CANTON — Chase Hoobler has been called upon a lot in his short Ashland career. The 2014 first team GLIAC selection made 10 ½ tackles for loss last season. But the defensive end had never been called upon in a game to make a catch.

That changed when facing a monumental third and goal from the five-yard line in the first overtime of a tied game against Walsh. Lee Owens designed a play for the redshirt senior, and Hoobler came through for his head coach, sneaking out the back end of a play-action fake and catching the game-winning touchdown to help AU outlast Walsh 31-24.

The Eagles are now 2-0 on the young season.

“We only put that play in on Tuesday,” AU head coach Lee Owens said. “We weren’t even sure it was going to be ready for today, but we knew they would sell out to cover [sophomore tight end Adam] Shaheen, so we used Shaheen as a decoy and he cleared out that whole side. Who was going to think Hoobler would catch the ball?”

While Hoobler made the game-winning grab, Shaheen was the offensive star of the game for Ashland. Shaheen recorded nine receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown.

“We try to find ways to get Adam the ball,” Owens said. “He was the one spark that we had offensively. Travis [Tarnowski] is going to get him the ball because the kid makes plays, he makes guys miss and he gets positive yards.”

Trailing Walsh 10-0 with 4:59 left to go in the first half, Tarnowski led a drive down to the Walsh 20 yard line. On third and nine and under duress Tarnowski threw a jump ball to the end zone that the 6-foot 6-inch Shaheeen was able to corral in the end zone for a touchdown. AU trailed 10-7 going to the halftime break thanks to Sheehan’s 20-yard TD grab.

“That touchdown was a big boost for morale going to halftime,” recalled Owens. “It gave us a little bit of momentum heading into halftime.”

AU was able to continue that momentum into the second half. Aidan Simenc drilled a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter to tie the game, and after Tarnowski connected with Shaheen for a 76-yard play, the sophomore quarterback capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown run. AU led 17-10 with 13:13 left to go in the ballgame.

After Walsh tied the game at 17, Tarnowski orchestrated a 12-play, 65-yard scoring drive that was finished off by senior fullback Aaron Weyer’s one-yard touchdown run. Tarnowski finished the day 23 of 35 for 261 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

“I’m never going to criticize Travis,” said Owens. “He was in a funk early on, but in the end when somebody had to make plays to win the game, he stepped up and made those plays.”

Walsh responded with a touchdown of their own in the waning seconds of regulation, but after Hoobler’s touchdown catch, the Cavaliers couldn’t muster another touchdown and Ashland improved to 2-0 on the season.

Owens said Ashland was happy to escape with a win despite of the penalties and mental mistakes they made.

“I don’t know what it is about playing here but we make more penalties, more mental mistakes and more turnovers here than anywhere else we play,” he said. “Give credit to Walsh, they played a really good game. We told our guys it may take until the last play of the game to win and that’s exactly what happened.”

Ashland allowed four sacks and committed eight penalties.

“We were are own worst enemy,” Owens said. “We self-destructed in a lot of ways. But give our guys credit though, sometimes you have to win these kind of games on the road. Our guys kept their composure, they didn’t panic and they found a way to win in the end.”

Ashland will open up their home schedule next Saturday when Ohio Dominican (1-1) visits Jack Miller Stadium. The Panthers lost to Grand Valley State on Saturday 27-24. ODU handed AU one of their two losses last season.

“We didn’t do a good job up front in this game. We have to play a lot better next game as a team or we are in trouble,” said Owens. “But we know we are capable, we know that we are a lot better this.”