ASHLAND – With senior quarterback Grant Denbow sidelined by a hand injury suffered in the first quarter of last week’s game, Ashland Coach Scott Valentine called on junior backup Keagan Armitage to lead the Arrows.
Armitage answered the call on Friday night. His four touchdown passes led the Arrows past the Knights in a 35-7 home win to kick off the Ohio Cardinal Conference schedule.
On their first possession, the Knights put together a 10-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a blocked field goal by Deven Bowen. Bryke Williams recovered and returned it to the Knights’ 36-yard line.
Three plays later, Armitage completed a screen pass to Williams that the speedy receiver turned into a 22-yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Arrows a 7-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Ashland took over on its own 22 after the Knights failed to convert on a fake punt. Armitage marched his team down the field with runs of 17 by Owen Reef, 18 of his own, and 12 by Williams. Then Armitage found Kamrin Knowlton-Goings across the middle for a 21-yard touchdown pass, putting the Arrows up 14-0 after the extra point. It was Knowlton-Goings’ fifth touchdown reception of the season.
After the Arrows tried to recover a squib kick that went out of bounds, the Knights took over on their own 35. Four plays later, Cale Ogi busted a 51-yard run that brought West Holmes within a touchdown.
With 3:44 left in the first half, Armitage found Manny Langston in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown pass, giving the Arrows a 21-7 lead.
On its second drive of the second half, Ashland marched down the field, helped by a 15-yard personal foul penalty and a 29-yard scamper by Williams. Wolfe made a diving, one-handed catch in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass, giving Ashland a 28-7 advantage.
West Holmes put together a 17-play, 80-yard drive on its next possession that included two fourth-down conversions before Knights quarterback Bridger Cline was intercepted by Landon Plank in the end zone.
“They converted some tough fourth-down plays but in the end we made some plays when we had to down towards the red zone,” Valentine said.
The Knights rushed for more than 300 yards, led by Cale Ogi with 10 rushes for 148 yards and Garrett Ervin with 26 rushes for 121 yards, but they were only able to reach the end zone one time.
On their final drive, the Arrows relied on Reef, who busted a 40-yard dash on the first play of the drive and added runs of 11 and 3 yards before finishing it with a 14-yard scoring sprint — after breaking several tackles.
Armitage completed 9 of 13 passes for 151 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. In nearly two games since Denbow was injured, Armitage has thrown 7 touchdowns and completed 22 of 32 passes for 321 yards. Armitage also rushed 9 times for 43 yards.
Wolfe hauled in four passes for 67 yards and a touchdown. Reef rushed nine times for 147 yards and a touchdown, including runs of 40 and 50 yards. Williams ran two times for 31 yards and caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown. Donald Denbow rushed five times for 77 yards.
“Our offensive line has really come together,” Valentine said. “We’ve found some things that we can do. And that opens up our passing game. We didn’t have to throw as much because we were able to run the ball so much. But then when we did, we made big plays out of it, and that’s off our play-action stuff.”
Valentine said it’s uncertain how soon Grant Denbow will return to lead the Arrows. The coach said his quarterback suffered ligament damage, so the concern is if he can grip the football. He didn’t get to play quarterback but he did get on the field on defense for one play.
“He wants to get on the field. He’s a competitor and we definitely miss the guy,” Valentine said.
Ashland (2-2) travels to Wooster next week to face the undefeated Generals.
“We got to see them scrimmage early in the year. They’ve got a lot of guys back so our expectation is they’re going to be a good team,” Valentine said. “We learned a couple things about our practice habits and if we don’t practice that way every week this year in our league, you’re gonna get beat that week.
“So hopefully we can come back next week and get prepared for a good football team because there is no doubt they are.”
