The Ashland Eagles football team opened up their 94^th season as a program on the road Thursday night, taking on the Lake Erie Storm in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup.

Ashland did not have a problem moving the ball throughout the game, racking up 679 yards of total offense, which helped pave the way to a 56-22 victory.

“I think it is big (getting the first win of the season). Coming here, going against a great back, against a team that is really hard to prepare for,” said Eagles’ head coach Lee Owens. “You don’t know how your team is going to respond.”

The game started in the trenches for Ashland, as both the offensive and defensive lines set the tone early.

“I think we are pretty strong on both sides of the ball.  We have some depth, we have some size,” said Owens. “We had our way up front today. I think that’s pretty obvious.”

Behind the offensive line, Ashland amassed 376 rushing yards, while utilizing five running backs.

“We used them all. They all played. They all played well,” said Owens. “You keep putting fresh legs back there at tailback. That has a tendency to wear teams down.”

Scoring happened quick and often for the Ashland offense, as the Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.

On the opening possession of the game, the Eagles’ defense held Lake Erie to a three-and-out.

After the ensuing punt, Ashland’s offense marched 65-yards down the field, finishing the drive with a four-yard Vance Settlemire touchdown run.

On the Eagles’ next possession, quarterback Travis Tarnowski threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Matthew Wilcox, giving the Eagles an early 14-0 lead.

Wilcox finished the game with 117 receiving yards on three catches, leading the Eagles’ receivers in yards.

The receiving core, as a unit, stepped up several times throughout the night.

“I think both our youngsters played really well. I thought Hence (Jamie) and Wilcox played really good,” said Owens. “Burt (Terrance) and Turner (Stewart) played well, which we need to have happen.”

Ashland would go on to score again before the end of the first quarter, taking a 21-0 lead into the second stanza.

The Eagles’ first-team defense had their way most of the night.

The lone blemish for the Eagles’ first-team defense came via an 89-yard touchdown run from the legs of returning All-American running back Anthony Bilal.

Bilal finished the contest with 216 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

“When you look at Anthony Bilal, he’s an All-American tailback. I mean, we won’t play any tailbacks like that again,” said Owens. “Sooner or later that guy is going to score on you.

“I thought for the most part it was a pretty good defensive effort. We have some range and quickness on defense that we haven’t had in awhile, particularly in the back end.”

The Eagles’ defense held anybody not named Bilal to a combined 59 rushing yards, and 198 total yards of offense.

Not to get lost in the shuffle of the game was Tarnowski, who finished 17-28 through the air, for 268-yards and three touchdowns.

Owens said his quarterback has gotten better in the offseason and knows the offense well.

“That’s the guy you want behind center,” he said. “I’m not worried about a sophomore jinx or sophomore slump. We’ve had a history of our sophomore quarterbacks really playing well and making a big jump in the sophomore year. We are starting to see that happen (with Tarnowski).”

Ashland will head next to North Canton to take on Walsh for a noon start on September 12.