Topic: Football
Ashland Blazer vs. Elizabethtown
Class 3A 2020 UK Orthopaedics/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl Championship
Kroger Field Commonwealth Stadium
Lexington, KY
December 19, 2020
© 2020 by Ron Harrison
Coach Tony Love’s Ashland Blazer Tomcats enter this game with a 10-0 record. Keontae Pittman leads the ground game with 1304 yards and 21 touchdowns on 139 carries. JT Garrett added 463 yards and 10 touchdowns on 36 carries. Caleb Tackett carried the ball 36 times for 353 yards and three touchdowns. Brett Mullins completed 50 of 90 passes for 867 yards and seven touchdowns with eight interceptions. JT Garrett caught 27 passes for 502 yards and five touchdowns. Keontae Pittman recorded 126 points on 21 touchdowns. JT Garrett added 90 points on 15 touchdowns. The Tomcat defense has only allowed 45 points in 10 games.
Coach Ross Brown’s Panthers enter the game with a 12-0 record and their high octane offense has averaged 45 ppg. Camran McNeil leads the ground game with 1086 yards and 12 touchdowns on 149 carries. Khia Sherrard carried the ball 55 times for 590 yards and eight touchdowns. Khia Sherrard recorded 480 yards and eight touchdowns on 46 carries. Clay Games completed 137 of 217 passes for 2326 yards and 30 touchdowns with two interceptions. Khia Sherrard caught 28 passes for 655 yards and eight touchdowns. Camden Williams added 43 receptions for 580 yards and three touchdowns. Alandre Murphy recorded 27 catches for 420 yards and seven touchdowns. Kam Sherrard chipped in with 16 receptions for 395 yards and six touchdowns. Khia Sherrard scored 108 points on 18 touchdowns. Camran McNeil added 104 points on 17 touchdowns and one 2-point conversion. Kam Sherrard added 84 points on 14 touchdowns.
Ashland Blazer utilized their punishing ground game and their defense kept the explosive Elizabethtown offense under control to earn a 35-14 victory. Ashland Blazer recorded 19 first downs and 428 yards of total offense including 415 yards on the ground. The Tomcats were penalized six times for 61 yards and lost a fumble. Elizabethtown recorded 17 first downs and 284 yards of total offense. The Panthers were penalized twice for 54 yards.
Keontae Pittman led Ashland’s ground game with 253 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries and was named Game MVP. Hunter Gillum added 115 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. JT Garrett carried the ball seven times for 42 yards. Brett Mullins completed two of two passes for 13 yards. Paul Humphreys caught one pass fro 13 yards. Hunter Gillum led the defense with seven solo and four assisted tackles. Jack Alley added five solo and two assisted tackles.
Camran McNeil led Elizabethtown’s ground game with 47 yards on seven carries. Kam Sherrard carried the ball four times for 44 yards. Clay Games completed 18 of 37 passes for 200 yards and one touchdown. Camden Williams caught six passes for 92 yards and one touchdown. Kam Sherrard added five passes for 65 yards. Alandre Murphy recorded four receptions for 34 yards. TJ Allen returned one kickoff for 19 yards. Khia Sherrard returned one kickoff for 29 yards. Alandre Murphy led the defense with nine solo and two assisted tackles. Trey Durbin added seven solo and two assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a one yard loss. Ryan Pyles recorded four solo and four assisted tackles with one of his tackles resulting in a one yard loss. Ryder Gregory recovered a fumble.
Scoring Summary
| School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Ashland Blazer | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Elizabethtown | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| ASHLAND | - | Hunter Gillum 8 yard run (SJ Lycans kick) |
| ASHLAND | - | Keontae Pittman 1 yard run (SJ Lycans kick) |
| ASHLAND | - | Keontae Pittman 3 yard run (SJ Lycans kick) |
| ELIZABETHTOWN | - | Clay Games 1 yard run (Brandon Parsons kick) |
| ASHLAND | - | Hunter Gillum 1 yard run (SJ Lycans kick) |
| ELIZABETHTOWN | - | Camden Williams 7 yard pass from Clay Games (Brandon Parsons kick) |
| ASHLAND | - | Keontae Pittman 58 yard run (SJ Lycans kick) |
Selected Statistics
| Ashland Blazer | ||||
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
| Keontae Pittman | 32 | 253 | 7.9 | 58 |
| Hunter Gillum | 9 | 115 | 12.8 | 62 |
| JT Garrett | 7 | 42 | 6.0 | 13 |
| Brett Mullins | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Caleb Tackett | 3 | -1 | -0.3 | 1 |
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| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Brett Mullins | 2-2-0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| JT Garrett | 2-0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Paul Humphreys | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Caleb Tackerr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Elizabethtown | ||||
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long |
| Camran McNeil | 7 | 47 | 6.7 | 22 |
| Kam Sherrard | 4 | 44 | 11.0 | 32 |
| Trey Durbin | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 |
| Khia Sherrard | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 6 |
| TJ Allen | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Clay Games | 3 | -16 | -5.3 | 1 |
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| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Clay Games | 37-18-0 | 200 | 1 | 43 |
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| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long |
| Camden Williams | 6 | 92 | 1 | 43 |
| Kam Sherrard | 5 | 65 | 0 | 18 |
| Alandre Murphy | 4 | 34 | 0 | 15 |
| Trey Durbin | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Camran McNeil | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Khia Sherrard | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to WL Stats and the KHSAA for the comprehensive stats provided for today’s game.
Please feel free to send your comments and questions concerning the event, teams, or players to me at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.
Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.