'They get it': Unbeaten Ashland University continues to soar with G-MAC rout of Northwood

Although Saturday night’s meeting at Jack Miller Stadium was the first as Great Midwest Athletic Conference opponents for Ashland and Northwood, it looked a lot like the previous nine games against the Timberwolves for the Eagles.

AU (4-0, 2-0) ran its win streak over Northwood (2-3, 1-1) to 10 with a dominating 56-17 victory. The Eagles cruised to the lopsided win, scoring two touchdowns in each quarter, while the defense produced three turnovers, five sacks and another strong effort against the run.

“I liked the energy our guys played with, I liked the focus,” AU coach Lee Owens said. “I really challenged them this week. I thought we may not be as focused as we need to be but I was wrong. They get it. They’re staying in the moment.”

The Eagles were on right from the start and struck on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead when running back Larry Martin finished an eight-play drive with a 2-yard blast into the end zone.

Meanwhile, in the first three Northwood possessions, the AU defense produced a three-and-out series, an interception at the goal line by Jourdan Swett and a strip sack of Timberwolves quarterback Nate Gomez by linebacker Michael Ayers.

Freshman defensive end Michael Shimek recovered that fumble at the Northwood 15 and it took the Eagles just four plays to take a 14-0 lead, this time on a 2-yard run by Gei’vonni Washington.

Ayers, who finished with nine tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and three forced fumbles, thwarted Northwood’s next possession with a sack of Gomez.

When the defense stopped the next two Northwood possessions with three-and-outs, the offense jumped the lead to 28-0 on another short TD run by Washington and a 1-yard dive by junior fullback Garret Niss for his first collegiate score.

Northwood finally got on the board with two minutes left in the half when John Hall made a diving catch in the end zone on a 47-yard toss from Gomez.

That was the first TD the Eagles had allowed in a combined eight first-half quarters this season, and the yardage nearly doubled Northwood’s first-half total.

“We put a great team effort in,” Ayers said. “It felt great to have everyone on board.

“When you’re going against a great offense every day (in practice), that helps us out. They get after us every day. You get to see all different looks from them. That helps us stay prepared.”

While AU quarterback Austin Brenner had a decent first half (10-of-17 passing for 139 yards), he torched the Timberwolves in the second half.

He completed 7 of 8 attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The first opened second-half scoring when he connected with Malik Wooldridge for a 31-yard TD that gave the Eagles a 35-7 lead.

After a Max Gonos 31-yard field goal for Northwood made it 35-10, Martin finished another AU drive with an 11-yard scoring run to make it 42-10.

Brenner and senior wide receiver Logan Bolin pushed the lead to 49-10 with an 88-yard catch and run early in the fourth quarter. Bolin caught Brenner’s pass at about the 20-yard line and outran the Timberwolves to the end zone.

Bolin had his best game of the season with seven catches for 143 yards and the TD.

“I saw before the play how their defense was set up,” Bolin said. “I knew that if I made that guy miss and Austin delivered a good ball, we really had a chance.

“That’s a play that we missed on last week and we were upset about. We connected on it earlier in this game and then got that call again. I just broke one tackle and after that my old legs just had to keep going.”

The Eagles produced their final turnover of the game on the next kickoff as Johron Johnson pounced on a fumble by Northwood returner Bryan Kinley. This time it was Eli Potts running it in from 4 yards out for a 56-10 AU advantage.

Northwood finished the scoring in the fourth quarter when tight end Danny Krajewski recovered Brec Alward’s fumble in the end zone.

For the game, the AU defense allowed just 94 yards on the ground and 230 total yards.

Ashland rushed for 176 yards and Brenner completed 17 of 25 passes for 306 yards and two scores, and added 32 yards on four rushes.

“It was a great team win all around,” Brenner said. “That makes it a lot of fun.

“It makes it a lot easier when you’ve got some stud running backs, some dudes on the outside who will catch the ball and make some plays, and an offensive line who will make things happen, give us time to throw the ball and get a lot of push up front.”

With Hillsdale’s unexpected loss to Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday and AU’s win over Northwood, the Eagles and Tiffin are the only teams left still unbeaten in G-MAC play.

“To play the way we did on defense and then offensively start to come alive a little bit in this game and make some plays, some throws and catches ... ” Owens said.

“It was another defensive day where we gave up under 250 yards, which is just unheard of in college football today. … I would not want to go against our defense right now.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: QB Austin Brenner leads undefeated Ashland U. over Northwood