The undefeated Eagles took on the winless Malone Pioneers and took care of business, earning a 42-17 victory in Canton on Saturday.

“It’s great to be halfway through the season and still be undefeated,” said head coach Lee Owens. “It’s a good feeling right now. We got some tough ones ahead of us, we know that, but you just take them one week each week and get better each week.”

It was a shaky start for Ashland, as the opening kickoff was fumbled and recovered by Malone.

The Pioneers were set up with great field position and capitalized on it with starting quarterback Will Szpor throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to freshman Ashton Dulin, giving Malone the early lead. That would be Szpor’s only throw on the day as he left the game with an injury and did not return.

The Malone lead would not last for long. Starting with the ball on the 40 yard line after the kickoff went out of bounds, Travis Tarnowski led the team down the field and capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown throw to tight end Adam Shaheen.

On Malone’s next possession, backup quarterback John Iacucci had his first pass of the game intercepted by sophomore Dale Irby.

The turnover would lead to a one-yard touchdown run by Vance Settlemire. Settlemire has been a dangerous weapon for the Eagles all season, finishing the game with 150 yards rushing.

Tarnowski is certainly happy to have Settlemire occupying his backfield.

“(Settlemire) makes me look good, he makes me look better than I really am,” Tarnowski said. “He’s the type of kid that you want to keep giving him the ball. He’s a spark and he’s going to make something happen.”

After a Malone three-and-out, the Eagle offense continued to click as Tarnowski hit junior fullback Dan Medvetz for a five-yard touchdown pass to give Ashland a 21-7 lead with 14:56 left in the second quarter.

After Ashland and Malone exchanged punts, the Eagles were able to score another touchdown. Once again it was a Tarnowski throw, this time a 35-yarder to Terrance Burt to make the score 28-7 Eagles.

The Eagles and Pioneers would then trade interceptions, Iacucci throwing another one to Irby and Tarnowski throwing one to Fred Baker Jr.

Coming off the interception, Malone went down the field and was able to successfully throw a Hail Mary. Iacucci connected with redshirt sophomore Eian Elsass for the 47-yard touchdown. This is the second week in a row that Ashland allowed a touchdown right before halftime.

“We’ve got to figure out what’s happening right before the end of the half,” Owens said. “We gave up a touchdown last week to Findlay with 40 some seconds left, we gave up a touchdown this week in the last second of the half, there is a let down there and that is going to come back to get us here if we’re not careful.”

Malone got the ball to open the second half and ended their drive with a 37-yard field goal. The Pioneers were trying to make it a close game, but after their 10 unanswered points they would not score for the remainder of the game.

Tarnowski responded with his fourth and final touchdown pass of the day. It was to Adam Shaheen once again, this time coming from 12 yards out.

“Coaches did a really good job of putting us in the right spot at the right time,” Tarnowski said. “We executed and we did it pretty much all game.”

Shaheen was the leading receiver for the Eagles, finishing with six catches for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

“(Shaheen)’s a great athlete. Big, fast, it’s hard for other teams to cover him,” said Tarnowski. “We are always on the same page. We’re always thinking the same thing.”

Settlemire would score again from 9 yards out to cap off the scoring and give AU the 42-17 win.

The Eagles, for the most part, were able to do what they wanted on offense, picking up 387 yards, while Malone was only able to pick up 242 yards of offense on the day.

Penalties were another big factor in the outcome. Malone had 13 penalties for 125 yards, while AU only had one penalty for five yards. Although the score looks like a blowout, coach Owens saw it as a hard fought battle.

“You got to give Malone credit,” said Owens. “They’re scrappy, they play really hard, they’re sound in what they do.”

The next game for AU is at Saginaw Valley State (0-5) on Saturday.