2002 Ashland University Football: The Northwood Game
September 9, 2002

Northwood (0-1) at Ashland (0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m.,
Community Stadium

This Week’s Storyline
All that time spent in the weightroom building triceps, biceps and quads and after two weeks, the strongest muscle anyone on the Ashland University football team has is the heart.

AU may be 0-2, but the Eagles have shown tremendous heart in coming from behind the last two weeks. Although AU comebacks fell short each time, there’s no doubting that the Eagles’ ticker is in tip-top shape.

The Eagles nearly stopped the hearts of the Edinboro Fighting Scots last week. AU scored 13 fourth-quarter points to get within three points of the ‘Boro late in the final frame. On their last drive of the game, the Eagles moved deep into Edinboro territory before an interception dashed any hopes of a comeback. The Eagles made that run last week with three players – including two starters – lost for the game with injuries.

This week, AU returns home in search of its first win of the campaign. The challenge is formidable – AU must go against a Northwood team that annually features one of the top ground games in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Eyes and Ears
All Ashland University football games can be heard live on WNCO (1340 AM). This is the 10th consecutive year WNCO has carried the games. The broadcast team is comprised of play-by-play man Sam Renfroe and color commentator Bill Linson. This is Renfroe’s seventh season doing the games and this is Linson’s second season behind the microphone.

The Ashland Times-Gazette covers all home games and a good portion of the road schedule. Dusty Sloan will be reporting on this contest for the T-G. His game story will appear in Monday’s paper. The Mansfield News Journal staffs a majority of the AU home games and will have a story in Sunday’s edition. WMFD-TV out of Mansfield is also a regular media representative at AU games. WRDL-TV, the campus TV station, will show the game in Ashland on a tape-delay basis.

Extra, Extra
Fans coming to AU for this week’s game will have a full agenda in front of them. Prior to this week’s game, the 10th section of the popular Varsity Walk will be dedicated. The Varsity Walk is located near “Old Abe” in front of Kates Gymnasium. To date, more than 900 bricks have been subscribed in Varsity Walk. That’s generated over $175,000 for the Eagler Endowment Fund. This program was established in 1992.

After the game, fans are encouraged to stay in their seats for a fireworks show. This has become an annual attraction on the schedule and is always one of the highlights of the season.

Finally, as is the case at every AU home game, two former AU football players will join the Eagles as honorary captains. This week’s honorary captains are Lauri Niskanen (Class of 1967) and David Lyon (Class of 1972).

Who’s the Boss?
Ashland’s head coach is Gary Keller. Keller is in his ninth season as AU’s head coach and brings a 47-39-0 record into this week’s game. This is Keller’s 20th season with the Eagles, prior to being named the head coach he was an assistant coach under Dr. Fred Martinelli. Keller was the defensive coordinator for nine years before being elevated to the top spot and as the “D” coordinator, he directed defenses that led the country in total defense twice and was the national leader in rush defense twice. As the head coach, he guided the Eagles to a Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1997. He was the conference coach of the year in 1997. Keller is a 1973 Bluffton (OH) graduate.

Pat Riepma is the head coach of the Timberwolves. Riepma’s career record is 44-48-2 and he’s in his 10th season. Four times Riepma has been cited as the GLIAC coach of the year. Riepma has guided Northwood to a pair of GLIAC championships and in 2000 the ‘Wolves advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Riepma has done a masterful job of building the NU program. Many of the losses on his career record came early in his career when he was putting the program together. Over the last four years Northwood has gone 28-13.

Riepma is a 1983 Hillsdale College graduate. As a four-year starter at quarterback, he led the Chargers to a 30-6 record. He is a member of the Hillsdale Hall of Fame. In addition to his duties as the head football coach, Riepma is the director of athletics at Northwood.

Ashland-Northwood
The all-time series tilts in Ashland’s favor, 13-11-1. The Timberwolves have won the last two games in the series. Last year, in Midland, MI, Northwood handed AU one of its most bitter losses of the year. Ashland led 24-7 at halftime and 24-21 after three quarters. NU came back to score two touchdowns in the final 3:18 to pull out a 35-31 triumph. The winning touchdown came after the ‘Wolves recovered an onsides kick. AU recovered from that and drove to midfield before an interception killed any hopes of a victory.

