so you can just settle in and be aggressive on the mound and throw strikes and go after the other team. You can pitch to contact and use your defense behind you. That carried right into our game (Monday) because our pitchers got the chance to pitch with the lead right form the start,” said Lavngood.
Defense of the league title begins on Tuesday when the Arrows host the Orrville Red Riders. Lavengood knows this will be a key conference game against a good team. “Orrville should be good. They have a good team coming back. They have their top two pitchers back from last year. They have played a lot of young guys the last two years. Those guys are juniors and senior this year. We are going to have a good test (Tuesday) in our conference opener and we are excited heading into (Tuesday) after a win (Monday). I will have my ace on the mound in Tyson Vogel, so hopefully he has a good start. Hopefully our guys play well again and give ourselves and opportunity to get our first conference win,” he said.
Ashland Has Some Steps to Make
Ashland is the school that holds the trophy for baseball champion of the Ohio Cardinal Conference and they have the mind to defend it, but it won’t be easy.
West Holmes, Lexington, perhaps Madison, Orrville, Wooster and Clear Fork have good teams.
Pitching will likely be the key to Ashland’s success. They are attempting to replace their top three pitchers for last year when they reached the regional final. Coach Rob Lavengood says they have been able to get some scrimmages in the books. “We are still trying to figure that out. We haven’t had a chance to be outside on the baseball field yet. There are still lots of things we need to figure out once that happens. We do have football turf and we were able to get a couple of scrimmages in there. We saw some good things and we saw some things that we still have to work on. We are still a work in progress. We still have some question marks to find out the answers to those as we head into next week as we open up our season, so we will see what happens,” he said.
Lavengood says he wants his pitchers to throw strikes and get ahead in the count. He says that is the most important thing. “That is what my pitchers have heard form me over the last week and through the two scrimmages we were able to have. Saturday we scrimmaged a very good Cleveland St. Ignatius team and our pitchers didn’t give up a lot of hits, but our ball to strike ratio was one to one and we put guys on by walking guys. The most important thing is throwing strikes. Our pitchers hear it all of time that the most important pitch is strike one. You have to work ahead in the count to give yourself a chance to be successful and right now that is something we have to improve on,” said Lavengood.
Ashland will have a different sort of offense this year, one with less power and more speed. Lavengood says they have a lot of work to do. “It is still a work in progress. Lots of times pitching is ahead of hitting at this point of the season and that is kind of what we have seen so far. Our bats need to com around a little bit. Some guys are swinging the bats fairly well and other guys are struggling a little bit. We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to swing the bats outside in situational type things. We are going to have to get ready soon,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We open up the season in less than a week and that’s when the games start to count. Hopefully the fact that we were able to get a couple of scrimmages in already and maybe another one later this week that our guys are going to get some of the rust off and get a chance to see live pitching. That will give them a chance to have some successful at bats when we start playing games next week.”
Ashland plays its first two Ohio Cardinal Conference games next Tuesday and Wednesday against the Orrville Red Riders. Lavengood says they better be ready. “That is going to be a very important match up in the conference. Orrville is going to have a very good team this year. They are going to have their top two pitchers back. They were extremely young last year, so I think they are going to have a solid team. To jump right into the conference schedule with them as your first game, if that is when we open hopefully our guys are going to be ready to go. I think it was that much more important that we were able to get a couple of scrimmages this week to get ready for the opener,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Has to be Different
Ashland is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball champion and if they are going to defend that title they are going to have to do it in a different way against strong competition.
Coach Rob Lavengood, in his third season as the head coach, believes they have the talent to make some noise in the “OCC” this spring. “I think we have a chance to be real competitive again this year, but we graduated some real good players. We are going to have to fill some of those roles. We’ll find out when we get outside and start playing some scrimmages and games and kind of find out where we are at. We definitely have some question marks to fill and time will tell,” he said.
Ashland had one of the most talented pitching staffs in Ohio last year leading the Arrows to the division one regional finals. Lavengood admits they need to have guys step up. “We graduated three very good pitchers with Adam Schaly, Aric Harris, and Zach Bernhard. Two of them are pitching division one baseball and the other one is playing college football. So, those are some big shoes to fill. We are going to have to have some JV guys that pitched for us last year step up and fill some of those spots. We fell like we have some quality arms and hopefully those guys are up to the challenge,” he said.
Lavengood says they will need to find a different way to score because they won’t have the kind of power they have had in his first two years. “Actually I do like our lineup. We are going to have a different lineup then we have had the last couple of years. We had a couple of big boppers the last couple of years in the middle of the order with some power. We don’t quite have that this year, but we have a lot of athletes up and down our lineup that can do a lot of things. Hopefully we are going to be able to run a little bit more, put some more pressure on the defense and use some of our athleticism to be successful offensively. I really like the potential of our offense and those are things that we are going to have find out once we get outside,” said Lavengood.
Going into the season, Lavengood thinks that West Holmes, last year’s runner-up, is the favorite to win it all this season, but there are at least seven pretty good teams in the conference. “I think our league is going to be very strong from top to bottom this year. There aren’t a whole of games on the schedule in our league that you can say I feel pretty good going in that’s a “W.” Up and down the standings you are going to have to come to play every night. I think coming into the season the clear favorite has to be West Holmes. They went to the final four last year in division two. They have their top two pitchers back in Gabe Snyder, a senior going to Wright State and Butch Baird, a junior that is getting a lot of looks from division one schools,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “With the one two punch on the mound that they have I would says they are the clear favorite, but that’s why you play the games and you never know what might happen. Other than that Madison is going to be much improved this year, Lexington should be pretty good, Wooster I think is going to be pretty solid, Orrville is going to be pretty strong, Clear Fork is going to strong. You can point out about every team in our conference and it’s going to be a tough game.”
Limiting Bad Turnovers a Key For Ashland
Ashland faces the huge task of upsetting Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Mansfield Senior in the division one sectional tournament at Galion High School Friday night.
However, they may have gotten some help due to Mansfield Senior’s misfortune. A source close to the Tygers program told Swankonsports.com on Thursday that Donovan Benson, the team’s second leading scorer and leading rebounder, would be out for at least three weeks and would not see action against Ashland.
The Arrows emerged from Madison’s slow down tactics in Tuesday’s semi-finals to beat the Rams (50-19) for the third time this season. Arrows coach Tim Fralich says they eventually got the pressure going in order to speed he game up. “Madison came out and tried to stall. They got out 2-0 and 4-2 and they just brought the ball out on the floor and spread it out looked to milk the clock. It had our guys a little rattled there. We aren’t use to seeing that, but we stayed the course. We guarded pretty well overall, but we didn’t force any turnovers or to shoot quicker shots. It was a very unique situation to be in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Once we had an opportunity to sort of gather ourselves and talk about it, we couldn’t us a timeout because they had the basketball, we changed our defenses up a little bit and did more trapping, came out and pressured a little more. We forced them to play a little bit higher tempo and we were able to force some turnovers. That was a critical quarter for us, the second, it gave the opportunity to get the ball in our hands.”
Now, Mansfield Senior (19-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, will not want to slow the pace down at all. Fralich says they want to play faster. “They are going to play fast and they aren’t going to do anything different. They are really affective at playing fast and they have the athletes to play fast. We are going to have to be prepared to guard them in transition and send extra guys back on defense and try to change things up to keep them off balance a little bit. Hopefully by doing that we can slow them down a little bit. You can’t count on completely slowing them down, but you can slow tem down a little bit. You can force them to move the ball and do some different things,” said Fralich.
Keon Johnson is the two time “OCC” player of the year and headed to Winthrop on a scholarship is the key to anything Mansfield Senior does. Fralich says they want to contain him. “Anytime you talk about Mansfield Senior, you have to talk about Keon Johnson. He is a guy that is capable of putting up a boatload of points. He also creates quite a bit for his teammates. We are going to have to do a really good job on him. Not one guy can guard him he is so quick and so explosive. As a team if we can commit to bottling him up, just force him to shoot some tougher shots and if he going to get his points, he has to do it a little more inefficiently where he has to shoot a lot more shots to get there,” said Fralich.
Johnson may need to score even more without Benson.
Turnovers can never be avoided against Mansfield Senior, but Fralich says they can’t be turning it over in their own end because leads to easy points. “If you can eliminate those big spurts you give yourself a better chance to win. They do have that ability to get a couple quick steals. Our problem with them the second time around he played them was they turned us over, they got steals that led to just wide open layups. We need to cut down our turnovers overall, but if we are going to turn it over it can’t be way out on the floor. It has to be an aggressive turnover by pushing the ball, not just allowing them to get layups,” said Fralich.
Ashland has to be ready for Anything
Ashland struck first in their two game series with Madison, but it is the Tuesday night match-up in the division one sectional semi-final at Galion High School that both sides want the most.
To the winner goes a chance to upset Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Mansfield Senior on Friday.
Ashland (13-9) downed the Rams (60-36) last Friday in an “OCC” game. Ashland coach Tim Fralich says there aren’t going to be many secrets in the game. “You have some familiarity with them you just went over a scouting report on them, you’ve watched film, you have seem them live. You have probably reviewed that film as a team the day after the game and you are going over the same stuff (Monday) and (Sunday) in practice. You are definitely familiar with the group. We are starting to be at a point in our program where we are not going to hide too many things. We are going to try to do what we do and see how they attack us and make adjustments from there,” said Fralich.
Considering Ashland won by more than 20 point just last week, Fralich believes the Rams (2-20) will make some changes to their game plan come Tuesday. “I think coach Mergel has a good young group and they are working hard and they are doing a lot of things well. They have struggled a little bit there. I would think they are a team that is probably going to give us something very different from what we saw Friday night. We just have to be prepared for anything and try to be aggressive no matter what we see from them and try to do the right things and play the game the right way,” he said.
Despite their record Fralich doesn’t believe that Madison is a bad team. He says they can do some things. “I expect them to try and do some different things to try and slow us down a little bit. Maybe pressure us a little bit more at times. Ideally we would like to see a carbon copy of Friday. I thought our guys played well and forced them into some tough situations. We made some good basketball plays and we had some high energy. We realize it’s the tournament now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have a group of seniors and they aren’t going to want their careers to end. We don’t think it’s going to be where we just walk out there and are able to get a win. We are really going to have to earn it and execute things that we have talked about doing against a Madison team that is really going to play hard and be physical. They still do a lot of things well.”
Ashland has been pretty consistent in their approach since Fralich got the job and he says they aren’t going to change now. “We are going to do what we do. We like to mix it up with a little bit of pressure, so we are going to do that and see how they handle it. If they don’t handle it real well then we probably do some more of it. We will still mix and match a couple of our defenses just to try and keep them off balance. That is what we have done all year and we have been fairly successful in doing those things,” he said.
Defense the Key For Ashland
Ashland has the potential to score a lot of points, but lately they are letting the opponent score too easily and they have to sure that up if they are going to be more successful.
Last Saturday for example they had the early lead on Massillon, but let things slip away in the second half and lost to the Tigers (61-47) in non-conference play.
Coach Tim Fralich says they like up tempo basketball, but this may have been too up tempo for them. “We played them pretty tough in the first half. We were up by six with just a few seconds left in the second quarter. Unfortunately we through the ball away and they grabbed it and chucked up about a half court shot and drained it, so that was a little bit of a momentum changer for them. We were up three at the half and then after three we were down three. In the fourth quarter they made a couple of nice plays. They stole ball from us and had a couple of dunks. We don’t see that a lot. That type of athleticism. Some of our younger guys where sort of in aye,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Unfortunately that had a little effect on us in a little snowball effect where we just didn’t handle the ball like we need too and they were able to get some easy bucket against us. We ended up losing by 14, but it was a closer game than that we ended fouling in the end and they were able to expand the lead. We were disappointed. We felt like they were a team that was beatable. They weren’t a team where that we would have to go in and play extremely well to win. We just didn’t do enough things down the wire in the fourth quarter to give us that chance. In the second half we just didn’t play as well as we did in the first. We like to play fast, but they have some athletes were they can really get out and play fast. They were able to turn up the tempo another notch where we just weren’t able to hang with them.”
With the tournament starting next week, and a possible date with Mansfield Senior looming, Fralich knows they must be better defenders as individuals and as a team. “We need to get back to playing good overall team defense. This past weekend both Clear Fork and Massillon had guards that were really good and can create and create off the bounce. There were times when we just let the ball go right by us. Our help defense wasn’t as quick as it needed to be. We hope we can just guard the ball better, keeping it front, and if does beat us having the early help there. As a whole we just need to guard better as a team to give ourselves here down the wire to help us improve here as we finish up the season,” he said.
Ashland (12-9,6-7) will be down the road at Mansfield Madison (2-19,0-13) on Friday night. It was 51-35 Ashland in the first meeting, but Fralich says Madison’s scoring punch is greater now. “They have a bunch of guys that are averaging four, five, six points a game. They are playing 11 guys and a lot of them are right around that area. They don’t have just one dominate scorer. They have a bunch of guys that are capable of putting up 10 points. We are going to have to do a good job of defending as a team. We can’t just focus in on one guy. We can’t provide extra help or go one catch on one particular player. We have to sit down and guard as a group. Another thing we have to do with this group is they are a team that shoots a lot of threes, especially now compared to the first time we played them. Coach Mergel has brought up a lot of the younger guys and they are jacking a lot of threes. We have to make sure we get up on them and contest those threes not just let them get comfortable and get their feet set with open looks,” said Fralich.
Rebounding a key For Ashland
Ashland is a basketball team with quality basketball skills, but not much height, and coming up with ways of overcoming that deficiency is how the Arrows are going to continue to improve.
They lost a tough one last Friday to Lexington (54-51) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play. Coach Tim Fralich says they just didn’t make the plays at the end, Lexington did. “That was tough game for us. You know we lost both games to Lex this year by three points. In both games we had opportunities to win as did they. Unfortunately for us they were able to make some nice plays down the stretch. Their guy Mason Willeke is a veteran guy that has really had a great season. He made some nice plays down the stretch in both games.” He told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Lexington-Ashland is always a big game, it is a rival type game. We were hoping to get the win against them, which would allow us to share third place in the conference. It was a real disappointing one for us, I know our guys were disappointed. I certainly couldn’t fault their effort. Our guys played really hard. We just needed to execute a little better. We missed some crucial free throws at the end of the game.”
However, the Arrows were able to come back on Saturday night and beat Mt. Vernon (63-52) in a tough non conference match-up. Fralich says this time they were the ones making the plays. “We bounced back the next night when we played a Mt. Vernon team that had beaten Lex and beaten Clear Fork. They play in that tough Columbus conference down there. They have had a nice program for years. It had been a long time since Ashland had beaten them. We were able to bounce back and beat them on Saturday. We were able to sure up some things that maybe we weren’t able to do at the end of the game against Lex. We made some nice plays down the wire to extend our lead,” said Fralich.
Due to their lack of height, Fralich says they must do an outstanding job of hustling and checking out so they can rebound the basketball. “We are just so small. We are the smallest team probably in Ashland High School history. I am not saying that to be bad for us or exaggerating it. I really feel like we may be the smallest team in Ashland High School history. One the keys for us all year, and continues to be. If we can do a good job as a team defensive rebounding, with five guys boxing out, five helmets so to speak on the basketball we are going to have a chance to beat a lot of teams. At the beginning of the year we thought that and we continue to think that. If we have slipped up in that category that is when we have found ourselves in trouble. If we keep improving in that area we have a chance to win some game here down the stretch,” he said.
Ashland (12-7,6-6) will be at home at Arrow Arena for the Clear Fork Colts (10-9,5-7) on Friday night in “OCC” play. Fralich says they must contain the Clear Fork guards. “We really struggled against their guard play last time we played them. We went through a stretch in the third quarter when the pressure hurt us. We were missing open looks. Defensively we were letting them go right to the hoop on us. We need to sure up those things for an entire 32 minutes if we are going to put ourselves in a situation where we can really win the game. The main thing is trying to contain their guard play. They have got guards who are going to score it’s just a matter of forcing them to shoot a tougher shot and limiting them form their normal scoring output,” said Fralich.
Clear Fork won the first game 64-54.
Ashland Must Contain Willeke
Ashland continues to show signs of a team that is maturing as we enter the final month of the regular season.
Last week, the lost to “OCC” leader Mansfield Senior (80-60), but they won their fifth game in the last six by down Shelby (55-52) on Saturday night.
Coach Tim Fralich says having 26 turnovers is way too many to beat a solid team like Mansfield Senior. He says the Tygers thrive on the pressure game. “They just have a unique athlete and that is just the way that they play and they do well playing that way in pressuring and pushing the ball. Unfortunately for us we don’t play a lot of teams that play that way and when we see that it takes us a while to adjust. It is tough to simulate that in practice situations. Not to take any credit away from them they pushed the ball and got some easy buckets. We had over 15 turnovers in the first half. When you are doing that against anybody you are going to struggle, but especially against such a good team,” said Fralich.
The Tygers, #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, has lost only three games, all too statewide powers. Fralich says they are a special team. “I said last week they have always had very good teams, but they have had some great teams here and there and I feel like this year’s team has a chance to be great. They have that kind of talent and I think coach Reece is doing a very good job with them. It will be interesting to see what they do moving forward here. We need to take better care of the basketball to give us a chance. You are putting yourself in some pretty bad situations giving up two on ones and three on twos” said Fralich.
Last Saturday, Ashland held off Shelby and Fralich says they made some good adjustments on defense to take away Grant Fenner. “They are tied for second in the “NOL” with Willard. They are always just a very well coached team that plays hard and plays the game the right way. I have a lot of respect for Troy Schwemley and what he does there. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy whether if it was here or there. We came out and did some good things against them. Grant Fenner got going early. We made some adjustments at halftime and some of our smaller guys, our better defenders, Jordan Blair and Tre Smith, to try and face guard him and not let him catch the ball. It prevented him from getting so many touches. We were able to hold him to six points in the second half,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They really look for him in their offense and I felt that brought them a little bit more out of their comfort zone. It went down to the wire. They had a shot at the end of the game to tie it and send it to overtime, but it went in and out. We were relieved and fortunate to go home with a “W.” Anytime you get a win over Shelby it’s a good win.”
Lexington (12-6,7-4), #4 in our poll, comes to Ashland on Friday night for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game. Lexington won the first meeting (58-55) and Fralich says the Minutemen know what they have to do to win. “Coach Hamilton has done a great job. Their kids have done a great job. They are certainly not as talented as they have been the last two years. He is getting them to over achieve and play hard and play together. Those are powerful things when you can put those together. We are going to have our hands full with them. We had a tough one at their place. We lost by three. We had a shot at the buzzer to win it. We were down by one. We didn’t get a great shot off and then we fouled them. It is a rivalry game. I think there will be a lot of people here,” said Fralich.
The Minutemen have some kids that can do a lot of things, but Mason Willeke is their engine on offense. Fralich says they have to contain him the best they can. “We are going to have to do a really good job guarding Mason Willeke. This is a guy that if he is not leading the league in scoring he is right up there. He is averaging about 21 a game. He can pour it on you if you don’t do a good job. He is a great outside shooter. He can shot fake and get to the rim. We are going to have to force him to take tough shots. He is a guy that can still make them, but you are giving yourself a better chance if you are forcing him to shoot the tough ones,” said Fralich.
Ashland Needs to be Very Good
They did it last year and now the question is can they do it again? What? Beat Mansfield Senior when nobody gives them much of a chance. That is the goal of the Ashland Arrows.
Ashland (10-5,6-4) has won its last four conference games and they have done it with a young roster, including four starters who are sophomores. Coach Tim Fralich likes what he sees from his guys. “We feel like we are playing petty good basketball. We have won four in a row, all conference games. We have had some peaks and valleys throughout the course of the season, as is the case with most basketball seasons, because it is a longer season. We started 5-1, then we lost four of our next five, and then we have won four in a row here,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Obviously we are happy where we are and we have four sophomores in our starting line-up, so I think things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully we can just keep on improving. That is the biggest challenge for a coach and a team is to keep moving forward. If you are in a rut to try and find ways to keep improving and if you are winning to try and find ways to not have the mentality of settling for what’s already been done and they are continuing to push forward and want more as well.”
One of the big things that has been a difference of the Arrows is they are playing a tougher brand of basketball and that’s what they need. “A lot of it just has to due with experience. These guys are now well into the season. All of them have logged a lot of minutes. So in an essence they are really not underclassmen anymore. With the experience they have at the varsity level they are more like upperclassmen. A lot of them are starting to play that way. We are taking much better care of the basketball. What we are really doing is we are playing a lot tougher. We are smaller and we are not extremely athletic and we just not a big, physical bunch, but we have found a way to combat that with an overall team toughness. They have bought into the fact that being so young and having some limitations, if we are going to be a good ball club then need to really do the little things and play tough to win. One of my favorite quotes is a Tom Izzo quote, that’s my favorite team and I really like coach Izzo and he says players play and tough players win. We have tried to emphasize that the little things make you a tough player. I think our guys have kind of bought into it,” said Fralich.
Ashland is at Mansfield Senior (12-3,9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action. Fralich says to beat good teams you have to be almost perfect. “The biggest thing and sounds extremely simple is we are going to have to play really well. We are going to have to string together 32 minutes of good basketball. We are going to have to play extremely hard and communicate well for 32 minutes. We have seen longer spurts of that as of late, but we haven’t put it together for 32 minutes. In order to beat a really good team like Senior High you have to do those things. They have had really good teams and they have had some great teams. I think they have the type of teams that could be great. They go down to Columbus Northland. They are the number one team in the state and they are up at halftime against them and lose by seven and they were right there,” he said.
