Ashland came into Tiffin University ranked 15th in the nation while the Dragons were looking for their first victory. A big start and some Dragons’ missed opportunities helped the Eagles fly out of Frost-Kalnow Stadium with a 41-14 victory.
The
Eagles scored on the first three possessions of the game. After
receiving the opening kickoff, Ashland capped off a seven play 67 yard
drive with a touchdown when Billy Cundiff threw a nine yard pass to
Frank Cardone.
The Dragons’ first possession was short-lived.
Alvin McKnight returned the kickoff for 32 yards to the TU 44 yard
line, but on the first play, Dragons’ quarterback Nate Scully’s pass
was picked off by Quinton Scott. The Eagles took advantage of the short
field and scored on a Justin Ferguson rush from three yards out.
TU’s
next possession started on their 40 after Ashland’s kick sailed out of
bounds. Scully hit Greg Raspberry for an eight yard gain to start the
drive. One play later, Scully used a quarterback sneak to pick up 24
yards. The Dragons, however, couldn’t convert on fourth and two as
McKnight was tackled at the line of scrimmage. Ashland would take a
21-0 lead three plays later when Cundiff hooked up with the speedy
Carlin Isles for a 75 yard touchdown pass.
The Dragons
responded with a seven play 59 yard drive that would give them their
first points of the day when Brett Koepp scored from three yards out to
make it 21-7. The Dragons had moved to the three yard line after Scully
hit Chris Ivory for a 28 yard gain.
After The Eagles turned the
ball over on downs, the Dragons quickly moved down to the red zone
after Ivory rushed for a 42 yard gain, and Scully completed a 12 and
pass to Raspberry. The Dragons rushed three times for two yards to set
up a fourth and goal from the Eagles’ two. Dragons’ Head Coach Dave
Walkosky decided to keep his offense on the field, and his gamble
looked like it was going to pay off when Scully threw to David
Singleton in the end zone, but Singleton could not haul in the ball and
the Dragons turned the ball over on downs.
Ashland took over
with the ball on their own two and six plays later scored on a Cundiff
pass to Chris Livingston to make it 28-7. The Dragons tried to chip
away at the lead before halftime when Scully hooked up with Trey
Williams for 48 yards. The Dragons had to use their final timeout when
Williams was ruled in bounds after the catch. With the ball at the
Ashland 11, Scully was sacked and time ran out in the first half.
The
Dragons came out in the second half breathing fire as Scully again hit
Raspberry for a 65 yard touchdown pass on the first play of the half to
close the lead to 28-14. That’s the last scoring the Dragons would do,
however, and saw Ashland tack on 13 more points to leave with a 41-14
victory.
Walkosky knew the importance of the quick start that Ashland got off to.
“Any time you play a top 20 team, you can’t get
behind that fast,” he said. “I’m happy for our team after last week’s
loss and getting home at 5:30 in the morning (from Northen Michigan),
but we battled and we won a lot of battles out there, but not enough
against a team like that.”
Ashland Head Coach Lee Owens also gave the Dragons props.
“Give the Dragons credit. I thought they fought
hard, they played tough. We saw a little more intensity and a little
more creative offense than we saw on tape, and they gave us some
problems,” he said. “They’re young guys but we were really impressed
with how hard they fought. I thought we had good preparation, good
focus, but you jump up to a big lead, and you get sloppy and I was
disappointed with that.”
TU gained 96 yards on the ground, led by Ivory’s 53. He left the game with an injured knee but Walkosky didn’t know his status. The Dragons also picked up 269 yards in the air with Scully picking up 262 of them. Walkosky praised his quarterback, “I think everyone can see we have a great, great quarterback in freshman Nate Scully.”
Greg Raspberry had 106 yards on 7 catches while Trey Williams had 87 yards on 6 catches along with 41 more yards in kick returns. Alvin McKnight also had 124 all purpose yards.