September 3, 2005

Grizzlies dominate North Salem

Ashland wins first game under new head coach

By Joe Zavala
Ashland Daily Tidings

Ashland began the Charlie Hall era in style Friday night, running, passing and defending with precision en route to a decisive 24-7 season-opening win over North Salem at Walter A. Phillips Field.

ASHLAND HIGH WIDE RECEIVER Aaron San Nicholas runs away from the defense during a punt return Friday night at Phillips Field. The Grizzlies won the game, 24-7. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings

The Grizzlies scored on their first drive and led 17-0 in the fourth quarter before the Vikings spoiled the shutout.

Ashland running back Dylan Steeves plowed in from seven yards out with 2:04 to go to put an exclamation mark on Hall’s first win as the Grizzlies’ new head coach.

“The learning, the effort, the physical play, all those things are validated with a win,” Hall said, “and now those kids can have confidence and know that we’re doing the right things as coaches, we’re doing the right things as players and that combination equals a successful outing on Friday nights, so we have something to build on right now.”

Ashland used all its weapons in an impressive offensive performance. Sam Littleton completed 19-of-32 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown while throwing the ball to seven different receivers. His favorite target was 6-foot-3 wide receiver Josh Cornelius, who caught five passes for 66 yards and one touchdown.

Ashland also moved the ball on the ground. Steeves rushed eight times for 56 yards and Justin Meza ran five times for 46 yards, as the Grizzlies averaged 4.8 yards per carry on 24 rushes.

North Salem, a 2004 playoff team, was led by senior running back Adryan Allen, who had 12 carries for 24 yards. Allen couldn’t take advantage of his speed, however, as Ashland’s defense contained the 6-foot, 190-pound back all night.

Ashland held North Salem to 156 yards of total offense, including just 39 on the ground. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, amassed 291 yards of total offense, including 116 rushing.

Ashland high wide receiver Josh Cornelius fights for the extra yard during Friday nightÕs season-opening win. Cornelius had five catches for 66 yards and one touchdown to lead the Ashland offense.

After forcing the Vikings to punt on their first series, the Grizzlies promptly drove 64 yards in 12 plays to score the game’s first touchdown. Littleton’s quarterback sneak from the 1 made it 6-0, and Jaxon Williams booted through the extra point.

The Grizzlies were held to three points the rest of the half on Williams’ 33-yard field goal with 3:16 to go in the second quarter.

Ashland broke the game open in the third when Cornelius hauled in a perfect 11-yard fade pass from Littleton in the right corner of the end zone. Williams’ extra point made it 17-0.

As the game wound down the only drama left was whether or not Ashland could complete the shutout. A 28-yard halfback option pass from Allen to Jon MacInnes ended that with 7:17 left.

Still, the Grizzlies walked away pleased with the victory, but confident that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“It took a long time to figure out and I definitely don’t thing we got there all the way tonight,” Cornelius said of the Grizzlies’ offense. “There’s so much that we have to work on, there’s so much new stuff. But, we just have people making plays and people flying around, and when you have heart in a game there’s only so much that can go wrong.”

At Ashland

North Salem 0 0 0 7 — 7
Ashland 7 3 7 7 — 24

First Quarter
Ash—Littleton 1 run (Williams kick), 3:28.

Second Quarter
Ash—FG Williams 33, 3:16.

Third Quarter
Ash—Cornelius 11 pass from Littleton (Williams kick), 8:41.

Fourth Quarter
NS—MacInnes 28 pass from Allen (Passmore kick), 7:17.
Ash—Steeves 7 run (Williams kick), 2:04.

NS Ash
First downs 10 14
Total Net Yards 156 291
Rushes-yards 29-39 24-116
Passing 117 175
Comp-Att-Int 11-21-1 19-32-1
Punts 3-32.3 3-22.7
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-50 11-95
Time of Possession 31:37 28:23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—North Salem, McCrae 1-28, Allen 12-24, Smith 4-16, Yellowbird 1-1, Rice 11-(-30). Ashland, Steeves 8-56, Meza 5-46, San Nicholas 1-9, Littleton 10-5.

PASSING—North Salem, Rice 10-20-1-89, Allen 1-1-0-28. Ashland, Littleton 19-32-1-175.

RECEIVING—North Salem, Allen 4-39, MacInnes 2-31, Jackson 2-26, McCrae 2-18, Baker 1-3. Ashland, Cornelius 5-66, San Nicholas 3-48, Lawniczak 3-18, Dodds 3-14, Williams 2-13, Steeves 2-7, Meza 1-9.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.