Box Score
The Air Raid attack had to yield to Ground Round.
Saturday at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, the Ashland University Eagles ran over, around and through Tiffin for a season-high 385 yards. That was the difference in the game as the Eagles downed the Dragons, 49-30. The win allows the Eagles to finish the year at 5-5, 5-4 in the GLIAC.
Junior tailback Anthony Taylor rushed for 237 yards on 33 carries and set the school single-season rushing record. Taylor finishes the season with 1,691 yards to easily eclipse Jason Schwalm's mark of 1,494 yards, set in 2005.Schwalm played in 11 games that year and had 306 carries. Taylor played in 10 games and had 282 attempts.
Freshman running back Vance Settlemire had a season-high 141 yards on 14 carries Saturday. Taylor scored three times and Settlemire reached the end zone twice. This was the first time two AU players rushed for over 100 yards in a game since last season when Jordan McCune and Justin White-Reid did it against Notre Dame. Saturday's rushing total is AU's highest since that game against NDC when AU had 422 yards on the ground.
"It was back to the one-two punch we had with McCune," said AU head coach Lee Owens, thinking back to the last two years when Taylor and McCune shared the tailback spot. "He (Settlemire) told me before the game, 'This is the first time I've felt healthy in three weeks."
"He (Taylor) showed some toughness, perseverance," added Owens. "You carry the ball close to 300 times, you imagine how many times you get hit. To break the record in 10 games and with fewer carries, that's impressive."
All game long the Eagles pounded away at a Tiffin defense Owens referred to as "salty." The Eagles had scoring drives of 54, 90, 93, 82, 83, 75 and 75 yards. Ashland led in time of possession, 35:23-24:37. When the Dragons (2-8/1-7) did get the ball, they had to feel a sense of urgency to make up for lost time. That may have contributed to the three interceptions the Eagles were able to claim.
The game started with a wind that gusted to 20 miles per hour. That made throwing the ball consistently difficult. Tiffin lives by the pass and the worst thing an air attack can encounter is wind. The Eagles handled those gales pretty well. Quarterback Tra'Von Chapman completed 11-of-20 passes for 212 yards. His favorite target was wide receiver Dan Piko, who had six catches for a career-high 155 yards.
"We had some posts early to Piko that opened up the running game more than you can imagine," Owens said.
Ashland finished with a season-high 615 yards of total offense. The Eagles were of 5-of-10 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down.
"Early on we struggled with the wind," said Piko. "We were struggling with down-the-field throws. But then we settled down. I don't know if the wind settled down or Tra settled down."
AU led, 14-7 after one quarter and 21-7 at halftime. Settlemire and Taylor had scoring runs in the third quarter to make it 35-7 heading into the season's final 15 minutes.
This was the third game this season Taylor rushed for 200 or more yards. It was the fourth time in his career he reached that plateau. This game, however, will be the one that sticks out in his mind because he put his name in the record book.
"It was nice, everyone got on their blocks and held their blocks," said the junior. "It (record) was in the back of my mind. I really wanted to get it, but I was just playing."
Taylor is the first AU back to enjoy two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since J.R. McCoy in 2000 and 2001.
Tiffin did strike for 23 points in the fourth quarter, but AU never lost control of the game. Tiffin quarterback Antonio Pipkin was 30-of-44 for 376 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Tyler Jones had eight catches for 136 yards and Macuc Beaurem caught eight passes for 41 yards.
Owens said those late points will be addressed during the offseason when he looks for ways to improve AU's ability to cover and defend the pass. On the other side of the ball, players and coaches both believe that this game demonstrates what the future will look like. Much of that starts with Chapman at quarterback.
"To see how far he's grown gives me hope for next year," said Piko.
"This is a building block for us," Taylor said. "We'll work hard in the offseason and get ready for next season."
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