ASHLAND – After spotting Tiffin Columbian 10 points Friday night, the Ashland Arrows (2-1) roared back with five consecutive touchdowns en route to a 42-24 victory at Community Stadium.
“One thing we talk about all the time is playing four quarters. Good things can happen or bad things can happen,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine said. “They executed their offense and did a good job of getting scores, but then our kids bounced back and responded.”
The Tornadoes (0-3) kicked a 17-yard field goal on their first possession to take a 3-0 lead.
Following a Keagan Armitage interception on the second play of the second quarter, Tiffin quarterback Todd Simonds dashed 53 yards for a touchdown. The extra point gave the Tornadoes a 10-0 advantage with 11:33 left in the half.
A 30-yard kickoff return by Bryke Williams on the ensuing kick sparked the Arrows and they never looked back. Ashland scored quickly and they scored often over the next 10 minutes.
Three plays after Williams’ kick return, Armitage found Owen Reef for a 14-yard score. The extra point by Carson Hubler cut the Tiffin lead to 10-7.
Landon Plank picked off Simonds on the next drive. Ashland used eight consecutive runs to march 80 yards, capped by a 36-yard scamper by Williams. Another Hubler extra point gave the Arrows a 14-10 lead.
After forcing a three-and-out, Armitage found senior Kamrin Knowlton-Goings on the second play of the drive for a 60-yard touchdown. Hubler’s third extra point kick made it 21-10.
Senior Jacob Robertson pounced on a Tiffin fumble on the first play of the Tornadoes’ drive to give Ashland the ball on the Tiffin 29. Three plays later, Langston caught a pass in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard score. Hubler’s kick made it 28-10 with 1:41 left in the half.
“Our defense got us some turnovers and got some stops. They got us good field position and that always helps. That’s why it’s a team game,” Valentine said.
The Arrows first team offense ran only eight plays in the second half (all runs), but that was all that was needed to add two more scores.
Armitage broke several tackles in the backfield before reversing field and outrunning several Tiffin defenders as he raced for a 56-yard touchdown run with 7:21 left in the third quarter. Hubler added another extra point to make it 35-10.
Tiffin controlled the ball the rest of the third with a 21-play drive that carried over into the fourth quarter, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by Kaeden Hatlay to trim the Arrow lead to 35-17.
On the following drive, Armitage again used his feet to reach the end zone on a 19-yard run to give the Arrows a 42-17 advantage.
“We wanted to finish the game. Against Green, the first game, we didn’t finish and they ended up having a chance there at the end. That’s what we told the kids (Friday). When they got that other score, we had to come back and we had to get another score and respond and our guys did that,” Valentine said.
Tiffin added a late score after a fumbled punt when backup quarterback Chase Frankenhauser scored on a 7-yard run for the final 42-24 score.
Armitage was 11-of-17 for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns though the air – all in the first half — and added 127 yards and two more scores on the ground. Langston hauled in four passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Williams rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, and caught three passes for 23 yards. Reef added 37 yards on the ground and caught three passes for 31 yards and a TD.
“Those guys can present problems for people and we’ve just got to make sure we get them in the spots where they can make plays and Keagan does a great job of reading for us so that really helps us, too,” Valentine said.
Next week, Ashland travels to Lake to take on the Blue Streaks before starting its Ohio Cardinal Conference slate with a visit to Mount Vernon on Sept. 22.
