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Ashland Football
Weekly Report |
Game 5 – Michigan Tech
(3-0/3-0 GLIAC) at Ashland (2-2/1-2) In the military and in law enforcement, nothing is more important than rank. In college football rank is important, but not as well defined as in the army. There are known parameters to being a captain, a sergeant or a lieutenant. Being a ranked football team isn’t such a scientific process. What gets a team ranked? Is it strength of schedule? What’s more impressive – point production or point prevention? Everyone who votes in a national poll has a little different slant on all of that. Last week Ashland played at Grand Valley State, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II and the defending national champion. GVSU won that game, 37-7. This week, the Eagles get a look at a program that’s on the fringe of the national rankings. Michigan Tech is off to an impressive 3-0 start and last week, was listed 27th in the American Football Coaches of America (AFCA) poll. MTU didn’t play last week, but a win this Saturday could propel them ever closer to that cherished Top 20. A victory this week would also keep Tech in the thick of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race. In the GLIAC coaches preseason poll, the Huskies were picked to finish fifth. Sights and Sounds of the Game Ashland Times-Gazette sports editor Dusty Sloan and sports writer Larry Stine will report on the AU-MTU game. Their stories will run in Monday’s paper. The Mansfield News-Journal’s Curt Conrad will have a story in Sunday’s paper. For a complete look at AU football, fans are invited to tune in to the Lee Owens Show. That one-hour program airs every Wednesday at 7 p.m., on WMFD-TV in Mansfield, OH. Jeff Allen serves as the host of the program. Sideline Highlights Streaks and Strings Senior wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) caught three passes last week and has caught at least one pass in 29 consecutive contests. Junior linebacker Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C.) had 13 tackles last week, his second straight week with 10 or more tackles. Conwell has been Ashland’s leading tackler in three of four games this season. Even though Grand Valley State became the first team to rush for over 100 yards (152) against the Eagles this season, the Lakers didn’t have any individual player reach the century mark. AU hasn’t allowed an individual to rush for 100 yards since Donnie McCoy of Indianapolis gained 106 yards in the next-to-last game of the 2003 season. The Series The last time the teams played in Ashland came on opening weekend in 2002 and Michigan Tech got the better of the Eagles, 30-23. Tech shot out to a 13-0 lead as Mettlach fired a pair of TD passes. The Huskies led at the intermission, 16-7 but AU went in front, 17-16 thanks to 10 third-quarter points. Tech went ahead to stay when running back Joe Johnson broke free for a 56-yard run with 1:49 left in regulation. That capped a day that saw the powerful MTU back gain 216 yards on 27 carries. Ashland’s last win in the series came at home in 2000 by a 35-28 margin. J.R. McCoy led the Eagles that day by rushing for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns. AU rushed for 217 yards and that ground game carried the day as Eagle quarterback Jeff Leopold threw only nine times, completing five throws for 40 yards. Last year marked the first time AU scored less than 23 points against Tech. The Eagles are averaging 32.9 ppg., in this series. Over the last three games with MTU the Eagles are -5 in turnover margin. Series Quiz (Answers at bottom of page, click here if you want them now!)
Eagle Update AU played well defensively in the game’s early stages, but as the field position game tilted in GVSU’s favor, so did the figures on the scoreboard. After a scoreless first quarter, Grand Valley State scored 17 points in the second quarter and tacked on 10 more points in the third frame. That was too much for the Eagles to overcome. Ashland’s average starting field position was its own 21-yardline. That and the fact that the Eagles converted just three of 16 third-down opportunities made it a long night for the defense. The Eagles avoided a shutout when freshman backup quarterback Kyle Johann (Findlay, OH) found Hull with a 24-yard TD pass with three seconds left to play. Hull had three catches for 46 yards. Ashland’s leading receiver was freshman tight end Gabe Sanders (Willard, OH), who hauled in four passes for 34 yards. AU’s starting quarterback, sophomore Nick Strance (Willard, OH), completed 15 of 26 passes for 91 yards. He was intercepted once. Conwell wasn’t the only linebacker to see a lot of action last Saturday. Sophomore Allen Lattimore (Dayton, OH/Colonel White) had 12 tackles and recorded his team-leading third sack of the campaign. Lattimore shares the sack lead with sophomore defensive lineman Kyle Zelazny (Westerville, OH/Westerville South). Lattimore is second on the team in tackles (37/21 solo) and first in tackles for loss (7-28). Senior linebacker Chris Campbell (Newark, OH) had 10 tackles against GVSU and senior safety Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus, OH/DeSales) had his name called on 10 stops (one solo). Freshman punter Nick McCombs (Bucyrus, OH/Wynford) had a busy night, punting 10 times. He dropped two punts inside the GVSU 20-yardline and averaged 39.9 ypp. He’s averaging 39.4 ypp., for the season. The Owens File Prior to coaching at Akron, Owens was an assistant coach at Ohio State (1992-95). He joined the Buckeyes after a successful career on the high school level. Owens’ record on the prep level is 89-32-2. In 1985 at Galion High School he won a state championship and was named the Ohio High School Coach of the Year. Owens also coached at legendary Massillon Washington High School (1988-92) where he was 35-13 in four seasons. Owens is originally from nearby Mansfield, OH, and Madison High School. He earned his undergraduate degree from Bluffton College in 1977 and his master’s degree from Ashland in 1981. Noteworthy
The Quotebook Hart on being among the GLIAC rushing leaders (fifth). “Right now that’s just a bunch of numbers. I just want to be a champion. If that means we control the ground game, that’s fine. The ground game can be important for a football team, it can control the clock.” Tight end Brian Mong (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson) on bouncing back from last week’s loss at Grand Valley State. “It’s real important. Last week was rough and Coach Owens has challenged us. Every time he’s challenged us we’ve responded. Practice will be very important for us this week.” Secondary coach Steve Clinkscale on the play of sophomore Tanis Maynor (Martinez, GA/Evans), who moved from safety to cornerback and spent much of last week’s game shadowing wide receiver Demonte Collins. “I thought he had an adequate first performance. He switched positions in the middle of the week so he only had two good practices as a corner. He’s a physical player. He had the size to follow Collins. We wanted someone to match up with Collins’ size and physical ability. The one thing we saw from him was he was able to make solo tackles on a big receiver.” Owens on challenging the Eagle players. “They have been challenged. But this team has responded every time I’ve challenged them. I feel good about that. When you lose a game like we did at Grand Valley and you take the loss lightly, which I feel we did, it’s either one of two things. Either you don’t work hard enough or you have guys who don’t expect to win. Either one of those things is unacceptable. Guys have to make an investment during the week, then it makes it that much tougher to lose. Hopefully we can get a few more guys believing we can play with the best teams in this conference.” Owens on Michigan Tech. “They have a great team. Their quarterback is exceptional, he’s a capable leader, he makes great decisions and he runs well. Lee Marana can run it up inside. They have some speed at wide receiver. They’re stout up front on defense. Next to Grand Valley this is the best team we’ve faced. They’re comparable to Ferris State.” On Deck |
Series Quiz Answers
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