On Homecoming weekend, and with the Traveling Trophy at stake, the Ashland University football team did not disappoint. The Eagles soared to a 52-21 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Hillsdale Chargers (1-6, 1-5 GLIAC). 

The 52 points put up by Ashland (7-0, 7-0 GLIAC) is the most points scored by either team in the 44 game history of the rivalry.

Behind quarterback Travis Tarnowski, the Eagles racked up 639 yards of total offense. 

“I thought we really came out of the gate ready to play,” Eagles’ head coach Lee Owens said. 

Tarnowski finished the game 21 of 29 for 360 yards and four touchdowns. 

“Everything goes through him,” Owens said. “He makes such great decisions.”

On Ashland’s opening possession, Tarnowski found receiver Maxwell Shawver in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. The touchdown completed a six play, 69-yard drive. 

“Our first drive I thought was just like we scripted,” Owens said. “We executed everything we had on the script and took it in and scored.”

After both teams punted on their next possessions, the Chargers used a five play, 70-yard drive of their own, ending with a Chance Stewart 7-yard touchdown run. The extra point made the score 7-7. 

“They came back and put some points on the board and made it 7-7,” Owens said. “At that point the game could go either way.”

Much to the delight of the Homecoming crowd, the Eagles’ offense was just getting started. 

On Ashland’s possession following the Chargers’ touchdown, the Eagles put together a drive of 10 plays, covering 75-yards. Tailback Vance Settlemire put the exclamation point on the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The extra point put the Eagles up 14-7, which was a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way. 

Settlemire finished the day with 77-yards rushing and the one touchdown. He also added 46-yards receiving on two catches. 

Tarnowski had high praises for his running back following the game.

“It is really easy for me when we have a guy like that (Settlemire), that teams are so worried about,” Tarnowski said. “It makes it a lot easier for me to go out there and throw the ball around, when they put so many guys in the box to try and stop him.”

After a Hillsdale punt, the Eagles found pay dirt again. This time Tarnowski hit wide receiver Jamie Hence for a 44-yard strike, putting Ashland up 21-7 after the extra point. 

Ashland’s offense struck for several big plays on the afternoon. 

“We are going to take what the defense gives us, and that is what they were giving us today,” Owens said. “You know, the big hits, the seam routes, the go routes. Our hard play action stuff was good. They were hell bent to stop the run, so the hard play action stuff really had a chance to get going.” 

The speed of the Eagles’ skill players also played a big role in taking the top off the Chargers’ defense. 

“We have some guys that can run,” Owens said. “They’re (Hillsdale) best when you bunch them up and play them in the box. They struggle a little bit when you spread them out, and when you have some guys with the speed like we do at the wide receiver position.”

Following another Chargers punt, the Eagles’ offense struck again.

Tarnowski found Settlemire for a 37-yard gain on a swing pass to the left. On the next play, Tarnowski hit wide receiver Terrance Burt for a 25-yard gain to move the ball to the Chargers’ 3-yard line. 

A 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Adam Shaheen would cap the drive. Shaheen finished the game with five catches for 47-yards and two touchdowns.

After the extra point, the Eagles were up 28-7, and the route was on. 

For the game, the Eagles’ first-team defense surrendered the early seven points, and then nothing after. 

Leading the defensive effort was inside linebacker Brandon Gency, who finished the game with nine tackles. Also chipping into the defensive effort with eight tackles was fellow inside linebacker Zach Olszewski.

Next Saturday the Eagles travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to take on Northern Michigan. 

Owens knows this will not be an easy game for his Eagles.

“Northern Michigan is a team on the run right now,” Owens said. “They’re hot. They are going in the right direction. It is a tough place to go play, a tough place to go win.”