Girls’ Soccer Recap 

James Collier 

Ashland Beacon 

ASHLAND 5-1 

Ashland went 1-1 this week with a 10-0 win over Rowan County and a 4-2 loss to Russell. 

Kenleigh Woods and Milei Baker netted goals in the loss to Russell. Baker added an assist. Mallorie Caudill had 13 goal saves. 

Woods scored six goals in the shutout over Rowan County. Baker added three. Macie Bevins had a goal. Kylee Fields and Emma Vanhorn assisted on goals. 

Ashland welcomes Boyd County Tuesday, visits Minford, OH Thursday and welcomes Montgomery County Saturday. 

BOYD COUNTY 2-4 

Boyd County went 1-1 this week with a 2-0 win over West Carter and a 5-2 loss to Prestonsburg. 

Alexis Boyd had two goals in the win over West Carter. Sophia Stevens had seven goal saves in the shutout. 

Faith Burnside had both Lions goals in the loss to Prestonsburg. 

Boyd County visits Ashland Tuesday and Gallia Academy, OH Thursday. 

RUSSELL 8-0 

Russell went 2-0 this week with wins over Ashland and East Carter. 

Ava Quinn netted two goals and an assist in Russell’s 4-2 win over Ashland. Emma Stamper and Kaelyn Howard added goals. Eva Blanke added an assist. Gabrielle Williams had 10 goal saves. 

Blanke had a hat trick and Stamper kicked in a pair to lead Russell to a 5-2 win over East Carter. Quinn added an assist. Williams had three saves. 

Russell is idle until Sept. 11. 

GREENUP COUNTY 2-4 

Greenup County went 0-2 this week with losses to Bath County (4-2) and Morgan County (2-1). 

Haley Hall and Brianna Vansickle each had a goal in the loss to Bath County. Mikenzie Boltz had 19 saves in the goal. 

No stats were reported in the loss to Morgan. 

Greenup welcomes Spring Valley Monday and Johnson Central Tuesday.

Volleyball Recap 

James Collier 

Ashland Beacon 

ASHLAND 10-3 

     Ashland went 1-1 this week with a 3-0 win over Russell and a 3-2 loss to Boyd. Ashland went ahead 2-1 against Boyd but couldn’t hold off the Lady Lions and dropped the last two sets. 

     Ashland welcomes Fairview Tuesday, Fleming County Wednesday, East Carter Thursday and plays in the Boyd County Invitational Saturday. 

BOYD COUNTY 9-2 

     Boyd County went 1-1 this week with a 3-2 win over Ashland and 3-2 loss at Wayne, WV. 

     Taylor Bartrum had 24 kills and six blocks in a loss to Wayne. Audrey Biggs had seven kills. Sydney Clark added six. 

     Bartrum had 25 kills to lead Boyd to a win over Ashland. Biggs had 11 and added eight blocks. Lilah Thornsbury had nine. 

     Boyd travels to Raceland Tuesday. 

FAIRVIEW 4-8 

     Fairview went 0-3 this week with losses to Rose Hill, West Carter and Lawrence County. 

     Fairview fell 3-0 to Rose Hill. Makenzi Slone had eight kills. Lilly McGlone added five. Oliva Meade had four aces. 

     Sloan had 22 kills and four aces in Fairview’s 3-2 loss to West Carter. McGlone had eight. Madison Loving had five aces. 

     Slone and Loving had seven kills in a 3-0 loss to Lawrence County. Loving added four aces. 

     Fairview visits Ashland Tuesday, welcomes Chesapeake Wednesday, visits Raceland Thursday and plays in the Boyd County Invitational Saturday. 

ROSE HILL 6-8 

     Rose Hill went 2-2 this week with wins over Fairview and Huntington St. Joe and losses to Ignite, WV and Raceland. 

     Abigail Justice had 12 kills and four assists to lead Rose Hill to a 3-0 win over Fairview. Isabel Hensley added eight kills. 

     Hensley had six kills each in the Royals 3-0 losses to Ignite and Raceland. 

     No stats were reported in the win over St. Joe. 

      Rose Hill visits Greenup County Tuesday, welcomes West Carter Thursday and visits Elliott County Friday. 

RACELAND 8-1 

     Raceland went 2-0 this week with wins over East Carter and Rose Hill. 

     Shaelee Holbrook had 17 kills and Gracie Reed added 10 in a 3-1 win over East Carter. Kaylee Braden had eight kills. 

     Skyler Brown-Morris had 11 kills in a 3-0 win over Rose Hill. Holbrook and Braden added nine. Holbrook and Kody Haddix had four aces. 

     Raceland welcomes Boyd County Tuesday and Fairview Thursday. 

RUSSELL 3-5 

     Russell went 1-1 this week with a 3-0 win over Greenup and a 3-0 loss to Ashland. 

     Josie Collins and Carmin Corey each had 11 kills in the win over Greenup County. Jaycee Hall had five. 

     Corey had 15 kills in the loss to Ashland. Collins added 13. 

