Imagine if Ashland’s football team returned from Lexington on Saturday night and they didn’t celebrate that fabulous victory over Elizabethtown.

No party at Putnam Stadium.

No band greeting the team with the fight song.

Not so much as a “Go Tomcats!” cheer.

Fifty-three years ago, when the Tomcats came home after defeating Elizabethtown 19-14 for their first state championship in the playoff format, it was a subdued celebration in Ashland.

The year was 1967 and it was a day after the damp Friday night finals in Louisville. The Tomcats spent the night and were coming home to Ashland on Saturday for what was assumed would be a big celebration, complete with a firetruck ride around town and adoring fans patting them on the back.

They thought that because that’s how championships were celebrated in the 1960s here and the community had the format down.

Ashland’s Little League teams won state titles in 1961, 1963 and 1964, the basketball team had captured the state championship in 1961 with one of Kentucky’s greatest teams, the Tomcat baseball team in 1966 finished a perfect season (that’s right, we had an undefeated season in that sport too) on the way to the first of three consecutive state championships.

So the football players knew the drill and they were looking forward to their turn. It was a big deal.

But when the buses neared Grayson, only about 30 minutes from home, Tomcat coach Jake Hallum motioned for captains Paul Hill and John Radjunas to come up and speak with him at his seat. Hallum told them there wasn’t going to be a celebration out of respect to the family of Joe Franklin, the young man who was killed in an accident near Farmers on Friday morning. Hallum wasn’t really asking his captains but more telling them. Even though they wanted to celebrate, because that’s what you did, the captains understood the message given by Coach Hallum.

But in a day when mobile ‘phones were only on “The Jetsons” and texting wasn’t yet a verb, the message that there wasn’t going to be a celebration didn’t quite get communicated to everyone in Ashland. When the bus carrying the team reached the city limits, cheering fans were lined up on U.S. 60 to celebrate with their newly crowned champions.

But instead of stopping, the bus drove on over to the front of the gym at Paul Blazer High School’s campus. Several hundred fans followed them there and gave polite applause as they unloaded the bus. The coaches spoke briefly, as did Mayor Everett Reeves, who was the only one who made mention of the death. And that was that.

No celebration, no firetrucks, no party.

Nobody was in much of a mood to celebrate. They were feeling the shock that comes with loss of young life. It was a cold reality of how fragile life could be. Joe Franklin was the All-American boy, a good athlete who had a bright basketball future, who was a brother to two older sisters and a well-mannered son to a hard-working father and mother.

It was such a horrific loss for the community that it brought a pale over any kind of celebrating a football game. The coaches had already voted to cancel a Tomcat Booster Club celebration planned for Central Park.

The championship game win came a day after Thanksgiving and Franklin’s funeral would be Sunday. Everybody was stunned over this tragedy.

Basketball practice had started and those Tomcats had to deal with stark reality of death, too. Franklin was a teammate and three other basketball players – Tim Huff, David Staten and Jerry Owens and manager Burl Kegley – were in the car with him. Kegley was badly injured but the others miraculously escaped major harm.

The team didn’t learn about the accident until after the championship game ended when Coach Hallum climbed on a chair and told them the sad, sad news. A once-jubilant locker room became nothing but the sounds of cleats clacking on the concrete floor.

Forty-five years after the Tomcats captured that state championship, they got their celebration when the book Triumph and Tragedy was launched eight years ago. Donna Childers Suttle hosted a book signing party at her florist shop and the Ashland Fire Department brought over a truck for the players to take pictures around.

It wasn’t how they envisioned it 45 years ago, when their whole lives were in front of them, but the bond of teammates remained striking.

It’s part of what happens when a team goes through a championship experience whether they celebrate it or not. You’ll find that to be true 2020 Tomcats.

In a year that has been far from perfect, Ashland seems to have mastered the art of it anyway.

It was basketball in the spring with their prodigious 33-0 record before having the Sweet Sixteen swept from under their feet by COVID and now they’ve doubled down in football with an 11-0 season that included the Tomcats’ third KHSAA-recognized state title with a thorough domination of Elizabethtown by a score of 35-14 in the Class 3A championship game at Kroger Field on Saturday.

The game was significant for many reasons, including being Ashland’s first perfect season since 1958 when Herb Conley and Dick Fillmore were scooting up and down Putnam Stadium and the first undefeated and untied season since 1942 when Doc Rice and Spencer Heaton were terrorizing opponents in a 10-0 season. It also put the exclamation point on a COVID-marred season that kept the Tomcats scrambling.

Ashland beat the beast after becoming one in the state championship game.

The Tomcats left skid marks on Elizabethtown, piling up 415 yards rushing in a head nod to the 1990 champions that won their title over Lincoln County by a score of 35-13 without bothering to pass much.

Only one school in Kentucky history has been undefeated in basketball in the spring and followed that with an undefeated record in football in the fall. And it happened right here in Ashland in 1928 when the Tomcats finished 37-0 in basketball and 10-0-1 the following fall in football.

