[Blau Vogel]

I agree. You only get better by being challenged. I would think that Ashland would draw as big a crowd with some of these better teams as they do with the locals. Of course, district play limits options. Still, if you look back at some of Ashland's old schedules you will see some tough opponents, often from Louisville, each year.

FTH and CovCath lose many key seniors this year. CovCath has a lot of juniors and sophomores on its roster. So a lot of talent and potential will be returning. FTH will merely reload. A review of the rosters would seem to indicate that Ashland will have a much more difficult time replacing seniors than will FTH or CovCath. The quarterback and some of those defensive players will be missed.

Highlands has about, + or -a couple, 25 seniors, 25 juniors and 25 sophomores
By game, (1 thru 10) this is how many players got into each game:

27, 37, 52, 55, 36, 53, 59, 59, 33, 44, for an average of 44.6

Based on this, it would be fair to say the players coming back have significant experience, not even including there JV schedule.