Ashland defeated the Tiffin Dragons on Saturday 49-30 in a game that wasn not as close as its score. The game was a building block that finishes off a .500 season for the Eagles, who return all their offensive skill position players and much of their defense next season.

The star of the game, junior Anthony Taylor, rushed for 237 yards to bring his season total to 1,691, breaking the previous record of 1,494, set by Jason Schwalm in 2005.  Taylor is the first back  with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since J.R. McCoy in 2000 and 2001.

Ashland’s offense got going early in the game, scoring 21 points in the first half, including two Taylor touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Tra’Von Chapman also threw a touchdown to junior wide receiver Dan Piko. The connected for six catches and 159 yards, a career-high for Piko.

However, the offense relied heavily on a very successful one-two rushing combination from Taylor and freshman Vance Settlemire, who ran for 141 yards.  Taylor and Settlemire ran in three and two touchdowns respectively, and fullback Jordan Crayon got into the end zone on a one-yard goal line carry.

Until garbage time in the fourth quarter, the Ashland defense played remarkably well, only allowing seven points and forcing three interceptions by Tiffin’s freshman quarterback Antonio Pipkin.  He lead the team in both passing and rushing, throwing for 376 yards, running for 35, and scoring four total touchdowns.

Chapman played through an ankle injury which he aggravated late in the first quarter.  However, he played well, going 11 of 20 for 212 yards.  Chapman took a good number of shots downfield, completing enough passes to keep the Tiffin defense honest. Just that mild threat of a deep ball is all the AU running game needed to get going.

Ashland finished the season 5-2 in its last seven games after starting 0-3. With an established quarterback going into next season, the highly-skilled returning starters, and a healthy Jordan McCune, this Ashland Eagles squad could be one to reckon with in the GLIAC next season.