After a ‘gut punch’ stole its first game, Kentucky contender relishes chance to play
A week before its football season was supposed to kick off, Ashland Blazer learned that it wouldn’t be playing after all: the school received notice that a player tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the cancellation of its season opener against Greenup County on Sept. 11 and the suspension of all team activities until Sept. 15.
That setback was further magnified by the absence of a week-two opponent on the Tomcats’ schedule. They didn’t get to start their 2020 campaign until Friday night, with a trip to Bourbon County.
For Ashland fans, the wait was worth it: Blazer left with a 44-6 victory in which it didn’t allow a score until there was less than seven minutes left in the game. Seniors Keontae Pittman and Caleb Tackett each topped 100 rushing yards — 107 yards on 13 carries for Pittman, 120 on five touches for Tackett — and each scored twice.
Tackett rushed for a 67-yard score to put a running clock into effect with 11:12 left to play.
“They’re doing some good stuff for us,” Tackett said of Ashland’s offensive line, which replaced four starters from a team that last year fell to eventual state champion Belfry in the Class 3A playoffs.
Tackett made Ashland’s longest play of the night, but its most exciting occurred in the first half when J.T. Garrett scored on a reverse from about 50 yards out. Tomcats head coach Tony Love described his own offensive play-calling as “about as vanilla as you’re gonna find,” but he’s trying to turn over a new leaf this season at the behest of assistants on his staff who’ve lobbied for more pizzazz.
“We’ve got COVID going on and everybody else is down enough, so let’s see if we can juice it up a little bit,” Love said. “And what a way to take off the first time we run it.”
Love called the early September shutdown a “gut-punch” to his players and staff. Their level of eagerness to play a game was evident from the get-go after forcing a three-and-out and taking down Bourbon’s punter at the Colonels’ 22-yard line. The final score, meanwhile, was a good indicator that their preparedness matched their energy.
“I was really concerned about our conditioning but our guys appeared to be in shape tonight,” Love said.
Few playoff teams in the state came up short as often as Ashland Blazer over the last decade, in part because of the juggernauts it’s run into. In that span, the Tomcats have four times fallen to the eventual state champion in their class (Highlands in 2012 and 2014, Johnson Central in 2016, Belfry in 2019) and three other times to the state runner-up (Highlands in 2013, Johnson Central in 2017 and 2018).
Blazer is one of the winningest programs in state history — No. 10 all-time with 708 victories entering 2020 — and has played in two state finals, winning one (1990 over Lincoln County). Getting back will again be a bear, but it could not have asked for a better start considering the unique circumstances.
“You have to be spot-on, you can’t have any weakness at all on your team,” Love said. “I felt like we were there last year and we just didn’t play well. You have to play well, it’s not just being talented. You have to play well, and that’s a focus for us. We’ve got to get over the hump. I can’t specifically tell you we’re missing this person or that person, this ability or that ability. It’s a mindset.”
Next up
Ashland Blazer travels next week to nearby rival Raceland, which improved to 1-2 with a 48-20 win over Greenup County on Friday.
Bourbon County (1-2) will travel to Whitley County (0-3) next week.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 11:58 PM.