Against Mansfield Senior in specific, Fralich says they must not let Keon Johnson shoot layups and they have to compete with the bigger Tygers on the glass. “When you talk about them specifically Keon Johnson is dynamic player. We are going to have to force him to shoot contested outside shots. If we are able to do that we feel we give ourselves a chance. When you look at your bigs Robert Jones and Donavan Benson those are two of the better bigs in our league and they are on the same team as the reining player of the year in the league. We have to really be able to guard inside, plug up those gaps, and do a good job in our post defense and a tremendous job of defensive rebounding. They have a significant size advantage against us. They are really athletic and have been known to really attack that glass, so as a team we have to commit to doing a great job on the defensive glass,” said Fralich.
Arrows Knock Off West Holmes
Ashland is gaining the reputation of giant killers and they like it.
Last season they beat “OCC” co-champions Mansfield Senior and Lexington at home and Tuesday night they traveled to West Holmes and beat the second place Knights.
Coach Tim Fralich says they got off to sluggish start, but they never wavered in rallying to win (64-59) on Tuesday night. “Anytime you can go on the road in this conference and beat a team that is the top part of it you have played some quality basketball. Some of our road trips are not just a hop skip and a jump. You have to travel 45 minutes plus. On a Tuesday night I don’t think you are going to get that typical game day atmosphere that you get on a Friday or Saturday, so you have to try and create your own energy. We didn’t bring much energy to start the game. We went down 17-2. To our guys credit we battled back and by the end of the first quarter we go it to 19-11. We came back quick enough to make it a game right away,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We never felt like we were completely out of it. We got some decent shots early, but the ball didn’t bounce our way and we weren’t knocking them in. We are a good enough shooting team where we feel that when we are getting those kinds of looks it’s going to be a matter of time before we start knocking a few of those in and get some energy going that way and build some momentum. It was a hard fought second half. We just made enough plays down the wire to get it done. Both teams made some good plays. They really hurt us on the offensive glass at the end. We had some guys really step up and make some big plays and knock down some big shots. Isaac White and Drew Delaney had tremendous games. We had Isaac step up and make some big free throws when we needed him to down the stretch.”
One of keys to the win on Tuesday night was the leadership the Arrows got from their captains. Fralich says that has been there all season. “We had a little bit of adversity there early being down 15 right away and our guys responded. In the course of the game after we were able to scratch back in it was back and forth, back and forth. When ever we took a blow we seemed to be able to hit back. I am really proud of our guys for that. That kind of speaks to the kind of leadership we have on the team. Drew Delaney, Jordan Blair and Isaac White are our captains and the do a tremendous job. Drew Delaney is a steadying force for us on the court and off the court. The guys really follow him and follow his lead and how he is doing things with his energy. He has really been productive for us throughout the course of the season as a leader. We set here at 9-5 with four starters that are sophomores. Jordan Blair has done a great job of helping him in that role. He is a guy that doesn’t get all of the stats. He is limited in some ways. He really is a consistent voice for us on the bench, in practice or on the court. He is always saying the right things,” Fralich said.
Friday night, Asland (9-5,5-4) will be at home at Arrow Arena for the Orrville Red Riders (2-11,1-7) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play. Fralich says games against Orrville are always physical battles and this one will be no different. “We know Orrville is going to play physical and they are going to play hard. They are going to come out and want a conference win. We certainly can’t take anybody lightly. They are going to be physical and play hard and we better be ready to combat that and play just as hard or harder than them. We need to take some blows form them and be able to throw a few right back at them. We have to try and set the tone early on and keep the pedal to the medal,” he said.
Ashland Still Concentrating on the Boards
Ashland is one of the smallest teams in the area this season, but with shooting and defense they have been able to find ways to win.
They travel to Clear Fork to face the Colts in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It was a tough loss last week at Lexington (58-55) for the Arrows. They had a shot at the end to win the game, but coach Tim Fralich says they didn’t get what they were looking for. “There were very few times when we were actually ahead in the game, which was early on in the first. We were up by four. The majority of the rest of the game we were down. We kept it within five and we were just waiting for a late push. Over the last couple of minutes it was a one point, two point game or tied. We had our chances. At the end of the game we had the ball with about 20 second left. We were down one and we ended up getting a shot up. It wasn’t meant to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It wasn’t a great look. We took it to the hoop and there was some contact, but certainly not enough contact at the end of the game for a foul call there. It was disappointing with Lex being a big rival. We are aware that they are a pretty good team in our conference. We feel we are too and we knew it was a pretty important game. Fortunately we have an opportunity to play them again at our place and hopefully we can get a “W” here at our place.”
Ashland (6-4,2-3) visits Clear Fork (5-5,2-3) for a conference game this week., Fralich says the Colts are a team that relies on its guards to carry the load. “They have been up and down. When they have played well they have played really well. They have beaten some teams that might surprise you a little bit. A couple of teams they have lost to would be a surprise too. I know coach Bechtel does a great job with them. They will be ready to play. They have some really good returning guards. Over the last couple of years Clear Fork has been a team that has been big and strong and had some really good forwards, now they are a team that is really guard oriented. They have a good one, two and three guard in Corbin, Winand and Christina. We are just going to have to do a good job of controlling the backboards and making them shoot tough shots,” says Fralich.
Because they are undersized rebounding has been stressed a lot by the Ashland coaching staff this year and Fralich says that isn’t going to be any different this week just because the Colts aren’t that big either. “We have been able to combat that pretty well as far as not giving up a ton of offensive rebounds. Hopefully playing a team the same size as us we won’t take that for granted. We still make that a focus each and every day in practice. Hopefully we don’t take it for granted and keep up the good work on the defensive boards. They are guard oriented like we are and I think it has a chance to be a heck of a game,” said Fralich.
Ashland at a Crossroads
Ashland is among a number of teams that are good, but don’t appear to be in the class with Mansfield Senior or West Holmes and the Arrows want to be one of those that finishes in the top half of the conference.
In meeting of two of those teams Ashland (6-3,2-2) is at Lexington (6-3,2-1) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, Ashland kept things interesting until the final minutes against Mansfield Senior before losing (55-45) in a conference game. Arrows coach Tim Fralich thought they did not execute really well. “Against Senior to be honest with you I don’t think we played real well, but we hung in the game. We stayed competitive. We forced them to shoot some tougher shots with our different defensive looks. We turned the ball over way too much. That is typical against Senior. They really get out and guard and do some good things, but we still did it just way too much and unforced ones at times,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It’s just one of those games where as a coach you are just pretty frustrated. You try to go back to the drawing board on some things and break down film and set down and talk your kids about some things they need to do.”
Due to the point margin, Fralich believes his team can gain some confidence from the result against Mansfield Senior. “I don’t think Senior played particularly well against us either. It was kind of an ugly game. We do have a young group and we are still learning how to be a good team. We hung in there against one of the better teams in our conference and our area. I think it will give the guys confidence for when we see them later in the year and maybe again in sectionals,”
On Saturday night, Ashland bounced back to wallop Sandusky (85-43) in a non-conference game. Fralich says they were able to shoot the ball better. “We did some things on the court on Saturday morning. Sandusky is struggling right now and I think they will be better as the season goes on, but we did what we needed to do to put the clamp down on them and keep the foot on the gas pedal. We got out to a good early lead. We stayed the course and our guys kept the intensity level up. We did a nice job of making good basketball plays. Some of our kids that have been struggling shooting the ball saw some go in and hopefully that will give us some confidence going forward,” said Fralich.
Lexington, like Ashland, has been a surprise to a lot of people. Fralich says coach Scott Hamilton does a nice job of getting a lot out of what he has. “They are playing a lot of guys. I think when we saw them live against Willard hey played 11 guys in like the first four minutes. We have had a chance to see them more lately and they are staying course with that. They had an abundance to talent over the last couple of years and that’s just not there this year, but they are finding a way with what they have,” says Fralich.
The Ashland coach knows this is a game that could propel them into the rest of the season. “This is a big game for both of us. As coaches in the conference I think we would say that Senior and West Holmes are the top two teams and if somebody can chip them off that’s great. It’s open in a lot of ways other than that. This could be a big game to see who can hover around the top there,” he said.
Ashland Tangles With West Holmes
Ashland has yet to play a home game, yet the Arrows have won five of their first six games and they are doing it with a relatively young basketball team.
They play their first home game on Friday night when they host West Holmes (4-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, at Arrow Arena.
With such a young team coach Tim Fralich admits that their performance has probably been surprising too many in the area. “When you lose seven seniors and all of them were contributors in some way, shape or form last year and you have a young group coming in with a lot of sophomores and open up with six games on the road I think if you go 5-1 out of those six you have to be really happy. We have a group of guys that are working hard right now. They really have some good chemistry on and off the court. They put a lot of time in the off season. It’s paying off them and it’s certainly an exciting time right now,” he said.
One of the big keys for the Arrows this year has been the players just like each other and there has been a lack of egos. “I think at any level, any team, and any profession when you have people working together with good chemistry you can play off each other well and you know each other’s strengths and know each other’s weaknesses so you can pick each other up. Those are important things and our guys are really starting to understand that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our sophomore class has played a lot of basketball together from when they were much younger. I think that really helps too because those guys blend well together. Our senior group with Drew Delaney, Jordan Blair and Willie Moore have really blended in well with that group too. They have provided some solid leadership for us as far as just adjusting to the speed of the varsity game.”
Ashland (5-1,2-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com poll, is at home for the first time for the Knights. Fralich says no one should be surprised that the Knights are good. “Coaches don’t do a preseason poll, but I think if they did they would have Senior and West Holmes right up there of even West Holmes and Senior. I mean I think West Holmes is a team that could definitely win our conference. We are aware they are a very good ball club. They have a lot of good guys back. They have pretty much their whole team back. They had some success last year, they were third in the conference behind really good Mansfield and Lexington teams,” he said.
Everything at West Holmes starts and runs through Brady Arnold, but Fralich says that he is not the only player the Knights have. “I think they have some guys that have put some time in the gym, especially Brady Arnold and it’s showing. He is better than he was last year. Between him and Keon Johnson they guys that are just playing good basketball. I would say at the end of the year those are the guys that are going to be considered for conference players of the year. We have to do a good job on Arnold. He is going to score and do some good things he is just a really good basketball player. We have to try and make everything that he gets really tough and try to contain him as much as we can. The two guys down low Brock McCully and Gabe Snyder have played varsity basketball for a number of years now and have a lot of experience, strength and size. I think they are 6’5” and 6’7”. They are two division one athletes. Snyder is supposedly going to Wright State to play baseball and McCully to Kent State to play football. They are big guys that can really move and have some strength to them. So, we are going to have to guard inside as well and do a good job on the defensive glass because those guys are horses and can hit the offensive glass,” said Fralich.
Ashland Looking For Another Road Win
Ashland has already done something this year that they didn’t do even once last year and that’s win a conference game on the road. They would like to do again this week at Orrville.
That win came at Wooster against the (53-46) Generals. Coach Tim Fralich says they got some luck along the way. “Friday night was a really good win for us to be able to go on the road and beat a good Wooster team was important for us. Last year, we didn’t win one road game in the conference and were 6-1 at home. To be able to pick up that first one was huge. We kind of fell into some pretty good circumstances. Wooster wasn’t shooting the ball particularly well. Grant Stokes who is just one their guys that is super solid and can really reel in their team when they aren’t doing what they need to do. He went down with an ankle injury a few plays into the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “He did come back in the second half to play the entire second half and did some good things, but he was laboring on it a little bit. That did help us. We had a tremendous second quarter. We outscored them 20-2. In the second half we let them get back in the game. They started pounding the ball inside and we weren’t able to combat that like we were in the first half. We had some bad turnovers and made it an interesting game. Fortunately a couple of our guys made big plays down the wire and knocked down a couple of free throws there at the end to seal it.”
Last Saturday Ashland lost to what a lot of people feel is the best team in the area in Norwalk (58-47) in a non-conference game. Fralich felt they didn’t play that well, but still had a chance to seal one. “We knew heading in that that maybe if not the toughest, one of the toughest games on the schedule. To be honest it was a game where we felt like we didn’t play that well, but we also knew that Norwalk didn’t either. It was a little bit of a sloppy game, but we held in there. We were down 12 at half and 11 after three and with three minutes left we were down five. We had three different chances to cut it within five. The last chance was with two minutes left and our senior and leading scorer Drew Delaney had a wide open three and unfortunately didn’t knock it down. That would have put us down by two with two minutes left and you never know what could happen from there. I know they would ratcheted it up a few notches from that point. We went there trying to win. We have been playing fairly good basketball. It was sort of a moral victory for us and gives us some confidence going forward,” said Fralich.
Ashland (3-1,1-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, travels to Orrville (0-2,-1) to face the Riders. Surprisingly, Fralich says they may have a size advantage on the Red Riders. “We were looking at their heights on their scouting report and our kids said hey coach we might be taller than Orrville. We have told the guys that we don’t see one game where we will be the team with more size. Looking back at previous Ashland rosters we have to be the smallest Ashland team in decades, but we may have them beat as far as height goes with our starting lineup. We are even smaller coming off the bench,” said Fralich.
With a lot of guard play involved, Fralich says it is likely going to be an up tempo game. “We have two smaller teams going at it and I’m sure it will be guard oriented. The teams will be trying to get up and down the court. That is what we have seen a little bit from Orrville scouting and that’s what we want to do to. They are going to be physical and play hard. They are athletic. They always have a good handful of athletes over there. We are going to have to go out there and play really well. It’s another road conference game and they are going to ready to play,” he said.
Ashland Starts Quick
The Ashland Arrows began the season by winning the Kory Kirkpatrick Tournament hosted by Marion Harding last week and they open league play Friday night against Wooster.
With wins over Marion Elgin (48-32) and Marion Harding (49-29) the Arrows start the season 2-0. Coach Tim Fralich says he has been happy with the progression of his team. “I think anytime you can go into a season and start it off with two wins you have to be happy for the most part unless you have just a powerhouse of a program and you just aren’t happy with how the little things are going and the way guys are playing. Where we are at it was a great couple of wins gong into the season. We showed quite a bit of improvement from our scrimmages,” he said.
The final was a Saturday afternoon game and Fralich was very pleased with his players approach to the tournament and what they were able to get done. “We went down there on Friday and we played Marion Eglin and I think they are going to be a team that will end up being pretty tough as the season goes on. I was impressed by some of their players and their coach too. I just like their team. We stayed down there at the Holiday Inn Express,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It was a nice little trip for our guys. Then the next day we played Marion Harding and it looked like they kind of ran out of gas against us. They struggled shooting the ball and maybe didn’t have as much energy as they did the night before. We were pleased Isaac White and Tre Smith got all tournament team and Drew Delaney got tournament MVP.”
Ashland travels to Wooster (1-1) for a meeting with the Generals in their “OCC” opener on Friday night. Fralich says Wooster is expected to be an upper division team in the “OCC,” so they will have to be on their game. “They are one of the most talented teams in our conference. They are really athletic. They have a lot size. We are going to have to play well. Our guys know that it is a different challenge this weekend with both Wooster and obviously Norwalk. Wooster has a lot of guys back from last year. They expect to be good and other teams in the conference expect them to be good. We are going to have to play well,” he said.
According to Fralich Wooster has some athleticism and some size too. He says they will have a height advantage in the post area. “They will be willing to get up and down with us. That is a good thing for us because we like to play fast. While we play fast we have to make sure we are smart and we are handling their pressure well. We are going to see a lot of pressure from them and on top of that they are really going to try and pound the basketball inside. Grant Stokes and Cam Daugherty are guys they can run it in to. We are going to have to guard the ball inside. We are a small team and they are a bigger team than us. They have had success on the offensive glass their first two games,” said Fralich.
On Saturday, the Arrows travel to Norwalk to meet the defending Northern Ohio League champions. This is an addition to the Ashland schedule and Fralich says they will need to be at their very best. “We will have to turn around and really strap them on tight against Norwalk. They are a tremendous team. They have a lot of talent and a lot of size. They have guys that know how to play the game. Between them and Mansfield Senior they have to one and two as far as the best teams in the area. They are teams that are very competitive statewide. I could see them making a nice run at things, unfortunately they are in the same sectional. We are going to have to play really well to give ourselves a chance to win,” said Fralich.
Ashland Will Win Differently
Last year, Ashland played basketball a little bit like hockey, but this year they are going to have invoke other strategies to win and their coach thinks they can do it.
Coach Tim Fralich says a trip they took to Michigan signaled a turn around for the Arrows. “The preseason has gone fairly well, we have improved for the most part for every scrimmage. We had a foundation game with Cloverleaf last Tuesday. We looked like we took a step back. We didn’t play very well. Fortunately we got a chance to take a team trip up to Michigan. My parents live up there and we stay at their house. It’s a time to talk about team goals and leadership. We went up and saw the Michigan State-Oakland game. We also scrimmaged my dad’s team. He is a high school coach at Troy High in Michigan. And three other schools too, one of them is coached by a teammate of mine from college,” said Fralich.
He says last weekend was a chance to do some team building and that’s what they needed to do. “It was a chance to for us to get together and do things as a team and be away from everything. We showed a lot of improvement and stepped up and played better than we did on Tuesday against Cloverleaf. So far this week we have had a pretty good week and I think we are ready to go,” he said.
This year’s Arrows lack height and they lack the depth they had last year when they beat both Mansfield Senior and Lexington, but Fralich says they have other skills. “We have a group this year that is awfully young. With that inexperience we are probably the smallest team Ashland High School has had maybe ever. Those are things that are concerning. We are going to have to be able to rebound. We are going to have to grow up quick. Sometimes those things don’t happen over night. Last year, depth was a serious strength for us being able to sub five for five and play extremely fast and push the ball offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We are not going to get away from pushing the ball offensively, that’s the way we are going to play, that’s our program, but defensively you have to change some things up when you don’t have that depth. We are going to miss and match some different things and not pressing as much. Hopefully we will be able to keep teams off balance.”
Ashland plays in a tournament in Marion on the opening weekend and they are scheduled to play the Elgin Comets of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Fralich believes Ashland can be a good team again this year because they can shoot the ball. “We have a group that has worked very hard in the off season, more so than any off season since I have been at Ashland High School. We have seen guys really improve from the end of last season until now, which is obviously a great thing to see. Our skill levels are higher than they have been in the past. We shoot the ball just as good, or better, than we did last year,” said Fralich.
Ashland Finishes Season Against Lexington
Ashland and Lexington have become somewhat over a football rivalry over the last decade and they finish the regular season with a game at Community Stadium in Ashland on Friday night.
On week nine last week, Ashland (5-4,3-3) took Mansfield Madison to double overtime before losing (30-23) in Ohio Cardinal Conference action. Veteran coach Scott Valentine says his players gave all they had on the rainy night. “I’ll tell you our kids played their hearts out. I told them after the game and the next day that as a head coach you can’t ask for more from you players than to give the effort they did. To battle through conditions like everyone did that night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The outcome of the game was just hard to take with all of that time and effort, but that’s the game and when you are around it as long as I’ve been you remember times when you experience it on the other side too. I just felt so bad for our kids, but I told them they had nothing to be ashamed about.”
Lexington (5-4,3-3) has a first year coach in Dan Studer and Valentine thinks he and his staff have done an outstanding job here in 2012. “I think they are doing a few things differently. Dan has put his stamp on things that he likes to do. I think he and his coaching staff have done a great job this year being his first year and everything. For us one of the things we told our kids is no matter where the teams have been for a long time here it’s a four quarter game and it’s gone down to the end almost every year, so we are going to have to be ready to play a four quarter game,” said Valentine.
With Andrew Hunt and Brandon Henderson at the running back spots, Valentine says the Minutemen have great versatility in the backfield. “The thing about their running game is they can do it either way. They can pound it at you and then they can get you on a quick spurt and all of the sudden you are sitting there waiting for power and he gets through there with his quickness. That is the tough thing about them is they bring both dimensions to the running game,” he said.
Lexington is expected to be without the services of quarterback/defensive back Trent Richwine. Valentine says that takes a way some things they like to do, but also brings some unpredictability to the table. “Anytime you lose a player like that to an injury that impacts your team and impacts some of things that you can do. Those are things that from our standpoint we have to be aware of some of the things that they may do differently personnel wise. I know last week they used Hunt in the quarterback position with some of the wildcat stuff, so those are things we have to prepare for,” said Valentine.
Ashland Excited for the Challenge of Playing Madison
A lot of things would have to fall right for the Ashland Arrows to win another Ohio Cardinal Conference title, but it could happen, and they still have an outside chance at the playoffs.
Ashland (5-2,3-2) walloped Clear Fork (28-6) last week in a conference game. Coach Scott Valentine says they were able to force the Colts to some things they didn’t want to do. “I think our kids came out and we did a lot of the things we wanted to do. Offensively we still have to be a little more consistent in being able to complete some drives. Defensively we did a great job of shutting down what they like to do. In special teams we were able to perform pretty well their too. Overall it was a pretty good game, but definitely going to have to play a lot better game this week,” said Valentine.
