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Lakers Top Eagles in
Defensive Struggle, 14-10 |
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Early Sunday afternoon is when the Ashland University football team normally reports to the training room to get treatment from the previous day’s game. Considering the physical nature of Saturday night’s (Sept. 17) Ashland-Grand Valley State game at Community Stadium, there could be a line out of the door when trainer Jeremy Hancock arrives.
However, there’s nothing in the AU medicine locker to heal what will ail the Eagles the most. There’s no aspirin or ointment to lessen the heartache that comes with dropping a 14-10 cliffhanger to the Lakers, ranked second in the country. Quarterback Cullen Finnerty found tight end Jeremy Cochrane with a 45-yard touchdown pass with 8:06 to play in regulation and that sent Grand Valley State (4-0/4-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) past the Eagles (3-1/2-1). Finnerty’s second TD pass of the game wiped out a 10-7 Ashland lead. That marked the first time the Lakers had trailed in the fourth quarter this season. “We’re never proud of the result, it’s not good enough when you don’t win,” sighed AU head coach Lee Owens. “But I’m real proud of the effort.” The Lakers scored the game’s first touchdown when Finnerty found wide receiver Eric Fowler with a 12-yard pass scoring pass with 14:55 left in the first half. Even though the Ashland offense couldn’t get into the end zone all night, the Eagles took the lead. Rock Lewis picked up a blocked punt and ran 6 yards for a touchdown and Heath Studer kicked a 22-yard field goal. Studer’s field goal gave the Eagles a 10-7 lead with 10:22 remaining in regulation. After that three-pointer, GVSU marched 60 yards in 13 plays for the winning score. Finnerty’s winning touchdown pass came on a third-and-9 play from the Ashland 45. The GVSU quarterback was flushed out of the pocket and was running for his life when he found a wide open Cochrane near the end zone. When Finnerty vacated the pocket, the AU secondary inched forward. That brought trouble. “We had man coverage,” explained Owens, “and the quarterback started to break away. Again, we didn’t make many mistakes out there tonight, but that was a big one.” The Eagles did make mistakes on offense, but more on that in a minute. As for the AU defense, it batted around a potent GVSU offense that came to town as the No. 1 unit in the conference. The Eagles limited tailback Astin Martin to 70 yards on 16 carries. Martin, a transfer from Toledo, had rushed for over 100 yards in each of the first three games. Finnerty completed 14 of 28 passes for 208 yards and Fowler had nine receptions for 104 yards. The Lakers outgained the Eagles, 344-225. But on third down GVSU was five of 15 and the Lakers couldn’t convert on a pair of fourth-down tries. It was a group effort that slowed down the Lakers. Senior safety Devin Conwell had eight tackles, a pass breakup and a blocked punt. Senior linebacker Brady Miller recorded seven tackles (six solo) and junior linebacker Allen Lattimore had his name called seven times (three solo). Lattimore also had AU’s lone quarterback sack. Defensive back Justin Hood posted four tackles (all solo), a forced fumble and two pass breakups. “He (Martin) is as good a running back as there is in college football,” said Owens. “I thought we shut him down pretty well. I though we got good pressure.” What will cause the AU head coach to frown are blown chances. For starters, the AU offense didn’t reach the end zone and the Eagles were five of 17 on third down. The Eagles missed two short-range field goals – from 32 and 27 yards. “Against a really good defensive team like Grand Valley, you have to take advantage of every opportunity,” lamented Owens. “I knew it would catch up with us.” What the Eagles must do now is regroup quickly. As painful as the loss to Grand Valley is, the turnaround is only seven days before AU has to fly to Houghton, MI, to play Michigan Tech. The Huskies have one of the top ground games in the country and are off to a 3-0 start. Tech was idle Saturday. Next week’s game will mark the second straight week the Eagles have squared off against an undefeated, nationally-ranked foe. “I tried to build on the positives,” said Owens, when asked what he said to the Eagles after the game. “But it’s always hard when there’s a defeat.” Just one more painful part of the game for which the only medicine is winning. |