ASHLAND – Holding onto sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic conference, the Ashland University football team travels to Michigan Saturday for its final road game of the 2017 season.
The Eagles (7-1, 6-0) take on Wayne State (3-5, 2-4) at noon Saturday in Detroit.
In the initial Division II super region rankings released this week, AU sits at No. 4 in Super Region Three. Seven teams in each super region make the D-II playoffs, with the top team receiving a first-round bye and the next three hosting first-round games. But Eagle coach Lee Owens isn’t worried about rankings with three games left in the regular season.
“We’re just trying to win the league championship,” Owens said. “We got caught up in the rankings last year, and we’re trying to avoid that trap this year.”
Offensively, the Warriors are led by junior quarterback D.J. Zezula, who has completed 58.5 percent of his passes for 1,161 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also has added 175 yards and a touchdown rushing. Sophomore wide receiver Darece Robinson has six touchdowns on just 18 catches. On the ground, senior running backs Romello Brown (597 yards, two touchdowns) and Demetrius Stinson (474 yards, four touchdowns) have carried the bulk of the rushing responsibility.
AU’s defense continues to keep opponents out of the end zone. The Eagles are second in the GLIAC and eighth in the NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 12.6 points allowed per game. Ashland is led by junior end James Prater Jr. and senior stud Austin Utter. Utter is the GLIAC sack leader with six and Prater Jr. is second with five. Prater Jr. also leads the GLIAC with 13 ½ tackles for loss. Sophomore outside linebacker Clay Shreve leads the Eagles with 49 total tackles and sophomore safety Nick Powers is second on the team with 39 total stops despite not starting a game.
Ashland ran for a season-high 294 yards last week at Tiffin and is averaging 220.8 yards over the past four games. The improved health of leading rusher Andrew Vaughn and fellow tailback Keishaun Sims has played a big role in the ground-game improvement. Vaughn leads the Eagle rushing attack with 768 yards, a 5.5 yard per carry average and eight touchdowns. Sims is up to 271 yards and four scores.
“We want to keep being balanced. That’s real important. If we continue to have that balance, we’re going to be hard to defend,” Owens said.
Senior quarterback Travis Tarnowski continues to lead the GLIAC in both passing yards (1,901 yards) and touchdown passes (22) and is second in passing efficiency (169.1). His top three targets are senior Matthew Wilcox (30 catches, 596 yards, five touchdowns), junior Kamaron Green (29 catches, 386 yards, five touchdowns) and redshirt freshman Logan Bolin (19 catches, 178 yards, three touchdowns).
For Wayne State’s defense, sophomore safety Kyle Toth is the leading tackler with 57 total tackles, to go along with 2 ½ tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. Junior linebacker Anthony Pittman is the Warriors’ top sacker (3 ½) and leader in tackles for loss (11 ½).
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