Eagles Roll Over Hawks On Record-Filled Afternoon

Ashland University's football team's first win in almost two full calendar years was a record-breaking and record-tying one.
 
On Saturday (Sept. 25) afternoon at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Stadium, the Eagles earned win No. 1 of the 2021 season, 63-23, over Quincy. The Eagles are 1-2, the Hawks 2-2.
 
"It's been two years since we won a football game," said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. "It's been a long time. All the work we do, players and coaches alike, that's really your only reward in the game. We've waited a long time for this one."
 
Ashland missed the entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning its last victory came on Nov. 16, 2019 at home vs. Northern Michigan (31-10).
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• On their first possession, the Eagles drove 70 yards to take a 7-0 lead when junior quarterback Austin Brenner found junior wide receiver Garrett Turnbaugh for a 25-yard scoring pass.
• Quincy countered on its next drive with a 24-yard field goal from kicker Michael Klotz, cutting the AU lead to 7-3 with 4:24 to go in the opening quarter. Ashland, however, scored its second TD of the opening stanza when Brenner found sophomore wide receiver Jake McLaughlin for an 8-yard touchdown toss.
• Ashland extended its lead early in the second quarter to 21-3 when sophomore tailback Larry Martin went in on a five-yard scoring run. The Hawks, however, weren't about to go away, as quarterback Tionne Harris found wide receiver Eugene Witherspoon for a 71-yard TD pitch-and-catch to make it a 21-9 contest.
• The Eagles kept coming themselves, and posted their fourth score of the first half on a read-option touchdown run of six yards by Brenner. Ashland led 28-9 with 7:30 left until the break.
• Quincy cut its deficit to 28-16 on a shovel pass sweep from Harris to wide receiver Angel Ruiz which covered two yards and came with 2:55 left in the half. Brenner once again responded, as his 18-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Keshun Jones put AU ahead 35-16.
• Ashland's five scoring drives in the first two quarters covered 70, 86, 82, 70 and 75 yards.
• Brenner's fourth touchdown pass of the game – and fifth touchdown accounted for – came 2:09 into the second half, when he hit Turnbaugh for a 37-yard score. Then he ran in from 14 yards out at the 6:06 mark of the third quarter to increase the Eagles' advantage to 49-16.
• Harris scrambled in for a six-yard scoring run with 2:56 left in the third to get within 26 points at 49-23. Brenner, however, came back with a 32-yard TD pass to sophomore tailback Gei'vonni Washington to make it 56-23 – his program-record-tying fifth scoring strike and his seventh TD accounted for.
• Martin then scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to close out the scoring, a four-yard jaunt with 5:50 left in the game.

 
NOTES

• Ashland set a new program record for first downs in a game with 35, and was close to setting a new team standard for total offense yards (718, record is 721).
• Brenner was 21-for-25 for 327 yards passing with the five TDs and one interception, and ran for 56 yards and two scores. "It helps when you have great coaches putting together a great game plan," Brenner said. "Everything was just clicking today. Credit to the coaches for putting together a great plan."
• Washington ran for 118 yards on just 12 carries, and caught five passes for 46 yards and a score (he ended with 211 all-purpose yards), while Turnbaugh finished with eight grabs for 129 yards and his first two collegiate scoring grabs.
• "It feels great, going out there and just doing what I do," said Turnbaugh, who, in 2021, has more catches for more yards (19 for 289) than in all of 2019 (17 for 266). "We work a lot on just finishing, and we came out and did that today."
• Defensively, sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Barnett led the way with four solo tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland will begin Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday (Sept. 30) at 7 p.m. at Walsh (1-3), in a game to be played at Canton GlenOak High School.