Kenny Walker’s first coaching win may eventually go down as the one he remembers most, not necessarily for being No. 1, but for the one that left him the most drained.
Ashley Ridge High School opened the Walker era with a grueling 14-0 victory over rival Cane Bay Friday. It wasn’t always pretty or easy but it was worth the wait for Walker.
“We coached our butts off,” Walker said. “I told my principal that if I’ve got to coach that hard for a victory I don’t know how long I’m going to last. I’m spent. I gave everything I had coaching-wise and so did my assistants.”
The shutout was the first-ever for Ashley Ridge and may speak volumes about the progress the Swamp Foxes have made on that side of the ball. Last season, they allowed over 300 yards a game on the ground and Cane Bay scored 76 points in a two-game split against Ashley Ridge.
“I knew for us to have a chance to win we were going to have to stop the running game,” Walker said. “… Last year, we kind of stood around. We weren’t going to do that this year. We were going to attack the line of scrimmage.”
Cane Bay was off its game too. Dropped passes proved lethal. One could have broken the shutout and pulled the Cobras within a touchdown with 2:56 left. That was just one moment that left Cane Bay coach Jeff Cruce exhausted too.
 “In between the 20s, we did great,” Cruce said. “We just made too many mistakes. I don’t think I’ve ever been more frustrated in the 20 something years I’ve been coaching.”
The win gave Ashley Ridge’s seniors a 3-2 edge over Cane Bay in their careers. Both schools opened three years ago and the four previous meetings were decided by less than four points a game.
“It’s something to build on,” Walker said. “They worked extremely hard all summer. They don’t get to play Cane Bay again and they wanted to make it count. They’re kind of leading this group and leading this program in the right direction.”
Ashley Ridge took a 7-0 lead on Romelo Doctor’s 3-yard run with 18 seconds left in the first quarter. It capped a 9-play, 80-yard drive after Cane Bay’s second possession stalled inside the 30.
The Cobras drove back up the field to the Ashley Ridge 18 but quarterback Brandon Hall was picked off by Will Runyon at the 12.
Two fortunate breaks helped give Ashley Ridge the 14-0 lead. First, punter Seamus McKinney got loose for a 24-yard run from inside the 5 after he couldn’t get a kick away. Then, on the touchdown play, Doctor fumbled into the end zone from the 3 and teammate Nick Webb was there to recover it for the score with 5:12 left in the first half. It capped an 88-yard, 13-play drive.
“We got some breaks but it kind of evened out,” Walker said. “We gave them some chances on special teams.”
Both came with under nine minutes left in the game and Ashley Ridge holding the 14-0 lead.
The Swamp Foxes muffed a punt inside their 10 with 8:31 left in the game but Cane Bay missed a field goal.
Then, the Cobras couldn’t convert after a snap over McKinney’s head on a punt gave them the ball at the Ashley Ridge 25 with 3:53 left.
The dropped touchdown pass that followed was Cane Bay’s night in a microcosm.
“We made way too many mistakes to win any football game,” Cruce said. “It just comes back to a lack of concentration.”
Cobras running back James Bishop had 100 yards rushing and quarterback Brandon Hall was 6 of 25 for 116 yards. Cruce said at least seven incompletions were drops.
Ashley Ridge quarterback Cameron Cox rushed for 95 yards and passed for 140 yards.

Ashley Ridge 7 7 0 0 - 14
Cane Bay 0 0 0 0 - 0
AR – Romelo Doctor 3 run (Dalton Robinson kick)
AR – Nick Webb fumble recovery in end zone (Robinson kick)