AU Notebook: Well-Schooled Chargers Tough to Handle
October 15, 2005

Don’t be too harsh when evaluating the Ashland University offense.

Saturday (Oct. 15) at Hillsdale, the Eagles had to contend with wind that made throwing the ball difficult and a Hillsdale defense that hit everything that moved.

“They came out and played like it was their Super Bowl,” said AU quarterback Nick Strance. “They wanted to spoil our season. We got the big run for a touchdown and then we got some key first downs at the end. We pulled it out.”

Hillsdale deserves a lot of credit for staying the course at this point of the season. Over the last four weeks, Hillsdale has played Saginaw Valley State, Northwood, Grand Valley State and Ashland. After Saturday’s action, SVSU and Northwood have one loss apiece, Grand Valley State is unbeaten and AU has two setbacks. During this stretch, HC also lost its starting quarterback for the season due to injury.

Saturday, the Charger defense was outstanding. AU offensive line coach Doug Geiser was particularly impressed with defensive end Andrew Daugherty (five tackles), saying he’d get his vote as a first team All-GLIAC selection.

Much of the AU offense had similar praise for the Chargers.

“Their front line was pretty good,” said senior wide receiver Dalorean White.

“They played well, especially against the run,” said senior tailback Jason Schwalm, who had 61 yards on 20 carries. “We changed it up a bit, ran ISO a lot more. They adjusted well at halftime.”

AU head coach Lee Owens wasn’t distraught over the way the offense played either.

“I still think we’re doing some good things,” offered the AU head coach. “You don’t want to panic. We never gave them the short field and we didn’t turn it over.”

What all of this may add up to is that Hillsdale is a very solid defensive team. AU recorded its two best total offense days of the season the last two weeks. The Eagles came into the Hillsdale game with a proficient offense. They didn’t come apart in one week, but they ran into a strong, well-coached defense.

“We’ll be a lot better next week,” promised White. “This re-focused us.”

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Since last year’s Hillsdale game, the Eagles are 9-3. During that stretch, the losses have come by three points (24-21) at Indianapolis in the last game of the 2004 season and this year at home to Grand Valley State (14-10) and at Michigan Tech (17-14). Both Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech were unbeaten and nationally ranked when AU played them. GVSU is still unbeaten and ranked first in the country.

As Owens said, he’s proud of the way the Eagles have played throughout the stretch. He believed the Eagles came out a bit flat at Hillsdale, but admitted that it’s hard to find fault with the way this team has played since the end of the 2004 campaign. Nevertheless, there’s no time to rest at this point.

“You have to play like your hair’s on fire every week,” noted Owens. “Don’t ever take the game for granted.”

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The Eagles haven’t permitted a sack over their last four games…Hillsdale didn’t score a point in the first quarter and Ashland has now outscored the opposition, 36-5 in the first quarter this season…linebacker Brady Miller had a team-high 11 tackles (10 solo) and two tackles for loss Saturday. Miller has 29 tackles over the last three weeks. Junior defensive back Chris Holland has 22 tackles over the last three weeks. Holland was in on six stops (five solo) at HC…sophomore cornerback Kelly Ajala got his second interception of the season….Owens praised the work of punter Trevor Wood, who was called upon eight times and averaged 38.1 ypp…AU’s opponent next week is Wayne State, coached by former Owens assistant Paul Winters. The Warriors won their second consecutive game Saturday, beating Findlay.