This week, Ashland travels south to meet the Madison Rams (7-1,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division, in a big “OCC” contest. Madison has relied on a solid running game and coach Valentine says they know what they are good at doing. “They are using the things that they can be successful with. I think there is no doubt that is one of the things. The stuff they are doing running the ball coach Godsil did a lot of that and I know coach Conway did a lot of that too. Those are things that they are using and they still spread the ball around quite a bit,” said Valentine.
A key part of the Madison team is the play of their offensive line. Valentine says they work very well together. “Those guys work together and they execute their blocking schemes. I’m sure they are making some line calls up there and things like that, so they are a unit that has really produced a lot this year,” he said.
At times this year Madison has surrendered some points, such as Wooster (42) and West Holmes (31), but Valentine says they still do a nice job on that side of the ball. “A lot of those guys play both ways. When you run as much as they do and put that effort in on offense when you get to the defensive side of the all sometimes they other team can tale advantage of things,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are still good over there. They run to the ball and they do a good job tackling. It’s not like they aren’t that good on defense. They are pretty good on defense too.”
Ashland has won four the last six “OCC” football titles and Valentine says they are excited to still have something to play for on week nine of the season. “That’s what I told our kids. Every year we want to be in a game at the end of the year that has some meaning to it. There is no doubt that this game has some meaning for both teams. You have to be excited about that opportunity to do the preparation during the week and get ready to go out and see what you can do on Friday,” said Valentine.
Right now, Mansfield Senior leads Madison and West Holmes by a game with two to play. Ashland and Lexington trail by two.
Ashland Travels to Clear Fork
Ashland needs a lot of things to fall their way if they are going to defend the Ohio Cardinal Conference football title.
They trail Mansfield Senior by two games and have already lost to the Tygers.
After losing to West Holmes (41-36) and Mansfield Senior (29-15), the Arrows bounced back last week to outlast Orrville (21-6) in league play. Coach Scott Valentine says their defense put them in position to win the game. “Our defense had a great game against them. Unfortunately for us on offense we didn’t capitalize on a lot of opportunities that we had the first half. We just had some mistakes, but our defense held them in check and then we were able to get some things going in the second half offensively,” said Valentine.
On offense, the Arrows (4-3,2-2) have lacked the explosiveness that they have had in recent years. Valentine says it’s not that they don’t have the athletes, they have just been making too many mistakes. “It seems like now one guy here misses a block or one guy has a mistake here and that has hindered us on certain plays. It’s not on every play, but on certain plays that dedicate we don’t get a first down and keep us with the ball. Those are the things when we talk about consistency. We have got to make those third down plays count and get first downs,” he said.
This week, the Arrows travel to Clear Fork (2-5,0-4) to face the Colts, who have had difficulties staying with the rest of the league in the second half of games. “I think there is no doubt that they have some good players. They have been very competitive,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have a lot of guys playing both ways. You have seen improvement from them every week. I think that is something that going into it that there is no doubt that every week in our league that you better be ready and our kids are going to be ready to be able to play a four quarter game against them.”
Again due to injuries this season, the Colts have been forced to rely less on their wing-T offense. Valentine says there is an uncertainly about what the Colts may try to do. “We rely a lot on our defensive staff and I don’t look a lot, but I know from talking to them a lot that they have done some certain things that have had a wing-t base to it, but each week they have come out with a little something different that you have to be prepared for. That is something, I guess, that you are not prepared for. We will have to be ready to make some adjustments by how they come out and what they try to do,” said Valentine.
Clear Fork has settled in a formation on defense, but Valentine also expects some surprises on that side of the football. “Defensively, the things we are seeing. We are seeing a 4-2-5 kind of scheme from them with four guys coming on the rush and then leave their linebackers and defensive backs to adjust to different formations. It’s a little bit different from what they have done in the past, but still have the flexibility to a lot of different things and come at you from a lot of different directions,” said Valentine.
Ashland Can’t Lose
Ashland has won four of the last six Ohio Cardinal Conference football titles, but if they are going to do it this year they are going to need some help.
Mansfield Senior returned an interception for a score and a kick return for a score last week and they beat the Arrows (29-15) at Arlin Field. Now, the Arrows trail Mansfield Senior and West Holmes by two games in the “OCC” standings. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says they made some mistakes, but all of the credit goes to Mansfield Senior. “I think they played a great game. We did a lot of good things and just had a few mistakes that hurt us. Those are things that as you play the game that games come out sometimes. That’s the way in worked out. Our kids gave great effort and just came up short,” he said.
The Arrows had almost twice as many total yards as the Tygers, but Valentine says they just could cash in. “We were always backed up and had to drive it 80 yards. With field position sometimes you can move it and we had a mistake here or there or they got us in a sack and that put us in a longer situation. Those are things that you have to work through and get better at those situations. We have to be able to convert those situations so we can move it down and score,” said Valentine.
This week, Ashland (3-3,1-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division, plays host to the Orrville Red Riders (1-5,0-3) in “OCC” play. Orrville is having an uncharacteristically poor season. Still, Valentine expects a good game. “I think they are a team right now that is young and getting better each week. We know coach Devault will have those kids ready to play on Friday night. We have said about our league it’s not about where you are record wise or what they are doing it’s about being ready each week to go out there. If you not ready you are going to get beat. Our goal is we are going to have to get better at some things ourselves and go out and perform on Friday night,” said Valentine.
Orrville just has not been able to get their passing game going this year and as a result Valentine says they are running the ball more than maybe they want to. “I think they are doing some things running the ball a little bit more than is normal for them. I think that is some of the things that people are giving them and are forcing them to do that too. I’m not sure that is what they want to do, but they are definitely doing that a little more this year,” he said.
Two games back in the conference race, Valentine understands they must keep winning to have a chance at another title and that begins this week with Orrville. “Right now it’s about making sure that you get the job done each week for the rest of the season. Like we told our kids it starts with this week and we have to get ourselves back on track, and get better, and get out there and get the job done. So, it’s all about what we can do this week and doing it on Friday night,” said Valentine
Ashland Must Battle Back
A loss last week to West Holmes dropped the Ashland Arrows a game behind Holmes, Lexington, and Mansfield Senior, the team they play this week, in the Ohio Cardinal Conference football standings.
West Holmes outlasted the Arrows (41-36) in an “OCC” game. Ashland coach Scott Valentine says the Knights just made a few more plays than they did and that was the difference. “We knew going into the game that is was going to be a physical contest with two good teams going against each other. They made a couple more plays that we did and wee made a few mistakes. That is something that happens during those games. You just have to move on and get ready to play next week,” he said.
Ashland (3-2,1-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division, is at Arlin Field to battle the much improved Mansfield Senior Tygers (4-1,2-0) on Friday night. Valentine says the Tygers are a better overall team. “They have their playmakers like they always do. They defense is doing a nice job of controlling people and they are making some special teams plays. Those are things you look for in a good football team,” he said.
There have always been athletes at Mansfield Senior, but a big difference this year is they are competing well in the trenches. Valentine says with that they have been able to do more things. “I think there guys up front on both sides are controlling the line of scrimmage and doing a lot of good things. They are making plays up front that enable those other guys to do the job,” he said.
Mansfield Senior hasn’t beaten Ashland in a number of years in football, but the same could be said for Clear Fork and Orrville, schools the Tygers beat the last two weeks. Valentine says the history of the series is not relevant. “Each year is different and each group of kids is different. The kids make more of it that anything,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It still comes down to who is one the field and who is making the plays and who can get the momentum and keep the momentum and do the job in the trenches and out on the field. I think that is the big thing in most sports.”
A game back in the conference standings, Valentine says they know that they must beat Mansfield Senior to stay in it. “Every week in our league is an important week and you better be ready to play and play at a high level or you are going to get beat. Each week is important. After last week’s game we said on Monday it’s time to get ready for Mansfield Senior and I think we have had a pretty good week,” said Valentine.
Ashland Plays Big One Against West Holmes
Will this be the game that determines which team wins the Ohio Cardinal Conference title? Maybe, but it looks like an outstanding match-up anyway as West Holmes travels to Ashland on Friday night.
Last week, Ashland (3-1,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division, beat Wooster (26-17) in the first game in the defense of their “OCC” title. Coach Scott Valentine says they new they would have to play well. “There is no doubt that Wooster has a nice football team. Our guys played a good four quarter game. We were able to come out of there with a win and we were excited about that,” he said. Valentine was really pleased with what they did on defense against the explosive Generals. “We were really happy with the way our defense played. We put them in some bad positions. We were able to get six turnovers. Anytime you do those things that’s a good nice performance for us defensively,” he said.
West Holmes (4-0,1-0), #2 in the large school poll, beat Mansfield Madison (31-28) in double overtime last week. They were predicted to win the “OCC” this season and Valentine says there are a number of reasons why. “They have a good group of kids. They have a great senior class that they have coming through. They have a junior class behind them that is good. I think they anticipated everything they are doing right now. They are a physical run team. You have to be ready to play up front and control the line of scrimmage. They like to come after you with blitz and man to man difference. Those are things we are going to have to prepare for,” said Valentine.
The Knights ran for more than 230 yards last week against a good Madison defense. Valentine says you can not allow West Holmes to grind it out against you. “If you can get them in bad down and distance situations they are still going to run the ball, but it’s tougher for them to get those first downs. You make them have to get rid of it and you don’t give them that fourth down and one or two,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are going to go for that a lot of times. They use four downs to get those ten yards and you have to keep them out of those situations that they are going to use all four downs.”
Last season, West Holmes beat Ashland (35-31), but it was the Arrows that won the league title. Valentine knows this game is important, but it isn’t a championship game either. “I think every game is big at this time of year, especially in league play, but this is one of those that early in the year you have to have. You are trying to get a win, but then again it’s about every week after that too. We found that out last year for ourselves having lost to them last year, but still being able to go through the schedule and win the conference. It’s important that we play four quarters on Friday,” said Valentine.
Big Plays a Key
Ashland begins defense of its Ohio Cardinal Conference title on Friday night when they visit Wooster to play the explosive Generals in an “OCC” match-up.
So far, the Arrows are 2-1, ranked #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll, with a loss to Wadsworth (35-28) followed by outstanding performances against Dover (31-14) and Sandusky (58-7) for two straight wins going into conference play. Coach Scott Valentine says he likes the improvement that he sees. “We feel like from game one to game three we have gotten better each week. It is something we emphasize with our guys is you can’t be satisfied we still have a lot of football left to play and we still have to get better at some different things,” he said. Valentine says they still need to improve more on both sides of the ball, especially when it comes to what is happening in the trenches. “I think we need to sustain our blocks more in our running game. I think offensive protection wise we are doing pretty good. I don’t think we are sustaining and using our feet well enough block wise. The same thing tackling wise, we just have to finish our tackles with our feet and not leave those feet behind,” said Valentine.
Wooster has a new coach in former Triway and Cloverleaf coach Doug Haas. The Generals (1-2) have shown some streaks of good play this year in the win over Wadsworth (20-14) and losses to Akron Garfield (14-12) and Chagrin Falls (56-42) last week. Valentine says Wooster can do a lot of things. “I think they have played a tough non-league schedule. They are team that has gotten better each week also. It’s going to be about making sure we get ourselves in position to take what ever they are going to do. Coach Haas has his system in place and we have to be ready that offensively and defensively what they are going to try and do to us,” he said.
One of the big things this week again for the Ashland defense is their ability to bring down an explosive ball carrier one on one. “They have had a lot of big plays in the first thee games of the season. That is one of our emphasis this week is we can’t give them the big plays. A lot of that comes back to that tackling in space that we had to make sure we did last week against Sandusky. Hopefully, we got better at it this week to be able to do that on Friday night,” said Valentine.
As the defending “OCC” champ Valentine understands fully what it means to get off to a good start in league play and he says that’s what need to happen on Friday night. “I think that first league game is always important to get a good start in the league. We told our kids that we were in a different spot last year. We went on and had a good league schedule and did a good job in our league. It all comes down to getting better each week and being ready to play on Friday night,” he said.
Ashland Must Contain
Ashland tries to take a two game winning streak into conference play as they visit Sandusky to face the Blue Streaks on Friday night in non-conference action.
Last week, Ashland (1-1) got their first win of the season by downing Dover (31-14) in non-conference play. Coach Scott Valentine says they played pretty well against an always good Dover team. “With the beginning of our schedule with Wadsworth the first week and a tough loss there, but to bounce back and beat a team like Dover, especially to hold them to no points in the second half, was a big stride to where we want to get to. We still have to get better at some things. It was a good win,” said Valentine.
With some new kids in key positions on offense, Valentine says the Arrow defense is going to need to carry them in certain situations at least early in the season. “When you have eight guys coming back and that is something we talked about in the preseason that our defense had to be a big part of a lot of things we do. I really feel our defense has played well the last two weeks. The first week we put them in a couple of tough positions. I think overall we are playing pretty good defense right now,” Valentine said.
Sandusky (0-2) returns only two players from their Northern Ohio League champion team from last year. They were hammered by Fremont Ross (52-18) on week one and lost (35-7) to Sandusky Perkins last Friday. Valentine says the Blue Streaks are better than their record would indicate. “I told our kids at the beginning of the week that they have played two pretty good opponents and we were in a similar situation last year. Where we were 0-2 facing them and at that point we were a pretty good football team,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We just hadn’t gotten any wins and that’s about where they are at right now. They are young and they have some guys in positions. They have playmakers. It’s their first home game. We are on the road and we are going to have to go in and play a good football game to have a chance to win.”
The Blue Streaks are still blessed with good speed and Valentine says they have to be good individual tacklers. “We felt coming into the last two weeks that tackling in space is going to be a big thing for us defensively because both of the teams, Dover and Sandusky, have guys that if you don’t tackle them in space and get them down that one guy is one on one and they are going to go and make a big play. That is something we have stressed the last two weeks and hopefully on Friday we can go out and make sure we get that job done,” said Valentine.
Ashland Looking For Some Things
Ashland came up just short in their first game of the season when Wadsworth beat them 35-28 last Friday night in the opener for both schools.
The Arrows had three turnovers and coach Scott Valentine says that was a big factor in why they let the first one get away. “I was disappointed we turned the ball over a little bit. That’s one of those things when you are playing somebody pretty good when you turn the ball over it put our defense in some difficult spots. Overall team wise I was happy with the effort we gave and how we kept battling through. I think we had an opportunity if we played error free football to get a win and we didn’t do that,” said Valentine.
On Saturday morning, the coaches and the players watched the tape of the game and Valentine believes they learned something from that experience. “We watched video on Saturday morning and I think our kids saw how close we are to doing a lot of good things. There are those little things that you try and emphasize in the preseason, but until you get into the game situation and the kids figure out that those things do mean something,” he told Swankonsports.com, “That’s why we harp on them so much, but sometimes it doesn’t sink in. I think we learned a lot from the video and now we have to go out and put it to use in practice.”
Valentine says you always learn something in that first game and that’s why there is often times so much improvement between weeks one and two. “You just hope your older guys that have been through it can get that point across too. I think we really have. I mean Wadsworth was a good football team. I think our kids competed in the preseason. It is just one of those things until you get into that game situation that some of those things start to show up. I hope our kids learned and I think they did now we just have to get back to work,” said Valentine.
Ashland (0-1) plays host to Dover (1-0,) who beat East Cleveland Shaw (28-27) in its opener last Thursday night. “We were able to watch them because they played Thursday night against East Cleveland Shaw, a very athletic team. They weren’t in the best shape. They got worn down. A lot of their guys were out in the second half with cramps and things like that,” said Valentine.
Ashland has played Dover for a number of years now and Valentine says they know what to expect from the Tornados. “Dover is the usual Dover team. They lost some good kids, but they have had some kids step into those roles. They are going to execute things. We are going to have to be ready to play in that type of game. They are a wide open offense similar to us. They are quick and fast on defense. It should be another game that for us we are going to have to be really prepared and go out and play a good football game,” said Valentine. Dover beat Ashland 27-26 a year ago.
Ashland and Dover run a similar offense, but Valentine says he isn’t sure that makes it any easier for the Arrows to defend them. “I’m not sure it makes it easier. You just have to settle into where they are looking to make their plays, where their play makers are. For us defensively how can we get coverage on those guys? How can we adjust to the kid at quaerback they have? Last year, they had a really good thrower. This year their quarterback does a nice job throwing, but he can run. You have to see what they do differently and how you can attack that,” said Valentine.
Special Teams a Key For Ashland
Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressell always said the punt was the biggest play in the game because it changes the momentum. Of course, he had Ted Ginn. Ashland’s coaching staff wants to make big plays in the special teams.
Ashland plays host to Wadsworth on Friday night in their opening game of the season at Community Stadium. Wadsworth hammered Ashland 45-16 a year ago as the Arrows started the season 1-4. However, they went on to win the Ohio Cardinal Conference title.
Coach Scott Valentine says they will be working on tying up some loose ends over the next couple of days. “We have a couple more practices left and I think if we can get some other things finalized. We have to make sure we understand the importance of the special teams and taking care of the football. I think we are setting in pretty good shape, but you never know until you get out there on Friday night,” he said.
Special teams is sometimes the forgotten part of the game, but not in Ashland. Valentine says they try to make some big plays that can change that momentum. “You try to work on some things special teams wise and try to get as good a look as you can get. You never know until you get out there. You hope you can make some big plays and keep them from getting some big plays,” he told Swankonsports.com. Valentine, a varsity coach for almost 20 years, says scrimmages, and their special rules, make things tough. “In one of our scrimmages we do punt. You get a live kind of look, but they blow it dead and the same with the preview situation, they blow kickoffs dead and punts dead. You don’t get the true picture of getting down there and having to make a tackle. We try to give ourselves as good a look as we can, but sometimes you can’t get the look that you really need,” said Valentine.
Wadsworth was one of the better big school football programs in the Akron area last year. Valentine says the Grizzlies don’t hurt themselves very much. “They were a very good team last year that had a real good group of seniors. They lost a lot of those guys, but coach Dennison and his staff up their. They do a nice job and they have a real solid program in place. We know they are going to come in and do the little things, so we are going to have to make sure we are doing the same things. We need to be ready to block and tackle when it comes to game time,” said Valentine.
It’s always exciting on week one of the football season, but Valentine says it still boils down to which team executes better. “You want to be excited and that feeling of being ready to go and that confidence that you have put in the work and time. The hooting and hollering and the yelling and screaming is only going to last the first series or two. Then it’s about who can sustain that emotion and intensity throughout the four quarters of the game,” said Valentine.
Ashland Working on Getting Better
Ashland is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, but the Arrows are working to replace some key players from that unit.
Thursday, they scrimmaged North Canton Hoover in their first meeting with another team this year. Arrows coach Scott Valentine says after taking some lumps early he was happy with how his kids responded to the challenge. “I think our kids are working hard and up to this point it was where are we at? We got a good view of where we are at against Hoover. They have a nice core of guys coming back that are fast and quick and they like to hit you,” told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It was a good day for us to find out where we were. I thought our kids got a wake up call because early on they got after us. It is something sometimes you don’t get in your own practices. I thought our kids responded and we battled. I thought we had a pretty good day overall.”
Valentine says one thing some of the players learned in the scrimmage was that varsity football is played at fast pace. He says now they need to go forward. “We talked to our other guys that in practice we need to compete at that speed and that level as much as possible. I have talked about it and talked about, but I don’t think it sinks in until they see that on the field. I think now that is going to raise the intensity and level in which we work in practice. That is a good thing about a first scrimmage. Hopefully we can progress from there,” says Valentine.
Ashland has featured some pretty good quarterbacks over the last decade. Valentine thinks senior Tyson Vogel can do the job for them. “I think right now that Tyson Vogel, who is our senior coming in, has done a pretty nice job for us. Nick Zurcher behind him has also doing a nice job. Right now, Tyson is the guy for us. As a senior I think he has waited for his chance. Hopefully, Nick keeps progressing. We always tell our guys they are one play away from being on the field and you better make sure you are ready to go,” he said.
Ashland gave up a lot more points last year than a typical Arrow defense. Valentine says this year’s defense has some experience, but they have to get better in a lot of ways. “We have some experience coming back. We have eight guys that toward the end of the season were starters. They are going to have to play at a high level and they have to get better. We didn’t tackle as well as we wanted to (Thursday.) Now we have some things that we have to get better at and work on and concentrate. If our kids take that to heart and come out and work at it we will improve,” said Valentine.
Again this year Ashland’s non-conference schedule consists of Wadsworth, Dover and Sandusky. They went 0-3 against those teams last year. Valentine says they will be in for a challenge. “Especially Wadsworth and Sandusky had all of those seniors. They had all of those skilled players that went to “MAC” schools. Hopefully, they aren’t going to be as strong, they are going to be good and we know that, but we caught to them on a year last year that they were really strong. That’s a big part of our non-conference schedule it’s got to be there to get us ready for our conference. I think those are three good opponents for us and we are going to have to be ready from game one,” said Valentine.
With Tweaks Ashland Moving Forward
Last year, Ashland put together their fourth Ohio Cardinal Conference football title in the last six years with a five game winning streak to close the regular season.
They finished 6-5 overall after a loss in the first round of the playoffs to New Albany.
Arrows coach Scott Valentine says they are building to be ready to start the season with another competitive team. “I have liked the way our kids have worked in the weight room and in the summer with the way we are getting into shape. We still have a ways to go, but I think our kids have worked hard and hopefully that is going to pay off for us,” he said.