Two AU backs, J.R. McCoy and Marcus Mitchell, gained over 100 yards in last year’s game. McCoy had 176 yards, Mitchell 142. AU rushed for 337 yards and Northwood had 333 yards on the ground. In total offense, AU led, 472-471. Northwood fumbled 10 times, but lost only two of those drops.

Northwood’s last trip to Ashland came in the 2000 season. The ‘Wolves dominated that game from start to finish on the way to a 41-14 win. Ashland’s last win in the series came in 1997 when the Eagles won at Community Stadium, 24-7.

Scouting Northwood
No lone Wolves here. When Northwood was at its best two years ago, it featured a swarming defense and an offense that loves to grind out yards on the ground and hold onto the football. A year ago, NU led the GLIAC in rushing (273.6 ypg.) and was fifth in the country in rushing yards per game.

Northwood fell to Saginaw Valley State, 47-13 last week in the 29th Annual Axe Bowl. The game was played in front of 7,688 fans at Midland Community Stadium. Saginaw led, 16-13 heading into the fourth quarter. That’s when the Cards broke the game wide open, scoring 31 points in the last 15 minutes for a 47-13 win. That was the first game of the season for both teams.

The Timberwolves are led on offense by elusive senior quarterback Jason Martin. He rushed for 50 yards last week and completed six of 11 passes for 78 yards. Another familiar face the Eagles will have to contend with is junior running back Pernell Jackson. A year ago, Jackson was the only sophomore named first team All-GLIAC (offense). He averaged 8.2 ypc., while gaining 769 yards. He had 153 yard rushing and two touchdowns against the Eagles in 2001. Jackson gained 53 yards on 13 carries against Saginaw Valley. The line in front of Jackson is led by James Starks, a 6-3, 270-pound senior center.

Martell Foster, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore cornerback, had a team-high 11 tackles last week (10 solo). Wesley Fisk, a 5-11, 190-pound redshirt freshman linebacker, had eight tackles (seven solo) and two tackles for loss. Gerold Murray, a 5-10, 265 senior defensive tackle, had seven tackles (six solo) and a pair of takedowns behind the line of scrimmage. Another player who will be heard from is Steve Benzing, a 6-0, 225-pound senior linebacker who was honorable mention All-GLIAC last season.

Another Look at Last Week
For the second consecutive week, a heroic come-from-behind effort died in the game’s final minutes. Ashland trailed at Edinboro, 29-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Then, with EU driving for what looked like a touchdown or field goal that would put the game away, AU got a big play from junior defensive end Brett Bartlow (West Chester, OH/Lakota East). Bartlow sacked EU quarterback Cam Marsh at the AU24 and forced a fumble. Freshman linebacker Brady Miller (Cincinnati, OH/Elder) scooped up the loose ball and rambled 29 yards to midfield.

Moments later, sophomore quarterback John Szabo (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) found senior wide receiver Kevin McMahon (Toledo, OH/St. Francis DeSales) with a 6-yard TD pass. With 4:39 to play, Szabo hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) on a 9-yard scoring pass. The PAT closed the Edinboro lead to 29-26.

The defense continued to stuff the EU offense and Eagles got the ball at their own 26 with 2:34 to play. The Eagles marched to the EU24 before a Szabo pass over the middle was intercepted by Jason Gordon at the EU6 with 1:20 to play.

The Eagles hurt themselves with some less-than-special special teams play. The Eagles had an extra point blocked and a blocked punt gave the Fighting Scots a safety. Ashland fumbled two kickoffs and gave one of those fumbles away. EU punter Sean McNicholas punted five times and averaged 54.2 ypp. The battle of field position was definitely won by the home team.

Ashland’s problems were compounded by the medical report. The Eagles lost starting tight end Brian Mong (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson), starting linebacker Jarrett Fuller (Tiffin, OH/Columbian) and backup tailback Travis Morris (East Chicago, IN/Bishop Null). Fuller and Morris went down with knee injuries and Mong sustained a shoulder injury. None played after the first quarter and all three are expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Eagle Elite

