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Ashland gives Crater the boot Ashland High senior Chad Andrews kicks a first-half field goal to tie the game at 3-3. The holder is Tucker Atteberry. PHOTO BY LARRY STAUTH JR. Friday Oct 14, 2016 at 2:00 AM Oct 14, 2016 at 11:58 PM By Joe Zavalafor the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Chad Andrews made a field goal at the end of each half, including the 22-yard game-winner with 8.8 seconds left as Ashland edged Crater 6-3 in a Midwestern League defensive battle Friday at Walter A. Phillips Field. Ashland took over near midfield with 5 minutes, 31 seconds to go after lineman Joseph Spielman forced and recovered a fumble by Crater running back Jace Godley, and drove to the Crater 5, converting two third downs and a fourth-and-1 along the way. Crater tried to ice Andrews with back-to-back timeouts as the Grizzlies lined up for the attempt, but he split the uprights slightly left of center to give Ashland its first lead of the game. “Going into it I was really, really confident and knew that if they did their job on the line and the snap was good I’d make it,” Andrews said. “And I just kind of kept the confident mentality. It felt amazing. I don’t know what was going through my head but it felt great.” “That’s one of his jobs so he’s worked hard,” Ashland coach Charlie Hall said of Andrews, a junior. “He went to the Stanford camp this summer and got tuned up and coached up, and he takes pride in that. He’s been our kicker and we stood by him and he’s done a great job.” Crater had one last chance from its own 39 with 3.1 seconds left and quarterback Ethan Scott used it to pass to Cade Weaver near the Ashland 40. Weaver was dragged down at the 35 to end the game. A week after surrendering 50 points in an overtime loss to Eagle Point, the Grizzlies’ defense held the Comets in check, though the visitors had plenty of opportunities. Crater’s Trevor Davis hit a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter to give the Comets the lead, but that make was sandwiched around two misses from 42 and 47 yards. And in the fourth, Crater passed up an opportunity to try another kick from 26 yards with less than eight minutes to go, opting to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the Ashland 9. Godley was stuffed for a 1-yard loss and the Comets never saw the red zone again. Ashland made good on both its red zone opportunities, thanks to Andrews, a few clutch conversions and a final-minute, out-of-nowhere drive at the end of the first half. On the latter, Ashland shook off what had been a miserable offensive performance up to that point to drive from its own 17 to the Crater 14 in 39 seconds and set up Andrews’ 31-yard attempt, which he made with a line drive that cleared the upright by about two feet. That proved to be the best drive of the game for the Grizzlies (4-2, 3-1 MWL), who did not cross midfield in the second half until Issac Hyatt’s 6-yard run set up a third-and-4 at the Crater 46 with about five minutes left. Tucker Atteberry’s 8-yard completion to Oliver Warren on the next play gave the Grizzlies a first down at the Crater 38 and, four plays later, Hyatt plowed forward for 4 yards on fourth-and-1. Atteberry’s 11-yard pass to Hakim Pries on third-and-5 gave the Grizzlies a first down at the Crater 9 with about 1:17 left and allowed them to milk most of the remaining time off the clock. Atteberry completed 15 of 24 passes for 129 yards and Pries had eight catches for 65 yards to lead the Grizzlies, who were held to 233 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. “We were not on,” Hall said. “Tucker was a little bit off today. You’ve got to give their defense credit. They’ve got a good front, and a couple of their D-linemen were not here, so even their backup players were giving our guys fits.” Ashland also was shorthanded, as starting offensive lineman Troy Boyd sat out with a concussion and running back Malik Pippa was out with a leg injury. Scott completed 10 of 17 passes for 106 yards and Godley rushed for 190 yards on 36 carries. Weaver had three catches for 69 yards for the Comets, who fell to 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the MWL. The Comets outgained Ashland 316 yards to 233, but were only 4-for-14 on third-down conversions. “We gave up a lot of yards but yards don’t win,” Hall said. The game featured 10 punts, eight by Ashland, which hosts Thurston next week in a game that will have major playoff ramifications. The Colts (6-1, 4-1) were stunned by Marist on Friday. “(Thurston’s) moving the ball at will,” Hall said. “We’ve got to get our offense back on track, but I think a lot of our key guys will be back next week.”