At times last year, the Ashland defense struggled, which is rare for the Arrows, who have been one of the strongest defensive teams in the area over the last decade. Valentine says they do have some guys back on that side of the ball. “On the defensive side of the ball we have quite a few back. I think we have eight returning starters, guys that started at the end of the year for us. Those are guys we have talked to about not being complacent thinking they are were they need to be. They have to get a lot better at some things. Offensively, we lost three guys up front, we lost some receivers and our quarterback Zach Burnhart, so we have some holes to will there. We have some guys that have kind of waited their turn there and this is their chance to show what they can do,” said Valentine.
The preseason part of the schedule is going to be important for the Arrows. Valentine says they have some competition for positions on both sides of the ball. “We have some guys that got some playing time last year in some spots, but a lot them now are trying to compete to be the guy that gets the majority of that time. That’s always good because it helps you get better because they know they have to perform at a high level every time they are out there,” he said.
Ashland was one of the first teams in North Central Ohio to feature the spread offense and their base offense and Valentine says they are going to continue to do that this fall. “I think you are going to see a similar style. Each year wherever your strengths lie, where your playmakers are, you have to find ways to get those guys the ball. We like the way by spreading teams out that we can get some guys in some mismatch situations. We still want to keep that style, but some of the things we do may be a little bit different,” said Valentine. If you are going to run that style, you have to have a pretty good quarterback. Valentine believes they have a couple of guys that can play. “We have a senior, who has started for us on defense, in Tyson Vogel, who has been our backup quarterback and has done a nice job and got some reps there. We have a junior Nick Zurcher, who has put in time. With Tyson still playing defense, so we need to find some balance. I think both of those guys are doing a nice job,” he said.
Ashland will have some guys to replace in the trenches. Valentine says that will be very important to their success this fall. “I think always a concern is up front guys. We have some guys returning on the defensive side, but offensively that blocking part becomes very important for us. Always a big concern going in is how are you going to tackle. I think defensively if you are not a great tackling team you give up a lot of extra yards you don’t want to give up,” said Valentine.
Ashland won the “OCC” baseball title this spring and Valentine thinks that sense of confidence will carry over to the football field. “We always like to see our guys go into other sports and do well. We definitely had some guys like Vogel and Gabe Bradshaw and some other guys that played on that baseball team. Those are all guys we are going to be counting on football wise. You always talk about success breads success with some confidence things and how those guys perform. We have a lot of guys in basketball and wrestling. When you go from sport to sport you hope that confidence carries through. I think we have seen that over the years,” said Valentine.
Ashland One Step Away From State Tournament
Ace Adam Schaly went the distance and struck out seven and Derek Ward, Zach Bernhard and Brock Landrum had consecutive RBI hits in the first inning and the Ashland Arrows beat Oregon Clay 5-2 in the division one regional semi-finals Thursday evening at Bowling Green State University.
Schaly, unbeaten on the season, struggled a little bit early in the game walking two and giving up two hits over the first two innings, but he seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Coach Rob Lavengood says he battled hard all day. “If you ask him he would probably admit that he didn’t quite have his best stuff, but him on a day where he doesn’t have his best stuff is still better than a lot of guys when they have out best stuff. When you think about it he only gives up six hits and two runs and strikes out seven. Those are numbers that a lot of pitchers will take in a regional semi-final game. Despite the fact that he wasn’t as sharp as he has been for most of the season he still gave us a great outing. I thought we played extremely good defense behind him and gave him some runs early,” said Lavengood.
With runners on first and second and two out in the first inning, first basemen Derek Ward singled to drive in the game’s first run. Zach Bernhard followed with a two-run single and Brock Landrum drove in Bernhard with another single. Lavengood says they got some clutch hitting. “They could have easily got out of that first inning without giving up any runs. We had a couple of guys on with two outs and Derek comes up with a big hit to get us on the board, Zach follows him up with a big hit and Brock follows him up with another big hit,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “So, an inning that could have resulted in no runs turns into a four run inning. That’s huge when you have Adam on the mound and you can spot him four runs in the top of the first inning that gives our team a lot of confidence and gives him a lot of confidence. We feel he is not going to give up four runs in a game, so that was the kind of start we were hoping for.”
Another big moment in the game came in the bottom of the fourth with Ashland leading 5-1. Clay loaded the bases and had their leadoff hitter at the plate, but Schaly struck out J.J. Miller. “That was certainly a huge inning. That’s the thing, good pitchers make big pitches in big moments. When the other team gets the bases loaded and has a chance to get back in the game with a big hit Adam makes a big pitch to get a strikeout and get us out of the inning. That was a huge momentum stopper from our point of view and keeps us ahead four runs. Adam might not have had his best stuff, but he made some big pitches in crucial moments,” said Lavengood.
Ashland committed only one error in the regional semi-final win and Lavengood feels they played outstanding with the gloves on Thursday. “We definitely played good defense (Thursday) night. I thought Gabe Bradshaw played an excellent game at third base for us. He made some big plays. I thought Garrett McQuade played a good centerfield tracking down some balls. I thought they swung the bats fairly well (Thursday). We had been hearing from other coaches that they had really struggled offensively all season long. They are not a real strong hitting team one through nine, but I thought they all swung the bats well. They had some good swings on Adam and they hit some balls hard. I thought we did a nice job of playing defense behind him,” he said.
In Ohio a pitcher can only throw 10 innings over three days and the regional final is Friday. Lavengood says they did discuss taking Schaly out of the game early if they could build a big lead. “We sent Zach Bernhard down to the bullpen to warm up in the second inning. That thought did cross my mind. In fact we had a conversation going into the top of the second inning after putting four on the board in the first that if we would have scored three of four more runs in the second I was going to pull Adam and put Zach in and try to save Adam for (Friday.) Obviously, that didn’t happen and we needed him on the mound all day because we didn’t score many runs after that and they put a couple on the board,” he said, “All of those scenarios cross your mind. You are trying to do the best you can to put your players in the best position to be successful not only (Thursday), but for (Friday). We thought about it, but we never got the cushion that I felt comfortable taking our ace out. We feel Aric is going to have a good outing for us (Friday) and give us a chance to beat Westlake.”
Westlake downed Cleveland St. Ignatius (6-4) on Thursday afternoon and they will play Ashland, who finished #1 in our Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll, in the regional final on Friday at 5PM at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Lavengood predicts it will be another tough game, but one they can win. “Well, Westlake beat a very good Cleveland St. Ignatius team (Thursday) night. We had scouts up at the game (Thursday) and we scouted them last Wednesday in their district final game when they beat Avon. We have some stuff on them. We are expecting to see a righty that throws about 81, 82 with a good curveball. They are a good, sound, fundamental team. They play a tough schedule,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Plays in First Regional Since 2007
Ashland’s baseball team and its fans will be making a trip to Bowling Green for the third time in a week. This time they play Oregon Clay in the division one regional semi-finals at BGSU on Thursday evening.
The Ohio Cardinal Conference champions erased a seven-run deficit and beat Maumee (11-8) in the district finals last Saturday at Carter Park in Bowling Green. Coach Rob Lavengood says it feels great to still be playing baseball just a few days before Memorial Day. “Once you get in the tournament it is all about surviving and moving on to the next level. It really doesn’t matter how you get the win. How pretty it is or how ugly it is. You just have to win. That was kind of the situation on Saturday. It wasn’t pretty. We kind of dug ourselves a deep hole. Fortunately we were able to claw our way back and get a “W.” That was a great comeback win on Saturday and we are looking forward to playing (Thursday) night,” said Lavengood.
After four straight losses at the district level Ashland finally made it to the district, but Lavengood says the players don’t believe they are done winning. “These guys have been pretty focused all year long. They set some lofty goals at the beginning of the season. We still haven’t reached the ultimate goal they set of getting down to Columbus. They are pretty locked in and pretty focused in practice the last several days. I think they are going to have a good effort for us (Thursday) night,” he said.
Ashland has had great success in football over the years and their softball team advanced to the district title game before losing on Saturday. Lavengood says the town is excited about the regional game on Thursday. “Everybody I talk to and run into is wishing us luck and congratulating us on the season. The community is certainly taking notice of the season that we have had. I think they are excited about us having the chance to play in the regionals. I think with the fact that we are traveling over two hours we are going to have a pretty good crowd up there,” he said.
Oregon Clay is a surprise to make it the regional level. The Eagles (13-14) are certainly a team playing its best right now. Lavengood says this is a team that can not be underestimated. “I think they are a lot better than their record indicates to start with. They got off to a slow start. They play a really tough schedule. They have been playing really good baseball lately. I hope our guys don’t overlook them just because their record is not as stellar as a lot of teams that get to the regionals because they are a very solid baseball team,” he said.
Lavengood says his team will be facing a good pitcher with above average stuff. “Really it starts with their pitcher. The guy we are going to see is a junior that is already committed to Central Michigan. He is a big righty that throws 87, 88 MPH with a decent curveball. When he is on the mound, he gives them a chance to win,” he said.
Small ball has become more of the game this year with the new bats in Ohio. Lavengood says Clay is a team that can put a lot of pressure on the defense. “They really haven’t been a stellar offensive team all year long, but they do some things that really put pressure on you defensively. In their district games they executed three first and third, double steal, rundown situations to score runs. They bunt, they steal. They do things to put pressure on your defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are kind of similar to the Anthony Wayne team that we played in the district semi-finals. They are a good team and they do some unorthodox things offensively that if you aren’t playing fundamental baseball and you make mistakes you are going to give them an opportunity to score runs. We have to be sound defensively.”
Lavengood says the best way to slow down the Clay running game is to keep the Eagles off the bases to begin with. “If you keep kids off the bases they can’t execute first and third situations. Hopefully our pitchers throw well and give us an opportunity to be successful. The fewer opportunities they have to do things like that the better it is. We need to work ahead and throw strikes and keep them off the bases and then they are going to have to hit their way to score runs. If we make them do that, I like our chances,” said Lavengood.
At times during the regular season Ashland had some trouble getting runs across the plate. But, Lavengood thinks they have found their grove with the bats at the right time. “I really like the way our approach has been the last couple of weeks. In our two district games against Anthony Wayne and Maumee I thought we had some really good swings with a good approach taking balls up the middle and being patient and putting guys on base. Our kids are confident right now when they step in the batter’s box that good things are going to happen,” Lavengood said.
Ashland Make Amazing Comeback
Ashland has been a baseball team built on its pitching, but Saturday it was the bats that gave them one of the bigger wins in school history.
The Arrows (22-4), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll, railed for a seven run deficit to beat Maumee (11-8) and win a division one district baseball title.
Coach Rob Lavengood says it was one of the most trilling games that he has ever been involved in. “It was just an unbelievable comeback. You have to have one of these games every once in a while. I hop I don’t have to have one for awful long time because I don’t know if my heart can take too much more of this,” he said.
Maumee put together a big first inning and took a 5-0 lead. Ashland wouldn’t go away. They railed to score 10 runs over the fifth and sixth innings. Lavengood says all of the credit goes to the kids. “We gave five runs in the first inning. We were down 8-1 going into the bottom of the fifth. The kids never quit, I have to give them a lot of credit. We kept battling and we scored four in the bottom of the fifth. We came back and scored six in the bottom of the sixth. Adam came in and closed the door. It was a great baseball game. I have to give our kids a lot of credit for staying in the ball game,” said Lavengood.
Eric Harris (7-1) started the game for the Arrows and he got rocked in the first inning for the first time this year. However, Lavengood says they didn’t give up and eventually they were able to get the bats going. “(Saturday) was definitely one of the days that we needed the sticks. They came through and that was huge. Eric, I felt bad for him. He definitely didn’t have it like he has had it all year long. He struggled and got off to a rough start in the first inning. He made a couple of pitches that he would like to have back. We had a couple plays defensively that didn’t help matters. After giving up the five in the first inning he did settle in. He gave us four pretty decent innings to keep us in the game and give our bats a chance to wake up and put some runs on the board,” he told Swankonsports.com on Saturday, “Even though we only had one run going into the bottom of the fifth we swung the bats well all day. We had two line drive shots caught by the second baseman. We had a couple of drives in the outfield that their outfielders ran down. So, we hit the ball hard early in the game, we just didn’t have anything to show for it. Finally we came up with some big hits in the fifth and sixth inning. Probably the biggest hit was Derek Ward in an 8-6 game. With two guys on he drove one to the fence in center that scored two runs and tied the game up and then we were able to get a few more runs. That was a huge hit to finally bring us back and tie the game up and give us a chance to win.”
Lavengood says once they got a few hits they felt a lot better when they got the bat and went to the plate. “There were just huge momentum swings on (Saturday). They had momentum for four and half innings. They had confidence swinging the bats, especially after the first inning. They tacked on a few more runs in the fourth or the fifth. Once we got some runs on the board, our kids had confidence when they stepped in the batter’s box. Confidence breeds confidence and it rubs off on the rest of the guys. We were finally able to break through and get some great at bats,” said Lavengood.
Like a lot of things in life, Lavengood says hitting the baseball is mostly about confidence. “You go through stretches when it looks like a golf ball coming in. You are struggling and can’t hit anything. When you are hot and you have a good streak going it looks huge. It’s all about confidence. It’s all about seeing in the baseball. When you are able to see and you have a lot of confidence you get good swings and good things happen. Fortunately in the fifth and sixth innings we were able to do that,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Brings Home District Win
Ashland fans probably had become used to heartbreak at the district level, but this year was different.
Adam Shaley tossed a four-hitter and the Arrows got past (2-0) Anthony Wayne in the division one district semi-finals on Thursday night at Carter Park in Bowling Green. Ashland returns Saturday afternoon to face the Maumee Panthers, a 6-0 winner over Norwalk Thursday, for a district championship.
Rob Lavengood, in his second year as the Ashland head coach, says finally getting that district win really felt good. “It was a big win (Thursday) night. We are excited to move on to the district championship game on Saturday. We are just trying to take one game at a time. We are going to celebrate a little bit (Thursday) night. We will turn our attention to Maumee starting (Friday) and get ready for Saturday,” he said.
Shaley, unbeaten on the season, was again on top of his game against Anthony Wayne. Plus, Lavengood says they were able to swing the bats pretty well too. “It was a classic pitcher’s duel. Adam threw a very good game. I think he gave up four hits. The kid for Anthony Wayne also pitched well. Runs where hard to come by, that’s for sure,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday after the win, “We scored first with a run in the top of the fifth inning then we scored one in the top of the seventh to give us the two run cushion. We swung the bats fairly well even though we got only two runs. We had seven hits and I thought we had a pretty good approach taking some hits up the middle. We were able to scratch across a couple of runs.”
After taking a 1-0 nothing lead in the fifth inning. Ashland got a huge defensive play to preserve that lead. Lavengood says it was probably the biggest play of the game. “Probably the defensive play of the game came in the bottom of the fifth. They had first and second with two outs and got a base hit to leftfield and Brock Landrum, our leftfielder, came up and gunned the kid out at home plate with a great throw. That was a big momentum swing to hold the game at 1-0 heading into the sixth inning. So, that was a big play to preserve a one-run lead. Adam kind of took it from there,” said Lavengood.
Ashland had some chances to break the game open early on, but couldn’t get the big hit. Lavengood says the players didn’t lose their focus. “Really we had scoring opportunities right from the start. The kids just kept swinging the bats and stayed focused. I think they just felt that eventually we were going to get a run or two and fortunately we were able to do that. In the first inning we got a guy on and their shortstop makes a great play on a ball hit up the middle that would have scored a run for us. We get a lead off guy on in the second inning. We get the lead off guy in the third inning. I mean we were getting some base runners. We were swinging the bats fairly well. I think it was just a matter of time before we bust the scoreboard and get a run across and fortunately we were able to do that. The kids played well and played with confidence. I am excited for them and hopefully we can come ready to play another good game Saturday,” said Lavengood.
Again Shaley was tough for the Arrows, but Lavengood says at the same time they were able to make some solid defensive plays when Anthony Wayne was able to get the bat on the ball. “When you are playing good teams and basically everybody is a good team at this point and time. You have to make plays and you have to make plays behind the pitchers. Certainly Adam pitched well (Thursday), but we did make some nice plays. He helped his cause by making a great play on a bunt in the sixth inning, throwing a guy out at first. We had a couple of other nice plays, obviously the nice throw by Brock in the fifth to throw the guy out at home. Those are huge plays in a one-run game. It’s good to see guys step up and make those plays,” Lavengood said.
Eric Harris, with only one loss this year, takes the hill for Ashland, #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll, on Saturday against Maumee and Lavengood says they will again have to be at the top of their game to have a chance to win. “Maumee is very good team. They lost a couple of close games to Anthony Wayne in the regular season. Obviously, they play some pretty baseball as well. I think there are some similarities between Maumee and Anthony Wayne. They have some good athletes and they swing the bats fairly well. They have good arms on defense. We are going to see a right handed pitcher that throws the ball pretty hard, 85, 86 MPH. It should be a great game. Another big challenge for our guys and hopefully we are up to the task,” Lavengood said.
Some additional good news came to the Ashland camp on Thursday. Mansfield Madison upset West Holmes in Ohio Cardinal Conference play to give Ashland the outright conference title.
Ashland Off to Districts Again
This is the fifth straight year the Ashland Arrows have qualified for the division one district baseball tournament. Now, they are trying to get over the huddle of winning that semi-final game.
The Arrows (20-4), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll, plays Anthony Wayne (22-2) in the semi-finals on Thursday night at Carter Park in Bowling Green. Ashland coach Rob Lavengood says make no mistake about it Anthony Wayne is a very good team. “They are a very good team record wise they are 22-2. They have been ranked all year long in the state polls, for whatever that’s worth. They have 13 seniors. They have a lot of good athletes. They have speed, they like to bunt, they like to run, they like to do a lot of things to put pressure on the defense when they are hitting. They have a lot of good arms. They are very fundamental defensively. So, they are a very sound baseball team with a lot of veteran leadership. It’s going to be a good test for us and we are going to have to go up there and play really good baseball against them to get a win,” said Lavengood.
Ashland will give the ball to left hander Adam Shaley, who is unbeaten on the season and has recorded a perfect game and a no-hitter this year. Lavengood says Shaley is not as likely to dominate Anthony Wayne, so they will need to play very good defense. “We have to play good defense behind Adam. We feel good that Adam is going to pitch well. He has thrown well all season long. When he is on the mound he gives us a lot of confidence. We feel good going in that he is going to give us another good outing, but the guys behind him are going to have to play good defense. If we do that we are going to have a good chance to win a baseball game,” he said.
Perrysburg beat Ashland (1-0) in last year’s district semi-finals and this time Lavengood would like to scratch across a couple of runs early in the game. “It helps you in a couple different ways. One, if you can put a couple of runs early it gives your pitcher confidence. If he steps on the mound with the lead and he can settle in and pitch his game. On the flip side if you get a couple of runs early your hitters step in the batter’s box with confidence, that hey, we can have success against this guy. If you get a couple of runs early then confidence breads confidence and the rest of the guys in the lineup step in the box and feel they can do something as well. No question we would like to jump on them early and get a couple of runs and settle into the game,” Lavengood said.
In order to have some success at the plate, Lavengood says they have to be loose and disciplined. “People talk about whether you are tight hitting when you get into tournament. A lot of that is due to the pitcher on the other team. The deeper you go into the tournament the better pitching you are going to face. It might not necessarily be that you are tight in the batter’s box it might just be that the guy on the mound is just really good. We are going to face a pretty good pitcher (Thursday) from Anthony Wayne,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He is a big right hander that throws a lot of curveballs. He throws a fastball about 80-81, so I don’t think he is extremely overpowering, but he likes to keep you off balance with breaking balls. Our guys are going to have to be disciplined to stay back on the breaking balls, take it the other way, hit the ball where it is pitched. If we can do that then I think we can have some success.”
Carter Park is a municipal park in Bowling Green and Lavengood believes they will feel comfortable there. “It is a very nice park. We have had a chance to play up there the last three or four years in the districts, so most of our guys have been on that field before. They do have some familiarity with it. I suppose that you can talk about travel distance. We are traveling about an hour and 40 minutes and Anthony Wayne is going about 20 minutes, whether that is a factor, who knows. We are going to get up there plenty early so the kids can stretch their legs and get lose and get ready to go,” Lavengood said.
Most games in this part of that state are played in daylight hours. At lest the last part of the Thursday night game will be played under the lights and that does concern Lavengood a little bit. “The only other thing that might come into play is the game is going to start at seven o’clock. It’s the first game that we will be playing under the lights. Even though it’s not real dark at seven o’clock, but late in the game it’s going to be darker. Playing under the lights is different than starting at five o’clock or playing in the afternoon. Hopefully that doesn’t come into play for either team. You would hate to win or lose a game on a ball that is lost in the lights or in the darkness late in the game,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Takes Sectional Title; Looks Forward
One of the biggest fears of any baseball coach in North Central Ohio is to look at the lineup card and find the name Adam Shaley penciled in as the opponent’s starting pitcher. Mansfield Senior found that out on Thursday night.
Ashland’s Shaley threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts to lead the Arrows past Mansfield Senior (8-0) in the division one sectional finals on Thursday night at Fremont Ross High School. Ashland coach Rob Lavengood says it was just another day at the office for Shaley. “We feel pretty confident when he is on the mound that we have a good chance to win. He was outstanding (Thursday) night. He pounded the strike zone. He threw the no-hitter with 16 strikeouts. He was just dominate. It was another good outing. I guess it is just becoming routine, but we expect him to throw well and give us a chance to win every time he goes out there and (Thursday) night was no different,” said Lavengood.