     Russell visits East Carter Tuesday. 

GREENUP COUNTY 7-4 

     Greenup went 2-1 this week with wins over Coal Grove and West Carter and a loss to Russell. 

     Peyton Powell had 13 kills and seven aces to lead Greenup to a 3-0 win over Coal Grove. 

     Powell had 10 kills in the 3-0 loss to Russell. 

     Powell’s 17 kills led Greenup to a 3-1 win over West Carter. Lucy Roy had seven. Rilee Dillow kicked in six and added 10 aces. 

     Greenup welcomes Lawrence County Monday, Rose Hill Tuesday and meets Whitley County Friday in the Class 2A Championships.

The Boys of Fall

James Collier 

Ashland Beacon 

GREENUP COUNTY 28 PORTSMOUTH 22 O 

     Greenup County found itself trailing 15-0 early in the second quarter but the Musketeers were not going to let a slow start hinder their chances of leaving Portsmouth with a win. 

     Tyson Sammons started the scoring for the Musketeers and the junior quarterback called game in overtime with a 26-yard touchdown strike to Drew Boggs to secure a 28-22 victory. Sammons threw for 107 yards and ran for 164 and a pair of touchdowns in the win. ‘ 

     Ike Henderson evened the contest at 15-15 just before the break with a 5-yard scamper to the endzone. Sammons gave the Musketeers the lead with a 35-yard TD with five minutes left in the third. Portsmouth answered with a touchdown four minutes later for a 22-22 stalemate after three complete. Neither team found the endzone in the final 12 minutes forcing an extra period to decide the outcome. Greenup County’s defense sealed the win with a forced fumble by Gage Gullett on the Trojans quarterback. 

     Henderson tallied 63 yards and a score. Brody Stevens caught three passes for 38 yards. Aiden Gue caught a 38-yard bomb for his only reception. 

     Greenup County (2-1) welcomes East Carter Friday night. 

ASHLAND 42 GEORGE WASHINGTON 21 

     LaBryant Strader threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns while running for 49 yards and a pair of TDs to lead Ashland to a 42-21 win over GW. 

     Brandon Houston caught five balls for 84 yards and a touchdown. Braxton Jennings had four receptions and a TD along with 49 rushing yards and a score. Tay Thomas led the Tomcats on the ground with 55 yards and added another with a 26-yard reception. 

     Ashland (3-0) closes its series with GW at 5-7. 

     Ashland travels to Bardstown on Friday. 

EAST CARTER 33 BOYD COUNTY 28 

     Boyd County (1-2) took the lead over East Carter (2-1) in the final minutes of the contest Friday night in Cannonsburg. But the Raiders would have one final shot to steal away the win with a pass into the endzone in the final seconds of regulation. 

    With 13 seconds remaining, Raiders quarterback Quentin Johnson tossed a back shoulder fade toward Gabe Roberts from the 4-yard line to secure a 33-28 win over the Lions. 

     Cameron Collins stampeded 44 yards late in the first quarter to even the contest at 7-7 after one. Landon Yoak’s second score of the night sent the Raiders to the locker room leading 14-7. The Raiders pushed the lead to 21-7 to start the second half, but a pair of Lions rushing touchdowns by Dakota Thompson and Collins evened the game at 21-21 after three. 

     Johnson hit Mikey Hall from three yards out to open the scoring in the final stanza. Rhett Holbrook countered with a 2-yard rushing score for the final Lions endzone visit of the night. 

     Collins led the Lions with 80 yards on four carries. Thompson added 76. Holbrook threw for 51 yards and ran for 44. 

SOUTH POINT 28 RUSSELL 7 

     Russell (1-2) fell to South Point, 28-7. Ethan Pack rushed for 50 yards and had the lone Devils score. He threw for 83 yards but was picked off three times. Andre Richardson-Crews led the Devils with 55 rushing yards. Caden Pennington had four catches for 78 yards. 

     Russell welcomes Magoffin County Friday night. 

BETSY LAYNE 43 FAIRVIEW 0 

     Fairview fell to Betsy Layne, 43-0 Thursday night. Jace Manning threw for 66 yards. Jace Murray rushed for 72. Xavien Kouns hauled in three catches for 36 yards and ran for 30 more. Kouns led the Eagles defensively with eight tackles. Logan Jenkins and Murray had a tackle for loss. 

     Fairview (0-3) visits Morgan County Friday night.

The Boys of Fall

James Collier

Ashland Beacon

ASHLAND 28 RACELAND 21

With half of Putnam Stadium covered in the shadows of darkness due to a malfunctioning light tower, Ashland quarterback LaBryant Strader lit up the night with three touchdowns including the eventual game-winner to lift Ashland to a 28-21 over Raceland in the season opener. 

Raceland tied the game at 21-21 to start the second half but Ashland countered with their only score in the final 24 minutes behind a 15-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a Strader 1-yard plunge to put the Tomcats in front for good less than one minute into the fourth quarter.

