Ashland-Lex pairing among the OCC’s all-time best

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 Minutemen (8-1, 5-0) – No. 7 in

Division II vs. No. 11 in Division III, respectively, in this week’s Associated Press state poll.

Both teams already have clinched home playoff games, but both likely must have a win this

week to get a first-round bye in the newly formatted Ohio playoffs.

And with most of the top-end talent returning on both rosters a year after the Arrows and

Minutemen each advanced to their respective regional semifinals, it will be skill-vs.-skill with

nowhere to hide deficiencies.

“In the second half of the season, neither of us have probably played a four-quarter game

(with starters),” 20th-year Ashland head coach Scott Valentine said.

“So it’s going to come down to who’s going to come in, execute and go with the ups and downs.

“Both sides are going to make plays and we’re going to have to be ready to mentally handle it and move on. We’re going to find out on Friday where we’re at.”

Ashland senior quarterback Nathan Bernhard helped lead AHS past Lex last season, 30-21 –

a victory that gave the Arrows just their second 10-0 regular season in 118 years of football.

This year, Ashland has been even more unstoppable, with running clocks in seven of nine

outings. The team’s 19-game regular season win streak is the second-longest in program history.

“It’s been fun to dominate and do what we think we should in these games,” Bernhard said.

“… We didn’t have any (games against top teams in the state until now). Lex is going to be a

different animal.

“Going into the year, obviously you want to take it a week at a time and not look ahead, but

we knew in the back of our mind that this was gonna be the game that decided everything.”

Looking for star power?

A returning first-team All-Ohioan, Bernhard (6-6, 240 pounds) is headed off to Appalachian

State after this season with a boatload of school records in tow.

Lexington senior WR/DE Brayden Fogle (6-3, 230) is bound for Georgia while senior QB/LB

Joe Caudill (6-5, 215) is committed to Michigan State. Both plan to play tight end at the next

level.

All three of those guys will graduate early to get their college careers started in the spring.

That’s not to mention the rest of the college-hopeful playmakers.

Ashland’s got more seniors in MLB Gunner Lacey, LM Brandon Briggs and Trey Reece, and

DB Jordan Ferguson all getting college looks. Wide receivers Gabe Baith (senior) and Killian

O’Brien (junior) are hoping to play on Saturdays, too, as is standout kicker Carson O’Brien.

Lexington senior WR/DB Dantrell Hughes has multiple Division I offers, and the Minutemen

have All-Ohio-type talent in WR/DB Seven Allen, LB/RB Markale Martin and WR/DB Avery

Crawford.

Valentine said it’s far and away the best team the Arrows have faced since last year’s playoff

run.

“They’re very skilled in what they do and they play physical football,” Valentine said. “We’re

going to have to be ready to play four quarters.”

Looking for dominance?

The only loss between these two teams is by Lexington in Week 2 – a 37-13 road defeat

against Shelby, the No. 1-ranked team in Division IV.

Remove that game and the Arrows and Minutemen have spent their seasons obliterating the

teams on the other sideline.

Overall, they have scored the exact same amount of points (Ashland 374-92, Lexington 374-

145). Break it down to common opponents in the OCC and it’s nearly identical as well.

The Arrows are +165 in scoring against league foes (212-47). The Minutemen are +160 (224-

64).

During a season in which running clocks have become the norm for both, the starting units

have spent many second halves resting on the sidelines.

“It’s nice that we’re just that good of a team and we’re able to get some of the other guys

some experience,” said Lacey, another returning first-team All-Ohioan and the leader of an

AHS starting defensive unit that has not allowed a point after halftime this fall.

The winning pedigrees?

Ashland has secured its 16 th trip to the postseason and is in the playoffs in four consecutive

years for just the second time (also 2014-17).

The Arrows are trying to get to 10-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in their history

and hope to finish the regular season undefeated for the eighth time in their 119 years of

existence.

Led by fourth-year head coach Andrew Saris, Lexington has locked down a playoff spot for

the 10 th time in its history, with this year giving the Minutemen their first-ever streak of three

straight years playing beyond Week 10. The last time Lex went into Week 10 undefeated in the OCC was 2016, when Ashland won 24-21 at Community Stadium to split the OCC title.

The last time the Minutemen had a nine-win regular season was 2008, when they finished

their only 10-0 regular season ranked No. 4 in the Division II state poll.

One year earlier, when Ashland traveled to Lex in Week 10 with both teams perfect in OCC

play, the Arrows came away a 33-28 winner. That victory set up a run to the Final Four for

Ashland – the only such trip between the two programs.

Both teams have aspirations of making that type of postseason push this year, and a win

Friday night could be the catalyst. Lexington is seemingly as healthy as it has been at any point in any of the last two seasons after losing plenty of its stars at different times.

Bernhard said this year’s version of last year’s massive Week 10 showdown for OCC

supremacy (Lex would have shared the crown with AHS had it won last fall) has even more

talent.

He said these Minutemen will easily be one of the best teams he’s faced in high school.

“In the last couple games, their five or six core skill guys have all been healthy and that’s what they’re going to hang their hat on,” Bernhard said. “Those guys are ‘dudes’ and those dudes can compete with anybody.”

“I think they’re going to think they’ve got a lot of skill and that their skill is going to be better

than ours,” he said. “But I think as a team we have the ability to go out there and beat them. It could go either way. It’s going to be a great game.”

COMPARING THE NUMBERS

The Quarterbacks

AHS: Nathan Bernhard – 116/171 passing, 1,801 yards, 19 TDs, 0 INTs; 107-394-17 rushing

LHS: Joe Caudill – 89/148 passing, 1,363 yards, 23 TDs, 5 INTs; 87-449-5 rushing

The Top Running Backs

AHS: Grayson Baith – 77-506-9

LHS: Markale Martin – 54-408-9

The Top Receivers

AHS: Gabe Baith – 38-546-2

Killian O’Brien – 31-518-8

LHS: Seven Allen – 29-505-6

Brayden Fogle – 20-406-7

The Kickers

AHS: Carson O’Brien – 48/50 PATs, 6/7 FG (long of 38)

LHS: Cohen Lautzenhiser – 46/48 PATs, 1/1 FG (25 yards)

The Defensive Kingpins

AHS: Gunner Lacey – 73 tackles, 13 TFLs

Jordan Ferguson – 37 tackles, 2 INTs

Budha Martin – 26 tackles, 11 TFLs

LHS: Joe Caudill – 47.5 tackles, 12 TFLs

Cole Eichorn – 45 tackles, 3 sacks, 8 TFLs

Luke Triska – 33.5 tackles, 3 sacks, 9.5 TFLs

(Ashland has a 25-2 advantage in turnovers and has 16 interceptions from 8 total players.

Lexington has a 26-13 advantage in turnovers and has 15 interceptions from 10 total players.)