Ashland Football Weekly Report
October 27, 2003

Game 10 – Indianapolis (4-4, 3-4) at Ashland (2-7, 2-6)
Saturday, Nov. 1 – Community Stadium, 1:25 p.m.

The Opening Act
The Eagles (the Joe Walsh bunch, not the Gary Keller brigade) and Simon and Garfunkle have gone on highly-anticipated reunion tours. Their music lives on, even though they take extended breaks from recording.

There haven’t been any breakups or time off for the Ashland University Eagles and Indianapolis Greyhounds. These two rivals have been regular foes through a number of different leagues. Fans at both schools are accustomed to hardnosed, exciting football. This week, the two teams meet again in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The Eagles are in the homestretch of the 2003 season – this is the first of two consecutive home games to close out the season.

Sights and Sounds
All Ashland University football games can be heard live on WNCO (1340 AM). This is the 11th consecutive year the station has carried the Eagles. Sam Renfroe and Bill Linson comprise the broadcast team. The game can be heard on the AU website (www.ashland.edu/athletics).

Dusty Sloan, the acting sports editor of the Ashland Times-Gazette, will cover Saturday’s contest. His story will run in Monday’s paper. Cory Forshaw will be on hand for the Mansfield News-Journal. His report will appear in Sunday’s paper.

Sideline Highlights
This week is Football Alumni Weekend at AU. Over 100 former Ashland University football players will be back for this week’s game. There will be a number of special events planned around the game for the former Eagles.

At every AU home game, two former AU players return to campus as honorary captains. Those two spend an entire football Saturday with the team and watch the game from the Ashland sideline. This week, the Eagles welcome back Jim Fiscus (Class of 1957) and Dave Hakaim (Class of 1965).

Taking the Lead
Ashland’s head coach is Gary Keller. This is Keller’s 10th season as AU’s head coach and his 21st season on campus. Prior to becoming the head coach, Keller served as Ashland’s defensive coordinator. In that role, he molded some of the best defensive units in the country. When he first came to the Eagles, he was the offensive line coach. Keller’s lifetime mark is 51-53. He was the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference coach of the year in 1997 when he guided the Eagles to a share of the conference crown and the second NCAA Division II playoff berth in school history. Keller’s lifetime record against Indianapolis is 3-4. The AU head coach is a 1973 Bluffton graduate.

The Greyhounds are under the guidance of 10th-year head coach Joe Polizzi. His career record is 51-53-1. A year ago, Indy finished 5-6. Four times under Polizzi the ‘Hounds have won seven or more games. The Greyhounds won a school-record 23 games from 1997-99. Three of his former players (Stephane Fortin, Josh Gentry and Gary Isza) have played professional football. Prior to taking over at Indianapolis, Polizzi was an assistant coach at Hillsdale (1987-93). Polizzi was a four-year letterwinner for Hillsdale (1973-76).

Ashland-Indianapolis
Ashland has a 16-8-0 edge in the all-time series. The teams first met in 1954. These two institutions played in the Heartland Conference, moved into the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) and now play in the GLIAC. The teams have split the last six meetings.

Ashland won in 2000 and 2001 and a year ago at Key Stadium in Indianapolis, it was the Greyhounds who finished on top, 35-14. UI quarterback Matt Kohn played a complete game against the Eagles. He completed 18 of 21 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown and ran for 37 yards on nine carries. After AU took a 7-0 lead with 14:10 to go in the first quarter the Greyhounds reeled off 28 unanswered points. Running back Donnie McCoy had TD runs of 10, 4 and 5 yards. AU wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) caught eight passes for 111 yards. AU turned the ball over six times – three on fumbles and three via interceptions.

In the last Eagle victory (23-10) in 2001, which came at Community Stadium, quarterback John Szabo (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) completed 16 of 22 passes for 207 yards. Tailback J.R. McCoy knifed through the Indy defense for 164 yards on 37 carries and threw a TD pass on a halfback option play. AU outgained the visitors, 426-215 and in time of possession, enjoyed an unbelievable 38:39-21:21 advantage. Indy had eight yards rushing and the Eagles recorded seven quarterback sacks.

Eye On the Eagles
Games of chance abound in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Last Saturday evening (Oct. 25) in Findlay, OH, the Eagles were in involved in a game of chances.

The Eagles had plenty of opportunities to sting the Oilers and pull off an upset. Instead, it was Findlay getting the win, 22-14. Ashland scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter and just before halftime, was in front, 14-6. Then the Oilers got a 65-yard TD pass courtesy of Kevin Crooks to running back Michael Simpson. That shifted the game’s momentum even though the Oilers trailed at halftime, 14-12. In the second half, AU didn’t score and managed just 104 yards of total offense. AU’s average starting field position in the third quarter was the AU18 and in the fourth frame, it was the AU21.

The Eagles could never dig themselves out of that hole. Findlay won the field position game and that translated into a win on the scoreboard. The Oilers went ahead for good with 5:40 left in the third quarter on Jeff Pax’s third field goal of the game, this one from 18 yards. The UF lead was extended to 22-14 when Simpson scored on a 2-yard run with 11:06 left in regulation. The Eagles didn’t roll over and on their last possession, advanced to the Findlay 34. But three consecutive incomplete passes doused any hopes of an AU comeback.