Both the basketball and football Tomcats have given us reason to believe even during COVID days.

Nobody expected an undefeated season from either of those Tomcat teams, but the magic happened anyway. It came through coaches – Jason Mays in basketball and Tony Love in football – who put in the work and pushed the right buttons.

Ashland takes a 21-game winning streak at Putnam Stadium into the 2021 season. There will be a new banner flying over the locker room with 2020 on it representing the 12^th championship that the Tomcats recognize when that season begins next fall.

We Tomcats like to claim a dozen titles including eight before the playoff format began in 1959 – mythical titles with undefeated teams who finished No. 1 in polls – and another one from the 1975 JAWS team that won the Class AAAA State At-Large Championship (That’s what the trophy says anyway) but lost in the Kentucky Super Bowl against St. Xavier (the KHSAA says the Tomcats were runners-up but we beg to differ).

There’s no debate about the legitimacy of the 2020 Tomcats because of how they overcame COVID and every opponent they were able to play. The toughest foes were in our own eastern Kentucky neighborhood with Russell (10-7 win in the district championship) and Belfry (10-3 in the semifinals).

If you see Tony Love, give him some love. He is one of Kentucky’s brightest high school head coaches and now owns a state title. The work that made that happen cannot be measured in hours, although there was a lot of those. Sacrifices were made beyond the grind of a football season this year when masking up meant more than grabbing the front of the helmet.

Retooled offensive and defensive lines were the heroes on Saturday along with Keontae Pittman, Hunter Gillum and Zane Christian, who could open his own breakfast place after serving up so many pancake blocks against Elizabethtown. From the very start, the highest-scoring team in Class 3A never knew what hit them.

Much will be written in the years ahead about the 2020 Tomcats and a defense that gave up only 59 points in 11 games and allowed double figures only twice. They gave a command performance too on the state’s biggest stage.

It was, well, the perfect ending to a most imperfect year.

Good morning 2020 Tomcats,

Your day has finally arrived. No more preparation and planning. It’s time to play.

My advice? Don’t blink because, when you do, it will be over. Blink again. It’s been 10 years since this day. Blink another time. You’re looking back on 20 years. Some of your brothers may no longer be here.

Blink again and it’s been 30 years.

Life is short, legacy is forever.

My favorite movie is “Remember the Titans.” I’m sure you’ve seen it. If the Titans had not won that championship game to complete that perfect season in Virginia, they may still be remembered but it would be in a different way. And that movie probably never happens.

The same goes for you. The 2020 Tomcats will be fondly remembered, no matter what happens today. But win and you’re legendary. You’ve been a salve for a community – a world for that matter – that has not only been hurting but turned upside down with a virus that won’t go away.

For Ashland, the 2020 Tomcats were like an early vaccine – a true shot in the arm for the entire community. We’ve rallied around you, cheered for you and watched you from our living rooms (thank you My Town TV) and listened to Dicky Martin talk about you like nobody else can over the airwaves. This week we praised you for the season that almost never happened because of the coronavirus. There hasn’t been much good about 2020 but Tomcat sports – the undefeated basketball team and now you – has been perfection. Forty-three games and counting.

A few days ago I sat down with Coach Herb Conley and Greg Jackson for a podcast and we talked about the 1975 JAWS Tomcat season. They were perfect after 14 games and captured the heart of a community like nothing I can ever remember. When it came to speaking about the St. Xavier championship game in what essentially was the Super Bowl of Kentucky football in 1975, they both became emotional. Tears welled up in Coach Conley’s eyes. “It still hurts,” he said, his voice cracking. Jackson was moved too as his memory zoomed back to that day.

St. Xavier, with a roster of 104 players, outmanned the Tomcats 20-0. It was an unfair advantage, but it was the cards Ashland was dealt. They were in the state’s biggest division, then called Class AAAA, and you play who you play.

It says so much that they are still so well remembered and even revered. I still say it’s one of the greatest Tomcat teams ever.

Don’t blink.

I’ve spoken with those Tomcats who completed the championship in 1990 and 1967. The euphoria and the gratification that goes with it is something even they can’t describe. They are state champions. That’s two words that carry a lot of weight and pride. You have the chance to join that club today.

Not only all that, but you have the opportunity to do what neither of them could do. Perfection is within sight. It’s only 48 game minutes away.

You may have heard the phrase “luck is when opportunity meets preparation.” I think there’s even more to it. If no action is taken when preparation and opportunity collide, nothing happens. It becomes a lost opportunity, a time when you will have wished you did something. That can also translate into regret.

Don’t regret.

Don’t blink.

And WIN!

Remember every second and let’s make sure Elizabethtown remembers the Tomcats.

Even before the mud is cleaned off Ashland’s uniforms after that 10-3 victory over Belfry on Friday night, it’s time to look where that victory ranks among the top 10 in Tomcat playoff history.

