[Tomcat68]

Full details of the game right here (sorry took so long my girlfriend wanting to hang out after the game and I couldn't get to a computer).

Ashland received the opening kickoff and started the game with a bang. Ashland quickly drove into Ironton territory before an Ian Holbrook pass connected with Drew McDavid for a 42 yard Touchdown. 7-0 Tomcats. On Ironton's first offensive possession the Ashland defense forced a Fighting Tiger interception caught by Fields Davis. Starting in Tiger territory, Ashland marched the field and Holbrook connected to McDavid once again in the endzone. 14-0 Ashland. Ironton's next possession led to their first score of the night. A deep pass led to the score. 14-7 Ashland. Ashland's next possession they marched the field again before being plagued by penalties holding the drive to a field goal by Preston Freeman. 17-7 Ashland. Ironton reached the endzone once again soon after which was once again set up by a bomb landing them on the Tomcat 5. The score was punched in soon after. 17-14 Ashland. Ashland then marched up the field again reaching the redzone before 2 illegal procedures pushed back the drive. The first play following the penalties was a snap that rolled across the ground and past Holbrook. Ironton recovers. Ironton impressively drives the ball up the field but is denied a score as time expires to reach halftime. At halftime, Ashland leads 17-14. Both defenses made significant strides in the second half. On Ironton's first possession, the Tomcat defense holds. After the punt, Ashland's potent offense takes the field for the first time in the 2nd half. Bob Lutz, coach of Ironton, made great halftime adjustments which led to great coverage in the second half of the Tomcat receivers. At this point the running of Holbrook became a major factor that wasn't overprevalent in the first half. Ashland continues to move the ball effective down the field reaching the 1 yard line but the play is called back for an illegal block in the back at the goal line. On second down, Holbrook finds an open receiver in the back corner of the endzone but the pass is dropped and Ashland eventually settles for a field goal. 20-14 Ashland. Ironton is once again forced to punt on their next possession. A few plays into the next Tomcat possession and Holbrook is picked off by an excellent play by 2 of the Ironton defenders. One tips and nearly intercepts the pass while the other dives and catches it before it hits the ground. Ironton is then forced to punt once again on their next possession. Ashland's Luke Bonner calls for a fair catch at his own 45 yard line. Shortly after the catch one of the Ironton players decided to take a cheap shot at Bonner and is flagged for the penalty and tempers flare on both sides but cooler heads prevail. After the penalty Ashland takes over on the Ironton 40 yard line. First play of the drive, Ashlan'd Tyler Reliford fumbles the ball after never having complete control after the handoff (Tyler had a great game rushing the ball when he got carries and did an excellent job blocking for Holbrook all night). Ironton takes over and has an impressive drive reaching the endzone once again. 21-20 Ironton leads. Drew McDavid takes over on the kickoff. McDavid receives the ball around the 5, fakes running to the middle to set up his sideline return blockers. He is finally forced out of bounds near the Ironton 30 yard line. Holbrook rallies the troops and strikes on a 15 yard run of his own. 26-21 Ashland. Ashland goes for 2 but is penalized 5 yards before the attempt. On the ensuing play, Holbrook scrambles up the middle after not finding an open receiver, but is stopped short of the goal line by 3 or 4 yards. The score stays 26-21 Ashland. Ironton takes over with nearly 8 minutes to go in the game. They're impressive run over the gassed Ashland defense chewing up 6 minutes before putting it into the end zone. Ironton leads 27-26. They go for 2 but the center-QB exchange is fumbled and the 2 point conversion try was no good. Ironton's ensuing kickoff rolls out of bounds giving Ashland the ball at their own 35 with 2 minutes to go in the game. The Ashland troops once again rally around the leadership of Ian Holbrook. Holbrook has 3 very impressive runs after failing to find open receivers moving the ball down the field into field goal posistion. With 1 minute to go, Ashland becomes rather conservative with the ball close to the Tigers 10-15 yard line and centers the ball as best as possible before calling their last timeout with 6 seconds remaining. Ashland is trailing 27-26 setting up the game-winning field goal try. The snap is a slightly low and bobbled momentarily by Holbrook. He does get the ball down but it is just a blink too late and has already messed up the timing of the kicker. The kick comes up well short and right as time expires. Congrats to both teams on the 3rd most exciting ball game I've ever seen in the friendly confines of Putnam Stadium.

For those wondering of the whereabouts of Ashland RB Matt Thomas in this description, he received what seemed to be a shoulder injury on the 3rd or 4th Ashland possession and never returned to the game.

Hopes and prays go out tonight to play-maker WR Angel Gurule. He had an excellent game, as did all of the Tomcat receivers. With around 3 minutes to go in the game he suffered quite an odd injury. Some way, the piece of skin that connects his lower lip to his lower gumline was completely ripped. To show the nerve and competitiveness of this young man he sat out ONLY 1 play after sustaining this injury and finished the game. He was taken to the hospital directly following the game where both an Oral Surgeon and Plastic Surgeon were waiting on him. He was noted by Coach Hart on the post-game show as telling his teammates to not worry about him and he would see them on the practice field on Monday to get ready for the district opener vs. Greenup.