Box Score PAINESVILLE, Ohio – Some would say that Anthony Taylor spent all of Saturday afternoon (Oct. 5) running to daylight.
In reality, he was performing under the cover of darkness.
Taylor rushed for a school record 311 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries on a wet, overcast day at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium as the Eagles crushed Lake Erie, 62-10. The last three quarters of the game was played in a steady downpour. That did nothing to slow down Taylor.
"The guys up front deserve the credit," said Taylor. "All I did was run through the holes. I've never played in a game with holes like that."
For the first two years of his career, Taylor shared the starting job – and carries - with Jordan McCune. Now, with McCune out with an injury, some would say he's a ball hog.
His teammates and coaches would prefer the term, "workhorse."
"I asked him at halftime if he was OK and he said, 'Give it to me more," said AU head coach Lee Owens.
Taylor broke the school record of 292 yards, set by Jason Schwalm against Wayne State at Community Stadium in 2005. This was the third game of Taylor's career where he had 200 or more yards rushing. He has 844 yards through five games.
The Eagles established the school, single-game record for rushing touchdowns (eight). AU nearly had a school record for rushing yards. AU had 441 yards on the ground. The school record, which was set in 1970, is 447 yards against Otterbein.
"We blocked them hard and every wide receiver blocked well," said Owens. "To have a day like that everybody has to be into it. We did a good job of getting on our blocks and sustaining our blocks."
The school single-game record for touchdowns is six and in the first half on Saturday, it appeared that Taylor might get that mark, too. Ashland scored on its first four possessions and led, 10-0 after one quarter and 31-10 at halftime.
As impressive as Taylor was, he probably should share the headlines with the AU defense. The Eagles (2-3/2-2 GLIAC) shut out Lake Erie(1-4/1-3 GLIAC) in the first quarter and that's no easy feat – the Storm is one of the nation's most explosive units (seventh total offense, 11th rushing offense, 39.5 ppg.). For the game, AU forced four turnovers. Lake Erie turned the ball over on its first two possessions, giving the ball away on an interception and a fumble.
The defense limited LEC tailback Anthony Bilal to 64 yards on 18 carries. Bilal entered the game with 649 yards and an average of 162.2 ypg.
"We did a great job of containing him in the box," remarked Owens.
AU's first score was a 33-yard field goal by Anthony McCarthy. That was his second field goal of the season and it capped a 20-play, 55-yard drive. That march set the tone for the day. The Eagles were determined to prevent LEC from repeating last week when the Storm ran 110 plays. Ashland ran 77 plays compared to LEC's 70's. Thanks to the special teams, Lake Erie's average starting field position was its own 24-yardline.
Ashland's second drive resulted in Taylor's first touchdown of the day, a 56-yard run. In the second quarter he had scoring runs of 40, 1 and 13 yards. The Eagles had a 31-0 lead before the Storm rallied to get a field goal and a touchdown in the final 4:41 before halftime.
For the first time this season, the Eagles started Tra'Von Chapman at quarterback. The true freshman completed 8-of-13 passes for 104 yards.
After those final five minutes of the first half, it appeared that maybe Lake Erie could make it a game if it could come out and make some plays early in the third quarter. The Eagles didn't let that happen. McCarthy kicked a 20-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the quarter and with 3:19 to go in the quarter, Vance Settlemire ran 21 yards for a touchdown that upped the lead to 41-10.
Settlemire scored again with 33 seconds remaining in the quarter to push that Ashland advantage to 48-10. Settlemire finished with 96 yards on 13 carries.
AU scored 38 points in the first three weeks of the season. In the last two weeks the Eagles have scored 114 points. In this game, AU had a 36:00-24:00 edge in time of possession. That clock work and the ability to force turnovers loomed large against LEC.
"The ability to control the clock, that probably did more to disrupt them than anything else," said Owens. "Those two things - the clock and turnovers - are the only ways you stop them."
"We're starting to click," said Taylor. "We're figuring out what's working for us and what guys can do. The light's come on for us."
Ashland will host Ohio Dominican next Saturday (Oct. 12, 1 p.m.). ODU is ranked 23rd in the country and is undefeated entering Saturday night's game at Walsh.
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