Ashland’s big boys holding up their end of the bargain

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 is probably one of the strongest parts of

our team.

“We hold each other accountable every play. I trust that the up-front guys can get the job

done.”

On both sides, the proof has been in the numbers – even if they are hard to fully gauge during a season in which Ashland’s starters have stayed on the field for just two full games due to nine blowout wins.

Defensively, the Arrows (10-1) have forced 27 turnovers and given up just 226.1 yards per

game, mostly playing in a three-man front. Before their loss at Lexington, they had allowed

just 90 points – the fewest for the program through nine weeks since 1978.

On offense, meanwhile, the AHS front has permitted only 13 sacks while blocking for skill

players who have averaged about 350 yards per game. More revealing is the fact that Ashland’s scoring average of 42.3 points per game is on pace to break the school record (40.1 ppg in 2010). When the Arrows travel to Columbus St. Francis DeSales (8-2) this Friday – a doozy of a second-round playoff rematch from a year ago – they’ll step on the field featuring what has turned into one of the most versatile and athletic line corps in program history.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate to have good senior leadership and we’re really a senior-

oriented line,” said Ashland defensive line coach Jim Deppen, now in his 39 th year on staff at AHS. “For the most part, we’ve been able to sub a lot of kids and it’s basically been the

seniors that we’ve been able to rotate through. Their support of each other has been very

important.

“Strength-wise and size-wise, we are a little bigger than we were last year.”

Both first-team All-Ohio Cardinal Conference picks, Briggs (6-3, 265) and Martin (6-0, 250)

are the lone two-way senior starters on the line and both plan to compete in college.

Briggs has offers to Hillsdale College and Case Western Reserve University for football while

Martin said he plans to either play football or wrestle at the next level.

Junior two-way starter Greyson Blough (5-11, 260), an OCC second-teamer who mixed in a

bit as a starter last fall, also helps anchor the front and could end up as a college football

player, too.

Joining them on the college athletics radar are senior linemen Ajay Workman (6-2, 220;

committed to play baseball at Lake Erie College) and Trey Reece (6-2, 250; football offer from Ohio Wesleyan University).

Martin said he and a few others practically begged Workman to play football for the first time at Ashland this year, and he has become a critical flex player on both sides.

“If we didn’t have Ajay this year our team would not be nearly as good as it is,” Martin said of Workman, who has 23 tackles.

Meanwhile, senior Kyle Kramer (6-1, 240) is a first-year starter on the offensive line, and

Deppen said seniors Brendan Henderson (6-0, 205) and Skyler Radeff (6-4, 210) both have

provided key minutes defensively.

Offensive line coach Brian Hennis, in his 10 th year on staff at Ashland, said the overall unit has adjusted well in essentially every area possible while also under the tutelage of additional line coaches Kevin Lacey and Austin Yeater.

“I think this group really stepped up in filling in those spaces that they recognized were holes from last year, from guys graduating,” he said. “They put the time in this offseason and the commitment to getting better at the skills they needed to progress this year.”

Briggs and Martin have been the unquestionable kingpins of that effort, and the two have

evolved within their roles in largely different ways.

Briggs (45 career tackles on defense) has been a two-way varsity performer on the line for

three seasons now, and has been the guy snapping the ball to record-breaking Ashland

quarterback Nathan Bernhard all three years.

Arrows head coach Scott Valentine said he’s only had a three-year starter at center two or

three times in his career. Martin said his classmate is a captain through and through.

“Something about him walking around, leading the charge on the offensive line gets me fired up,” he said of Briggs.

Working on the line has been Briggs’ calling card since his Ashland Youth Football League

days.

“I used to be a wide receiver in flag football,” he said, “but I fattened up a little bit.”

Briggs said being so closely attached to Bernhard’s ascent into becoming one of Ohio’s best

quarterbacks has been quite a ride.

Just last week, the 6-foot-6 Bernhard surpassed 10,500 career yards of total offense. The

overwhelming majority of that has come with Briggs helping steer the ship up front.

“We’ve been really good friends basically since we were born,” Briggs said of his quarterback, who also has collected nine tackles and a sack while mixing in at defensive end. “And I also like having the same quarterback every year because he stays the same height; I don’t have to snap to different heights and I don’t have to change what I’m doing.”

“We’ve got a great bunch of skill guys out there and we have a great quarterback, too,” he

said.

Hennis said it’s the type of across-the-board continuity on offense that has naturally led to

another historic year. Bernhard’s 28 passing touchdowns are the second-most at AHS since 2010, and his 20 rushing scores this year are just two fewer than what he had last fall, when he became the first Ashland QB to run for 20 touchdowns.

“Nate’s been great at identifying what he sees in front of him and being able to help adjust,”

Hennis said. “The communication between the line and him, we work that every week – what

are the looks we’re gonna see and how do we recognize it together.”

As for Martin, the pathway has been less traditional. After transferring to Ashland from Madison, he was permitted to play only five games as a junior. But he made a name for himself in a variety of ways before the 2025 football season began, qualifying to state as a wrestler last winter, then making noise in the weight room with a school-record 440-pound max-out on the bench press.

“I’m not as crazy as him,” Briggs said, “I can tell you that.”

Martin said Ashland’s belief in him as a person and an athlete has opened doors to success

he might otherwise not have walked through. Along with his achievements on the wrestling mat (he has ambitions of a state title this winter), Martin has thrived as a lineman after formerly playing running back and linebacker. He is fifth on the team in tackles (38) and second in tackles for loss (11) while also forcing a pair of fumbles.

This year is also the first time he’s played on any offensive line.

“A lot of it has been newer for me, but I think I’ve stepped up and really tried my best to play

at a high level,” Martin said. “I know if I do my job, everyone else will do theirs.”

“I just like causing fear in other teams when we’re on defense,” he added. “Then on offense,

it’s nice to see them being scared to have our receivers open.”

Overall, Deppen said he’s still waiting to see Ashland’s defense play its best game, adding

that he feels the unit has played to the level of its competition a bit too much this year.

With the challenges sure to rise the longer the Arrows play – on both sides of the ball – the

outcomes might hinge on willpower in the trenches as much as anything.

“I’ve seen guys who are 180 pounds drive guys that are 300 pounds; it comes down to that

determination,” Hennis said. “Strength helps, but if you have that fight in you, that’s gonna

really set you apart and help you overcome any disadvantage you might have.

“If you put those things together – that fight, the size and speed – who’s gonna stop you? Andwe have some guys who have that combination.”