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Eagles Can’t
Climb Final Hill in 24-21 Loss |
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The BMX Extreme Team put on a postgame show Saturday (Sept. 20) following the Hillsdale College-Ashland University football game at Community Stadium. Lots of thrills and few spills on a very challenging course that’s contoured to look like something out of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Still, that’s nothing compared to the slippery slope the Eagles were on Saturday. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because the game was played on a field that’s 100 yards long with a slight crown that there weren’t peaks and valleys. Light-headedness would certainly be understandable after the latest installment in the Chargers-Eagles series. In this game, HC quarterback Bill Skelton found sophomore wide receiver Ryan Hermosillo with a 5-yard scoring pass with 40 seconds left in regulation as Hillsdale (1-2, 1-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) came from behind to stop Ashland (1-3, 1-2), 24-21 Skelton, a senior, and Hermosillo hooked up on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 8:36 left in the first half. That started the Hillsdale comeback. AU was in front, 14-0 after one quarter. However, AU was about to encounter some rough terrain. The Eagles lost starting quarterback John Szabo for the game with a leg injury with 1:47 remaining in the first half. The junior was 7-for-11 for 92 yards and a touchdown before he departed. He was injured while scrambling out of the pocket and toward the Hillsdale sideline. “There’s a very fine line between winning and losing,” sighed AU head coach Gary Keller. “We made some critical mistakes, we had a lot of opportunities. We didn’t capitalize down the stretch when we had to. Hillsdale did a nice job. “Failure isn’t final,” continued the AU coach. “What we have to do is find a way to get better.” One area the Eagles need to upgrade immediately is special teams. The Eagles mishandled the snap on a 30-yard field. That was almost a sure three points – sophomore kicker Austin Wellock has connected on 90 percent of his field goal tries (18-20) inside 40 yards. Later, the Eagles mishandled a perfect snap from center from punt formation. That resulted in a touchdown for the Chargers. “The drop on the punt was critical,” admitted Keller. “The snap was there.” Ashland opened the scoring at 3:39 of the first period when junior wide receiver Michael Hull pulled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Szabo. That played capped AU’s best scoring drive of the season – a 14-play, 98-yard trip that consumed 7:07. The lead grew to 14-0 with four seconds left in the first quarter when junior tailback Antwan Hart scored on a 1-yard run. The Chargers’ first lead came off that second AU special teams miscue with 9:34 to play in the third quarter. AU freshman punter Trevor Wood dropped the snap from center. HC’s Steve Balone, a sophomore linebacker, picked up the fumble and ran untouched 25 yards to the end zone. Sophomore Matt Menchinger’s extra point gave the visitors a 17-14 lead. Ashland regained the lead, 21-17 with 24 seconds left in the third quarter when true freshman quarterback Nick Strance found Hart with an 11-yard TD pass. Strance, who entered the contest when Szabo was sidelined, ended the afternoon 7-for-15 for 65 yards. He struggled throwing the deep ball, but was very good with intermediate routes. The rookie also moved around well in the pocket. “He’s a mobile quarterback, we knew that when we recruited him,” Keller said. “We may have to do some things differently with Nick, he’s a different quarterback than John. I don’t know his (Szabo’s) status right now. Nick moves around a little bit more.” The Chargers were able to regroup from the first TD of Strance’s career and perform well under pressure in the game’s waning minutes. The winning drive covered 65 yards and lasted nine plays. The HC drive right before that ended at the AU12 with a missed field goal. The Chargers got to the AU2 before the Eagle defense used a tackle for loss and sack to push the Chargers back 10 yards. Skelton finished 20-for-34 for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Senior linebacker Rob North had 18 tackles (11 solo) and a sack for the Chargers. Hart rushed for 84 yards. AU senior defensive back Toure Carter had a pair of interceptions and brought back a kickoff 40 yards. AU’s leading receiver was freshman Brandon Gilmore, who had four receptions for 32 yards. Senior safety Aaron O’Reilly led AU with 12 tackles (eight solo) and sophomore linebacker Devin Conwell was in on 11 stops (six solo). Conwell had two tackles for loss (five yards) and a sack. The final numbers were nearly equal. Both teams had 18 first downs. AU led in time of possession, 30:20-29:40 and in total yards Ashland was in front, 312-292. The Eagles will play at nationally ranked Saginaw Valley State next Saturday (Sept. 27, noon). |