Already the 2020 Tomcats are leaving a legacy.

Undefeated and preparing to play for the Class 3A championship against Elizabethtown on Saturday, the Tomcats erased three decades of frustration with that victory against an opponent that simply owned them only a year ago.

For those reasons, along with trying to become the first undefeated team in 62 years, that victory over Belfry ranks at No. 3 behind only the state championship games of 1967 and 1990 that are tied for number one.  The 67 Tomcats defeated Elizabethtown 19-14 in the Class AA finals and the 90 Tomcats downed Lincoln County 35-13 in the Class AAA finals.

Of course, the 2020 Tomcats have the chance Saturday to make that a three-way logjam at the top if they can defeat Elizabethtown.

By the way, state championship victories warrantlything but a No. 1 from me.

But as of now, that semifinal victory is No. 3 on my list. I’d get a good argument (and probably will) from friends of 1967, 1972, 1975 and 1990 who advanced to the championship game with impressive semifinal victories too.

To them I say, sorry, make your own list.

Ashland’s 2020 team chilled the defending state champion Pirates with a mighty impressive defensive performance. They limited the elusive and hard-running Isaac Dixon to only 76 yards and held the Pirates without a touchdown. If not for a late fumble deep in their own territory, the Tomcats were headed for a semifinal shutout.

Yes, 1967 Tomcats, I see your hands waving. Those Tomcats did shut out Belfry, 42-0, in the 67 semifinals. Just wait your turn. You have three different games in the top 10.

The No. 4 spot goes to the 1975 JAWS Tomcats, who had to travel all the way across the state to play Paducah Tilghman in the semifinals that season. It was called the State At-Large championship and Ashland fans raised enough cash to charter a flight for them. The Tomcats cashed in with a hard-fought 13-7 road victory as Gary Thomas jetted his way to the end zone on an 85-yard touchdown run late in the game.

The JAWS victory could have easily been No. 3, it was a close call between them and 2020. Maybe the freshness got them. That win over Paducah was a state championship, of sorts, although the KHSAA officially recognizes St. Xavier as the Class AAAA champion in 1975. The Tigers defeated the Tomcats 20-0 in the equivalent to the Super Bowl the week after the win over Paducah in a battle of the biggest division in Kentucky.

The No. 5 spot goes to Ashland’s 19-14 win over Bell County in the 1990 semifinals. I’m sure Chris Hutt, Dwight Walter and Rhett Robinson are jumping up and down mad at me. Again, sorry fellows, but you’re in some fast company here.

That was a great victory at Putnam Stadium and one of the best games ever played there. Ashland was behind 14-12 in the fourth quarter, went ahead 19-14, and then held off determined Bell County after it had driven to the Tomcats’ 30. They were stopped on a fourth-and-one.

Sixth place belongs to the 1972 Tomcats, a team that is largely and strangely overlooked in history. Severely banged-up Ashland fell to Tates Creek 16-7 in the Class AAA championship game and that seems to be what most people remember – not that there’s anything wrong with being runner-up.

What’s forgotten was a 21-6 rock-solid win over Bryan Station in one of the hardest-hitting games ever played at Putnam Stadium. Both teams came away with considerable injuries and the Tomcats had to practically limp into the finals against Tates Creek. It may have been a different story if they had come out of the semifinals healthier.

The 1967 Tomcats, our first playoff state champions, have the No. 7 and 8 spots with two playoff wins. The first one was a 20-13 win over No. 1 ranked Harrison County in the opening round. That was also the first playoff win in school history, making it even more important.

Harrison County had completely dominated the Tomcats in a preseason scrimmage, scoring 11 touchdowns to zero for Ashland. That week of the playoff game the coaches slept in the office at school and watched 16mm film under their eyes crossed. But the defense knew everything that was coming and it fueled one of the biggest upsets in Tomcat history.

The No. 8 spot is also the 67 Tomcats for their 42-0 blitz over Belfry in the Class AA semifinals. It was 26-0 at the half and never a game in a totally dominating performance.

Being out of semifinal games or huge upsets, the No. 9 spot goes to the 2020 Tomcats for their narrow 10-7 victory over Russell in the district championship game. Again, it was a great defensive effort from this Ashland team, which has allowed only the one touchdown from this game in four playoff victories.

The 10^th spot was a tie with the 1988 Tomcats for their first-round 27-20 overtime victory over Russell that set them up for the classic semifinal game against Covington Catholic, where they fell 6-0 in overtime.

The other game at No. 10 was the 2003 second-round playoff game against Boyd County. It was a 24-15 victory and allowed coach Leon Hart to atone for a loss to Boyd County in the last game of the regular season. The Tomcats have not lost to the Lions since that game.

So there you have it. The top 10 playoff wins in Ashland history from my view of watching the Tomcats from various viewpoints (young fan, student, sportswriter, old fan) since 1965.

Agree or disagree with the order, you have to say it’s one heck of a list.