Ashland Football Weekly Report
November 3, 2003

Game 11 – Ferris State (5-4/4-4) at Ashland (2-8/2-7)
Saturday, Nov. 8 – Community Stadium, 1:25 p.m.

The Opening Act
Every November the United States pauses and remembers Veterans’ Day. That’s a special holiday and a much-needed salute to the armed forces personnel of years past.

On a smaller scale, a different kind of Veterans Day will be celebrated this weekend at Community Stadium. The final game of the season is a time to honor the veterans around the Ashland University football program. Senior players, cheerleaders, band members, student trainers and equipment personnel will all be in their final game Saturday. The university will take a moment to honor all these AU seniors in their final appearance in front of the home folks.

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 Senior Day at AU. As mentioned above, a number of seniors will be recognized at this week’s contest.

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’s honorary captains are Mike Irby and Tim Borden. Irby was a running back who gained 1,066 yards in 1974. Borden was a defensive back/linebacker who had 44 tackles in 1971. Borden also played on the undefeated 1972 team. Irby resides in Akron, OH, and Borden calls North Canton, OH, home.

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 51-54. 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 Ferris State is 3-4. The AU head coach is a 1973 Bluffton graduate.

Jeff Pierce calls the shots for the Ferris State Bulldogs. The 1979 Ferris State grad is in his ninth season at the helm and owns a 59-38-0 record. He’s second in career victories at FSU, trailing only his former boss, Keith Otterbein (60). Under Pierce, FSU has won or shared three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. In 1995 and 1996 Pierce guided the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The 1995 team advanced to the national semifinals. Before being named the head coach Pierce was an assistant coach at Ferris State for 12 years. He was the defensive coordinator for seven of those seasons.

Ashland-Ferris State
This is the second consecutive season the Eagles have ended the year playing the Bulldogs. Ashland has a 10-5-0 lead in the series. A year ago in Big Rapids, MI, the Bulldogs won, 30-8. That snapped a three-game AU win streak against FSU. Over those three games, AU never scored less than 26 points and in 1998, put 58 points on the scoreboard.

That wasn’t the case a year ago. The Bulldogs had a 23-0 lead after three quarters. It was 9-0 at halftime and the ‘Dogs put the game away with 14 third-quarter points. FSU running back Derek Fudge rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns and caught six passes for 60 yards. AU was led by senior wide receiver Kevin McMahon. In his last game in an Ashland uniform, McMahon had a team-high 42 yards rushing and caught seven passes for 69 yards.

The last time AU defeated the Bulldogs was in 1999. That game was played at FSU and the Eagles left town with a 26-22 verdict. FSU entered the game in first place in the GLIAC. Ashland was in front, 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter. AU made a late defensive stand – preserving the win when defensive back Scott Parks picked off a Matt McCarthy pass in the end zone. AU sacked McCarthy once and intercepted three passes. The win improved the Eagles’ record to 5-1. FSU came into the contest as the GLIAC leader in scoring (50.0 ppg.) and total offense (559.3 ypg.).

Eye On the Eagles
The Football Alumni Day crowd at Ashland’s Community Stadium saw a little bit of everything last week as Indianapolis downed the Eagles, 35-24. The game included Ashland blocking a punt for a safety and Indy foiling an AU two-point conversion try with an interception that was returned for two points. The officials got a workout in several other ways as well. Ashland was penalized nine times for 94 yards and Indianapolis was whistled 12 times for 85 yards.

Ashland enjoyed the early lead, using that safety and a field goal to go in front, 5-0 with 6:32 left in the first quarter. The Eagles led, 13-11 at the intermission and had a 24-21 lead with 8:13 remaining in the third quarter. But that was the last time the Eagles would enjoy the upper hand. With 3:58 left in the third frame, Indy quarterback Matt Kohn scored on a 2-yard run and Nick Parker’s PAT made it, 28-24 Greyhounds. The visitors got some breathing room with 7:59 to play in regulation when Kohn found Cesare Manning with a 54-yard TD pass.

Kohn finished the day 21 of 36 passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Travis Zike caught seven passes for 122 yards and Manning hauled in four balls for 84 yards and two scores. On the ground, Donnie McCoy picked his way through the Eagles for 106 yards on 31 trips. Ashland was outgained, 463-266. At times, the Eagles made the ‘Hounds work hard to reach paydirt. Indianapolis had touchdown drives of 93 and 96 yards. AU had an impressive march of its own, going 99 yards in seven plays to score a touchdown. The loss was AU’s second straight. Ashland’s last victory came at home against Northern Michigan, 31-10 on Oct. 18.

