@HuskerlandBob Sez: OK, so this story is mostly about Ashton but it's partly about Huskerland, too. Following a drawing held in my office - real official looking, too - his name was drawn from our six Week 6 feature subjects, and thus was named Huskerland's Mr. 3000. As in, his is the 3000th player profile published in the pages of Huskerland Prep Report.
That's a lot of feature stories. They have been fun to produce over the years, with some of my assistants during that time also chipping in by writing some of those features. We plan to keep doing this for a while but I must admit I take a pretty great deal of satisfaction in having Huskerland reach this milestone.
So here it is, Huskerland feature story No. 3000, spotlighting Boone Central senior Ashton Schaefer, whose team will face Columbus Scotus tomorrow (Friday) night in a battle of unbeaten teams...
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OK, that’s it. We’re done. Time for a change.
Back when Ashton Schafer was a little guy, not all that little but still, he remembered all the winning football they played at Albion, and how he couldn’t wait to get in on all the fun as a member of the Boone Central program. Then the wolves came knocking.
Following a state title in 2014 and a state runner-up finish in 2017 - Ashton remembers both real well - the Boone program had wobbled in the 2018 season, finishing 4-5, before winning just twice in 2019. Two things: those five losses in 2018 came to teams with regular season records of 9-0, 9-0, 8-1, 7-2 and 6-3, and that 2019 team had like, what, three or four seniors on the roster. Tough to win that way, especially the way Ashton had hoped to someday win.
“Ashton is pretty similar to this whole senior class - they got thrown to the wolves as sophomores and had to play on Fridays when they weren’t ready,” remembers Boone head coach Mark Hudson. “We expected a better year last year but lost three close games and lost two weeks to COVID. Ashton was one of the catalysts for this turnaround, that is for certain.”
How is that, you ask? For starters, Ashton didn’t ask when the team met after last season ended, he told his boys things needed to change.
“I was tired of losing. That is not what I had in mind when I was watching our teams play while I was growing up. High school football has been rough, but my teammates were also tired of losing and we went to work together to make things change,” says Ashton, who is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior tight end and linebacker.
And change they have, starting with Opening Night when the Cardinals roared past Norfolk Catholic, 39-17. Impressive enough on the surface - this is Norfolk Catholic we’re talking about - the win has taken on added luster has NC has won six in a row since, rising to the No. 2 spot in the Class C-2 top ten.
Sorta matches Boone, which has since risen to No. 2 in the Class C-1 top ten.
“To me, that Norfolk Catholic game was the biggest one of our season. We had 12 months to prepare and to remember who we had them down two touchdowns before losing last season. That made us mad,” says Ashton, less than thrilled at the memory. “Getting that win also boosted our confidence and has been a big part of what we have accomplished since that game.”
What Ashton and Co. have accomplished is an unbeaten record after six games, among the victories those against defending state champion Pierce, and a battle-tested Battle Creek team. Fact is none of Boone’s opponents to date have a losing record.
“The Pierce win was also huge, especially since we managed with our backup quarterback (Alex Christo), who played great that night,” says Ashton. “But to me it doesn’t really matter who we play - we just need to be the best version of us. We have the talent to compete with any team in our class, we’ve proven that, we just need to take care of our own business.”
Speaking of taking care of business, Ashton is the second youngest of six boys in the Schafer family - all of them football players and wrestlers. That will toughen you up, but it was more than that for Ashton. In between rassling and fussin’ with his brothers, he learned how to compete, and to do it with no letting off the gas.
“I am a competitive person by nature, and that also played into me wanting to see us make our senior season something special. And something our seasons hadn’t been while we were in high school. I am glad our hard work is paying off.”
Ashton was born in Columbus and he likes to keep things simple, either spending his free time riding around town with his buddies or maybe watching a movie or two, horror flics, if you please. A good student who gets As and Bs, he is also an good varsity wrestler, having qualified for and won a match at state each of the past two years. “My senior year I want to medal, that’s the plan.”
Ashton, who is also involved in FBLA and SADD, a drug and alcohol awareness group, has been accepted to both UN-Kearney and UN-Lincoln, and is in the process of deciding which he will choose. He does have his career path chosen, wanting to become a high school history teacher and coach. “I had a great seventh grade teacher who made me fall in love with history, so I think that would be a great job,” he says.
Here’s another little something about Ashton - he’s No. 22 on your program for a reason, that reason being that he loves multiples of the number 11. Don’t ask, just go with it...
Boone Central, with Ashton co-piloting the ship, has laid the groundwork for what will be a great 2021 football season. There is still work to do - state-ranked Wayne this week, unbeaten Columbus Scotus the next - but the Cardinals aren’t going to back down from a fight, not after what they’ve been through.
“Our team just needs to prepare well then just play the game the way we know how,” says Ashton. “Once we start playing we can make our own future.”