Mason Co. vs. Ashland in Class 4A playoffs

The Mason County Royals travel to Ashland Friday night to play the Ashland Tomcats in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs. Kickoff is at 7:30. Here are a some fast facts:

• Mason County is the No. 3 seed from District 7. Ashland is the No. 2 seed from District 8.
• Mason County is 4-6. Ashland is 7-3.
• The Royals and Tomcats have one common opponent this season- Rowan County. Mason County beat the Vikings 34-7 on September 2. Two weeks later, Ashland shutout Rowan County 45-0.
• Ashland sophomore quarterback Braxton Ratliff has passed for 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns.
• The Tomcats' leading rusher is Noah Roberts who has rushed for 582 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Tate Dowdy is Ashland leading receiver with 46 receptions for 794 yards and nine touchdowns.
• Ashland is 4th in the Class 4A in scoring defense (15.5 points allowed per game) and 10th in scoring margin (13.3). 
• The game will be played at the new Putnam Stadium. The original Putnam Stadium, built in 1937 as a Works Project Administration project, was demolished in 2014. The new stadium was constructed on the same site.
• This is the first game between Mason County and Ashland since 2006 when the Tomcats shutout the Royals 17-0 in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs 
• Ashland leads the series 4-2 and has won the last four games including 17-0. 
• The Tomcats beat the Royals in two of the three games played at Putnam Stadium. 
• Both of  Mason County's wins over Ashland were in 2003 (25-14 in the regular season and 44-21 in the third round of the Class 3A playoffs).