Football Falls At Home To Panthers, 34-24

It was a tough night in more ways than one for Ashland University's football team on Saturday (Oct. 9).
 
A 34-24 loss to Ohio Dominican at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field put the Eagles at 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. But that wasn't the only reason for a quiet and somber locker room in the Robert Troop Center.
 
Junior quarterback Austin Brenner was lost in the first quarter due to injury, and the Eagles' on-field leader did not return.
 
"Just talked to the team. Just to see their faces and the hurt and the pain that they are experiencing right now," said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. "And to imagine that they played with that for almost the whole game is a pretty incredible testament to who they are, and to what they will do moving forward.
 
"I've done this for a long time, and I've seen injuries. It's one of the worst parts of this game. I don't know if I've ever had one hurt as badly as this one did. The season that he's having, first of all, and how it was looking for him leading our offense. But more than that, he's the toughest competitor on our team, he's the heartbeat of our team, he's the spiritual leader of our team, he's a two-time captain. We go as he goes, and then you lose him. It's just really, really difficult."
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Ashland took the opening drive and went 75 yards to take an early 7-0 lead. Brenner found junior wide receiver Garrett Turnbaugh in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring strike.
• The Panthers (5-1, 2-0) tied the game at 7 with a 14-play, 77-yard drive which culminated with quarterback Evan Ernst hitting wide receiver David Turner with a 10-yard touchdown toss of their own. ODU then took a 10-7 lead with 1:43 left in the first period on a 35-yard Jed Quackenbush field goal.
• Ashland rallied just 2:45 into the second quarter on the right arm of freshman backup quarterback Trent Maddox, who put the Eagles up 14-10 with a 13-yard touchdown pass-and-run to junior wide receiver Malik Wooldridge.
• Ernst ran in from three yards out with 7:10 to go until the break to put the Panthers ahead 17-14.
• The lead changed hands once again with 6:30 to go in the third period, when sophomore tailback Larry Martin capped off a 14-play, 73-yard drive with a one-yard scoring plunge.
• On the first play of the fourth quarter, Ernst gave the Panthers the lead again at 24-21 via a one-yard TD pass to tight end Spencer Klopfenstein.
• The game's second tie came with 8:44 left in regulation, as junior kicker Storm Elsesser hit a 44-yard field goal to knot the score at 24. Quackenbush, however, hit a 41-yarder at the 5:49 mark to put ODU back ahead, 27-24.
• Ashland got the ball back one last time with 50 seconds left and no time outs. A sack fumble recovered by defensive lineman Jaylin Garner for a five-yard score, however, capped the ODU victory.

 
NOTES

• Junior linebacker Michael Ayers had a big game, racking up 19 total tackles (10 solo), 2½ tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
• The Eagles ran for 214 yards as a team, with the biggest chunks coming from sophomore tailbacks Eli Potts (eight carries, 70 yards), Gei'vonni Washington (11 for 67) and Martin (12 for 62).

 
UP NEXT
Ashland will stay in Great Midwest play and go to Tiffin (4-2, 1-1) on Saturday (Oct. 16) at 1 p.m.