Lady Luck likes to flirt. Perhaps there was no team she flirted with more than the Ashland Grizzlies whose roller coaster bittersweet season finally played out at Hare Field where they fought hard but fell to Glencoe 28-14 on a cold overcast Saturday afternoon.

The storyline will read that Glencoe's dynamo David Puckett gained 188 yards on 26 carries. That is a career day for most running backs but its almost a ho-hum day for Puckett who plays stronger as the game progresses. Ashland keyed on Puckett and for one half put the clamps on him. Then again, lots of good teams have run off the field at the intermission feeling good about stopping the Glencoe running game for a half. At the half Puckett had managed just 53 yards on 11 carries. The second half was where he does most his damage and again, Puckett became the whirling dervish as he racked up 135 yards on 15 carries including a 40 yard touchdown gallop in the third quarter and a puntuation mark 11 yard scamper to ice the game with a minute left. Still, this was a game that held high drama until the very end.

The Southern Sky Conference Champions looked like they would draw blood first when after a couple of exchanges, Grizzly quarterback Matt Dierks would alternate using "The Brothers Sebrell," running back Lewis and wide receiver Charlie who would haul in two passes for 33 yards on the drive to get a first and goal at the four yard line. Inside the one yard line, with two cracks at the goal line and they would fall inches short as Glencoe's line would outquick the bigger Ashland line to flood the gaps. Glencoe would give thanks, take the ball the full 99 yards on 12 plays highlighted by a 23 yard Pucktt run and the versatile Jordan Hoffert hauling in a 15 yard pass and with 4:13 left in the second quarter, Puckett would take it in from three yards out for the first score of the day and a 7-0 lead. Lady Luck is a funny gal. She didn't give Ashland anything on the kickoff and made them punt. Then she turned around and punked Glencoe who fumbled the punt where Charlie Ebrell pounced on it and Ashland was back in business from the Glencoe 20. This time Lewis Ebrell chewed up some hard yardage runs before Dierks found receiver Josh Hogeland from 10 yards out and with 3:10 left it was knotted up at 7-7. The Cimson Tide weren't ready to head to the warmth of a locker room quite yet. This time it was Pucketts heir apparent Kyle Hogan doing the damage as the bigger back ran for 37 yards on 5 plays before AJ Burke hit tight end Kyle Kirwan from 23 yards out with 34 seconds before the half and took the 14-7 halftme lead. For the half, Glencoe had 189 yards of offense, with 81 of those through the air while Ashland racked up 117 yards with 76 of those passing yards.

The second half would find both teams taking long drives down the road of futility. Glencoe would recieve and take 10 plays down to the Ashland 29 before turning it over on downs. Ashland would take the drive down deep into Glencoe territory before Dierks was intercepted in the end zone by Eric Ellis with 2:24 left in the 3rd quarter. Many folks have watched Glencoe and they all know what time it is when the game is still hanging in the balance and the Tide needing a score. It's called "Puckett Time." With the third quarter winding down, Puckett would take the first 4 carries for 21 yards before breaking down the southwest sideline for 40 yards as the clock expired to give Glencoe a 21-7 cushion going into the final stanza. The Grizzlies would again answer the bell as Dierks would hook up with Charlie Ebrell to get them back into Glencoe territory before hitting him with him for a four yard touchdown pass with 8:27 left to cut the lead to 21-14. The Ashland defense would hold and after a Glencoe 15 yard punt, Ashland took over at their 40 with plenty of time. With a crucial 4th and 2, Dierks would scramble and they would covert with half and inch to spare. So close was the measurement that one official got on hands and knees and put on his 'cheaters' to take a closer look. It must have been at this moment that Lady Luck chose to desert the Griz. A sack and a holding penalty and suddenly faced with a 3rd and 34, a completed pass fell short of the needed yardage and Glencoe would do what they've been so good at all year long. Become clock eaters. Nobody knows how to eat clock better than the Crimosn Tide and thats just what they did. With 1:25 left, Puckett added one more score, an 11 yard run for the 28-14 lead and a date with a tough and unsung Bend team who's also been seen on Lady Lucks dance card lately.

For Ashland the curtain closes but it will always be a season remembered. A July game with Coach David Kitchell on the sideline sharing valuable time. A defense that kept them in every game and an undefeated streak going 10 games and outright SSC League Championship. Coach Kitchell passed on just last week after a lengthy battle with cancer and his memory hung heavy in every players heart. For Glencoe it is another chapter in an open book that keeps getting better. A running game that looks easy to stop on paper but gets more perplexing as a game progesses and a belief in this being their year of destiny.