Ashland sure didn’t schedule a cupcake for the christening of the new and improved Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Putnam Stadium on Friday.
Harvest Prep, a Division V powerhouse from Canal Winchester, Ohio, may be one of the toughest home openers in Ashland history. The Warriors are 2-0 this season, dispatching Division I Pickerington Central 24-21 and routing Purcell Marion, 46-8, last week.
The Warriors play for keeps and reside in the same division as our across-the-river neighbors Ironton and Wheelersburg, of whom they have a bit of history.
Harvest Prep fell to Perry 22-8 in the 2023 Ohio Division V championship game and the road to get there included wins over Ironton 20-14 in the quarterfinals and Wheelersburg 22-0 in the semifinals. It was the second win over Wheelersburg, having defeated them 32-16 in the regular season.
Like the Tomcats, Harvest Prep is a program dripping with tradition. The Warriors are 101-23 over the past 10 seasons, including records of 10-3, 13-1 and 12-2 respectively in the past three seasons.
Milan Smith was the head coach in nine of those 10 seasons, David Howes went 13-1 in 2022 with Ironton providing the only loss, 34-0 in the semifinals.
This will be the “third chapter” of Putnam Stadium – the first coming in 1937 with the first game, then the reconstructed stadium in 2014 and now this season with new artificial turf, a Jumbotron scoreboard, new lighting, sound system and more bells and whistles than a one-man band could have in his wildest of dreams.
Here’s a look at nine home openers of significant seasons in Tomcat history. We can add No. 10 on Friday night:
Sept. 18, 1937
The first game in the history of Tomcat Stadium – later to be renamed Putnam Stadium – was a 22-0 shutout win over Ceredo-Kenova, W.Va. Vincent “Moose” Zachem had the first touchdown in stadium history.
The ‘37 Tomcats finished with an unusual 3-3-3 record with all three losses and two ties coming at home. All-State tackle Ralph Felty was a star. Jack Ball ran for 69 yards and Charle “Doc” Stanley gained 36.
The stadium was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds because they were taking much of the land at Armco to prepare for possible war. Ashland asked for some help and WPA poured the concrete creating the seating, locker rooms under the stadium and the Ashland labor did the rest including the ticket office and wooden bleachers. The cost for the stadium was $6,000.
Ernie Chattin was the head coach for the Tomcats. He said during a 1987 interview that there was only a small crowd for the afternoon opener. The stadium did not have lights until 1944.
Sept. 19, 1942
The season started with a bang in what turned out to be an undefeated 10-0 season as the Tomcats drubbed Coal Grove 64-0 with Jim Stith and Paul DeHart scoring two touchdowns apiece.
Ashland defeated Manual on the Louisville powerhouse’s field in mid-November 7-6 to lay claim to the mythical state championship. The Tomcats made sure they stayed undefeated the following week by walloping Russell 70-0.
J.C. Kennard, Rupert “Doc” Rice and Spencer Heaton were among the stars for coach Charles Ramey.
Sept. 6, 1958
Ashland, with the likes of Herb Conley and Dickie Fillmore, smothered Catlettsburg 51-6. Conley rushed for 151 yards and Fillmore gained 104. It would be like that all season for Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside.
The Tomcats finished 10-0-1 with the tie coming against Huntington East in the fourth game of the season. Ashland defeated Richmond Model 34-13 in the Recreation Bowl to close the season.
Rex Miller was the head coach and Kendall Bocard, Joey Layman and Monte Campbell were other star players.
The high school playoffs started the following year.
Aug. 25, 1967
Ashland was big, strong and ready. Defense dominated Evarts in a 19-0 victory to open the season. Tony Mulvaney gained 89 yards rushing and Steve Scott gained 78.
The Tomcats were a punishing team, finishing 13-1 with the only loss coming to West Virginia power Stonewall Jackson, 13-3, in Putnam Stadium.
Ashland defeated Elizabethtown 19-14 in the Class AA championship game at the Fairgrounds in Louisville on Nov. 24. Paul Hill, Bill Culbertson and Les Lyons were first-team All-State players.
The title was the first official state football championship in school history. Jake Hallum was the head coach.
Aug. 25, 1972
Knox Central was no match for Ashland in the season opener as Steve Layman rushed for 122 yards and Jerry Kirk threw for 93 yards.
Defense was the calling card though with only four teams scoring more than one touchdown against the Tomcats, who made it to the state championship before falling to Tates Creek 16-7 in the last game ever played at Stoll Field in Lexington.
Layman, Steve Johnson, David Johnson, Pierre Harshaw, Randy Rice, Kirk, Randy Elkins, Jerry Bentley, Mike Wheeler, Roger Webb and Mike Kimbrell were some of the stars.
Ashland finished 11-2 and earned its way to the championship with a physical 21-6 win over Bryan Station in Putnam Stadium. Herb Conley was the head coach.
Aug. 22, 1975
Just when you thought it was safe to go to Putnam Stadium, here comes JAWS.
Ashland’s dominating defensive team crushed Johnson Central 47-14 – the first of 14 consecutive victories – as Gary Thomas rushed for 182 yards and three touchdowns and Jeff Slone 108 yards and a TD.
The Tomcats were 7-0 at Putnam Stadium, including a 14-0 victory over Kenny Fritz-led Ironton.
Ashland was the Class AAAA State At-Large champions with a 13-7 win on the road at Paducah Tilghman. The Tomcats became the first team to fly to a game in state history.
St. Xavier blanked Ashland 20-0 the following week for the Class AAAA overall championship.
Thomas and Slone were 1,000-yard rushers and Terry Bell, Rick Sang and Thomas were first-team All-State selections. Bell was the state’s Lineman of the Year and Herb Conley the state’s Coach of the Year. The team included Chuck Anderson, Casey Jones, Yancey Ramey and Greg Jackson.
Aug. 17, 1990
Ashland sent an early message that this team was going to be special, smashing Raceland 41-8 behind Juan Thomas, who ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and punishing fullback Charlie Johnson who had 84 yards rushing.
Raceland coach Bill Tom Ross predicted greatness for the Tomcats, who finished 14-1 and overwhelmed Lincoln County 35-13 for the Class AAA championship for coach Vic Marsh.
Ross said tackling Johnson was “like trying to tackle a rolling manhole cover” as he powered over would-be tacklers all night.
Running backs Thomas, Johnson, Chris Hutt and quarterback David Brown made for a dominating wishbone offense that rushed for more than 5,000 yards. The only blemish was an 18-15 loss to Greenup County in the third game at home.
Aug. 29, 2014
This was the first game of the “new” Putnam Stadium. The old stadium was razed and then it was rebuilt in the same style. The opener was supposed to be the previous Friday but a driving rainstorm flooded the field, postponing it a week.
Ashland outlasted Raceland 41-35 as Quinton Baker rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns and Jake Long had a 64-yard touchdown run.
The Tomcats finished only 6-5 but did advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Baker rushed for 1,719 yards and 20 touchdowns and was first-team All-State.
Oct. 9, 2020
It was the third game of the season – during COVID – before Ashland played a home game against East Carter. The season didn’t start until the last Friday of September.
The Tomcats crushed the Raiders 54-7 as Brett Mullins threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns with J.T. Garrett hauling in 129 yards and both TDs receiving.
Ashland ran the table, going 11-0 and winning the state championship with a 35-14 victory over Elizabethtown as Keontae Pittman ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns and Hunter Gillum 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Tony Love was the head coach of one of the top defensive teams in Tomcat history.
MARK MY WORDS 2 