Led by record setting running back Anthony Taylor, the Ashland Eagles overcame a slow start to beat the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on homecoming weekend, 38-7.  

With Ashland trailing 7-0 following a 28-yard touchdown pass from Cardinals quarterback Keith Moore to wide receiver Leonte Degraffenried, the Eagles turned to Taylor to jump start the offense.  

He tied the game with a four-yard touchdown run and the Eagles did not look back from there, scoring 38 unanswered points.  

The afternoon belonged to Taylor, as he rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on his way to breaking the Eagles’ all-time rushing yardage record, previously held by Keith Weaver. 

AU head coach Lee Owens says that there are definite similarities between Taylor and Weaver.

“They’re both pretty special,” said Owens. “They’re both great leaders and some tough, hard-nosed football players.  Two great guys to have at the top of your leaderboard.”

For Taylor, it extended his streak of games with 75 or more rushing yards to 18, and was his fourth 100 yard rushing effort of the year.

Ashland’s defense played a huge role in the win against the struggling offense of the Cardinals.  

Never once did Saginaw Valley State enter the red zone following their opening drive touchdown.  

The defense, combined with the strong running of Taylor and Vance Settlemire, held the Cardinals to a time of possession of 23:36, compared to 36:24 for the Eagles, controlling the ball and the tempo of the game throughout. 

On the day, Ashland outgained Saginaw Valley State in total yardage by a margin of 473 to 182.  

Cornerbacks Donzale Ashley and James Ester played a solid game throughout for the Eagles, limiting Cardinal wide recievers Bryan Fobbs and Degraffenreid to 21 and 39 yards respectively.

 On the day, the Ashland secondary held Moore to a mere 118 yards passing, forcing him to hold the ball, as he often looked uncomfortable in the pocket.  

Moore was also sacked five times, a positive sign for the Eagle defense which came into the game with only five total sacks on the year.

The front seven of the Eagles was led by sophomore linebacker Brandon Gency.

With 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and eight total tackles, Gency was all over the field and made life miserable for Moore and the Cardinal ball carriers.   

It was also a nice afternoon for senior wide receiver Dan Piko, playing in his last homecoming game. 

Piko recorded nine catches for 99 yards on the day, with the nine catches being a new career high.

The defense of the Cardinals held tough throughout the first half, limiting the Eagles to 17 points. 

David Toussaint had a leaping interception off of an underthrown Travis Tarnowski pass in the end zone, helping lead the Cardinals in a stretch of holding the high-powered Ashland offense scoreless on five consecutive drives. 

Despite not finding their rhythm early, the offense of the Eagles pulled away in the second half, wearing down Saginaw Valley with a combination of power running and the short passing game. 

The Eagles extended their lead to 24-7 on a Tarnowski five-yard touchdown pass to fullback Dan Medvetz.  That capped a 10 play, 83 yard drive by the Ashland offense.  

For Tarnowski, it was his only touchdown pass on a day he also had two interceptions, doubling his season total, which was one heading into the game. 

Anthony Taylor finished off his big day and put the game away with a four-yard touchdown run with 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.  

Return man Michael Taylor saw some late game action in the backfield, rushing for 40 yards, including a 26 yard touchdown run which accounted for the final margin of the game, a 38-7 Ashland win.

For Saginaw Valley State, it was a margin, which could have been much closer without several costly penalties and struggles in the punting game. 

With the Cardinals in the lead 7-0, a personal foul penalty moved the Ashland offense to the 50-yard line and prolonged the drive that would tie the game at seven.  

Following a three and out by the Cardinal offense with the game still tied 7-7, punter Andrew Courtemanche shanked an 11 yard punt into the crowd setting up a quick Ashland touchdown drive, which started at the Cardinal 32 yard line, to take the lead.  

It was an up and down afternoon for Courtemanche, whose second punt traveled only 23 yards.    

The win improved Ashland’s record to 5-1, with all of those games being GLIAC matchups.  The loss dropped Saginaw Valley State to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in GLIAC games. 

Ashland is now ranked in the Division II top 25 for the first time since the start of the 2013 season. 

The Eagles rank 24th in the nation, behind undefeated GLIAC opponents Ohio Dominican (seventh), Ferris State (11th), and Michigan Tech (20th).

Ashland’s only loss of the season was to Ohio Dominican on Sept. 20. AU will not play Ferris State, but will play at Michigan Tech in the final game of the season Nov. 8.

Coming up for Ashland will be a road matchup against Hillsdale, currently 2-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play, a matchup which will be a highly contested rivalry game according to Owens.

“It seems like we’re everyone’s rival,” Owens said, “but Hillsdale’s our rival.  We have a long history of going against one another.”