By MARK MAYNARD — The Independent
Ashland — For coach Leon Hart, the message to his players is pretty simple this week: Win and play one more game at Putnam Stadium or lose and hit the road.
Ashland visits Woodford County on Saturday night at 6 with the runner-up position in the Class 5A district on the line.
“It’s an extremely important ballgame for both football teams,” Hart said. “Whoever wins this ballgame gets a first-round home (playoff) game. We told them If they want to play another game in Putnam Stadium, they need to win.”
The Tomcats (7-1) go into the game with the Yellowjackets
(4-3) as favorites.
Johnson Central rocked Woodford County 64-14 last week, rolling up 600 yards on the ground.
That scenario is similiar to last season when Johnson Central ran for 600 before the Tomcats played Woodford County in a game that turned out to be one of the most exciting of the season.
Ashland defeated Woodford County 54-44 in Putnam Stadium.
“It was an unbelievable game,” Hart said. “The thing that’s crazy about it, a 54-44 game was decided by three defensive plays at the end.”
Three pivotal interceptions helped the Tomcats from a 10-point deficit to a 10-point victory.
“If you’re a fan, that’s the kind of game you want to see,” Hart said. “There were a bunch of big plays — long runs, long kickoff returns, interceptions.”
Woodford County runs the same spread offense but it hasn’t been as effective without quarterback Steven Duckworth, who graduated.
Last week, the Tomcats shook off a sluggish first half and then zoomed past Montgomery County 36-6.
Josh Alber ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He has 985 yards rushing on the season. Sophomore Sam Hunter has thrown for 708 yards and eight touchdowns.
Woodford County has used two quarterbacks, Ryan Garrahan and Matt Couch. They’ve combined for 1,211 yards passing for 10 touchdowns but 13 interceptions.
“They’ve been unfortunate to play on some really wet, sloppy fields,” Hart said. “You can see a difference when they’re on a dry field. They’re dangerous. Spreading the field out and throwing the ball around is much harder to defend than wadding them up in a ball (and running).”
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com.
or (606) 326-2648.