Both teams did an exceptional job of protecting the football – there wasn’t a turnover in the game. Findlay outgained the Eagles, 329-273. AU had eight penalties for 79 yards and for one of the few times all year, lost the time of possession battle – Findlay led on the clock, 31:26-28:34.

Eagle Elite
Junior running back Jason Schwalm (Kenosha, WI/Dublin Coffman) seems to get stronger every week. Against a Findlay defense that was second in the GLIAC in rush defense, Schwalm gained 102 yards on 20 carries. Over the last two weeks, Schwalm has gained 258 yards and averaged 5.4 ypc. He’s fifth in the league in rushing with 614 yards and an average of 76.8 ypg.

True freshman quarterback Nick Strance (Willard, OH) had another solid game last week, completing 16 of 34 passes for 155 yards. Strance hasn’t thrown an interception over the last two games. During that stretch he’s completed 31 of 55 passes (56 percent) for 325 yards and two touchdowns. Last week his favorite target was sophomore wide receiver Trent Seay (Lima, OH/Senior), who caught six passes for 50 yards. Freshman wide receiver Brandon Gilmore (Mansfield, OH/Madison) had four receptions for 58 yards.

On the other side of the ball, sophomore linebacker Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C.) was all over the gridiron. Conwell had 15 tackles (five solo), four tackles for loss (21 yards) and 2.5 sacks (21 yards). Conwell is the team leader in tackles (89/44 solo) and sacks (5-27). He also has a pair of interceptions. Conwell is 10th in the GLIAC in tackles (9.9 tpg.) and sixth in tackles for loss (11).

Senior cornerback Toure Carter (Cleveland, OH/Rhoades) had 10 tackles (three solo) and senior strong safety Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus, OH/DeSales) figured in on nine stops (two solo). O’Reilly had a pair of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Senior defensive end Dan Drane (Munhall, PA/Steel Valley) had nine tackles and one tackle for loss. Drane leads the club in tackles for loss with 12 (45 yards).

Freshman punter Trevor Wood (Newark, OH/Licking Valley) was busy last Saturday, kicking 10 times and averaging 38.3 ypp. Three of Wood’s punts landed inside the 20 yardline. Over the last two games, Wood has punted 17 times and averaged 37.6 ypp. He has six kicks inside the 20 during that time. On the year, Wood is averaging 35.1 ypp.

Notes From the Nest

• If the Eagles win this week, it will give them two consecutive home wins. The last time AU won two straight at Community Stadium came during the 2001 season when the Eagles won three consecutive home games.
• AU is 1-1 on Football Alumni Day.
• Over the last five seasons AU is 6-4 (.600) in November.
• Hull has caught at least one pass in 21 consecutive games. The junior needs six more receptions to pass Bob Rosati (127) as the school’s career leader in catches. Hull has 122 career receptions.
• Drane is fifth in the conference in tackles for loss (12-45).

Wearing One Helmet and Many Hats
There’s not much more Carter can do for the Eagles this year. The senior defensive back is the GLIAC leader in interceptions (9) and is second in passes defensed (12). He needs one more interception to tie the AU single-season interception record. As of last week, Carter was fourth in NCAA Division II in interceptions.

Two weeks ago, Carter, who plays on offense part time, caught a 53-yard pass. That’s the longest reception by an AU player this year.

Last week at Findlay, Carter returned a punt 37 yards. That’s the longest punt return by an Ashland player since Vance Kinney had an 89-yard punt return in 1992.

The Price of Fame
When it comes to glamour positions, quarterback is always at the top of the list. It’s the stuff of Joe Namath, Joe Montana and John Elway. Look out in the yard sometime – how many youngsters yell out that they want to play offensive line?

But there’s a price that goes with playing quarterback. In this day and age, how many quarterbacks who start the year are still standing in the season’s final game? Over the last five years, only once has AU had a quarterback make it through an entire season as the starter. Sometimes a switch came due to injury, other times it came because the coaching staff thought a change was in order. Here’s a history of the last five years with the Eagles.

• 2003 – Szabo is the starter, but goes down with a knee injury against Hillsdale in week four. He hasn’t played since, turning over the controls to Strance.
• 2002 – Szabo starts all 11 games, the only time in five years this is the story.
• 2001 – Matt McCullough starts, but Szabo replaces him for the season’s final two games.
• 2000 – Starter Jeff Leopold is lost for the year in Week 8 due to a knee injury at Northern Michigan. McCullough starts the rest of the season.
• 1999 – Mark Molk begins the year as the starter, hurts his knee during a practice session at Kent State and plays only two games. Leopold replaces him as the AU field general.

Sounds of the Game

Keller on last week’s game.

“We’re in it right to the end. I think as coaches, once we look at the film, we’ll see we had more opportunities. We have to take advantage of those opportunities. Our execution could be better. We had an opportunity to win the game.”

Facts and Figures
Here’s a statistical breakdown comparing the Eagles and Greyhounds.

On Deck
The Eagles close the season next Saturday (Nov. 8, 1:25 p.m.) at Community Stadium when Ferris State comes to town for a GLIAC game.