White, Hart Bring AU Back for 28-21 Win at Wayne State
October 23, 2004

Complete Game Stats

The freeway, I-94 to be exact, passes just behind Wayne State Stadium’s Adams Field. The intent of that layout is to ensure easy in, easy out access to that part of Detroit.

Unfortunately for the Ashland University Eagles, the Wayne State football team hasn’t caught on to that theory. For three quarters Saturday (Oct. 23) afternoon, the Warriors put the Ashland running game into the kind of snarl that’s normally seen during the Motown rush hour.

The Warriors clogged the line of scrimmage with defenders, shutting down the AU running game and that left the Eagles looking flatter than Kansas. On the first play of the fourth quarter, WSU running back Chris Middlebrooks scored his third touchdown of the day on a 6-yard run to give the Warriors a 21-7 lead. If the Eagles had a pulse at that point, you needed a hearing aid to detect it.

“We didn’t play good football at all,” lamented AU sophomore quarterback Nick Strance of the first three quarters. “We weren’t playing like we did last week. We wanted to make some big plays. We had to capitalize on opportunities.”

Strance and junior wide receiver Dalorean White did that twice and that got the Eagles back in the game. With 11:07 left in regulation, Strance heaved a 50-yard bomb to White down the left sideline for a touchdown that bought the Eagles to within 21-14. On the next AU series, the two repeated the play, this time from 66 yards out and the score was tied, 21-21.

The comeback was completed with 38 seconds to play in regulation when senior tailback Antwan Hart scored his second touchdown of the day, on a 1-yard run, to finish off a 10-play, 87-yard march that gave the Eagles their final margin of victory, 28-21.

Ashland has won two consecutive games for the first time since the 2002 season and the Eagles are 4-5, 3-5 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Eagles have two games remaining – at home next Saturday with Findlay and at Indianapolis in two weeks. If the Eagles can run the table and win both, they’d finish above .500 for the first time since 2001.

For most of Saturday afternoon, that didn’t look like a promising possibility. WSU (1-7/1-7) sold out to stop the run and the Eagles couldn’t generate a passing game to make the Warriors pay for that strategy. In the first half, AU was 2 of 8 on third down and Strance was 6 of 13 passing for 53 yards and one interception.

That all changed early in the fourth quarter when White got one-on-one coverage and turned around the Warriors and the game.

“We knew when we got the wind back in the fourth quarter we had to take advantage of it,” said Owens, of the 16-miles-per-hour breeze and the WSU plan of putting seven and eight men at the line of scrimmage. “Nick made great throws.”

On the first touchdown pass to White, Strance was under extreme pressure. He threw the ball high and far, allowing White time to run under it. On the second TD score, White was being interfered with, but that didn’t stop him from pulling in the pass and racing away from the defense.

“I saw the safeties down in the box,” said Strance of the scoring passes. “Coach made two great calls, it was off play action. He had one-on-one coverage and I just threw it up. Once I saw the defense, I knew he was going to be open. That’s a great individual effort by Dalorean.”

White finished with four catches for 138 yards and Strance was 16 of 30 passing for 218 yards with two interceptions. As gaudy as those numbers are, after the Eagles pulled even, they relied on their usual mode of transportation – Hart. On the final drive, Hart carried eight times for 80 yards. He finished with 178 yards on 34 carries and has 1,108 yards for the year. Hart needs 308 yards in the last two games to break J.R. McCoy’s AU single-season rushing mark of 1,415 yards.

“We never felt we were out of the game,” said Hart. “We were squandering opportunities and we knew it was just a matter of time, we just had to make plays. They had eight, nine, even 10 guys in the box. Once we got those two big hitters they were back on their heels. Then we could play the waywe wanted, smash mouth football.”

While Owens and his staff would have preferred a little more decisive win, the AU head coach believes that this trial by fire may pay bigger dividends in the future.

“It’s harder on the coaches, but this may do more for you than a route,” noted Owens. “You’re down two touchdowns on the road, things aren’t going the way you want, there’s a tendency to start watching the minutes go off the clock. I didn’t sense that. We didn’t panic.”

Ashland had taken the early lead on a 6-yard run by Hart with 3:58 left in the first quarter. Middlebrooks had scoring runs of 6 and 3 yards in the second frame to put the Warriors ahead, 21-7 at halftime. Middlebrooks finished the game with 108 yards on 30 carries. Wide receiver Gary Frisby had four catches for 82 yards. WSU quarterback Nolan Martin was 16 of 33 passing for 262 yards. AU sacked him twice and sophomore defensive back Chris Holland intercepted one Martin pass.

AU senior wide receiver Michael Hull caught six passes and has caught at least one pass in 34 consecutive games. Junior linebacker Devin Conwell had 13 tackles (seven solo) and has had 10 or more tackles in his last six games.