ASHLAND – With four games left, the Ashland University football team is in strong position for a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and a postseason berth. But before they can look ahead, they have to take care of business Saturday when they travel to Tiffin for a GLIAC contest with plenty of conference and playoff implications.
Ashland (6-1, 5-0) and Grand Valley State are tied atop the GLIAC while Tiffin (5-2, 4-1) and Ferris State are tied a game back.
The Eagles, who have won six straight games, are looking to avenge last season’s 35-32 road loss to the Dragons.
“We’re excited to go back to Tiffin and play,” said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. “We didn’t play well there last year, we didn’t coach well there. They had a great game plan and their players played real hard, and they beat us, simple as that.
“They definitely got the attention of our players and coaches.”
The Dragons are coming off a 35-24 home win against Northern Michigan and has won five of its last six games.
Tiffin’s offense is lead by redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Watson, who has completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,435 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has added 255 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Sophomore running back Jaquan Hardy paces the Dragons with 696 yards rushing and five scores. The receivers are led by seniors Tony Shead Jr. (24 catches, 307 yards, three touchdowns) and Charles Holland (20 catches, 284 yards, three touchdowns).
Ashland’s defense has posted two shutouts in the past three games and allowed a total of just 16 points in the past four games. The Eagles are the second-best scoring defense in the GLIAC (11.0 ppg) and are led by a wide array of players. AU’s 13 sacks have come from eight different players and its 45 tackles for loss have been by 22 players. Ten players have at least 20 total tackles.
Sophomore inside linebacker Clay Shreve leads AU with 44 total tackles, and has added 4 ½ for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. Sophomore safety Nick Powers is second with 35 total tackles despite not starting a game.
Offensively, senior quarterback Travis Tarnowski continues his attack on the AU record book. In last Saturday’s 48-0 Homecoming win over Michigan Tech, he became the first Ashland player to reach both 100 career touchdowns and 10,000 career passing yards.
“It lets me sit back for a second and think how far I came from where I was when I first got here, or even in high school,” Tarnowski said after the game. “I never would have thought that this is where I’d be now. It’s been a dream come true.”
Black River grad Andrew Vaughn leads the Eagles rushing attack with 593 yards and six touchdowns, and is also the team’s third leading receiver with 18 grabs.
Kamaron Green (29 catches, 386 yards) and Matthew Wilcox (27 catches, 568 yards) lead the AU receivers with five receiving touchdowns.
The Dragons’ defense has been led by sophomore linebacker Brandon Burks, who has 61 total tackles and 10 ½ for loss, and also has 4 ½ sacks. Tiffin leads the GLIAC with 20 sacks and is second in the conference in pass defense (145.6 ypg).
Ashland kicker Aidan Simenc is fourth on the all-time scoring list at 260 points and could possibly jump to second place against Tiffin. Simenc sits six points behind Vance Settlemire and 10 points behind Anthony Taylor. Gregg Berkshire is in first place on the list with 323 points.
Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.
