Slow Start Dooms Eagles in the Dome
October 19, 2002

Complete Game Stats

It’s good a thing the Ashland University Eagles never had to square off with Wyatt Earp.

Forget about quick draws with the Eagles. Saturday, it took them 15 minutes to even find their holster and by that time it was 17-0. The good news is that after the first quarter, the Eagles played well enough to win. Matched against the Northern Michigan Wildcats in the Superior Dome in Marquette, MI, the Eagles outscored the ‘Cats, 14-7 over the last three periods.

Problem is, there’s no way to erase that first quarter and that meant the Eagles came up on the short end of a 24-14 score. The loss snaps a two-game AU win streak and leaves the Eagles at 2-6 overall, 2-5 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Northern Michigan is 5-2 and 5-1.

“I thought we settled down after the first quarter,” noted AU head coach Gary Keller.

“We did the little things better,” said senior defensive end Dave Catanese of the transformation from the first quarter to the way the Eagles played over the final 45 minutes. I don’t know what it is about the first quarter, it’s been rough for us.”

“It changes from year to year,” sighed secondary coach Steve Clinkscale. “Some years it’s the third quarter, some years the first.”

There’s no doubt what it is this year. With Northern Michigan’s 17-0 salvo tacked on, Ashland has now been outscored, 95-29 in the first quarter. That kind of stage fright puts an offense in an immediate hole.

“I think we just have to realize we have to play right away, right now,” said Keller when asked about the early struggles. “We just have to pick it up a notch.”

“When things aren’t going good, you have to look at everything,” admitted offensive coordinator Matt Hohman. “What are we doing in pregame, what are we doing with our early-game play calls? Can we do a better job with our early play calls? You need to look at every aspect.”

Saturday, AU trailed 10-0 before the offense ever touched the ball. The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and marched 51 yards in 11 plays, taking a 3-0 lead on Kyle Marotz’s 45-yard field goal. The ‘Cats then pulled a major surprise, recovering an onsides kick at the NMU49. Running back Terrell Goldsmith capped a five-play, 51-yard journey with a 1-yard TD run. With 8:20 left in the first quarter, the Wildcats enjoyed a 10-0 lead.

Ashland’s first two possessions were three-and-out affairs and the Wildcats ended the period with another score, Goldsmith dashing 39 yards through the Eagle defense for a touchdown with 0:25 left in the quarter. Marotz’s extra point made it 17-0 and it looked like the Eagles would be snowed under like Marquette in mid-January.

It was at this point that the Eagles righted the ship. For starters, the Eagles gave their defense a break by holding onto the football. AU had the ball for 32:39. In the second half, the Eagles controlled the football for 18:05. The offensive turnaround began in the second quarter when freshman Austin Wellock hit field goals form 27 and 29 yards to make it NMU, 17-6 at halftime.

Wellock is 13-for-14 on field goals which makes him the league leader in that department. However, all of his tries have been from 39 yards and in and Keller would like to see some of those drives end in the end zone, not with Wellock nailing three pointers.

That should have happened Saturday. Wellock’s first field goal came after the Eagles’ Jason Schwalm dropped a pass in the flat on a third-and-two play from the NMU20. The Eagles called on Wellock the last time when a John Szabo-to-Michael Hull 7-yard touchdown pass was negated by an illegal-man-downfield penalty.

The Eagles had more opportunities in the second half, but when they needed to gain a yard, they often struggled. Five times AU faced third-and-two or third-and-one situations and they converted twice. Neither team scored in the third quarter and NMU made it 24-6 on Goldsmith’s third touchdown, an 18-yard run with 14:40 left in regulation. AU cut that to 24-14 with 11:24 to play on a 4-yard scoring run by McCoy, followed by a successful two-point conversion, Szabo finding junior Drew Doak with a pass.

“We need to be able to run the football with consistency,” lamented Keller. “We have to be able to punch it in. For us to be a good football team, we have to be able to do that.”

“Every week we’re trying to find our niche offensively,” added Hohman. “We’re still searching for it. When you have different guys in and out of the lineup it hurts. We’ve just got to work on it.”

Some things did work well for the Eagles. McCoy finished with 65 yards on 26 carries. Szabo, the sophomore quarterback, was 24-36 for 201 yards with an interception. Hull caught a career-high 10 passes for 84 yards. Ashland led in total offense, 260-254.

Defensively, freshman linebacker Brady Miller had nine tackles, an interception and knocked down a pass. The Eagles forced two interceptions and had only one giveaway. This was the third consecutive week the Eagles were on the plus side in turnover margin. However, AU did allow a punt to be blocked and Goldsmith had a banner day carrying the football, gaining 153 yards on 27 carries.

“We came in here with a lot of momentum,” said Catanese. “After two wins, we had momentum and we thought we had a formula to win here. We just didn’t take advantage of opportunities.”

Notes from the Nest: Senior nose tackle Kevin Lacey had two sacks, giving him four in the last two weeks…junior defensive back Toure Carter got his second interception of the season…senior linebacker Geoff Henry suffered a broken nose…next week is AU’s final home game of the season. Findlay will pay a visit to Community Staidum.