EDITOR’S NOTE: The Ashland University sports information department contributed to this report.
ASHLAND — What a difference a week makes.
Last Saturday the Ashland University football team fell to Findlay 14-3 in a game most considered the title tilt for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference as both squads entered the clash undefeated.
Alas the Eagles shook off that disappointment on Saturday to pound Lake Erie College 34-14 in the regular-season finale.
Meanwhile, Findlay was upset by Tiffin, 23-21 in dramatic fashion, leaving AU tied with the Oilers for the GMAC championship. The Dragons drove 94 yards in nine plays and in just 49 seconds. Tiffin won the game with a walk-off, 13-yard touchdown pass from Alex Johnson to Jaedyn McKinstry.
Meanwhile, this marks Ashland’s third GMAC crown and its 19th league championship overall.
“I can’t express how proud I am of this group,” said Ashland head coach Doug Geiser. “I didn’t know that Tiffin had beaten Findlay until literally the end of the game. We didn’t come in today expecting that. We just wanted to win.
“I feel so proud of the kids and the coaches and support staff. It’s been a group effort, a team effort all the way through. It’s confirmation of all the hard work they put in.”
The 20th-ranked Eagles (9-2 overall, 8-1 in the GMAC) came into the game rated fourth in their region. This AU senior class is the first to go to the NCAA Division II postseason three times.
The Eagle senior class is also the first in program history to win at least nine games in four straight seasons.
“That’s quite a legacy this group has left,” Geiser said.
Ashland will find out its playoff assignment on Sunday at 6 p.m.
In this game, it took the Eagles just 1:16 to take the lead, as senior quarterback Cameron Blair found a wide-open freshman wide receiver D.J. Harvey for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
Blair then turned in Ashland’s longest run of 2025 when he took a delayed quarterback draw and went 68 yards to put AU on top, 14-0.
Following a short field on an Eagle fumble, Lake Erie (2-9, 2-7) cut its deficit in half at the 7:36 mark of the second quarter on a 3-yard TD run from running back Nick Mosley.
Inside of the two-minute mark, redshirt freshman kicker Manaki Watanabe‘s 44-yard field goal restored a double-digit lead for Ashland at 17-7. Then, despite a whipping wind, Watanabe hit a 37-yard field goal as the half ended for a 20-7 lead.
Freshman tailback Chris Maloney‘s 1-yard touchdown plunge moved the Eagles’ lead to 27-7.
Lake Erie, however, scored at the 5:51 mark of the third on a 52-yard scoring strike from quarterback Wrentie Martin to wide receiver Devin Morgan, making it a 27-14 contest.
Maloney punctuated the victory with a 19-yard scoring run with 1:40 to play.
Maloney ran 32 times for 196 yards and two touchdowns – all career highs.
“It’s been neat. He’s still even-keeled. That’s the neat part about it,” Geiser said. “The spark he gives us is tremendous.
“Whenever he touches the ball, you hold your breath, because he could go the distance.”
Local flavor
There is a heavy local flavor wearing purple and gold this autumn, with 13 north central Ohio athletes on the Ashland University football roster, including:
Redshirt junior Isaac Brooks (Madison), freshman Grayson Sasis (Madison), freshman Mekhi Bradley (Mansfield Senior), freshman M.J. Bradley (Mansfield Senior), freshman A.J. Bower (Northmor), sophomore Issaiah Ramsey (Shelby), freshman Karsen Homan (Shelby), junior Isaac Roop (Ashland), freshman Tyler Sauder (Ashland), freshman Logan Toms (Lucas), freshman Josh Byers (Danville), freshman Caleb Lucas (Danville), redshirt sophomore Kaden Riddle (Clear Fork),
Playoff talk
Ashland University’is in the No. 4 spot in the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 rankings for the second consecutive week, as announced by the NCAA on Monday (Nov. 10) night.
The NCAA Division II football tournament selection show will be at NCAA.com at 6 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 16).
Ashland football has played in the NCAA Division II postseason nine times (1986, 1997, 2007-08, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2024).
A 32-team tournament (eight teams in each of four super regions), the Division II postseason will begin on Nov. 22. The 2025 NCAA Division II football national championship game will be in McKinney, Texas, on Dec. 20.
In Super Region 3, there is automatic qualification from four conferences – Great Midwest, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
There are 39 teams in the super region eligible for postseason play – 10 from the Great Midwest, 13 from the Northern Sun, nine from the GLVC and seven from the GLIAC.