Lavengood says Shaley has the kind of stuff that makes it very difficult for everyone except for the very best high school hitters to have a lot of success against him. “It is really unfair for most high school hitters. I’m glad I didn’t have to face a kid like that when I was in high school. He has a plus fastball, he’s got a plus curveball, and he really hasn’t had to throw his change up much at all this year just because he is that good of a pitcher. He has a pretty good change up too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “That is why he is going to a college like Stetson University down in Florida because he is able to do those things. We are fortunate that he pitches for our team and we are excited every time he takes the mound.”
Mansfield Senior (9-16) has played its best baseball at the end of the season. The Tygers had a four game winning streak going into Thursday. Lavengood good says they were able to keep his team off balance a little bit, especially at the plate. “We really didn’t swing the bats extremely well. We scored some of our runs late. The Reece kid actually threw the ball pretty well for Mansfield. They are a much improved team from when we played them in early April. They have gotten a lot better. They played pretty solid defense behind him. For the most part he threw strikes. They were really in the game. It was a 5-0 game going into the bottom of the sixth and we were able to put three more runs on the board. They have certainly improved a lot throughout the season. They played pretty well,” he said.
Ashland (19-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the large school division, plays Anthony Wayne (20-1) in the district semi finals next week at Carter Park in Bowling Green. Lavengood says this likely is the best team they have seen all season and they will need to be at their best. “We talked about goals at the beginning of the season. Our number one goal was to win the conference championship. Now, we can kind of turn our attention toward that (Friday) and Saturday with our last two games against Orrville. Our second goal was the make a long tournament run. Really it’s a one game playoff. You try to take it one game at a time, you win that, and you move on. We get a chance to head up to Bowling Green again next week for the districts. I am on my way back from Bowling Green right now. I just got done watching Anthony Wayne beat Fremont 7-1 and that’s who we play next Thursday. They are a very good team. I think they are 20-1 and we are 19-2. It’s going to be a great match-up with two quality opponents facing off against each other. It should be fun for the fans to watch. Hopefully, we can go up there ready to play and Adam can throw well and give us a chance to win,” said Lavengood.
Another title lays in the balance for the Arrows this week as they play Orrville in back to back Ohio Cardinal Conference games on Friday and Saturday. They own a one game lead on West Holmes and a sweep of the series against the Red Riders (15-7) will give Ashland the out right title. “I think we saw a little bit of hitting rust (Thursday). Before (Thursday) we hadn’t played in eight days. Last Wednesday against Lexington was our last game. We got rained out Saturday. Again you have to give their pitcher some credit, but I really didn’t think we swung the bats extremely well. We have to get regular at bats and I think that makes a big difference for the hitters. We have a game with Orrville (Friday), another game with Orrville Saturday morning, and then a nice non-conference game up at Massillon Perry scheduled for Monday as a tune up for the district. That gives us three good games going into the district to hopefully keep us fresh and sharp so we can go into the district game with some confidence,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Maintains First Place
After action in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Wednesday, the Ashland Arrows still own a one game lead on West Holmes now with two games left for each on the conference schedule.
The Arrows (18-2,11-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the large school division, beat Lexington (4-3), meanwhile West Holmes beat Clear Fork (9-5) to stay right there. In other league action, Mansfield Senior beat Madison (4-3) for the second straight day and Wooster took the measure of (3-2) Orrville in a battle of rivals.
Arrows coach Rob Lavengood says it probably wasn’t their best performance of the season, but they did what they needed to do to get the win. “We’ll take any win. It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty. It is good for us to play some one run games anyways. That will hopefully pay some dividends down the line as we get into tournament. If our guys are put into pressure situations where they’ve got to make plays, got to make pitches, got to get hits. We were fortunate enough to get a win. I thought Lexington played well (Wednesday) night. We will keep plugging away and taking one day at a time,” said Lavengood.
Eric Harris got the win for Ashland and Lavengood says he gutted it out and gave his team a chance to win the game. “Eric threw (Wednesday) night. He threw the whole game. Really his did a nice job of pounding the strike zone (Wednesday). He didn’t have any walks. They had some hits against him, but still he threw well and gave us a chance to win and that’s all you can ask,” he said.
Next week, Ashland plays Orrville (14-6,7-5) in the two game “OCC’ series and either Mansfield Senior or Marion Harding in a sectional final on Thursday at Fremont Ross. Lavengood says they will likely have to win the league without the services of stopper Adam Schaly. “Next week is a very big week, but they are in the same boat as we are. They have their tournament opener on Tuesday. We play our tournament game on Thursday. So, we are actually playing them in the league on Wednesday and Friday. Both teams are probably aren’t going to have their number ones available,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It will be a testament to who has good pitching depth. I feel really good about our number two and number three with Eric and Zach throwing. We’ll kind of see what kind of pitching depth they have. They are a very good team. They have had a good season, so we still have some work to do to finish up a conference championship with Orrville next week. If our guys go and have a couple of good games we can get the job done.”
West Holmes (16-5,10-2) plays Madison (2-16,1-11) in their league games next week.
Lavengood believes if they are going to continue to win they need to get their offense going more consistently. “I was just talking to a couple of our assistant coaches on (Tuesday) night and I just don’t think we have seen our best offensive effort yet. I really think we are a better hitting team than what we have showed. We have showed signs and glimpses of breaking out. Overall one to nine I don’t think we have put things together where we are clicking on all cylinders yet. So, hopefully as we get close to tournament time we will be peaking offensively and really getting the bats going over the next two weeks,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Takes Two game Lead
Sensational lefthander Adam Schaly struck out 18 and permitted only three hits in leading Ashland to a 2-0 win over West Holmes in a huge Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball game on Tuesday evening.
The win by the Arrows (15-1,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll, moves them two games in front of second place West Holmes (12-4,7-2) going into a second game between the two on Wednesday outside of Millersburg.
Ashland coach Rob Lavengood it was a classic pitching duel between Schaly and West Holmes’ Butch Baird. He says they were fortunate to come out on top. “They have a good team. They came in 7-1 in the league and we were 8-0, so we knew that (Tuesday) and then (Wednesday) where going to be two big games in deciding a conference championship here in a couple of weeks and we were fortunate enough to get game one. Adam was really impressive (Tuesday) giving up just three hits and getting 18 strikeouts in a complete game shutout. Their pitcher was equally impressive. He only gave up two hits and struck out 10. It was a pitcher’s battle and we were lucky enough to scratch across a couple of runs early in the game and hang on and get the win, so now we have to go get the sweep (Wednesday) night down at West Holmes,” said Lavengood.
With only five hits between them in the game there were not very many opportunities to score. Lavengood says they were able to take advantage of the couple of times they got a chance to score against Baird. “We did it by playing a little small ball. In the first inning we got a walk, we stole a base, we moved a runner, and then a ground ball in the infield scored a run. We didn’t get a ball out of the infield in the first inning and scored a run. We kind of manufactured one. We did the same thing in the second inning. We started off with a walk and moved the runner around and were able to scratch across another run and make it hold up. It’s not like we hit the heck out of the ball (Tuesday), but we were able to execute and score a couple early on without getting the ball out of the infield,” Lavengood said.
Game two of the series is Wednesday and Lavengood says it is just as important. He says if they lose they are back in the same position they were to start the week. “If we get a win (Wednesday) night we will be three games up with four to go. If we go down there and lose we are only one up and we have four tough games to go. It is a big game. (Tuesday) was a big game, but (Wednesday) is also a big game. Eric Harris will have the ball (Wednesday) night and we feel confident when he is on the mound. Hopefully he can go down there and have a good performance and give us a chance to get another “W,” he said.
Ashland lost its first game of the season last Friday to Bellevue, #3 in the Swankonsports.com poll, (3-1) in a non-conference game. Lavengood says the loss kind of refocused them a bit. “Definitely you never like to lose, but I think our kids maybe got a wakeup call and realized we have to come ready to play every game. It’s not like we got beat by a bad team,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I mean Bellevue is ranked fourth in the state in division two, they are 15-4. They have a very good team. We went on the road and got beat 3-1, so it’s not a bad loss. Now we don’t have to worry about if we are going to go undefeated. Now, we just concentrate on taking one game at a time. It wasn’t a conference game, so it’s not like we lost a league game. I guess if you are going to lose a game, we’ll take that one and move on.”
Ashland Happy, Not Satisfied
Ashland holds a one game lead in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings, but they were in a similar situation last year and let it slip away. They are not about to let that happen again.
Right now, Ashland (14-0,8-0) is unbeaten, #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the large school division, and coach Rob Lavengood says he is very pleased with the focus and the performance they have shown so far. “We are certainly excited about where we are at right now. With 14 of our 27 regular season games down, we haven’t lost yet, so it’s been a good start. The kids are playing well and I think they are excited about what we have been able to do so far. I think the community is starting to take notice of what we are doing. It’s a lot of fun. We just want to keep an even keel here and keep focusing on playing one game at a time and see what happens,” said Lavengood.
There have been some spectacular games this year for the Arrows, but what is even more impressive is the consistency they have shown. Lavengood says their pitching has been there every night. “That starts with our pitchers. They have pitched well all season long. We have basically gone with four guys in Adam Schaly, Eric Harris, Zach Bernhard, and Tyson Vogel. All four of those guys have given us good outings game after game. They throw strikes, they get outs and we have played fairly good defense. When you do those two things, you give yourself a chance to win every game. I think we have pretty decent offense to go with that, but it really starts with the pitching as we feel really good about the guys that we have been able to put on the mound,” Lavengood said.
Ashland has not been scoring a ton of runs, but they have been able to get on the board early and Lavengood says that puts them in good position to win the game. “When you have the guys on the mound that we have, we feel if we can get a couple of runs on the board early on those guys can settle in and pitch with confidence. If we can get four or five runs on the board we feel like the game is over because our guys aren’t going to give up that many runs. I think our team ERA is under 1.00 and we are batting .370 as a team. Those are two pretty good numbers that are going to give you opportunities to be successful,” he said.
These are kids we are talking about and sometimes success can led to over confidence or complacency. However, Lavengood says he has not detected any of that. “They better not be. That is kind of one thing that I have been stressing all week. The first state poll came out this week and they had us ranked fourth and certainly we are excited about that. We are honored that we have attracted some attention from the coaches around the state, but we also told the kids this is not the time to relax. Everyone is going to be gunning for you and you have a bull’s eye on your back. They are going to bring their “A” game every night and we need to do the same,” Lavengood said.
When it comes to goals, Lavengood says none have been accomplished by the team yet. “They better not be satisfied, we still have a lot of unfinished work to do. We still have a conference championship to win and we still have to prepare for tournament down the road. These guys set some pretty lofty goals at the beginning of the season and really we haven’t accomplished anything yet other than the fact we have won 14 games. There is a lot of unfinished business. We are just trying to take it one game at a time,” he said.
First things first, Lavengood says they want to nail down that “OCC” title. “We have the second, third and fourth place teams still left in the league. We have West Holmes next week. They are 7-1 in the conference and we are 8-0. That’s going to be a huge week. The week after we play Lexington and the week after that we have Orrville and they have three losses. We still have three pretty good teams left on our conference schedule,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “There is a lot of baseball to be played and I think our guys know they have to remain focused. Last year, we were kind of in this situation and in the league and we lost two of our last three league games and ended up in second place. That kind of left a sour taste in our kid’s mouths and they aren’t going to forget that. They are pretty locked in to make sure they come to play every night.”
Ashland Enjoying Fine Softball Season
Right now, Ashland stands in second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference girls’ softball standings and they also won their division of the MVD tournament last weekend.
They lost just their second game in the conference on Wednesday night when they lost a 6-4 decision to the Mansfield Madison Lady Rams on the road.
Coach Wendy Packard says this spring they have finally been able to put together all facets of the game and that has led them 11 wins over the first month of the season. “We have good experience. We have four seniors, three of which contribute on a regular basis. We have worked a lot on our game in terms of the hitting and the defensive side, which has been a huge plus for us this year. Our pitching has been a strong foundation for us. So, all around we finally have the whole package. We have been typically missing one of the pieces. That’s how we have had as much success as we have had early in the year,” said Packard.
They trail Orrville by two games in the “OCC” standings and Parkard says there are some things they need to be better at if they are going to reach that next level. “Overall base running, we tend to be very aggressive, therefore we run ourselves out of some innings very early. That’s something we are continuing to work on. We need to be able to close out a game and play a full seven innings and be prepared to finish the game,” she told Swankonsports.com, “Typically we are having one down inning and a team comes back on us. That’s something we are working on and hopefully we will have that handled by the middle and end of the season that we can take in the post season and have a good run at it.”
Over the history of the “OCC” Clear Fork and Lexington have been the dominate softball programs, but this year neither is over .500 in the league so far. Packard hopes they can continue to compete. “It is a very balanced league and it’s nice to see other teams are having some success. We look forward to continue to compete in the league and see what beholds at the end of the year and see where we end up,” she said.
This is the second year that high school pitchers have been throwing from a rubber 43 feet from home plate. Packard says it has made a dramatic difference in the game. “It has completely changed the game of high school softball. Not only is it more of an offensive game, but it puts more pressure on the defense. There has been a lot more errors this year and last year and just due to the fact that there have been more balls hit to individuals. It has taken away the opportunity for perfect games and having a pitcher dominate a game. It certainly has allowed more of an advantage to the offense even in base stealing because you have an extra three feet to get a better jump,” said Packard.
Schaly Throws Perfect Games
Anyone that follows baseball in North Central Ohio knows that Ashland’s Adam Schaly is an outstanding pitcher, but he took it to another level on Tuesday night.
Schaly, 3-0 on the season, threw a perfect game, which included 15 strikeouts, as the Arrows beat the Clear Fork Colts 7-0 in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday night. Coach Rob Lavengood told Swankonsports.com after the game that Schaly had his best stuff and put it to good use against the Colts. “Adam was certainly dominate (Tuesday) night. He had his good stuff and he was very sharp. I think he only had one three ball count the entire game. He threw a complete game, perfect game, 15 strikeouts and he threw only 78 pitches. You want to talk about being sharp and being efficient, throwing strikes and going right at them, he certainly did that (Tuesday) and it was pretty impressive to watch,” said Lavengood.
Sometimes a good pitcher will be able to locate one of his pitches and sometimes he can get the both in the zone. Lavengood says the later was the case for Schaly and that makes him very hard to hit. “His fastball was tailing (Tuesday) and he had a very good curve ball that we has able to throw in the strike zone, so he was getting swing and miss strikes in the zone, not necessarily out of the zone. That just goes to show you what good stuff he had. It’s not like their batters were chasing balls out of the strike zone. He was extremely sharp and he was definitely had his “A” game that’s for sure,” said Lavengood.
Tuesday night was one of those special nights, even for Schaly. Lavengood says as the coach he felt comfortable calling for any pitch in any count and knew his ace was going to be able to deliver. “He was able to throw them both for strikes no matter what the count was. He had both his fastball and his curve ball in the strike zone. Regardless of the count, regardless of the situation, he was able to throw either one for a strike. We worked on different batters depending on where they were in their lineup more with curve balls or more with fastballs,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It didn’t really matter what pitch I called he was able to throw it for a strike. That is what you are hoping for your ace to be able to do when he steps on the mound is be able to pitch the way he did (Tuesday). Certainly we aren’t expecting perfect games or not hitters all of the time. We feel if we can put a couple of runs on the board he is going to give a chance to win the ball game.”
Ashland (9-0,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the larger school division, was able to put some runs on the board early in the game. Lavengood says that is something they look to do when they have Schaly on the hill. “We put four on the board in the first and two more in the second. You have a lot of confidence as the coach in the dugout knowing that if you put four runs on the board in the first inning and you have Adam on the hill the other team is going to have a tough time scoring four runs on him. He was able to settle in and feel comfortable with an early lead and have a great outing,” he said.
Ashland entertains Clear Fork (4-3,2-3) in more “OCC” action in Ashland on Wednesday afternoon.
Rob Lavengood joins us this week on Sports Saturday
Ashland has won all six of their baseball games this year, including four in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
They share first place in the league with West Holmes and Orrville after two weeks of league competition. The Arrows handled Wooster last week and beat Mansfield Senior in two five inning games this week.
Coach Rob Lavengood says pitchers Adam Schaly and Eric Harris have done an outstanding job in those conference games and have put the Arrows in great position to win. “They have given us a chance to win every time they have stepped out on the mound. They have thrown strikes and been aggressive and for the most part have really been sharp over our first six games. We are excited about the start and want to make sure those guys continue to pitch well and stay healthy. If that is the case we are going to have our chance to win our share of games this year,” said Lavengood.
It certainly helps when your two best pitchers have been recruited by division one colleges. Lavengood says they know what to do when they get out on the mound. “We actually feel like we have two aces, kind of a 1-A and 1-B. Adam Schaly is certainly our number one guy. He is going to Stetson next year and there is a reason for that. He is a very polished pitcher. His dad has obviously done a nice job of coaching him up through the years. We feel when he is on the mound he is going to give us a chance to win no matter who we play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Eric Harris, who is going to Northern Kentucky next year, we feel the same way about him. Eric has thrown the ball well the first two times out. He is a division one college pitcher as well. Those two guys really give us a nice one-two punch.”
Lavengood feels their defense has been good this season too and one of the reasons is their fielders are sharp because their pitchers throw strikes and they don’t full around a lot on the mound. “They are in control of keep their team in the game. If they are a pitcher out on the mound that works slow and doesn’t throw a lot of strikes the guys playing behind them tend to lose focus and that’s when you don’t get good defense behind you. If you are a guy that gets the ball back and steps on the mound and throws strikes and goes right at the hitters it not only helps you be successful, but it also leads to better defense. It also helps the umpiring. If you work fast and are around the zone you are going to get the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
With a change in bats this year, Lavengood says they have been bunting a whole lot more. Plus, he says to be a good team you have to be able to defend the small ball game too. “We have really bunted a lot more this year in our first six games. We have stolen some bases and tried to put some pressure on the defense because you can’t wait around for the three run home run. You have to be able to move runners and play some small ball. That goes not only on the offensive side, but the defensive side. You better be able to defend those things. We have spent a lot of time with our defense. A matter of fact, we had a practice this week where we spent about 45 minutes working on bunt coverages and stuff like that,” said Lavengood.
He believes the Arrows are starting to swing the bats better too. They scores 13 runs off Mansfield Senior on Wednesday. Lavengood knows they need to find new ways to score too. “We are still a work in progress offensively, but we have been getting better every game out swinging the bats. We have been playing more small ball. We had a game against Marion when we bunted three straight batters. We feel with our pitching staff that if we can get a few runs on the board early on that gives our pitchers a chance to settle in and get outs and gives us a chance to win games,” said Lavengood.
Ashland Comes up With Big Win
Ashland ace Adam Schaly threw a three hitter and the Arrows downed talented Wooster 3-2 in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game among contenders on Tuesday night.
Schaly and Wooster’s Luke McGee locked horns in a real pitcher’s duel that was everything that was excepted going into the game. Arrows coach Rob Lavengood says they were able to do the things they had to do to win. “It’s always nice to win your first game of the year, especially if it’s a conference game. Really it was a great baseball game. You had the manqué pitching match-up with Adam Schaly for us against Luke McGee, going to Ohio State, for Wooster. The two of them matched each other pitch for pitch. We were lucky enough to scrape across a couple of runs and hole them off. Really for the first game of the season there were some great defensively plays and some clutch hitting. It was really a great baseball game, it was fun to watch, and it’s even better when you can win,” said Lavengood.
Adam is the son of Ashland University baseball coach John Schaly and his grandfather was the coach at Marietta College for a quarter of a century. Lavengood says he is a baseball kid through and through. “You can really tell that he has had some great coaching growing up from his dad who is the coach at Ashland University. He is a student of the game. He understands what he wants to do when he is out on the mound. He is a very smart baseball player and he has the talent to go with it,’ he said.
The Arrows (1-0) will play host to Wooster on Wednesday night in the back half of the back-to-back “OCC” schedule and Lavengood says they want this game just as bad. “We don’t want a split. We want to come out of there with two wins against them and really get off to a good start in the league. We are hoping the weather cooperates. If it doesn’t it looks good Thursday. If we don’t get in the game (Wednesday) we certainly ought to be able to play it on Thursday. It is a big series and I really like the home and home schedule and back to back as well. You don’t have to face the other team’s number one pitcher twice. It really forces you to have pitching depth and a couple of really good starters to be able to compete for a conference championship. There is nothing like opening the season against a good, strong conference opponent like Wooster. We are excited to get the win and hopefully we can get one (Wednesday) night,” said Lavengood.
The Ohio Cardinal Conference is one of the few in the area that plays meaningful, conference games on the first week of the baseball season. Lavengood says he would rather not, but he can live with it. “I’m not really excited about it, but it is what it is and you have to go play the games that are scheduled for you. We had our “OCC” coaches meeting back a few weeks ago and I actually suggested to bump the conference schedule back a week. The other problem you get into is you run into the tournament. At the end of the season you are shuffling your pitching staff and you might not be able to throw your best pitcher in a league game just because he is throwing in sectionals or districts. I guess you can look at it from both perspectives,” he told Swankonsports.com Tuesday night after the win, “It would be nice to get in three or four non-league games before you open up the conference, but we are all in the same boat and no one really has an advantage over anyone else. Fortunately the weather has been nice so far in March and we were able to get all four of our scrimmages in, so it’s not like some years when you get your scrimmages wiped out and then the first time you are out on the field you are playing a conference game. We fell like our kids are ready for the season regardless if it is conference games or not.”