• Brett Bartlow (West Chester, OH/Lakota East) – Bartlow had a pair of sacks and forced a fumble last week. The two sacks accounted for 17 yards of lost real estate. Bartlow had five tackles on the day. He has a team-high three sacks this season.
• Geoff Henry (Medina, OH) – A senior linebacker, Henry had a team-high 10 tackles (four solo) at Edinboro. Through two games, he’s the Eagles’ leading tackler with 16 stops (eight solo). Henry has two tackles for loss.
• Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) – A sophomore wideout, Hull had eight catches for 69 yards and a touchdown last Saturday. His touchdown catch went for nine yards. Hull also gained 47 yards on a reverse.
• Kevin McMahon (Toledo, OH/St. Francis DeSales) – McMahon caught nine passes for 143 yards and one touchdown at Edinboro. The TD catch covered six yards and McMahon’s longest reception measured 66 yards. In two games against Edinboro the senior wide receiver has scored four touchdowns.
• Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus, OH/DeSales) – O’Reilly has found his niche as the starting strong safety. The junior had six tackles last Saturday (four solo) and on the year, is fourth on the team in tackles (12/eight solo).
• Trent Seay (Lima, OH/Senior) – Seay’s a redshirt freshman who’s rapidly establishing himself as a dangerous wide receiver. He had three catches at Edinboro for 42 yards and he caught a 17-yard touchdown pass.
• Toby Stepsis (Shelby, OH) – Stepsis was in on nine tackles (six solo) at Edinboro. He had one tackle for loss. The senior free safety is second on the team in tackles (15/nine solo).
• John Szabo (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) – A sophomore quarterback, Szabo completed 26 of 39 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns. The completions and yardage totals are career highs. For the year, Szabo is 42-68 (61.8 percent) for 554 yards. He has five touchdowns and two interceptions.
• Jeremy Westbrooks (East Cleveland, OH/St. Edward) – A junior cornerback, Westbrooks made eight tackles (seven solo) at Edinboro. He has 14 tackles (11 solo) and a team-high three pass breakups this season. Westbrooks is third on the team in tackles.

Notes From the Nest

• Ashland is 0-2 for the first time since 1993. That year, AU lost the first two games of the season, at home to St. Francis (16-13) and on the road to Ferris State (20-6). The good news is that the Eagles rallied to win the final nine games that season to finish 9-2. That was the 35th and final season Dr. Fred Martinelli served as AU’s head coach and the Eagles barely missed the NCAA Division II playoffs.
• AU hasn’t started a year 0-3 since 1985 when the Eagles got off to an 0-4 start. That team finished 6-4 and won a Heartland Conference championship.
• Ashland’s average starting field position at Edinboro was the AU19. In the opener with Michigan Tech, the starting field position was the AU29.
• Senior running back J.R. McCoy (Unionville Center, OH/Fairbanks) has been held under 100 yards in each of the first two games. The last time he had three consecutive games with less than 100 yards rushing came in weeks 2-4 last season.
• Ashland had six sacks last week, the Eagles’ best total since piling up seven sacks at Indianapolis last season (Nov. 3, 2001).
• The last home game of former AU head coach Fred Martinelli’s career was against Northwood and head coach Pat Riepma, who was in his first season. Ashland won that game, 50-0, in 1993.
• Kevin McMahon (Toledo, OH/St. Francis DeSales) had nine receptions last week. That’s the highest single-game total by an AU player since Eugene White caught 11 passes against Grand Valley State on Oct. 30, 1999, at Community Stadium.

The Quotebook

Head coach Gary Keller on last week’s comeback.

“I felt our team, we had a great effort in the second half. I was pleased with the effort we showed. That put us back in the football game.”

Keller on losing Brian Mong, Jarrett Fuller and Travis Morris to injury.

“I challenged our team after the game. We’re going to have to have some guys step up. I thought Brady Miller did a good job, he played solid. John Szabo, Kevin McMahon, Michael Hull, Trent Seay, they all played well. We’ve got to build on that and make the most of it.”

Defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale on the improved play of junior cornerback Jeremy Westbrooks.

“Run support, pass defense, putting players in the right position, he’s playing very well right now. He’s tackling better, supporting better, he knows where to position himself in our defense. He’s a big part of this defense. He’s maturing with his play on the field. I don’t have to worry about him, he’s where he’s supposed to be.”

On Deck
The Eagles go back on the road next week, heading west to meet Hillsdale. That’s the last night game of the season for the Eagles. Ashland and Hillsdale will kick off at 7 p.m. next Saturday (Sept. 21).