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It May Not Figure,
But ‘Hurst Prevails, 25-14 |
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If balancing your checkbook is a challenge, trying to make sense of Saturday’s (Oct. 2) Mercyhurst-Ashland football game will make you as coherent as Elmer Fudd. Ashland outgained the Lakers, 402-202. On the ground, the Eagles had a 165-29 advantage. MC quarterback Jeff Nowling barely completed 50 percent of his passes (11-21) and was sacked six times. Mercyhurst attempted four extra points and converted on one. Add all of that up and it makes for a litany of errors. Nevertheless, the Lakers were the ones to leave Community Stadium with a victory as they sent the Eagles to their third consecutive loss, 25-14. “We’ve hit rock bottom,” said AU head coach Lee Owens. “To lose on homecoming the way we did, there’s no scenario worse than this. We have to stay on track and slowly try to make progress.” This was Mercyhurst’s initial victory in four trips to AU. The Lakers are 2-4 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Ashland is 2-4 and 1-4 in conference action. How did Mercyhurst win with a set of offensive numbers that would cause a calculator to hiccup? Well, for starters, the Lakers intercepted two AU passes and recovered three fumbles. Ashland completed just 14 of 38 passes. MC blocked an AU field goal try and didn’t allow the Eagles to convert any of four fourth-down tries. For the sixth consecutive game, the Lakers scored a touchdown via defense or special teams. This week the score came from the defense and it came before many of the 2,100 in attendance were settled in their seats. Senior defensive back William Shealey returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play. Shealey scooped up a fumble by AU senior tailback Antwan Hart and no one touched him as he rambled into the end zone. That was the first of several bizarre plays to open the game. The next came when the Lakers failed to tack on the extra point when the pass from center was mishandled. Shortly after that, AU fumbled away the ball away on a punt return, giving the Lakers the ball at the AU29. The Lakers failed to capitalize on that miscue when sophomore Phil Scanlon’s 47-yard field goal was blocked. Later in the game, AU junior kicker Austin Wellock had a 45-yard attempt blocked. Ashland went ahead, 7-6 when sophomore quarterback Nick Strance found freshman wide receiver David Ziegelhofer on a 57-yard scoring pass with 6:55 to go in the opening frame. The Lakers went back in front, 12-7 on a 2-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jeff Nowling to Dan Salupo with 13:40 left before halftime. The Eagles took a 14-12 halftime lead when Strance connected with junior wide receiver Dalorean White on a 15-yard pass with 56 seconds left in the first half. The Lakers grabbed the lead for good with 11:16 remaining in the third quarter when senior tailback Justin Adams scrambled into the end zone from a yard out. The game’s final score came with 6:40 to play, Nowling finding junior wideout John Egbert with a 55-yard strike. That drive was set up when the ‘Hurst stopped the Eagles on a fourth-and-one play from the AU44. “We didn’t move the ball as well as we should have,” admitted Owens. “You have to be able to convert short downs and we didn’t do it. We talked about point production and taking care of the football. We need to secure the football.” Even with that first quarter fumble, the Eagles felt most secure with the ball in Hart’s hands. He had 122 yards on 25 carries and has rushed for over 100 yards in five of six games this season. Strance ended the day 14 of 38 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. White caught four passes for 53 yards and senior wideout Michael Hull had three receptions for 41 yards. Hull has caught at least one pass in 31 consecutive games. Defensively, junior linebacker Devin Conwell had 17 tackles (15 solo) with two tackles for loss (14 yards). Sophomore linebacker Allen Lattimore had 10 tackles (eight solo) with six tackles for loss (21 yards) and two sacks (14 yards). Nowling ended the day 11 of 21 for 173 yards and two scores. Adams rushed for 72 yards on 31 carries and Jeff Thiel caught four passes for 55 yards. Free safety Ben Bleumle had 14 tackles (12 solo) for the ‘Hurst. Ashland will play at Northern Michigan next Saturday (Oct. 9, 1 p.m.). |