Ashland Ready to Go
Ashland won the Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball title last season in a showdown with Wooster the Arrows have the kind of talent to do it again.
Coach Rob Lavengood likes the make-up of his team, which has some veteran leadership and some good arms. “We are definitely excited for the season to get started here in about a week and half. We feel like we have a pretty good group of guys returning from last year’s team with some good pitching and good hitting. Like I said we are excited and we feel if we stay health and play well we can do some pretty exciting things this year,” said Lavengood.
Ashland has one of the area’s best pitching staffs, led by lefthander Adam Shaly, who threw a no-hitter for the Arrows last spring. Lavengood says they have some depth too. “I think it starts with pitching. We have two pretty power arms coming back in Adam Shaly and Eric Harris. We have some other guys that we feel pretty confident on the mound too in Zach Bernhart, another senior, and some of our junior pitchers that we have coming up. I think it always starts with pitching and we feel we have some pretty solid pitching and can compete of a conference championship, but I think the conference is going to be pretty strong from top to bottom. You better be ready to play every time you step on the field and it should be pretty competitive.” Lavengood thinks they will be able to compete for the “OCC” title, but he knows a number of other teams do to.
The Arrows will lean on their pitching, but that Lavengood thinks they have a lineup that can put some runs on the board too. “I like to think we are going to be able to hit the ball. You know, Derek Ward and Steven Mowery certainly give us some power bats in the middle of the lineup. You know, Adma Shaly, Eric Harris, and Zach Bernhart all put up pretty good offensive numbers for us last year. We feel some of our younger guys that are going to fill in the rest of our order can contribute as well. We feel that we can put some runs on the board and give our pitchers the support that they need. We have a senior dominated group, but we also have some juniors that are going to be playing some pretty key roles for us as well as we will have to see what happens,” said Lavengood.
This year in the “OCC” just about everything has been competitive, football, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball and Lavengood thinks baseball will be much the same. “Wooster has a good group coming back with a couple of pretty good pitchers. Lexington, Madison and West Holmes have some good arms coming back. Orrville and Clear Fork always have some pretty good arms and they play hard and Mansfield Senior is going to better. Really top to bottom one through eight the league’s going to be strong. You better bring your “A” game every in night in the “OCC” or you are going to get beat,” he said.
Ashland Glad to Have Nardo Back
Ashland might have the ship pointed in the right direction just in time and they are getting a boost with the return of one their best players.
Ashland broke a four game losing streak with a double overtime (80-76) win over Mansfield Madison last Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
The Arrows (8-12) meet Marion Harding in a first round game in the division one tournament on Tuesday night at Willard High School.
Coach Tim Fralich believes that getting that win in their final regular season game greatly improved their chances of being successful in the tournament this week. “That was important to us to be able to get that win because we had been struggling. When you aren’t been playing really well you always like to get a little momentum going into the tournament. You get a little bit of your grove back and your confidence going. We had lost some close games and then we lost our starting center Brandon Nardo, who had been averaging 10.5 points and eight rebounds. He was out for a few games with a hand injury and we didn’t play well at all. We talked about getting back to doing what we were doing and we really worked on breaking down some things in our half court, man-to-man defense and our full court press,” said Fralich.
Again Ashland had problems putting an opponent away with a lead in the fourth quarter, but Fralich says this time they were able to survive and win in the end. “We did some good things on Friday. We got Brandon back, which was a surprise. We didn’t expect to have him back to maybe sectionals, but he was felling really well and he had been cleared, so we went with it. He had a phenomenal night with 21 points and 10 rebounds, so obviously that gave us a big shot in the arm. Madison is really well coached and they played without Shaquille Brooks, their leading scorer. He’s out with his foot. He is out for the season. They still have a nice team. Jaquan Thompson, their guard, is one of the best players in the league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “We played really well for about three and half quarters. We have just struggled to make the plays we need to down the stretch to seal wins. We let them back in it and they forced overtime on a three point shot by Lampert. We got a stop in the first overtime. In the second overtime, Jaquan Thompson fouled out, so that really helped our case. It was nice to see our kids fight back and get a win even though we kind of let it slip away in regulation.”
Nardo is a second team all-district selection and Fralich says he gives them some things they can’t get from anyone else on the squad. “Sometimes like anything else you don’t realize how good someone or something is until they are gone, unfortunately. When he was gone those three games, we played well down at Mt. Vernon, but the following weekend against Clear Fork and Massillon Washington we played our worst basketball of the season. Part of it was just us not being focused and not executing and not having that edge to us. Part of it was we didn’t have our big guy down low that really added that edge and energy and most importantly do the job on the defensive glass,” said Fralich.
They started kind of slow, but Fralich believes Marion Harding is playing their best basketball right now. “They have played better. They beat Sandusky, which is in our sectional. Sandusky is an athletic team. They lost to Madison by three with Shaquille Brooks a couple of weeks back now. So, they are playing some good ball. They are a really athletic team. They are really guard oriented and they want to drive. They are not a tremendous shooting team. They do shoot quite a few threes, but what they are best at is dribble penetration and then crashing the offensive glass. They do a good job with their athleticism in doing those two things,” he said.
The winner advances to play Mansfield Senior (17-3) on Friday night at Willard. Fralich says for the Arrows to win they must keep the Presidents out of the paint and win the rebounding battle. “We have to do a really good job in our half court defense and really clamp down in the gaps and force them to shoot contested outside shots and then get that first miss. We really feel if we can do those two things that we are going to put ourselves in pretty good position. Defensively, they are going to come out and full court pressure you in a diamond, a 2-2-1 and a full court man to man. They are going to try and mix you up and get you on your heels. We have to be aggressive no matter what they are in. Just get the ball and go. Just do what we do, get a good shot early and we’ll adjust to what they do in the half court because they do about three or four different things in the half court,” said Fralich.
Ashland Needs to Find Itself
Ashland has lost its last four games and six of its last seven going into an Ohio Cardinal Conference game at home against the Mansfield Madison Rams on Friday night.
They suffered two significant losses last weekend when Clear Fork downed them (68-55) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday and they were blitzed (76-48) by Massillon on Saturday at home.
Arrows coach Tim Fralich says they did a lot of soul searching after the loss Saturday night and have come out this week with a fresh approach and what he feels is a better plan of attack. “We played poorly all weekend. We have gone back to the drawing board on a number of things from defensive breakdowns to offensive review of just some of the basic things that we have done. We talked with our guys quite a while after Saturday’s game. As a staff we talked about things we needed to get done. As players they talked about some things they would like to see us do in practice. We kind of combined those things and have been doing them this week and we have had some pretty good practices. Hopefully that results in us coming out with more energy and more focus and playing with a lot more toughness then we did this last weekend,” said Fralich.
Madison (9-10,6-7) beat Ashland (7-12.5-8) on January 20 (48-39) by forcing 18 turnovers and making it tough for the Arrows to shoot with an extended zone. Fralich says they have been working on zone offense, but they expect to see Madison introduce some new things too. “We expect them to do similar things to us that they did last time because they did have a lot of success. A lot of teams started to do that against us as we moved forward and it’s hurt us. We expect them to do what they did in pressuring us by extending their zone a little bit. We have been working on it throughout the week, but at the same time we are working on our man stuff,” Fralich told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are good coaches over there and they probably know that we are keying on that and I wouldn’t be surprised if they switch it up a little bit show us some man, their 2-3 extended and some 1-2-2. We think we definitely have a better zone attack in place. The key is attacking a zone is to remain aggressive by getting the ball moving and getting them shifting, work inside to out and attack gaps. If we are aggressive and do those things we should be in a lot better shape.”
Ashland and Madison are both part of a very good division one tournament, which begins next week. Fralich says a win would give them a great boost going into that tournament. “It’s been a tough stretch for us here and we haven’t played particularly well. Our starting center Brandon Nardo is a big factor for us and he has been out. Hopefully it’s an opportunity for us to go out their and build some momentum for the tournament and I just hope we take advantage of the opportunity. I would think we would we have a good strong group of seniors that have worked hard for the most part in practice all year long. They have shown a lot of improvement and we want to send those guys out on a positive note on senior night, their last night playing in Arrow Arena. Again we need to have more pop to us and have more energy. We feel if we do those things that everything else will take care of itself,” said Fralich.
Ashland Can’t Look Back
It was a frustrating weekend to say the least for the Ashland Arrows as they had a real chance to win two games and came away with losses in both of them.
They were looking to beat Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Lexington for the second time this season and they held a double digit lead in the fourth quarter. However, coach Tim Fralich says they made some crucial mistakes down the stretch and allowed Lexington to score the final 17 points of the game and lost 59-55 at Lexington. “We should have had Lex. I mean those are really tough ones. The Lexington game was similar to West Holmes earlier in the year. Unfortunately it has happened to us a few times this year. We have a big lead and we let it slip away from we have a little bit of pressure. We didn’t find a way to handle that pressure and really be strong with the ball and make the right decisions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We just didn’t make the plays we needed to down the wire. We had some open looks and didn’t knock them in. We thought we kind of learned from that initially and we kind of reverted back to it on Friday. It was disappointing, anytime you get a chance to beat a good team like that you want to be able to seal the deal and get it done. You talk about it being Lex, it being a rivalry, it being a conference game and us being able to sweep them.”
Not to place any blame on anyone else, Fralich says they didn’t get any help at Lexington either. “It was a difficult situation at the end too in that and you hate, I’m not sure I should really say this, but we really had a uniquely officiated game, especially at the end of the game there. When you combined all of those factors it’s not going to be good when you aren’t doing some things you need to do and there are some unique calls going on,” he said.
The Arrows knew it was going to be a tough weekend going in as Saturday night they traveled to Mt. Vernon to take on the talented Yellow Jackets. Fralich says they battled back and fell just short in the non-conference game. “We were hoping to bounce back on Saturday going down to a good Mt. Vernon team. They are 13-5 in a tough Columbus area league. They beat us up pretty good last year. We were in there for the majority of the game. They opened up a little bit of lead on us in the third quarter. At the end of the fourth we were able to make some quick headway. We had a chance at the end to try and make a play defensively and get a quick steal and a shot up, but we didn’t get it done. We knew heading into the weekend that we had two really tough teams on the road. We thought if we could get one out of the two it wouldn’t be too bad of a weekend. We certainly had our chance, so it’s disappointing. Hopefully we can learn from it going into this weekend,” said Fralich.
Ashland (7-10,5-7) returns to action on Friday night with a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference against the Clear Fork Colts (6-11,3-9), also a second division team. Ashland won the first meeting (73-60) at Arrow Arena. Fralich says it will not be an easy win. “I really think they are a dangerous team. We have to go there and we have to be ready to play well. They play hard and they are well coached. They have good, talented, athletic guards. The Hill brothers are good basketball players. They are skilled. They are big, can shoot and will crash the glass. We have to be really ready for them. We talk about going on the road. They have really struggled on the road this year. We have to be ready to play and hopefully it will be an opportunity for us to go play well on the road and get one, but we know we will have our hands full with them,” said Fralich.
Ashland Not Relying on Past Success
Ashland pulled one of the biggest upsets of the high school basketball season so far when they beat Lexington a month ago, handing the Minutemen their first loss of the season.
Despite the tremendous performance in that game the Arrows are not looking for a carbon copy, they know it will be more difficult than that.
Last Friday night, Ashland again was the spoiler as they beat Mansfield Senior (74-66) to move the Tygers back into a tie with Lexington for first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Arrows coach Tim Fralich says now they are looking or the consistency in their performance, something that has been missing most of the season. “We have had some big games this year. We have beaten some the area’s better teams. We have certainly been happy with that and the guys have been excited about that and it’s been a big boost for our program. At the same time we have been kind of high and low. We will play a team who might not be, at least in paper, as good as some of the better teams and we won’t play as well and we’ll lose,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are a team that shoots a lot of threes and rides on energy. I think when you do that you are capable of beating a lot of teams, but you are also capable of losing on any given night. If we can find ways even if we don’t have a boatload of energy that particular night and we aren’t knocking down shots. You know, against Senior we only shot three for 13 from three. So, we were able to beat them without knocking down a ton of threes, but what we were able to do is shoot really well from the free throw line which helped quite a bit.”
Ashland (7-8,5-6) travels to Lexington (13-3,8-3) on Friday night for the rematch of a game that Ashland won (76-45) on January 6. Fralich says they are not going to do a lot with the film of that game in terms of presenting it to the kids because that is in the past and this will be a different game. “We look at a lot of film as a staff. We have a couple of the more recent films that we are going to look at and really break those down and go with our typical routine and go from there. We just want our guys to focus on getting better and taking advantage of this second opportunity with them. We don’ want them falling back on the fact that we beat them by quite a bit. It was a big win for us. As a staff we will watch it and we will keep some of the things that we did well in our back pocket,” he said.
As well as the Arrows played in that first game against Lexington, Fralich believes they are going to have to play even better to have a chance to win on the road. “Certainly we would like to be able to emulate how we were able to play that night. We played extremely well, you know, everything kind of came together. They didn’t play very well that night and they are very capable of playing a lot better and we expect it to be a very tough match. They will be excited to play us. We are going to have to play one out better games, if not our best game of the year, to beat them at their place,” said Fralich.
Anytime you play Lexington offensive rebounding is going to be a major key to the game. Plus, Fralich says they have to do a very good job of defending in the post area. “Guarding inside and keeping them off the offensive glass. They are one of the league leaders, if not the best in the league, at getting second chances. They have big strong physical kids. They have some toughness to them that they are just relentless on the glass. They have a nose for the ball, so we are going to have to do a great job of team rebounding because they have a lot more size than we do. At the same time we are going to have to guard in the post. Their leading scorer is a guard, but a lot of what they do comes form the post. They go inside to score or inside and back out,” said Fralich.
Ashland Can’t Win Close Ones
Ashland has already shown this year that they can beat anyone in the area, they have wins over Lexington and Shelby to their credit, but they have also lost some games that they probably should have won.
Last weekend, they lost two games in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Orrville beat them Friday night (69-41) and West Holmes got past them (63-59) on Saturday night. Coach Tim Fralick says they just can’t make the big play, on offense or defense, when they need it most. “We just need to find a way to make more plays going down the wire whether it’s getting some guys to step up and make a play on offense, make a shot or knock down some big free throws or get a big offensive rebound that leads to a bucket. Or defensively getting a stop and getting that first miss and getting going. We struggle with that down the wire for some reason. Obviously we hope that isn’t something that continues to happen. We have struggled in close games to come up with the play and that has kind of bitten us in the butt. Hopefully, we are learning and the next time we are in that situation we will take better care of the basketball, make a big play on offense, or get a stop on defense,” said Fralick.
Ashland (6-8,4-6), also lost to Hilliard Davidson (57-52) on Tuesday night in a non-conference game. On Friday, they are at home for the first place Mansfield Senior Tygers (11-2,7-2) at Arrow Arena. Fralick says they have to find some way to slow down Keon Johnson, who had 26 in the first meeting won (67-58) by the Tygers. “They have a group of guys and they play a lot of basketball. They play all year long. When you do that you are going to be good. They are always tough and coach James does a good job with them as far as being aggressive both offensively and defensively. That is certainly a strength of theirs,” he told Swankonsports.com, “When you have a guy like Keon Johnson that handles the ball 90 percent of the game and he just happens to be one of the best players in the area you are going to have a chance to win a lot of games. He is a tough guard. He is extremely fast, quick, and can get to the rim. He is an improving shooter this year. So much of what they do goes through him as far as for himself and creating for others. If we can do a good job on him, frustrate him a little bit, it will certainly be in our favor.”
In that first game Fralick feels like they did a lot of good things, many good things, but they just could make the shots like they normally do in games. “The first time we played them at their place we feel like we played them really well. The one thing that was glaring for us is we were two for 18 from three. I think about 12 of those were pretty much open. I shouldn’t say pretty much, they were open shots and we couldn’t knock them in. Hopefully on our home court we can get those going and have like a snowball effect. I know our guys are really excited about it. Our guys always get excited to play Mansfield. We did play them tough at their place and hopefully we can do the same at our place,’ said Fralick.
Ashland Must Adapt
Ashland had been riding high with a three game winning streak, but they were brought back to earth last Friday by the Madison Rams and now the need to regain their momentum.
They will have that opportunity with two Ohio Cardinal Conference games this weekend. They travel to Orrville on Friday and host West Holmes on Saturday.
Last week, on Friday night, Madison slowed down and nearly stopped the potent Ashland offense with a suffocating zone defense and that led the Rams to victory (48-39) over the Arrows. Ashland (6-5,4-4) coach Tim Fralick says Madison showed them something new and did a great job of executing it. “It was a different kind of game for us. It was our lowest point total of the year. They did a really good job of slowing us down. They ran a lot of 2-2-1 pressure back into an extended 2-3. For some reason our guys became pretty hesitant against it. Their pressure up top in those zones really hurt our guards. We weren’t able to get into a flow like we typically get into,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “With our full court pressure a lot of times we are able to speed teams up. They have a couple of the best guards in the area in Shaquille Brooks and Jaquan Thompson and they didn’t have too much of a problem with it. They broke the pressure and instead of shooting quick shots they pulled out and were able to get into their motion and get the ball moving and make us guard for long periods of time. There is a reason they went to the regionals last year and they have a lot of kids back.”
In the second part of the double weekend the Arrows responded better to the same kind of look as they downed the Wooster Generals (56-50) to stay even in the league. Fralick says they were able to work on some things on Saturday morning. “You could tell that Wooster had communicated with someone about what Madison had done because they came out in a similar type of defense. In our shoot around on Saturday morning we had a little bit of time to kind of work on some things and how to attack that kind of defense. It wasn’t great, but we did a better job. We were more affective against it and were able to get a little bit more back into what we want to do. We have to keep working on those things because I think we are going to see more and more of it,” he said.
It’s a trip to Orrville for the Arrows on Friday night. The Red Riders upset Lexington (41-40) there on Tuesday night and knocked the Minutemen from first place in the league. Fralick says Orrville (3-8,3-5) is better than that record might indicate. “They have height and athleticism. Any time you go up against a team that has hose two things you have to be very weary. Every single game they have been in except for Mansfield Senior. They are in every single game. Their record isn’t really good and it’s very deceiving. We expect it to be a heck of game. That’s tough place to play. Last year one of our two wins was at Orrville. That was the first time Ashland had won out there in 10 years. They do have some very good size in the Brenner kid and Winters and they are pretty athletic as well. It will be a good one,” said Fralick.
Ashland gets a chance at some revenge on Saturday night when they host West Holmes. The Knights (5-5,2-4) beat them (54-52) two nights before Christmas. Fralick says they have to do something about Brady Arnold. “They have big strong athletes like Orrville or Lexington. The difference with West Holmes is they have if not the best point guard, one of the best point guards in the area and our league in Brady Arnold. He can do a good job of handling pressure and pressuring guards on the defensive end. I think when you talk about West Holmes you have to talk about Brady Arnold and go from there. If we can do a good job of containing him, I think we will be in good shape,” said Fralick.
Ashland Continues Outstanding Play
Some might have thought an Ashland win over Lexington two weeks ago was a fluke, but that is far from the case as they have shot the ball just as well in beating both Shelby and Clear Fork.
Last Saturday, the Arrows beat (82-70) Shelby, the second place team in the Northern Ohio League, and then downed Clear Fork (73-60) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday night.
Coach Tim Fralic says they told the kids they needed to come out and prove some things to possible doubters. “We tried to talk to our guys about the importance of not being one hit wonders. They all know what that is and we just wanted to put together a string of some good basketball. We knew we were capable of it. Even in the games we lost earlier in the season we played really well in spurts. We have been able to play more consistent and put games together for longer periods of time and play some pretty good basketball,” he said.
Ashland and Shelby are similar teams and last Saturday the Arrows just shot better, making 13 three pointers in the game. “Shelby had won 21 straight home games, so to get them at their place was special for us. They have two of the top players in the area in Nelson and Arnold. Nelson really hurt us, but we were able to do a really good job on Arnold. We really keyed on Arnold more so than Nelson,” said Fralic.
On Tuesday night, Clear Fork had the lead and halftime, but the Arrows had more depth and in the up tempo game they were able to wear down the Colts. “Tuesday night we didn’t come out with the same energy as we had in the previous two games. We started to pick it up more in the second quarter. We just talked about staying the course and keeping the energy going and the shots are going to start falling for us. They started to wear down a little bit. They aren’t comfortable playing the same tempo,” Fralic told Swankonsports.com, “We got them to play our tempo throughout the whole course of the game. We knew it would be a matter of time. They have a nice team too. Everyone thinks of them losing all those players from last year that they were going to be way down this year and that certainly isn’t the case.”
Ashland substitutes like a hockey team does a line. They bring in fresh players every four minutes. Fralic says they really don’t have a starting lineup. “We go five and five and in a lot of ways we try to balance out those five and fives. Those that the coaching staff might consider our top five guys they aren’t necessarily in our starting group. We balance it out so both groups can come in and have some firepower. We also do that in practice situations, which makes for a much more competitive practice. It has been to our benefit here as of late and we hope that continues,” he said.
