Owens, Conwell Lead AU’s GLIAC Football Honorees
November 9, 2005

Don’t be too harsh on Ashland University head coach Lee Owens. He’s putting an exclamation point at the beginning of a sentence. That might not be traditional punctuation, but it’s pretty hard to argue with much of what Owens does these days.

At least the AU head coach instructed senior safety Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C.) on the finer points of sentence structure. Conwell’s put his exclamation point at the end.

Confused? Don’t be. Owens, who is really just starting his Ashland University career, emphatically put an exclamation point on his second season by being named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coach of the year Wednesday (Nov. 9). Conwell, who’s completed his eligibility at AU, goes out in dramatic and emphatic fashion as he was named the GLIAC defensive back of the year.

GLIAC coaches voted for both awards. In the other major awards, Saginaw Valley State linebacker John DiGiorgio was the player of the year, Northwood center Luke Krombach was the freshman of the year, Grand Valley State quarterback Cullen Finnerty was the offensive back of the year and GVSU’s Josh Bourke was the offensive lineman of the year.

Grand Valley State’s Michael McFadden was the defensive lineman of the year.

Owens guided the Eagles to a 9-2 finish in 2005. That’s the most wins the Eagles have had since the 1997 team won nine times. In the two seasons before Owens arrived on campus, the Eagles went 2-9. A year ago, he lifted the program to a 5-6 finish. Both years he’s been at AU, the school single-season rushing record has been broken. This year’s team is second in the country in scoring defense, eighth in total defense and ninth in rush defense. The Eagles closed out the season with a six-game winning streak.

Conwell is a first team All-GLIAC selection for the second straight year. He’s the first AU player to be the league’s defensive back of the year since Ron Greer won the award in 1991. This was Conwell’s first year in the secondary – he played linebacker his previous two seasons at AU. He had 79 tackles (36 solo) and three interceptions. He brought one of those picks back 98 yards for a touchdown. A year ago, Conwell led the nation in solo tackles. His presence gave the Eagles one of the top defenses in the country.

Conwell was joined on the first team All-GLIAC unit by senior running back Jason Schwalm (Kenosha, WI/Dublin Coffman), senior offensive lineman Blake Dickson (North Canton, OH/Jackson), junior defensive lineman Kyle Zelazny (Westerville, OH/Westerville South) and junior linebacker Brady Miller (Cincinnati, OH/Elder).

Schwalm set AU single-season records for carries (306) and rushing yards (1,494). He averaged 4.9 ypc., and had over 200 yards rushing in a game twice this year. Schwalm, the GLIAC leader in rushing, had a school single-game record of 292 yards rushing against Wayne State. This is the first time he’s been a first team All-GLIAC choice.

Dickson is also on the first team for the first time. He’s been the Eagles’ most consistent lineman the past two seasons. A year ago, he was second team all-conference. In 2003, Dickson was honorable mention All-GLIAC.

This is the first time Zelazny has been on the GLIAC first team. He was AU’s most active defensive lineman in 2005. Zelazny finished with 33 tackles (24 solo) and three sacks. He had 5.5 tackles for loss.

Miller led the Eagles in tackles with 98 stops (56 solo). He had five sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery. Miller calls all the defensive signals for the Eagles. This is the first time he’s been an All-GLIAC pick. The Cincinnati product broke Conwell’s hold on the tackles lead, Conwell led the club in stops the last two years. Miller averaged 8.9 tackles per game this season.

Ashland’s second team selections include senior tight end Brian Mong (Columbus, OH/Watterson), who was recognized as an H-back, senior wide receiver Dalorean White (Warrensville, OH/Erie C.C.) and junior linebacker Allen Lattimore (Dayton, OH/Colonel White).

Mong was third on the team in pass receptions (17) and his blocking played a large role in Schwalm’s record-setting season. White was exceptional in several facets of the game. He caught a team-high 53 passes for 829 yards (15.6 ypc.) with six touchdowns. He returned 11 kickoffs and averaged 23.3 ypr. White rushed 16 times for 157 yards, an average of 9.8 ypc. The senior played at AU for two years and caught at least one pass in every game he played (22 games).

Lattimore is one of the quickest linebackers in the GLIAC. He was an honorable mention all-conference choice in 2004. He finished this season with 75 tackles (33 solo), four sacks and eight tackles for loss.

Ashland’s All-GLIAC honorable mention selections are junior offensive lineman Vince Cashdollar (Newark, OH), senior long snapper Ray Frisbee (North Canton, OH/GlenOak), senior linebacker Jeremy Crabtree (Pickerington, OH), junior defensive back Chris Holland (Youngstown, OH/Rayen) and sophomore defensive lineman Chris Meyer (Akron, OH/Walsh Jesuit).

Cashdollar is AU’s starting center. He took over that role midway through last season. Frisbee, who also plays baseball at AU, had been the long snapper for four seasons.

Crabtree had a breakout season in 2005, posting 65 tackles (42 solo). He led the team in interceptions (four) and was second in tackles for loss (11) and sacks (six). Holland had 52 tackles (37 solo) and five pass breakups. Meyer, the son of AU defensive coordinator Jim Meyer, was in on 22 tackles (13 solo). He tied for second on the team in sacks (six), recovered a pair of fumbles, forced a fumble and blocked a kick. Meyer had 7.5 tackles for loss.