Ashland Football Weekly Report
August 23, 2004

Game 1 -- Saint Joseph’s (0-0) at Ashland (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004, 7 p.m.
Community Stadium, Ashland, OH

It’s late August and that means an explosion of back-to-school sales. Shirts, socks, pencils, pens, books and book bags, that’s the regular fare for shoppers at this time of the year.

For the football teams of Saint Joseph’s and Ashland, back to school takes on a different meaning. Players on both teams are returning to the classroom like all college students this time of year. But both teams are going back to school in a different sense. Both have new coaches and both are going back to basics in an effort to improve on last year’s records. Fundamentals like that can’t be purchased at any store and there’s no discount on hard work. For both teams, this is the first step in a new era.

Saint Joseph’s is making its debut with Tim Lester as its head coach. Ashland is under the direction of Lee Owens, who joins the Eagles after nine seasons at the University of Akron. This is a homecoming of sorts for Owens. He grew up in the Mansfield, OH, area and will have plenty of friends and family members on hand for his first game at Ashland.

Sights and Sounds of the Game
All Ashland University football games can be heard live on WNCO (1340 AM). This is the 12th consecutive year the station has served as the home of AU football. Sam Renfroe and Bill Linson will be back in the booth to describe all the action. The opener will also be televised by WMFD-TV in Mansfield, OH. Jeff Allen will handle the play by play for WMFD. Allen also serves as the host of the Lee Owens Show, which airs on WMFD Wednesdays at 7 p.m. The first installment of the coach’s show airs on Aug. 25.

As usual, the Ashland Times-Gazette will be on hand for the SJC-AU game. Sports editor Dusty Sloan and sportswriter Larry Stine will head the T-G’s coverage. Curt Conrad of the Mansfield News-Journal will also file a story on the lid lifter.

Streaks and Strings
The Pumas (2-9) lost their final six games a year ago while AU (2-9/2-8 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) concluded the 2003 season with three consecutive losses. The Eagles are trying to re-establish themselves on their home turf. Last year, Ashland was 1-5 at home and over the last two seasons the Eagles are 2-9 at home. From 1997 through the 1999 season the Eagles had a 13-2 mark at Community Stadium. This is the first of six home games this year for AU. This is also the first of five consecutive night games (three at home, two on the road) for the Eagles.

Ashland has lost its last two openers, 14-9 at Michigan Tech in 2003 and 30-23 to Tech at home in 2002. The last time the Eagles won their opener came in 2001 at Community Stadium, 27-9 against Edinboro. This is AU’s lone non-league game of the year. Over the last four seasons AU is 2-2 outside of the GLIAC.

AU senior wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) has caught at least one pass in 25 consecutive games. Hull begins this season as the school’s career leader in receptions (139) and is fifth in career reception yards (1,578).

The Series
Ashland holds a 12-4-1 advantage in the all-time series with Saint Joseph’s. AU has won five of the last six games in the series, but the Pumas got the victory the last time the two teams played, 21-13 in 1995. That game was played in Ashland. The Pumas’ first play from scrimmage went 72 yards for a touchdown. The Pumas outgained AU on the ground, 326-82. Ashland quarterback Brandon Buckner completed 26 of 38 passes for 319 yards.

SJC has scored seven points or less against AU in five of the last six games and during that streak the Eagles shut out the Pumas four times. Ashland and Saint Joseph’s were both in the Midwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1990-95 and prior to that, both schools called the Heartland Conference home. This series will continue next year. The teams will open the 2005 season in Rensselaer, IN.

Series Quiz (Answers at bottom of page, click here if you want them now!)

• What former AU assistant coach was formerly the head football coach at Saint Joseph’s?
• Ashland won its first Heartland Conference football crown in 1980. Saint Joseph’s finished third that season. Who were the other six teams in the conference that season?
• In the 1995 AU-SJC game, Ashland’s leading rusher gained 84 yards on 25 carries and caught three passes for 14 yards. He’s currently fourth on AU’s career rushing list with 3,039 yards. Name this player.

Eagle Update
The Eagles reported back to camp on Saturday, Aug. 7. This year’s team lists 34 lettermen and 18 returning starters, 10 on offense, six on defense and both the kicker and punter. This year’s team will run out of the spread offense and line up in a 3-4 defense. Hull is coming off a season that saw him catch 57 passes for 622 yards (10.9 ypc.). AU returns two of the most productive running backs in the GLIAC in seniors Antwan Hart (Detroit, MI/Erie C.C.) and Jason Schwalm (Kenosha, WI/Dublin Coffman). Schwalm was sixth in the conference in rushing (73.4 ypg., 661 yards, 5.0 ypc.) and Hart was seventh (64.2 ypg., 706 yards, 3.9 ypc.).