Strader hooked up with Cam Davis for a 23-yard touchdown to open the scoring on Ashland’s first drive of the game and a 7-0 lead after one. Raceland drove to the Ashland two, but the Tomcats defense stood tall with a fourth down stop. The Rams defense would not allow the Tomcats to break free from their own endzone which gave the Rams the ball inside Ashland territory to start the ensuing drive. 

Raceland marched 46 yards in 10 plays with Noah Wallace plunging into the endzone for his first of two 1-yard touchdowns to even the game at 7-7. Ashland would waste little time regaining the lead as Braxton Jennings raced 81 yards to paydirt on the ensuing kickoff and a 14-7 Ashland lead. Raceland countered with a 6-play, 61-yard drive with Lundy polishing off the final 17 on the ground. The Rams extra point failed leaving them down 14-13 just before halftime. 

But the Tomcats were not content with going in up one. Strader needed only three plays with a 55-yard strike to Brandon Houston in stride pushing the Tomcats lead to 21-13 at the half. Raceland elected to gamble out of the half with an onside kick that caught the Tomcats off guard. Noah Wallace recovered the ball for the Rams and Lundy orchestrated Raceland’s longest drive of the night traveled 49 yards over 14 plays milking 6:38 off the game clock with Wallace’s second score of the night pulling the Rams to within two. Lundy found Parker Fannin for the two-point conversion to even the game at 21-21 but it would be the final score of the night for the Rams.

Strader finished the contest 9 of 12 for 128 yards and a pair of scores. He added his third TD of the night on the ground while leading Ashland with 44 yards on 12 totes. Jennings had 30 on nine carries. Houston hauled in six balls for 91 yards. 

Lundy went 14 of 21 through the air for 166 yards while adding 36 on the ground. Wallace had 38 yards on 12 carries. Isaac Browning rushed for 38 yards on 12 touches. Fannin finished with 79 yards on six catches. 

Ashland welcomes West Jessamine Saturday. Raceland travels to Letcher County Central Friday night. 

BOYD COUNTY 46 SOUTH POINT 7

Boyd County scored early and often in a 46-7 rout of South Point to start the 2023 season. 

Rhett Holbrook went 15 of 18 through the air for 195 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Dakota Thompson rushed for 91 yards on nine carries with a TD. Holbrook added two more scores on the ground. Cole Hicks hauled in three balls for 75 yards with a TD. Garrett Crum had two of his four catches going for scores. Marcus Brumfield also had a receiving touchdown. 

Adrian Bertram snagged a pair of interceptions. Crum had one as well. 

Boyd County welcomes Bell County Friday night. 

RUSSELL 28 MASON COUNTY 8

Russell wanted to get off to a better start than 2022 after the Red Devils lost their first eight games. 

14 first quarter points Friday night in the opener with Mason County made certain a duplication of last season was not in the cards. Russell amassed 246 rushing yards while holding the visitors to minus-19 yards on the ground to roll to a 28-8 victory. 

Ethan Pack tossed a 4-yard touchdown to Caleb Rimmer to open the scoring for the Devils. Andre Richardson-Crews 1-yard plunge with 18 seconds to play in the first gave Russell a 14-0 lead after one. 

Pack’s second score of the night found Haiden Anderson from 23 yards out and a 21-0 lead late in the third. Mason County returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards that trimmed the Russell lead to 21-7 but Richardson-Crew’s second score of the night to open the final stanza pushed the lead to 20. 

Pack was 6 of 9 through the air for 51 yards while adding 85 yards on the ground. Richardson-Crews added 80. Elijah Hankins had 56 yards on four totes. Russell finished with three interceptions. 

Russell travels to Greenup County Friday night for the Backyard Brawl. 

BATH COUNTY 20 FAIRVIEW 6

Fairview’s effort to open the season on a winning note came up short to Bath County in a 20-6 defeat to the Wildcats. 

Jace Manning was 6 of 20 for 85 yards with a touchdown and interception. Xavien Kouns ran for 36 yards on nine carries and had five catches for 73 yards and a score. Rusty Fitchpatrick had a sack for the Eagles.

Fairview travels to Caverna Saturday.

COAL GROVE 36 GREENUP COUNTY 28

Coal Grove tried to run Greenup County off the field in the first half Friday night.

After the Musketeers opened the scoring with a 26-yard pitch and catch from Tyson Sammons to Aiden Gue on the first play of the second quarter, Coal Grove responded with three consecutive scores for a 22-7 halftime lead. The Hornets lead grew to 28-7 to start the third only to watch Sammons rally his troops with three rushing scores to even the contest at 28-28 early in the fourth. 

But the Hornets would not be denied as they produced a game-winning drive with 2:50 to play for a 36-28 win. 

Sammons three second half scoring runs covered 35, 51 and two yards while tallying 218 yards on 31 totes. Ike Henderson added 63 yards. Sammons went 8 of 25 for 94 yards through the air. Gue caught three balls for 49 yards. Ethan Thomas had an interception. 

Greenup County welcomes Russell Friday night for the Backyard Brawl.