Ashland (5-4,3-3) travels down U.S. Route 42 about 10 miles for an “OCC” game with the Mansfield Madison Rams on Friday night. Fralic says Madison is starting to play some really good basketball too. “Coach Rickert always gets those guys playing really hard. It seems that he always gets them to play their best ball as the year goes on toward the end of the season. We know it’s going to be a tough one, especially at their place,” he said, “They are 3-2 in the league and we are 3-3, so we are kind of slugging it out right now for dibs on the top half of the conference. Everything is up from grabs right now in the conference, so we know they will be ready for us. Being so close to each other and playing each other over the summer. There is a pretty big rivalry there. I know both sides really want to get this one.”
Madison (4-4,3-2), also like Ashland got off to a slow start, losing three of their first four games. Fralic expects the Rams to play more like they did last year against them. “I expect it to be a really good game. I think they are going to come out and pressure us more so than they have other teams because they are going to have a little more bounce to their step. They have guys that have the ability to do that. It should be an up and down game and a fan friendly game to watch,” said Fralic.
Wooster will be at Arrow Arena for another “OCC” game on Saturday night. The Generals beat Ashland (85-83) in double overtime in their first meeting of the year. “Last time it was one of those games when you just walk away and shake your head because you really wish that neither team had to lose that one. It was a really good high school basketball game. Unfortunately we didn’t do the things we need to do down the stretch to win that game. We let a lead slip away and we didn’t take advantage of opportunities in regulation and overtime. Those are the kind of games that leave a bitter taste in your mouth,” Fralic said.
Ashland Ready For Different Challenges
Ashland may have had their break through moment last week and now they need to extend that momentum with a double weekend of action this week.
Last Friday, the Arrows produced likely the biggest upset of the season when they beat Lexington (76-45) by making 10 of 18 three point attempts on the night. Arrows coach Tim Fralic says they got the Minutemen to play their style of play. “We thought that we had played really well in spurts throughout the course of the season. In a couple of conference games against Wooster and West Holmes we were up heading into the fourth quarter. We didn’t make our free throws or didn’t take care of the ball or just didn’t do some of the things we needed to do as an entire team to get it done. To have that killer instinct with the game in our favor. It was just nice to see the guys put it all together, Fralic told Swankonsports.com, “You know we shot the ball extremely well, but on top of that we really guarded well. We got Lex out of their comfort zone. We got them to play our type of game, a little more up and down. It was a good night for us and our program and us trying to move forward.”
On Friday night, Ashland (3-4,2-3) will be at home at Arrow Arena for the Clear Fork Colts in Ohio Cardinal Conference action. Fralic says Colts coach Steven Bechtel has done an outstanding job with his team. “You looked at their roster form last year and they had the Salvinski kid, Trey Boyd, Trace Prather, among others were going to graduate, so you thought it would be an easier one for us next year against Clear Fork, but I really don’t think that is the case. They are 5-3 right now and 2-3 in the conference like we are. They always play tough. They defend well. They rebound well. They have a nice toughness to them,” Fralic said.
Although Clear Fork is trying to be more up tempo this season, Fralic still feels this will be a game where it will be a battle to see who controls the pace of play. “They stick to what they do offensively. They play more of a deliberate style. They set a lot of screens, run their motion, pass and cut through, pass and screen away. They are content in taking a minute or longer to get a good shot. It will be contrasting styles of play for us and them. You know our biggest key is trying to get the game up tempo and get them to play faster than they would typically want to play. We feel if we are able to do that, then we will have our chances,” he said.
Ashland travels to Shelby (7-2) for a non-conference game on Saturday night. Fralic is looking forward to the game with the Whippets, #3 in Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for larger schools, because the teams play a lot a like. “I really like the way they play. Coach Schwemley and I have communicated a number of times since I got the job here. I like to just talk hoops period, but especially with teams that are doing things that we would like to do. He really has that thing going over there. They have some nice players, some good basketball players, you can see those kids spent a lot of time in the gym. Their skill level is high and you can tell that basketball is important to them,” said Fralic.
The Ashland coach believes that Shelby really has two of the better players in this area and they will be hard to control. “This should be an up tempo game. They will play full court man-to-man. They will do some 2-2-1 pressing back into a 2-3. We are going to press and we are going to play fast too. It certainly will be a fun game to watch, both teams will be up and down. They have two of the better players in the area in Garret Arnold and Conner Nelson,” he said.
Ashland Faces Another Tough Assignment
Ashland seems like a basketball team that just needs that little extra something, like better shooting, to get over the top and starting winning more games.
The Arrows (2-4,1-3) lost another tough one to Mansfield Senior at Pete Henry (67-58) and again it was sub par shooting that was that was the difference, especially behind the three point line. Ashland coach Tim Fralic says they did other things very well. “We played them tough and be honest with you when our staff looked back at the game and breaking it down, Mansfield may not agree with this, but we feel we out played them in more ways than not. Unfortunately we shot the ball pretty poorly. We have shot the ball pretty below average for a team that has petty good shooters. We knock them down in practice and we feel it is just a matter of time before we get those game legs going and get a little confidence and get a streak going,” Fralic told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We were 2-18 from three and anytime you do that you are really putting yourself in a tough spot, especially against a good team like Mansfield Senior. They have a team that can really shoot the ball well from the perimeter and I don’t think they have had that for years. They may not have the big horses down low like they have had sometimes in the past. I think they were 9-17 from three. So, 2-18 for us and 9-17 for them we didn’t give ourselves a lot of room to work with there.”
The most frustrating thing is the Arrows shoot the long distance shot very well in practice, but they are not able to take that to the game. Fralic says they are going to change some things they do in practice. “Part of if is in practice we need to go a little harder and do some competitive drills in practice. We need to shoot more at game speed. We do a lot of drills in practice now that involve shooting and running. We need to put some more pressure on them so it’s a little easier in game situations. I think it will pay off. I think we have guys that are good shooters. They are staying after practice a little bit because they know their shots aren’t falling,” he said.
Things do not get any easier for the Arrows this week as they host Ohio Cardinal Conference leading Lexington (8-0,4-0) in an “OCC” game at Arrow Arena. Fralic says the Minutemen, #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll, are a very physical team that rebounds the ball very well. “They are huge. They start like 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, 6-5, something like that. They are long and athletic and they aren’t just tall and thin. Coach Feick does a really good job of getting them to play tough. They do a good job on the defensive glass and the offensive glass and so that’s what makes them most impressive. On top of that they have some good guard play in Rasheed Brooks, he is probably one of the better players in the league. He is doing some more things for them as far as handling pressure and handling the basketball. When you combined those things they are and awfully tough team,” said Fralic.
Ashland wants to make this more of a track meet if they can. Fralic says they do not want to get into a half court battle with Lexington. “They play a very different way than we play. They are trying to pound it inside. They will play fast a little bit here and there. They don’t want to play as fast as we do. We feel if we get the team to play our tempo that we are going to have a chance. One of the big keys for us, just like it was against Mansfield Senior, will be defensive rebounding. If we get five guys committing to rebounding and limiting their second chances we are going to have our chances. Brooks is their leading scorer, and he is an outside player, but they can really do some damage inside. We have to do a very good job of guarding inside in the post,” said Fralic.
Ashland Will Run With Mansfield Senior
Ashland is probably one of the few teams in this area that feels comfortable at the same pace as Mansfield Senior. We will see how that plays out when the Arrows visit Pete Henry Gym to play the Tygers on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
The Arrows (2-3,1-2)are coming off their second two-point loss in “OCC” play. West Holmes beat them (54-52) when the Knights scored with less than a second play last week. “We were really disappointed after the game Friday. We have talked this week that this is a situation that really doesn’t break our back. It’s something where we can really fight through that adversity and find ways to just keep getting better. It’s kind of funny when you lose you break down film a little more. As a coaching staff and as players you are a little more picky about things you did wrong. In a lot of ways it gives you more of an opportunity for improvement,” said coach Tim Fralic.
Mansfield Senior has a traditional line up for them other than the fact that they aren’t as big as they usually are on the front line. They do have Keon Johnson at the guard position and Fralic says they have to pay special attention to him. “We know heading into this week that we are going to have to play really well. Mansfield Senior is a very good team. They are very athletic and they give every team in our conference a different look than they normally see,” he told Swankonsports.com, “One of the things we have keyed on is Keon Johnson. He is probably one of the best players in the league. He is fast and quick. He can score in bunches and he can score in a lot of different ways. If we can find a way to frustrate him, to contain him we feel like we will be in good shape.”
Offensive rebounding has always been a strength of the Tygers and this season is no different, despite the undersized lineup. Fralic says if they are to stay in the game they can not allow the Tygers to dominate the offensive boards. “We have to do a good job on the defensive glass. They average about 17 offensive rebounds a game, which is really astronomical for a 32 minute game. If we can do a good job there, we feel like we will have our opportunities. We are still a confident group. We are two last second shots away from being 4-1,” he said.
Then there is the matter of tempo. Most teams shy away from playing as fast as the Tygers do, but Ashland will not be one of those teams. “That is one thing that we will do and our guys are more comfortable playing up tempo and fast breaking and pressure defensively. Some teams it just throws them off getting in that kind of up tempo game. They do everything they can to slow the game down. Sometimes that works to their disadvantage because they are playing even slower than they normally play. Then when Mansfield Senior gets in attack mode, and gets some steals, then they are playing super fast and they are not used to that either. With the way our guys play they shouldn’t be too uncomfortable with it,” said Fralic.
It’s not like you want to trade baskets with the Tygers, but Fralic says you can’t back down. He says they are going to play their game. “Their pressure, athleticism and speed is unique. We expect pressure that is turned up a notch higher. At the same time we sub five and five guys. We don’t think it will be that much different than what we normally see in practice. We are going to play the way we play and it just happens to be the way they play. I imagine it has a chance to be a really high scoring affair,” said Fralic.
Ashland Lights it up
Ashland has potential to be one of the best perimeter shooting teams in the area this season and they served notice of that fact last weekend in winning two games.
After losing their first two to Wooster (85-83) and Norwalk (75-57) the Arrows (2-2) downed Orrville (62-56) in Ohio Cardinal Conference action last Friday and then beat Willard (54-41) in a non-conference contest on Saturday. Second year coach Tim Fralic says they got hot from behind the three point line. “That first weekend we really came out kind of cold. You know, we knew what type of shooters that we had and it was just a matter of time before we broke out of it. I know it’s tough to be a consistent outside shooting team, but as much as you can, we feel like we can,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It was nice to see our guys get into a little rhythm, get their legs underneath them and knock down some shots. Obviously when you are knocking down some shots it has the tendency to affect other areas of the game. We had a little more energy in our press and our half court defense and when all of those things come together we were able to play some pretty good basketball in spurts.”
Almost every coach at every level of the game is looking for more consistency from their players and Fralic knows that isn’t easy to do when you are talking about high school aged kids. “If we could get a little bit more consistency there at both ends of the court it would certainly make us a much better team. When you are working with 15, 16, 17, 18 year-old kids it is a tough thing to get. We are certainly striving for it. We have had a good week of practice, so hopefully we will just keep getting better here,” he said.
The Arrows will be at West Holmes (2-3) in an “OCC” game on Friday night and the Knights are a lot better than they were a year ago. The major reason is point guard Brady Arnold is a year older and he is improved. Fralic says he is one of the better players in the league. “When you talk about West Holmes you have to talk about their point guard Brady Arnold. He went down on Saturday. He got some sort of concussion or something against Norwayne. From what we understand he is going to be back and ready to play against us. Their offense, and the way they play, all goes through him. He is averaging almost 19 points a game. He has a quick first step, he’s quick laterally, he’s got nice speed and can step back and shoot it. He can finish or create for others. You really have to at least try and contain him. You are not going to stop him, but if you can contain him by making the chances he gets a little more difficult you are going to put yourself in better position,” said Fralic.
Arnold has the ball in his hands a lot, but Fralic says the West Holmes front line can hurt them too. “Their big kids are pretty good too with McCulley and Snider. Snider is just a big strong athlete. He has been giving kids fits on the glass averaging about 10 rebounds a game. He gets double digits in points. He is a big, strong left handed kid,” he said.
Ashland Feels Like They Let One Get Away
Ashland lost in double overtime in their first basketball game of the season last week and now they must be more mentally sharp as they approach another double weekend.
Last week, the Arrows took an eight point league into the fourth quarter at Wooster only to let the lead slip away and lose 85-83 in double overtime to the Generals. Coach Tim Fralic says they just didn’t make the best decisions with the basketball at crunch time. “It was a game we really wish we could get. We played them pretty tough. There was a lot of back and fourth going on. It was a tough one for our guys because we created the kind of tempo that we wanted. Unfortunately going down the wire we didn’t made a couple great decisions and it ended up kind of biting us in the butt. We were up eight points going into the fourth quarter and when you are in those situations you feel you should get the game,” he said.
Freshman Issac White scored 21 points from the point guard position against Wooster. However, Fralic says they have missed the senior experience of Greg Galloway at that spot. “We really feel like we have a much improved ball club this year. Without having Greg Galloway, he has mono, and we don’t know how long he is going to be out. We threw our freshmen point guard out there and he had a heck of a game, but we certainly could have used Greg’s experience. Against Norwalk, they are a really good team and we didn’t have the same energy, the same pop, that we did on Friday night,” said Fralic.
This week the Arrows are home for the Orrville Red Riders in Ohio Cardinal Conference action and like Ashland, Orrville lost in double overtime last week. West Holmes beat them 61-53. Fralic believes that they are going to show them some half and full court pressure. “They have a big athletic team that is really going to crash the glass. I think they are going to try and get up and pressure us a little bit, which most teams are going to do without having Greg in the lineup. I think they are the kind of team that is just going to get better and better as the season goes on,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have a lot of guys coming back from football as we do. They are just kind of getting their basketball legs underneath them. For us we just have to continue to do what we want to do by playing an up tempo game and getting some pressure on defense. We feel if we can get into some rhythm we can start making some shots.”
Orrville does have the presence of 6-10 Devon Winters in the post and Fralic knows that his height and shot blocking ability is going to be a factor in the game. “He is much improved, he has put some time into the game. He is going to be a big factor and on the defensive end he really affects things. If you take it to the rim he is going to alter shots. He may not block all of them, but he is going to alter shots. At 6-10 and long, he runs well. You add in there they have Brenner, who is 6-3 and athletic and strong. We are really going to have to do a good job on the boards,” said Fralic.
Ashland plays the Willard Flashes of the Northern Ohio League in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Ashland Without Galloway
Ashland has the luxury of starting the high school basketball season a week late, but they have the hardship of doing it without their best guard.
They begin their season with an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night at Wooster (1-0) and then host Northern Ohio League favorite Norwalk (1-0) on Saturday night in non-league play.
The Arrows started practice almost a week late due to an appearance in the football playoffs, so the late start is sort of making up for lost time. “I think it was good for us to get another week. We started five days late. We have been able to shore up some things. Some things we need to work on. The great thing is we have been able to scrimmage five times. We have learned a lot. It’s not like we have played well in every one, but we certainly think we have improved with every one,” said Ashland coach Tim Fralic.
Some teams get to the basket and others rely on the boards, but Fralic told Swankonsports.com that he thinks shooting the basketball is going to be the best thing the Arrows do this season. “I really think we are going to be a pretty good shooting team. We have quite few returners from last year. We have shot the ball well. We have a number of guys that have put in a lot of time in the gym in the off season improving their games and their shooting. We just aren’t a team with a lot guys that are tremendous back to the basket, low post players. We have to play to our strengths. I am confident we will shoot a high percentage from deep,” he said.
Ashland wants to push the pace of the game and make opponents guard them in the full court, but Fralic says they have to make good decisions on when to shoot and when not to shoot. “We have got to do a better job of taking good shots. We want to play fast. We want to create a higher tempo. With that being said, we can’t shoot careless shots like we did last year. I think we have done a better job, be we have to continue to do that. Our guys are starting to really understand. Defensively, we break down so easily sometimes against the drive,” Fralic said.
The team received some bad news from doctors this week. One of their best players is going to be on the shelf for a while. “Greg Galloway has been diagnosed with mono. He was second team all-conference and second team all-district last year. He was out a full week and came back for a couple of days. He still felt fatigued and went back and saw the doctor. We just found out Tuesday that he is going to be out three or four weeks. That really hurts us,” said Fralic.
Wooster plays host to the Arrows on Friday night and Fralic knows they will get a tremendous challenge from the Generals. “We have had the opportunity to see them against Cloverleaf (a 47-40 Wooster win), we played them in our foundation game. It was interesting to see them against a team we had already played. They have some athleticism. They are big and athletic. They pressured Cloverleaf and forced them into turnovers. We are going to have to do a really good job of handling pressure. Without Greg, that’s gong to become even more vital. They will want to pressure us even more,” he said.
Ashland Looking to be Better
Ashland brings back most of its talent from last year and they are likely to be better in Tim Fralic’s second year as the Arrow’s head boys’ basketball coach.
Ashland was 2-19 a year ago and finished in the basement of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, but this year Fralic thinks they will be a lot better prepared for the season. “Last year was a challenging year for us with me being in my first year and developing a new system and new way of doing things, plus not having a lot of experience back from that previous year. This season we have quite a few guys back with varsity experience. They know more of what is expected of them when it comes to how we play offensively and defensively and how hard we want them to play in practice and in games,” he said.
Practice has just gotten under way for the Arrows, but already Fralic believes they are ahead of where they were at this time a year ago. “We just started practicing with football being in the playoffs I gave them two days off. About 80 percent of our guys play football. I would say we are well ahead of where we were last year. I’m not sure how much better we will be, but I know we really have a chance to be an improved ball club,” he said.
Fralic thinks they have experience and they have some pretty good talent to put on the floor this year. “We have returners in Greg Galloway and Brandon Nardo, who were second team all conference guys. Marquis Jones and Zach Bernhart, who were honorable mention all conference,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Galloway will be our starting point guard. He is very creative with the basketball. He has deceptive speed and gets by people and runs our fast break. Nardo is one of the better rebounders in the conference. He is a match-up problem for a lot of forwards. He’s 6-3 and really athletic and strong.”
Fralic wants his team to be up tempo and run the floor looking for easy opportunities to score, but he wants them to be better decision makers when they have the ball in their hands. “One thing that we have identified that we need do a better job of is taking better shots. We want to run and gun, there is no ifs, ands or buts about it, but if we don’t have an open look by one of our better shooters or a lay up, we need to understand we need to drop back,” said Fralic.
Ashland Preparing For New Albany and the Wing-T
Ashland won its final five games of the regular season to claim the outright Ohio Cardinal Conference title and qualify for the division two playoffs.
They scored with less than a minute to play to beat the Lexington Minutemen 24-17 last week to finish 6-1 in the “OCC”, a game better than Orrville.
The Arrows travel to New Albany in a first round game in division two on Friday night. Ashland has advanced to the regional finals twice and the state semi finals once under coach Scott Valentine and he says you have to be peaking at this time of year. “Hopefully you are playing your best football at the end of the year. I think we are,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It’s going in to those games playing like you do every Friday night by playing four quarters of football. We can’t give up big plays and you have to make plays when you have the opportunity.” He says to be successful in the postseason you have to be aggressive and lay it on the line. “During the week there is a different level of intensity and focus sometimes. The thing we tell our kids is if you do everything during the week to prepare and you go out and you lay it one the line then you have nothing to regret. If you go out there and are hesitant and afraid to make mistakes then you are probably going to get beat. Our approach is let’s go out and play like we have and hope we get more points than they do,” said Valentine.
New Albany is a straight forward team that shared the title in their division of the Ohio Capital Conference with Sunbury Big Walnut and Olentangy Orange. Perhaps their biggest win of the season came over Big Walnut 34-31. “They run a wing-t style offense. They come at you. They are very physical up front. They are very well coached, you can tell that on both sides of the ball and even special teams,” Valentine said. Ashland has seen this kind of offense this year from West Holmes, and especially Clear Fork. “This year Clear Fork against us pulled their guards and ran the wingbacks and gave you the edge with the tight end. It’s similar to that style. It is something we have seen this year and hopefully we will be prepared for,” he said.
On defense, New Albany has good linebackers that fly to football and make the plays. “Defensively they are a 3-5-3 type of defense. Their linebackers attack downhill. They are similar to some people we have faced,” added Valentine.
When Ashland lost four of its first five games they made a lot of turnovers against good teams and Valentine says that can’t happen on Friday night if they are going to win. “When you talk about big games and playoff games especially turnovers are something you can’t have. You want to create them yourself, but you don’t want to give them any good field position,” he said.
Ashland Wants to Take it All
After a slow start to the season the Ashland Arrows have been red hot and with a win Friday night at Lexington they will claim their fourth outright Ohio Cardinal Conference championship in the last six years.
They put themselves in that position with a convincing 39-14 win over a pretty good Mansfield Madison team last week. The Arrows amassed 400 yards of offense and held a strong Madison running game to just 145 yards. “I felt our kids came out and you knew it was going to be a four quarter game. I thought our kids came out and got stuff done early and kept it going for four quarters. We were pretty pleased with how we played,” said Ashland coach Scott Valentine.
To win that out right title Ashland has to beat one of the hottest teams in the area in Lexington, who after losses in their first three conference games has now won its last three. Valentine knows that the Minutemen are playing very well. “There is no doubt,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “B.J. and his staff have got their kids playing well. Anytime it’s an Ashland-Lexington game it’s going to be one of those games you better be ready to play. If not you are going to get yourself beat.”
