Box Score All week, Ashland University head football coach Lee Owens had worried that the Ferris State Welcome Wagon was really a bulldozer in disguise.
Owens has been to a number of housewarmings and he knew that the Eagles were stepping into a real hot box on Saturday (Sept. 15) at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich. This was the 2012 home opener for the Bulldogs and it was the home debut of first-year head coach Tony Annese. What better way for Annese to be introduced to the neighborhood, and for FSU fans to be welcomed back into frenzied fandom, than with a victory over the 22nd-ranked Eagles?
That didn't happen, but Owens was right, his Eagles (3-0/2-0 GLIAC) were stepping into a bonfire. The Eagles led, 23-0 at halftime, but found themselves hanging on for dear life in the fourth quarter before escaping with a 47-32 win.
Ashland is 3-0 (2-0 GLIAC) for the first time since 2005. Under Owens, the Eagles are 4-0 at FSU and have averaged 38.0 ppg., at Top Taggart Field.
This game featured a bevy of heroes on the AU side. Senior quarterback Taylor Housewright (Ashland, Ohio) completed 25-of-36 passes for a career-best 438 yards and four touchdowns. The TD total is one shy of the school record, which Housewright shares with Billy Cundiff. The yardage total is two yards shy of the school single-game record of 440 yards, set by Jeff Leopold against Grand Valley State in 1999 (Housewright's previous high was 330 yards last season at Lake Erie). Housewright also set a personal single-game high for completions (24 vs. Indianapolis, 2010).
Sophomore wide receiver Dan Piko (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist Academy) had six catches for 142 yards (23.7 ypc.). Piko tied his single-game high for receptions and smashed his single-game yards receiving mark (his previous high was 31 yards). Piko also locked down the game when he took an onsides kick and raced 43 yards for a touchdown with 36 seconds left in regulation. His kickoff return for a touchdown, the first of his career, came with AU in front, 40-32.
Redshirt freshman Cameron Casey (Rochester, Mich./Adams) was handling field goals and extra points for the first time in his career. Casey added these duties to his normal kickoff responsibilities because AU's regular kicker, Greg Gallaway (Ashland, Ohio), had an appendectomy this week. Casey went 2-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 31 and 29 yards and he was 5-for-6 on extra points. Every one of those points was needed on this night.
Freshman fullback Steve Nagy (Hudson, Ohio) is known for his blocking, but that skill may soon be overshadowed by his nose for the end zone. Against FSU, Nagy scored three touchdowns. He hauled in scoring passes of 18 and 7 yards and had a 1-yard scoring run. Nagy has scored a team-high five touchdowns. His touchdown run against the 'Dogs was his lone rushing attempt of the night.
A week after setting career highs for catches (five) and yards receiving (78), sophomore wide receiver Eric Thompkins (Canton, Ohio/South) eclipsed both figures with personal bests of six catches and 120 yards. Senior wide receiver Anthony Capasso (Columbia Station, Ohio/St. Edward) nearly joined the century club with five catches for 70 yards.
At halftime, few would have predicted a wild finish. Ashland led by 23 points and had the game in hand. But the Bulldogs scored 14 points in the first 6:20 of the second half to cut AU's lead to 23-14. The positive from an AU standpoint is that the Eagles never relinquished the lead in the second half and thanks to that big lead, they made an option team play from far behind, which is not easy. FSU rushed for 252 yards. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging a GLIAC-high 364.0 rushing yards per game.
The Eagles outgained the Bulldogs (2-1/1-1), 537-504. There were no turnovers in the game. In the final 15 minutes the teams combined to score 35 points.
Casey got rid of some butterflies early in the game when he kicked the first field goal of his college career, a 31-yarder with 8:30 left in the opening quarter. Housewright found Nagy with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 13:22 left in the first half and Casey's PAT made it 10-0.
Capasso caught his first touchdown pass of the season, a 6-yard strike, with 7:59 remaining in the half and even though Casey missed the extra point, Ashland had a comfortable, 16-0 advantage. With 1:22 to go before halftime Housewright threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nagy and the extra point gave AU that 23-point lead.
It says a good bit about FSU's grit that the Bulldogs didn't fold. They made it a game with those two quick scores early in the third quarter. The last of those, a 26-yard run by running back Skyler Stoker, cut the Ashland lead to 23-14. Stoker led all players in the game with 97 yards on 11 carries (8.8 ypc.). He came into the game averaging 97.0 ypg., which put him fourth in the conference.
With 36 seconds left in the quarter, Nagy ended a six-play, 60-yard march with his touchdown run and AU was ahead, 30-14. That seemed to restore order, but then FSU quarterback Jason Vander Laan connected with Kevin Guirand on a 31-yard TD pass and Vander Laan followed that throw with a run on the conversion to bring the Bulldogs to within, 30-22. Vander Laan rushed for 75 yards on 18 carries and completed 10-of-27 passes for 144 yards.
AU answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Housewright to tight end/fullback Logan Slavinski (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork) with 12:57 left in regulation and Ashland had a 37-22 lead. The catch was Slavinski's first of the season.
Back came the 'Dogs, quarterback Taylor Masiewicz finding Guirand with a 22-yard scoring pass. That made it 37-29, Ashland.
After that, the teams traded field goals, Casey was good from 21 yards and Austin Kantole was on target from 26 yards. That FSU field goal sliced Ashland's lead to 40-32 with 40 seconds left. The Bulldogs were out of timeouts and needed to recover an onsides kick to have any chance of winning. Piko's return foiled that strategy.
The Eagles will play at Northern Michigan next Saturday (Sept. 22, 2 p.m.). A victory there would give AU its first 4-0 start since 1991.
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