Meleski’s monster day lifts Ashland past Norwood

ASHLAND — Andrew MacKay knew the best way to contain Norwood’s dangerous duo of Sudodh Dhakal and Bryan Metayer was to keep the ball away from them, and the Ashland coach figured he had just the guy to do it.

Senior Andrew Meleski ran for 228 and three touchdowns for the Clockers in a showdown between the top two teams in the TVL Large to power a 29-20 win that positions Ashland for a third straight division crown at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.

“Twenty-three (Meleski) is pretty good,” said MacKay. “We spent a lot of time preparing for (Dhakal) and (Metayer), two of the best backs in the state if you ask me, but there is no one I would take over my guy.”

While Meleski was the driving force behind the victory, it was a rare air connection that was the critical play for the Clockers. Clinging to a 22-20 lead in the fourth quarter, Luke Huerter hit Jake Rymsza for 11 yards on fourth-and-8, one play after the senior wide receiver dropped a potential first down.

“I just knew I had to stay up. I wasn’t going to get in my own head,” said Rymsza. “Coach said ‘Do you want it?’ and I wanted it and I got it.”

Melelski capped the backbreaking drive of over seven minutes with a 6-yard touchdown run, putting Ashland up two scores at 29-20 with 6:58 to go.

Norwood (5-2) had a 43yard TD throw erased by a holding call and got backed up to a fourth-and-40 that it miraculously converted when Joey Steeves hit Metayer to stay alive, but Rymsza sealed it with an interception.

“We don’t want easy wins,” said Rymsza. “We love going against good teams because that makes us play at a high level.”

Tied 14-all at halftime, Ashland made a fourthdown stop at its own 27 after giving Norwood great field position with a failed onside kick to start the second half. The Clockers grabbed the lead for good with a 37-yard Meleski run and what turned out to be a critical two-point conversion, shifting out on an extra point formation and handing off to Meleski for a 22-14 advantage.

Norwood answered with a 17-yard touchdown run from Dhakal, his third of the game, but the two-point attempt was stuffed. Dhakal finished with 142 yards on just 11 carries, including a 83yard scoring run in the first half. Steeves was outstanding as well, going 15-of-18 for 230 yards.

“I’m super proud of our kids,” said Mackay, “That’s an unbelievable team. Their coaching staff is first-class. A tough, tough team but our team was tough and up for the challenge.”