Last week, Lexington had 183 yards rushing and Valentine believes over the second half of the season they have had better balance between pass and run. “With Bellamy in the backfield and a couple of the other guys that’s helped to balance them up a little bit attack wise, so that makes them hard to defend,” he said.
Another difference for the Minutemen has been the way their defense has played the last three weeks. Last Friday, the held an explosive Mansfield Senior offense to one touchdown and forced seven turnovers in the process. “I think defensively they are getting on top of people. Their kids have improved throughout the year. They are tackling well. They are sending blitzes and that’s something we are going to have to prepare for,” said Valentine.
Ashland already has no less than a share of the “OCC” title, but Valentine says it has been a goal of theirs to win the title outright since a 35-31 loss to West Holmes on the second week of the league schedule. “That’s been the one thing since our loss at West Holmes. We’ve emphasized that we would have to win all the way through. That’s the one goal we had after that game and I think our kids took it one game at a time,” he said.
Ashland in a Title Mood
A win this week over a talented Mansfield Madison team will give the Ashland Arrows no less than a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference football title. Three weeks ago when the Arrows were just 1-4 that seemed like nothing more than a dream.
However, Ashland has won three straight conference games including a 49-14 destruction of defending league champion Clear Fork last week at Community Stadium. “I thought we played a good overall game,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Clear Fork got a couple of big plays on us, but we came out in the second half and I thought our kids really got after it and made some big plays on both sides of the ball.” It was only 21-14 Ashland at the half, but the Arrows scored 28 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Madison comes into Community Stadium on Friday night at 6-2 on the season and 3-2 in the conference, just a game behind Ashland. The Rams were only 2-8 last season in coach Sean Conway’s first year with Madison, but Valentine says they are much better this year. “Coach Conway and his staff have done a great job of getting their kids ready each week. They have performed well in all of their games, so there is no doubt they have a lot of confidence,” he said.
Eating up clock and ground with their running game has been the key to the Madison success this season and Valentine says they have a running game that can do it all. “They like to pound it up the middle, but they also like to run the quarterback around the edge. You start to think that it’s all inside, but then the quarterback gets the edge on you. You have to be sound in all things you are doing on defense,” he said.
Probably the biggest improvement for Madison between last year and this has been the play of its defense. It has been able to keep the Rams in games and Valentine says they have been pretty good at forcing turnovers. “Their kids come up with big plays. They have had interceptions and fumble recoveries. Those are things we talk about with our own defense that you have to come up with some big plays. They are doing a good job of getting stops when they need to get them,” he said.
The Arrows, ranked #5 in the Swankonsports.com football power poll among larger schools, have obviously worked very hard to get to the top of the “OCC” standings and Valentine knows they have to work just as hard if not harder to stay there. “We have talked about that. This is why we work all winter and summer to get to this point and hopefully be able to be playing this week for a share of the conference championship. It’s about doing the things that have got us here the second half of the season. That’s having a great week of practice and doing the little things that you need to be ready for Friday night,” said Valentine.
Ashland Has to Protect its Position
The Ashland Arrows have worked pretty hard over the last couple of weeks to get themselves in position in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and now they need to hold on to what they have earned.
Wins over Mansfield Senior (38-6) and Orrville (14-0) have given the Arrows a share of the “OCC” lead with Mansfield Madison and West Holmes, a game in front of Clear Fork and Orrville. “We felt all along that we were close to being a pretty good football team, we just couldn’t get the wins to show it. Our kids kept improving every week and hung in there with us as coaches and kept getting better. I think the turning point came when we started to not give up big plays,” said Ashland coach Scott Valentine. The difference has been the defense, which had surrendered more than 30 points in four of its first five games this year. “There is no doubt, especially the last couple of weeks here. Early on we just gave up too many big plays. We had opportunities for turnovers and missed some of those opportunities. The last couple of weeks we haven’t given up that big play,” Valentine told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.
Ashland plays host to Clear Fork (3-4) in “OCC” play on Friday night at Community Stadium. The Colts beat Ashland last year 48-33 to break a four game losing streak against the Arrows. Valentine says games against Clear Fork are always well played. “You know when you are going into a game with Clear Fork it’s going to be a physical battle for four quarters. We have had a lot of good games against them. I expect nothing less from them on Friday night,” he said.
Clear Fork won its first two games in the “OCC” against Mansfield Senior (35-28) and Lexington (17-15), but they stumbled the last two weeks losing to Wooster (28-7) and Madison (21-14) last Friday night. “I think they are a similar team to what they have always been. I think they are more capable of throwing the ball. The Fields kid runs the ball very hard. All of their guys up front, like always, will come off the ball and hit you. Defensively, they have a little different style as far as bringing more people,” said Valentine.
The Ashland coach believes that in order to beat Clear Fork they must force them into mistakes. “I think defensively we are going to have to get a similar effort in being physical and running to the football and creating opportunities for turnovers. Offensively, taking advantage of what they are going to give us. And a big key is special teams. They need to give us good field position,” said Valentine.
Ashland and Orrville Look to Stay in First
Ashland and Orrville have been the most consistent winners in the Ohio Cardinal Conference since the league inception and they are again tied for first place as they meet at Red Rider Stadium in Orrville on Friday night in a conference game.
It was not a good start to the season for the Arrows as they lost four of their first five games. However, last week they beat a good Mansfield Senior team 38-6 to move their conference record to 2-1. “Accept for us turning the ball over and giving them a score we played an outstanding game. I thought defensively, we played a great game with a lot of turnovers. Offensively, we were able to move the ball and get scores and the special teams did a nice job. Overall, it was our best game of the year,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com.
Ashland had allowed at least 26 points in their first five games of the year and Valentine believes they played with a lot more intensity on that side of the ball last week against Mansfield Senior. “It just seemed like every week we had been giving up a big play here or there on defense. I think we went back and got some intensity in our practices last week. I think that really paid off in us performing. We were so close to getting some turnovers the week before. I think that intensity in practice helped us get over the hump defensively,” said Valentine.
Orrville, after a loss to Mansfield Senior the week before, railed to beat West Holmes 28-21 and the Red Riders are also 2-1 in conference play. “They are skilled football team,” said Valentine, “Offensively they give you a lot of different looks. They have Mason Monhiem running the ball in the backfield. He had a good game against us last year running the ball. We have to be ready to stop him running, but you can’t just focus on him because they have other guys,” Valentine said.
Orrville has an outstanding defense that has not allowed more than three touchdowns in one game since their opener against Canal Fulton Northwest. Valentine says they are very aggressive and will come after them. “Defensively they bring some guys pressure wise. From that standpoint we are going to have to be able to pickup guys as they make moves and come with different blitzes,” said Valentine. The Ashland offense also has to be able to make some quick decisions to avoid big losses. “We have worked the last few weeks on that because the teams we have been playing have brought some pressure and our quarterback needs to recognize what is coming. Then our guys have to get open too off that man-to-man coverage. We were able to do that last week some and hopefully we can be affective this week,” he added.
With Ashland, Orrville, Clear Fork, Mansfield Madison, and West Holmes all with 2-1 conference records it’s going to be a very exciting last month of the season. “We knew going in that every week was going to be about who is the best that night. If you aren’t ready to go and have an off night you are going to get beat. That’s why it’s going to be one week at a time,” said Valentine.
Ashland Needs Plays at Right Time
Ashland just can’t find the right answers, especially on defense, this season and the Arrows, one of the most consistent football teams in this area, have just 1-4 record this fall.
The Arrows have allowed more than 180 points this season and again the opponent put together a big streak last week. West Holmes scored four touchdowns in the final 15 minutes of the game last week to rally and beat Ashland 35-31. The final touchdown came on a pass play with less than 10 seconds on the clock. “I have been part of a few of those games. If you are around the game for long enough you see things like this where a team gets the momentum, things snowball, things don’t go your way, and there are big plays by other team,” Ashland couch Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “That kind of seemed like what happened to us. I guess when I looked at the Sunday game and the Patriots were up by 21 points and got beat, I didn’t feel that bad. You never want to see that happen when you played hard and get up on someone. The credit goes to West Holmes.”
On Friday night, Ashland plays host to the Mansfield Senior Tygers in an “OCC” game at Community Stadium. Mansfield Senior upset conference favorite Orrville 21-14 last week and did it without the injured Terrell Dorsey, out of the season with a broken ankle. “I think their kids really responded after they lost one their top guys in Dorsey. They were planning for him to be there all season. I thought their kids came out with a lot of fire and really executed a lot of things the coaching staff wanted them to do. They made some big plays and made some big stops against Orrville,” said Valentine. The Ashland coach says because Dorsey is not in there for the Tygers, it can be difficult to prepare for them. “That’s kind of where Orrville got caught,” he said, “They weren’t quite sure what things they were going to do. What they have done is spread things around. When you do that it makes things more difficult on the defense to make sure they have all of the phases covered. That’s one thing we have been working on,” he added.
Valentine believes that if his players continue to work together as a unit they will find some success this year. “Mansfield Senior has played well all year and is doing things. I feel for us, our kids have played hard. We have been right there. We just have to find a way to keep pulling together. We are working this week so we can go out on Friday night and get the job done,” said Valentine.
Ashland Has to Ready For West Holmes
Ashland has been a consistent contender in the Ohio Cardinal Conference in football and West Holmes has not been, but this year is a different story as both look like they will win some games in league play.
The Arrows after three losses to tough teams in non-conference play drilled Wooster (56-28) in their first conference game last week. “We played three quality teams the three weeks before and we weren’t able to get over and get a win. To be able to come out and play a great football game against them like we did that kind of spurs us now to this week,” said Ashland coach Scott Valentine. After featuring the pass in non-conference play, the Arrows ran for 217 yards on 40 carries last week. Valentine says he was committed to getting the running game going. “We had talked about how we needed to run the ball more and that comes down to me making the play calls,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I must have been in the pass mode. I got stuck on that a little bit. Our offensive line did a great job and our guys ran hard too.”
West Holmes likes to run and run a lot out of wing-t formation. They had more than 400 yards rushing against Madison last week in a 48-21 win over the Rams. They threw only four passes in the game. “They do a great job with the offense coach Maltarich and staff as far as them hiding the ball and getting it in different people’s hands. You are going to have to be a very disciplined team to have a chance to be successful,” said Valentine.
West Holmes (3-1) has not faced a team that runs the kind of passing attack that Ashland features. However, Valentine says they are not necessarily going to go back to throwing all of time. He says that depends on what they see defensively from the Knights. “They have shown a lot of man coverage,” he said, “For us when we get man to man coverage we are going to have to make plays because they will bring pressure. If they are going to stack the box on you have to make plays out on the pass game.”
Ashland Needs Win Over Wooster
Ashland has probably played as tough a schedule as any high school football team in the area this year and it doesn’t get any easier as they host the Wooster Generals in their Ohio Cardinal Conference opener on Friday night at Community Stadium.
Ashland is winless (0-3) on the year after losing to Sandusky (49-35) last week in their first home game of the season. “One thing I know is our kids never gave up for four quarters and had an opportunity at the end to get on onside kick down by 14 there at the end. We had the lead early and some things happened. We gave up too many big plays, so that is something we have to shore up going into this week,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com.
Ashland also lost to Wadsworth (45-16) and Dover (27-26) this year. Valentine says it has been a problem with consistency over the first three games for the Arrows. “We have seen some pretty good teams. We have played well at times, but still are a little inconsistent. For us it’s about becoming consistent and being able to make plays and get stops when we need to,” said Valentine.
Wooster has averaged around 40 points a game this season and they have been as explosive as any team in this area. “They have a lot of weapons,” said Valentine, “The big thing for us is to not give up big plays. We have to make them earn everything they get and so from the defensive standpoint that’s how we have to approach the game.”
With the game at Ashland, Valentine believes they need to defend their turf is they are to be a factor in the “OCC” race this year. “You want to try and get a good start,” he said, “I think it’s going to be one of those games that you are going to have to go out and play four quarters and hopefully be able to get the job done.”
Ashland Concerned but Not Worried
Ashland is off to a rare 0-2 start to the high school football season, but they aren’t about to push the panic button.
The Arrows have lost to two pretty good football teams in Wadsworth (45-16) and Dover (27-26), but the coaching staff believes their kids are improving to the point that they are ready to have success.
“The big thing for us is that we were able to make a jump from the first week to the second week and we were able to get better in a lot of things,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com, “We just were one point short of getting a win, so I think there were a lot of positives, a lot of improvements.”
Ashland has been one of the best and most consistent programs in the North Central Ohio area since Valentine became their coach in 2002. “I think our consistency on plays, not giving up some big plays and executing things on offense. Those are all things you are working on through the season. We have played two pretty good opponents and unfortunately we haven’t got a win. I think our kids have come back and worked hard and we’ll try and get one this week,” he said.
Ashland entertains Sandusky, now of the Northern Ohio League, in a non-conference game at Community Stadium on Friday night. Sandusky is (1-1) losing to Fremont Ross (40-28) and beating Sandusky Perkins (27-0) over the first couple of weeks. “They are a team that is very athletic. They try to place those athletes in positions to make plays. Defensively, we are going to have to contain and keep form giving them big plays. They like to bring pressure with blitzes and stuff. We have to make big plays when we have the opportunity to make them,” said Valentine. It has been big plays that have been the difference in Ashland’s first two games and Friday night the Arrows have to be the ones making them. “You get so many opportunities in the game on both sides of the ball and with special teams to make some plays. If you can make those that probably leads to you being successful. If you are not able to take those opportunities then you are not,” Valentine added.
Ashland was picked to be one of the contenders for the Ohio Cardinal Conference title. With league play beginning next week, Valentine knows they have been ready. “We knew going in things were going to be tough. We felt that was part of scheduling some of the teams we did that that was going to help prepare us for the conference,” said Valentine.
Ashland Needs to be Mentally Tough
There haven’t been many Friday nights like last Friday or Saturday mornings for that matter since Scott Valentine took over as head coach of the Ashland Arrows football team.
Friday night, Wadsworth amassed more than 400 yards of total offense in beating the Arrows 45-16 in their first game of the season. On Saturday morning is was a somber meeting at the high school to assess what has to improve as Ashland travels to meet another traditional power in Dover in non-conference play on Friday night. “We had talked to our kids about how we were going to handle adversity,” Valentine told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “There we going to be times in the game when things were going to happen. There were opportunities for us, we cut the lead, but we got a touchdown called back.” Valentine was not happy with the way his team came out of the locker room and competed in the second half. “I don’t think we handled the second half the way I would have liked. We kind of talked about it Saturday. We have to be more mentally tough,” he said.
Ashland, coming off a season in which they lost to Mentor Lake Catholic in the division two regional finals for the second straight year, does not take losing well. “Our kids understand that Wadsworth was a good football team, but we made them look good with some of our mistakes and our missed opportunities. Hopefully, we learn from them,” said Valentine. Ashland had three turnovers in the game and had a kick blocked, but quarterback Zach Bernhard did throw for 267 yards in the game.
Ashland travels to Dover to face the Tornados on Friday night. Dover hammered Carrollton 58-14 in a game that was played last Thursday night. All-Ohio prospect Derek Swinderman threw for three scores and running back Hunter Schneeberger ran for five more. Ashland beat Dover 41-37 in a shootout last season and both teams again are featuring wide open spread offenses that like to throw the football. “They are going to spread it out, kind of like we do,” said Valentine. “They go empty backfield and sometimes they put a back back there. Derek Swinderman, a returning starter for them, is supposed to be one of the better quarterbacks in the state. We are going to have to be able to cover. Last week, we faced the “I” and this week we are going to have to be able to cover those guys.” Valentine thinks it might be a little easier on his defense than last week because they have faced the same kind of attack from their own offense during camp.
Valentine believes the Tornados are a lot like his team on defense too. “Defensively they are similar to us. They are fast and athletic and they run to the ball and they are good tacklers,” he said.
Ashland Reloading
Ashland has been as consistent a football program as there has been in the North Central Ohio area over the last half decade or more and there is no reason to believe they won’t have a good year this year as well.
They open the season on Friday night with a visit to Wadsworth.
Over the last four or five years Ashland has made the transition from a power running game to wide open spread look. Coach Scott Valentine told Swankonsports.com that they are confident that even with a new quarterback they are going to be able to run the same plays. “We were able to take a step last week offensively. We were able to make some big plays and get some guys the ball in space. So, hopefully we will be able to do a lot of the same stuff we did last year,” he said.
Marcus Fuller led the area in passing yards last year, but he has graduated and will be replaced under center, or in the gun in this case, by Zach Bernhard, who was a starting linebacker for the Arrows a year ago. Valentine knows it’s sometimes difficult for a kid when he takes the reins at quarterback, but he thinks Bernhard will do the job. “It’s a different scenario for us because Zach played under the lights because he played middle linebacker for us. I know it’s different from the quarterback spot, but he has had some experience. Hopefully that’s a transition he will be able to make,” said Valentine. If Bernhard is able to get the ball into the hands of the skilled kids, the Arrows will be off to the races. “The opportunities to get big plays are really important to us on offense and then on defense to keep the other team from getting big plays. Those are the things going in that you are trying to do,” Valentine added.
Despite scoring all of the points they have scored over the last five years, the Arrows still pride themselves on playing very good defense. Valentine says they have the potential to have a very good defense again this year. “I think our guys are playing fast,” he said, “We are doing a good job of tackling and we have gotten better at doing some things that we need to be better at. They big thing last week was us getting a couple of stops on defense. I think our kids understand that now. Hopefully, Friday night on those big third downs we will be able to get the stops defensively,” said Valentine.
Against Wadsworth Ashland is going to have to be pretty good at stopping the run. “We know their good running back was out last year, he got hurt early in the year. He’s back and defensively we are going to have to be able to tackle him.” Valentine said.
When facing the Wadsworth defense Ashland is going to have to get people blocked and get the ball out quickly to be successful. “They run a 3-4 front defensively with a cover two and cover three. They try to bring some blitzes from different linebackers. So, hopefully protection wise we see the blitzes and quarterback wise get the ball out of our hands,” said Valentine.
Ashland Expecting Another Good Season
Ashland football players expect that when they hit the field they are going to win and as a result of that confidence year in and year out the Arrows are one of the better football teams in the North Central Ohio area.
With two-a-days now under way Ashland coach Scott Valentine says they are starting to find the little things they need to improve on if they are going to play the kind of football the Arrows fans are used to. “I think we learned some things. The kids are picking up things like mental stuff. Being able to start hitting now we are starting to see some things that we need to work on to get that physical part of the game back,” said Valentine.
Ashland has averaged more than 40 points over the last four seasons behind the efforts of quarterbacks Taylor Housewright and Markus Fuller, who lead the area in passing yards and touchdown passes in 2010. Valentine believes they will feature much the same offense this fall. “I think we’ve got a couple of quarterbacks that have worked real hard and our receivers are doing some things, so I think we still like the style we have played over the last couple of years. We still have some guys that can make some plays if we get the ball in their hands,” said Valentine.
Despite the offensive juggernaut the Arrows have been over the last half decade, Valentine understands they have to play defense if they are going to end up being the team they want to be. “We want to be aggressive and we want to come after people and do a lot of the same things there also,” said Valentine. And the execution of that defense is going to be critical this fall if the Arrows are going to compete in the very tough Ohio Cardinal Conference. “We talk about that to our kids all of the time,” Valentine told Swankonsports.com, “You have to be able to stop people if you’re going to win football games and make the playoffs. You have to make tackles.”
Coach Valentine says during August they are going to make sure the Arrows are a sound fundamental team by working on both blocking and tackling. “Right now, we are far from were we need to be tackling wise and blocking. I think a lot of that comes from balance and getting used to being on balance,” Valentine said.
Ashland Working on Another Strong Season
Ashland has been one of the most consistent football teams in the North Central Ohio since former Arrow player Scott Valentine took the reins as head coach of the program.
Again last season Ashland advanced to the regional finals of the high school football playoffs after finishing second behind Clear Fork in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings. Marcus Fuller led the area in passing yards and touchdown passes last year, but he has graduated just like Taylor Housewright did before him.
Valentine knows that the summer months are very important when it comes to predicting how good his team might be in the fall. “This a real important time,” Valentine told Swankonsports.com., “We keep talking to our kids about how this time of year gets you ready for our preseason and our season and if you don’t do the work now then you come up with nagging injuries during two a days when you are trying to get ready for your season.” Valentine believes that during the hottest time of the season is when you really develop good chemistry. “You come together as a team at this time of year. You work hard to get yourself ready because you have to earn your way into the playoff system. If you lose a couple of games early that really puts you behind,” said Valentine.
Early in Valentine’s tenure at Ashland they were a power football team that concentrated on running the ball between the tackles and playing excellent defense. You always have to make tweaks each season and Valentine says they are still working on what they are going with this fall in terms of x’s and o’s. “We haven’t made a lot of decisions yet. We have a lot of guys that have been working hard. We have some under classmen that are really working hard. The competition you have really helps you move forward because there are a lot of guys competing for jobs,” said Valentine.
The Ohio Cardinal Conference has developed into a pretty solid football league and Valentine thinks this fall will be no different. He believes there are a number of teams that have the potential to win the “OCC” title. “I think it’s going to be another really competitive year. There are a lot of great athletes in our league. It all comes down to how these teams come together. We are hoping we can be part of that equation,” said Valentine.
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