Eagle Elite
Junior tailback Antwan Hart (Detroit, MI/Erie C.C.) came off the bench to rush for 81 yards on 12 carries with a pair of touchdowns last week. Hart’s scoring runs covered 31 and 1 yards. AU’s other tailback, junior Jason Schwalm (Kenosha, WI/Dublin Coffman) was off to a good start with 47 yards on seven carries before being sidelined with an injury. Schwalm is sixth in the GLIAC in rushing (661 yards/73.4 ypg.) and Hart is eighth (641 yards/64.1 ypg.).

Junior tight end Brian Mong (Columbus, OH/Watterson) caught five passes for 37 yards. Junior wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) also had five catches. Hull has tied Bob Rosati for first place in career receptions (127) at AU. Hull has caught at least one pass in 22 consecutive games. He’s eighth in the conference in receptions per game (45 catches/4.5 rpg.).

Sophomore linebacker Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C.) had 20 tackles (11 solo), one tackle for loss, an interception and two pass breakups last Saturday. Conwell has 35 tackles in the last two weeks and leads the team in tackles (109/55 solo). That’s the highest tackle total by an AU player since Chad DiFranco made 121 tackles in 1996. Conwell is this week’s GLIAC defensive player of the week. This is the second time this season he’s won the award. Conwell is seventh in the GLIAC in tackles (10.9 tpg.) and 10th in sacks (4.5).

Senior safety Karl Ransom (Grand Rapids, MI/Grand Rapids C.C.) made 10 tackles (four solo) against the ‘Hounds. His day included a sack. Senior defensive end Dan Drane (Munhall, PA/Steel Valley) had nine tackles (four solo) and two tackles for loss. Drane is tied for third in the GLIAC in tackles for loss (14-51 yards). Freshman defensive back Chris Holland (Youngstown, OH/Rayen) had five tackles and collected the first interception of his career. Redshirt freshman linebacker Allen Lattimore (Dayton, OH/Colonel Crawford) blocked the first punt of his career.

Notes From the Nest

• Ashland has won its final regular-season game in five of the last six seasons.
• For the year, AU is averaging 16.3 ppg. However, in the last three games, AU has averaged 23.0 ppg.
• McCoy was the fourth player to gain 100 yards rushing against the Eagles this season. The others were Wayne State’s Craig Duppong (158), Edinboro’s Dru Robinson (130) and Michigan Tech’s Chris Lomasney (115).
• Senior defensive back Toure Carter (Cleveland, OH/Rhoades) set a school record last week when he returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. That’s the longest kickoff return for touchdown in school history. Twice before in AU history a kickoff had been brought back 91 yards for a touchdown. Carter is the first AU player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since Terrence Henton scored on an 81-yard kickoff return against St. Francis in 1996. Carter, who had two returns for 137 yards, is this week’s GLIAC special teams player of the week. The Cleveland product continues to lead the GLIAC in interceptions (9) and is second in passes defensed (12).
• The Eagles are fourth in the conference in turnover margin (+6). Two of the teams above them – Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State – appear bound for the NCAA playoffs. The other team listed in front of AU is Michigan Tech.
• Freshman quarterback Nick Strance (Willard, OH) hasn’t thrown an interception over the last three games. Strance has thrown 95 consecutive passes without getting picked off. His last interception came in the fourth quarter at Mercyhurst.

Sounds of the Game

Carter on lining up at quarterback and taking a direct snap (he gained one yard on a running play deep in Indianapolis territory).

“Coach (Bob) Rohan put that in this (last) week. I went to him and told him he needed to give me a direct snap. I would have scored if I hadn’t of slipped.”

Hull on the progress of Strance.

“He’s maturing. With John (Szabo), I had a relationship, knew how he read defenses, what he was looking for. I’m getting there with Nick. He’s getting better and better.”

Hull on missed opportunities last week.

“This team’s missed a lot of opportunities all season. It’s not about one person or one group. It’s hard to say what I think overall. We’re just not making plays. Indianapolis made plays.”

Keller on the Indianapolis game.

“Our kids made a lot of good plays. In a close game, you look back at the plays you wish you could have made.”

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