Ashland hangs on over Norwood

NORWOOD — That’s why they call them the Clockers.

Ashland dominated possession in the first half against unbeaten Norwood and ground out time late in a 21-14 victory Saturday to create a three-way tie atop the Tri-Valley League Large Division with Norwood and Holliston.

“We wanted to establish positive plays. We kind of got our butts kicked last week (a 27-0 loss) against Holliston and our kids, they met the challenge,” said Ashland coach Andrew MacKay. “We needed to get back to our culture and playing hardnosed football.”

Junior quarterback Luke Herter hit Gryffin Frink for a 38-yard touchdown with 8:44 left for the deciding points. Ashland had run seven straight run plays out of a tight formation before sneaking an uncovered Frink past the defense for the connection.

“We were working on that all week, saw it, and it just opened up and it seemed to work,” said Herter, a firstyear starter.

Herter was an efficient 10of-14 for 170 yards passing on the day and also ran for a touchdown.

Norwood faced a key decision with fourth-and-3 at its own 43 with just over 7 minutes to play and elected to punt, but the Mustangs didn’t get it back until 22 seconds remained, a fitting conclusion as they struggled to get the Clockers off the field all afternoon.

Ashland, the defending TVL Large champions, staked a 14-0 lead, chewing up loads of time and yardage on its first two drives. The Clockers went 95 yards on the first, capped by a 1-yard plunge by Herter, and 80 on the second, which was extended by a disputed personal foul call and finished by a 6-yard run from Andrew

Meleski.

Norwood’s first score was decidedly quicker, a one-play strike after the Meleski TD as Bryan Metayer popped a 61-yard run down the right sideline, cutting the lead to 14-7 at the break.

The Mustangs got a critical red zone stop on the first possession of the second half and drove 62 yards to tie it, with Rob Wladkowski powering in from inside the 1 on fourth down with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

Now a three-way share of the crown remains a possibility as the co-leaders have already played each other.

“We want to show that we can come back and do it every year,” said Herter.