No. 13 Eagle Football Tops Panthers, Wins First Great Midwest Title Outright

It was a perfect weather day to win a conference football championship – cold and the first snow of the season.
 
And the No. 13-ranked Ashland University football team enjoyed the day thoroughly, as thanks to a 41-10 win over Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday (Nov. 22) afternoon at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, coupled with Findlay's 27-25 win at Tiffin, the Eagles earned their first outright Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship.

"This is a special group of guys," said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. "Champions on the field, but also champions off the field, in classroom and in life in general. They inspire me. That's why I'm here, to be around guys that play on this team. I'm humbled to be around them, and have the chance to coach them."
 
The Eagles are 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the Great Midwest, while the Panthers' season ends at 2-9, 1-7.
 
Ashland football has now won 17 conference titles all-time, and the Eagles will look forward to their eighth NCAA Division II postseason appearance.
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• On Senior Day, the Eagles' honorees played a big role in the victory. Ashland took the opening drive of the game and marched 59 yards in 11 play, finishing it with a four-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Austin Brenner to sophomore tight end Nabil Abdus-Salaam.
• After the Panthers came back with a 42-yard field goal from kicker Blake Vivrette, the Eagles closed the first half leading 21-3 thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Brenner to senior wide receiver Logan Bolin – the first from 11 yards early in the second quarter, and the second from one yard out with 4:17 left until the break.
• Brenner and the Eagles wasted no time converting an interception from senior safety Jourdan Swett into another TD. Brenner found senior wide receiver Garrett Turnbaugh in the end zone for a 24-yard scoring strike and a 28-3 advantage.
• A fifth Brenner TD pass, to Turnbaugh again from a yard out, made it a 35-3 game – and tied Brenner for the school record for TD tosses in one game.
• Kentucky Wesleyan scored its only touchdown with 4:04 to go in the third quarter when quarterback Christian Arrambide found wide receiver Peyton Peters for a 20-yard score.
• Ashland wrapped up the victory with a one-yard touchdown plunge from junior fullback Garret Niss with 13 seconds remaining.

 
THE WRAP-UP

• Every other completion for Brenner on Saturday was a touchdown pass – 10-of-14 for 112 yards and five TDs.
• "It's everything that we all came back for," Brenner said. "Obviously, the Lord has blessed us to make that true. We're going to enjoy it. A lot of prayer in coming back, and so much of why I came back was because of the guys around me, who also had to make decisions to come back. A lot of guys made a lot of sacrifices to have a special season."
• Junior tailback Larry Martin ran 18 times for 135 yards, and earned his first collegiate 1,000-yard campaign.
• "It's hard to describe, honestly," Martin said. "I'm just happy we could come out and get the win today."
• Bolin has caught four touchdown passes the last two weeks, and has 22 TD receptions as an Eagle.
• "Coming back, we were all hungry for this," said Bolin. "It feels great to be here. We knew what we were capable of. We put it all together."

 
UP NEXT
The NCAA Division II football tournament selection show on Sunday (Nov. 13) at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. In addition, the Ashland University Campus Store will have Great Midwest championship merchandise available for purchase online at www.ashlandbookstore.com shortly.