Reed Rallies Wildcats Past Eagles, 35-27
October 9, 2004

Complete Box Score

Northern Michigan’s Superior Dome is a climate-controlled facility. Funny, but no one called a technician to the scene on Saturday (Oct. 9) when the Ashland University Eagles needed it most.

No emergency calls were filed as the temperature continued to rise on the AU sideline. The only call that went out was to Northern Michigan quarterback Kelly Reed, and he was the main culprit who turned up the heat on the Eagles.

Reed, a sophomore quarterback, completed 20 of 22 passes in the second half for 251 yards and four touchdowns to rally the Wildcats (2-4 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) to a 35-27 win over the Eagles. The loss was Ashland’s fourth straight and leaves the Eagles with a 2-5 record, 1-5 in the conference.

Reed roasted the AU defense in the second half. His touchdown passes covered 14, 7, 26 and 28 yards. Those last two TD tosses went to junior wide receiver Vincent Mayfield. The 26-yarder, along with a successful pass on the two-point conversion, gave NMU a 28-27 lead with 11:32 to play. Reed’s final numbers were 32 completions in 42 attempts for 352 yards and four touchdowns. He was sacked once.

Mayfield came into the game second in the GLIAC in receptions per game and he ended his afternoon with nine catches for 89 yards. On this day, however, he shared top billing with another junior wideout, Nick Mauthe. Mauthe had 14 catches for 220 yards and one score. Nine of Mauthe’s catches came in the second half when the Wildcats outscored the Eagles, 32-7.

“They took away our inside pressure,” lamented AU head coach Lee Owens in dissecting NMU’s second-half comeback. “They really made some nice adjustments. We had three freshmen playing in the secondary and we had to put them in positions where they had to cover somebody.”

In the first half, it appeared as if the best thing the Wildcats could do was take cover. The Eagles dominated the early going. Senior tailback Antwan Hart gave AU a 7-0 lead when he rambled five yards for a touchdown with 7:28 to play in the opening quarter. Senior linebacker Chris Campbell pushed the advantage to 14-0 when he picked up a fumble and raced 25 yards to the end zone with 3:00 remaining in the frame.

“We couldn’t have scripted a better start,” said Owens. “We wanted to take a lead into the locker room at halftime. We thought by then we’d be used to the turf and everything else and would play better in the second half.”

The Wildcats lost two fumbles in the first quarter and were probably one more AU score away from being buried for good. The Eagles used two field goals by junior Austin Wellock in the second quarter, from 33 and 34 yards, to take a 20-3 halftime lead.

The intermission may have been the worst thing that could have happened to the Eagles. That gave them time to sit and think.

“I told the team at halftime, we were ahead, 20-3 and it felt like we were behind, 20-3,” Owens said. “It looked like our guys were scared to be ahead. I stopped with the X’s and O’s and said it didn’t feel like we had the lead. It was like we were waiting for something bad to happen.”

Owens and the Eagles didn’t have to wait long. The Wildcats scored on their first five possessions of the second half.

“It could be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Owens, thinking back to halftime. “I’ve never been in such a tight locker room with such a big lead.”

Once the Eagles lost the momentum, getting it back was like trying to coax smoke into a bottle. AU’s one touchdown in the second half came with 13:29 to play in regulation, freshman tailback Jon Schroeder scoring on a 1-yard run. But the Eagles also lost a fumble and missed a 48-yard field goal in the second half.

Hart ended the game with 131 yards on 25 carries. He’s rushed for 816 yards this year and has gone past 100 yards rushing in six of seven games. Sophomore quarterback Nick Strance was 15-of-30 for 210 yards. This was his second consecutive 200-yard passing game and the second-highest yardage total of his career, trailing only the 237 yards he had last week.

Freshman wide receiver David Ziegelhofer had seven catches for 98 yards. Senior wide receiver Michael Hull had one grab for 40 yards and extended his streak of games with at least one pass reception to 32 games.

Junior linebacker Devin Conwell had 14 tackles (six solo) with two tackles for loss and an interception. Senior safety Aaron O’Reilly was in on 11 stops (seven solo) as was sophomore linebacker Allen Lattimore (five solo). Sophomore defensive back Chris Holland had 10 tackles (seven solo) and forced a fumble.

Ashland will be at home next Saturday (Oct. 16, 1 p.m.) hosting Hillsdale on Football Alumni Day.