By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – It would be easy to view them as a trio of dominoes loaded with football talent, tipping over along a pathway to Ashland University. Ashland High School senior linebacker Gunner Lacey announced his commitment in mid-January to suit up for the Eagles. A few weeks later, his classmates – lineman Budda Martin and kicker Carson O’Brien – made the decision to follow in his footsteps. Ever the entertaining conversationalist, Martin thought about the situati

By Doug Haidet CUYAHOGA FALLS – There were enough narratives for the 2025 Walsh Jesuit football team to fill a semi-truck. * Monster season-opening win over an eventual state runner-up? Check. * Home win streak stretched to 24 games and still counting? Check. * Finally knocking off bitter nemesis and powerhouse Hoban in the playoffs? Check. * Final 11-2 record despite the second-toughest schedule of any Division II team in Ohio? Check. * Boasting the most seniors in team hist

By Doug Haidet CUYAHOGA FALLS – Nobody will ever say Marty Tobin isn’t a great author. With his college football destination still up in the air and a daunting postseason path in front of him, the Walsh Jesuit senior penned one of the finest final chapters of anyone in his school’s football history. A vital piece to a Warriors’ team playing one of the toughest schedules in all of Ohio this season, Tobin’s 1,856 rushing yards in 2025 are the third-most in Walsh Jesuit’s record

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – The wheels didn’t just come falling off Saturday for the Minnesota Duluth offense. The Ashland defense ferociously ripped them off – then the Eagles scrapped the rest of the car, too. By the end of their first-round NCAA Division II playoff game inside Jack Miller Stadium, the visiting Bulldogs were stuck with a 32-7 trouncing and a long trip home. Ashland (10-2) forced turnovers on four consecutive drives in the second half, slowly burying Duluth (10

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – If Michael Shimek was asking around for a hype man, the first guy in line would be Ashland University defensive ends coach Andy Tabler. Now in his sixth season on the AU staff, Tabler still remembers watching film of Shimek getting to the quarterback while starring as a first-team All-Ohioan at Hoover High School. The recollection is so vivid, Tabler even remembers the number on Shimek’s jersey – No. 18 – as if it was the passcode to his ATM card. “Yo

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – So much for the weakness residing in the trenches. After last spring’s graduation purged the vast majority of their key contributors, Ashland’s linemen of 2025 have spent the past 11 weeks proving any doubters wrong. “The only returning (full-season starter) we had was (senior Brandon Briggs), so coming into this year we thought our biggest problem would be our line,” senior two-way lineman Budda Martin said. “But I think our line has done great and i

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – Gabe Baith didn’t have to say a word. Instead, he sent out a deafening warning with his feet on the very first play of the 2025 season. The senior returned the opening kickoff of Ashland’s opening game against Bay 89 yards for a touchdown. Within 13 seconds, teams were on notice, and Baith has rarely taken his foot off the gas since. “When I was on the sideline, I just had a feeling I was gonna take one back,” said Baith when recalling his off-to-the-

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – Gunner Lacey probably would have hit a mailman had one walked across the turf at Community Stadium last Friday. The Ashland High School senior linebacker was in a rabid frenzy looking for tackles with Wooster in town, knowing he needed 15 more to set the AHS record for career tackles. But the Arrows blasted the Generals, 52-7, with Lacey even collecting the first defensive touchdown of his career on a fumble return, and he and the starting defense too

By Doug Haidet ASHLAND – After beating Madison in Week 6, Ashland senior quarterback Nathan Bernhard was handed a pair of game balls by AHS athletic director Jason Goings for posting the 100th and school-record-breaking 101st touchdowns of his career. Bernhard, an Appalachian State commit, has since bumped that number to 111 (64 passing, 47 rushing). Had Goings waited until the end of this season to give out such recognition for massive career numbers, he would have needed a

Written by Doug Haidet There is a case to be made that this week’s Ashland at Lexington collision is the biggest Week 10 face-off in the history of Ohio Cardinal Conference football. Since the league’s founding in 2003, only two other times has there been a winner-take-all meeting in the final week of the regular season between two league unbeatens (Orrville at Wooster in 2004 and Ashland at Lexington in 2007). This year’s version pits the Arrows (9-0, 5-0 OCC) against the Mi

Ashland High School standout Tyler Sauder has been a key figure on both sides of the football this season — a dynamic wide receiver and a...

Ashland’s Nathan Bernhard Commits to Appalachian State University ASHLAND, OH – April 25, 2025 A long time coming. Nathan Bernhard’s long-awaited announcement has been made. Ashland High School’s signal caller has officially committed to Appalachian State University, announcing his decision Friday afternoon as he and the Arrows prepare for a highly anticipated senior campaign. Bernhard, a standout on and off the field, has been the full-time driving force behind the Arrows’ o