EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published by Ashland University’s Sports Information Department.

ASHLAND — Ashland University finally caught an odd break in an odd football season on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles earned a 42-41 victory over Lake Erie after The Storm scored a TD but hit the upright on a potential game-tying PAT with more than six minutes remaining. AU took the ball and never relinquished it to seal the win. 

Following the 42-41 win at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, who the first player to ring the victory bell? Injured junior quarterback Austin Brenner.

“We’ve been in so many close games where we played a lot better and didn’t win,” said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. “To be in a close game and really not have our best day, and get a couple breaks at the end and find a way to win a game, it feels good and we’re going to take it.

“Having Austin Brenner here’s a big deal. Homecoming is about family, and the Eagle football family, he’s such a big part of that. And to be able to give him the game football, it meant a lot to our team today.”

The Eagles improve to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, while the Storm are 4-4, 1-3.

WHAT HAPPENED

The Storm took the game’s first drive and went 64 yards in 11 plays, and went ahead 7-0 on a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gerald Gardner to wide receiver Nate Dantley.

Ashland didn’t waste any time countering, tying the game on its first possession. Sophomore tailback Larry Martin scored on a five-yard run to cap a 10-play, 62-yard drive. Martin then ended the next drive with his second scoring jaunt of the first quarter, an 11-yarder, for a 14-7 Eagle advantage.

Lake Erie came back for the second tie of the game at the 14:09 mark, as Gardner found tight end Jack Howard for a one-yard score.

The Eagles took the lead once more with 8:39 left until halftime, when junior safety Justin Moore took a bouncing punt 67 yards to the end zone for a 21-14 advantage. The Storm came back on the ensuing drive and knotted the score for a third time on a one-yard TD dive from Devin Brown.

Freshman quarterback Trent Maddox found junior wide receiver Malik Wooldridge in stride for a 53-yard scoring strike to once again give the Eagles the lead at 28-21 with 1:50 left to the break. The first-half pattern continued with 22 seconds left, as Gardner found Josh Hufstetler for the tying 28-yard touchdown toss.

In the game’s first 30 minutes, the two teams ran up 56 points, 29 first downs and 470 yards of offense.

After the Eagles punted on their first drive of the second half, the Storm missed a 25-yard field goal. The scoring pace for both teams slowed down considerably, then Lake Erie went up 35-28 after a Gardner-to-Eric Daniels 15-yard scoring strike with 2:01 to go in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Ashland got back even again – the fifth tie of the contest – when senior fullback Austin Williams dove in from a yard out. Sophomore tailback Gei’vonni Washington then went 16 yards on a handoff for the go-ahead score at 42-35 following an interception by junior defensive tackle Curtis Roupe.

Lake Erie scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Gardner to Daniels, but the extra point hit the left goalpost – leaving the Storm down by a point with 6:08 to play. Ashland proceeded to run the clock out for its third win of the season. 

NOTES

Martin (15 carries, 138 yards, two TDs) and Washington (18 carries, 100 yards, one TD) each reached the century mark in rushing, as the Eagles ran for 297 yards as a team.

Junior linebacker Michael Ayers once again paced the AU defense, recording 12 total tackles and two stops for loss.

In addition to the punt return score, Moore added 10 total tackles.

UP NEXT

Ashland will finish the home portion of the 2021 schedule on Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. against Hillsdale (4-4, 3-1).