Sophomore Nick Strance (Willard, OH) returns as the starting quarterback. A year ago he completed 119 of 236 passes (50.4 percent) for 1,098 yards and three touchdowns. Last year’s completion total was the seventh best in school history. Strance was the first true freshman to start a game at quarterback for the Eagles since 1992.

The defense is led by junior linebacker Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C.), a second team All-GLIAC choice in 2003. Conwell had a team-leading 121 tackles (64 solo), five sacks and 17 tackles for loss (56). The Baltimore, MD, native also picked off three passes. Conwell was eighth in the GLIAC in tackles and third in tackles for loss.

Senior safety Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus, OH/DeSales) provides experience in the defensive backfield. He was second on the team in tackles a year ago (71 tackles, 35 solo). Junior linebacker Chris Campbell ( Newark, OH) is another active defensive player, he had 65 tackles (35 solo) in 2003.

The coaching staff has raved throughout the offseason about the work of senior defensive lineman Jason Reynolds (Clinton, OH/Jackson). He had 27 tackles a year ago. That total included three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. Another player to watch is sophomore defensive back Chris Holland (Youngstown, OH/Rayen). Holland will be asked to be a leader in a secondary that’s filled with youngsters. Holland had 20 tackles in 2004.

The kicking game is paced by junior Austin Wellock (North Canton, OH/Green). The AU kicker finds a way to put his name into the record book every season. As a freshman he tied an NCAA Division II single-game record with six field goals at Wayne State. Last season Wellock set the school record for the longest field goal when he split the uprights from 50 yards at Mercyhurst.

The Owens File
As a head coach on the high school and college levels, Owens owns a career mark of 129-93-2. He comes to Ashland after nine seasons as the head coach at the University of Akron. In 2000 he guided the Zips to a share of the Mid-American Conference East Division title. His Akron teams were known for their explosiveness – in 2003 the Zips were sixth in the country in pass offense (311.3 ypg.), ninth in total offense (470.25 ypg.) and 11th in scoring (36.3 ppg.). While at Akron Owens coached Jason Taylor, who’s gone on to become an All-Pro defensive lineman (Miami Dolphins) and consensus All-America Dwight Smith, who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prior to arriving at Akron, Owens was an assistant coach at Ohio State (1992-95). He was a high school head coach at Massillon Washington (OH), Lancaster (OH), Galion (OH) and Crestview (OH). He guided Galion to a Division II state title in 1985 and was tabbed the Ohio High School Coach of the Year. Owens’ career record on the prep level is 89-32-2 in 11 seasons.

Great Out of the Gate
Owens knows what it’s like to jump from the frying pan into the fire. During his tenure as the head coach at the University of Akron, his teams played some of the nation’s best teams on opening day. Here’s a look at some of those openers.

• Nebraska/1997 -- #6
• Penn State/1999 -- #2
• Virginia Tech/2000 -- #11

Noteworthy

• The Ashland record for most passes intercepted in a game – eight – came against Saint Joseph’s in 1981. In that same game the Eagles piled up a school single-game record 15 penalties.
• The Eagles allowed a running back to gain 100 or more yards rushing four times in 2003, but the only time that happened over the final five weeks was when Donnie McCoy of Indianapolis gained 106 yards on 31 carries (Nov. 1, 2003).
• AU hasn’t had three consecutive losing seasons since 1951-53.
• Strance threw only one interception in the final four weeks of last season. That includes a total of 110 passes. Strance completed 56 percent of his throws during that stretch.
• The most points AU has ever scored in a season opener came in 1990 when the Eagles pounded Valparaiso, 45-0. The record for most points allowed in an opener came in 1998 in Grand Rapids, MI, when Grand Valley hung a 42-35 defeat on the Eagles.

The Quotebook

Conwell on the potential of this year’s defense.

“I think we can be as good as last year, if not better. The linebacking corps is back. The defensive line, they played a lot last year, they have experience. Sure, we’re young in the secondary, but Coach (Steve) Clinkscale is working with them. We just have to go out and play hard.”

Owens on coaching against Tim Lester and Saint Joseph’s.

“We coached against him as a player and then we’ve followed his coaching career. He’s been a great football coach. They’ll be a lot like us, they’ll have young, enthusiastic football players. They’ll want to prove they can play for him. There will be a lot of similarities with us. But in a way, you’re going in blind. You just have to worry about yourself and not make mistakes.”

On Deck
The Eagles are back at Community Stadium next Saturday (Sept. 4), hosting Ferris State. That’s the GLIAC opener for the Eagles. Kickoff for the Bulldogs-Eagles contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Series Quiz Answers

• Bill Reagan
• In addition to Ashland (5-2) and Saint Joseph’s (4-3) the other Heartland Conference teams in 1980 were Franklin (5-2), Indiana Central (3-3-1), Butler (3-4), Evansville (3-4), Georgetown (3-4) and Valparaiso (1-5-1).
• Don Church