Ashland returns to gridiron with shutout of Westwood

WESTWOOD — Even with its season-opener on the road, Ashland was up for the challenge on Friday evening.

It took a quarter to get going, but the Clockers scored 12 in the second en route to a 23-0 victory over Tri-Valley League opponent Westwood.

“You can’t even describe it,” said Ashland coach Andrew MacKay about getting back onto the field. “It’s awesome. It’s getting the chills. You haven’t played in nearly 500 days. I’m just really happy for the seniors on both sides.”

The offense got off the schneid with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ate just over five minutes off the clock with 2:22 left in the first.

The drive started with a 25-yard pass from junior Luke Herter to senior Jeff Dollaway.

It was capped by an 11-yard rushing score for senior Eddie Lopez.

“I think it’s a byproduct of everyone trying to pick up the pieces in three weeks,” MacKay said about the slow start. “We are proud of our kids and they played tough today.”

Herter finished 3-of-6 for 80 yards, with a majority of those coming on a 43-yard strike to senior Gryffin Frink with 5:16 left in the second quarter to build a 12-0 lead at the half for Ashland (1-0)

“(Herter) and I are really close,” said senior captain Matt Neal, who also took half the snaps at QB. “We’ve known each other for a long time. I’ll support him through and through. I know he has my back and I’ve got his.”

Neal and Herter split reps at QB with Neal leading the huddle to start the third.

He took the team 73 yards on 10 plays and kept it for a 3-yard score to cap it off.

His two-point conversion pass to Frick put the Clockers up 20-0 with 7:35 left in the third.

After trading several short drives with Westwood (0-1), Ashland put the game away with a drive that lasted seven minutes and ended with a 35-yard field goal for junior John Giglia.

The defense not only got the shutout, but came up big after forcing a turnover on downs on Westwood’s opening drive of the contest.

“We came out a little slow,” Neal said about the defense. “We’ve got a couple things to tighten up, but our energy really helped us and our physicality helped us in the second half.”

Junior Dylan Drozeck came up with two huge first-half sacks as the Clockers put pressure on the Wolverines all night as well as a solid push to stop the rush attack after the first possession.