ASHLAND — Last week’s loss didn’t derail Ashland University’s season, but the Eagles will walk a tightrope without the benefit of a security net for the final two weeks of the regular season.
One loss doesn’t exclude Ashland from a Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship or a playoff berth. Two losses almost certainly will.
AU (7-1, 5-1) heads for Painesville’s Jack Britt Memorial Stadium on Saturday for a showdown with Lake Erie. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
The Eagles are coming off a disheartening 36-20 loss at Hillsdale last week. Meanwhile, Tiffin throttled Northwood to move into a first-place tie with AU in the chase for the GMAC crown.
Ashland was second in this week’s Super Region One rankings behind undefeated Shepherd (9-0). The top seven teams in each of the four super regions qualify for the 28-team Division II playoffs. The No. 1 seed in each region gets a first-round bye.
Talk of conference championships and postseason berths has been tabled inside the Troop Center. AU’s entire focus has to be on the Storm.
“As soon as I grabbed the guys after (last week’s loss) I was like, ‘We’ve got to stop talking about the postseason. We’ve got to quit talking about rankings,’ ” Ashland coach Lee Owens said. “It doesn’t help us get ready for the next opponent. To read about how good we are, it takes a level of maturity to handle that.
“After we went through those two tough games at home against ODU and against Tiffin, I could sense there would be a letdown. There’s always a letdown when you think it’s going to get easier. It’s not going to get easier. It’s going to get harder.”
Lake Erie (3-6, 3-4) boasts the best offense in the GMAC.
Quarterback Gerald Gardner has completed 190-of-322 passes for 2,599 yards and 20 touchdowns. He leads the league in attempts, completions, yards, touchdown passes and passing yards per game (288.8). Receiver Peyton Brown is one of only two receivers in the GMAC averaging more than 100 yards per game (109.8). Brown has 54 catches for 878 yards and eight touchdowns. Nate Dantley has 46 catches for 668 yards and two TDs, while Jovohn Tucker has 36 grabs for 638 yards and eight scores.
“I don’t care what Lake Erie’s record is. They’re a good team,” Owens said. “We have to go in with the same mindset each week. That’s what great teams do and we didn’t do that last week.
“Hopefully we learned that lesson because this is a really good Lake Erie team. We’re not taking them lightly.”
Ashland counters with one of the top defenses in all of Division II. The Eagles lead the GMAC in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and passing defense. Linebacker and All-America candidate Michael Ayers has 59 tackles and three sacks. Deeb Alawan leads the GMAC with seven sacks.
AU out-gained Hillsdale last week, but the Eagles committed 10 penalties for 102 yards and had two costly fourth-quarter turnovers that resulted in 14 Hillsdale points.
“We didn’t help our cause,” Owens said. “We had a bunch of penalties that really hurt us at crucial times and we turned the ball over in the fourth quarter twice.”
Receiver Garrett Turnbaugh was an offensive bright spot, catching six passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Turnbaugh has three straight games with more than 100 receiving yards.
“He’s getting targeted a little more than he has in the past,” Owens said. “He’s playing with an energy. He’s consistently catching the ball and getting some yards after the catch.”
Larry Martin continues to be one of the top rushers in the GMAC, averaging 81.8 yards per game. Martin’s workload has increased as starting tailback Gei’vonni Washington continues to work his way back from injury.
“We’d like to get Gei’vonni Washington back. We miss our big-play tailback,” Owens said. “In a game like we played last week, you can only deliver so many body punches but when you’re not getting the other team off the field, you’ve got to throw some knockout punches.
“Those are the kinds of games where you need those home-runs hitters. Having him healthy bring a whole new dynamic to our offense.”
The lessons learned in last week’s loss should serve the Eagles well, Owens said.
“I hope we’re as upset as we were after that game,” Owens said. “We keep that emotion and go into that stadium with the same mindset, realizing we have to play with a different level of intensity than we did last week.”
