Detroit, Mich. has not been the friendliest city to the Ashland University football team in years past, but this weekend would be different, as the Eagles defeated the Wayne State Warriors, 40-35 for their third consecutive win.

The Eagles improved to 4-3 on the year and evened their GLIAC record at 3-3 while the Warriors fell for just the second time in 2010, dropping to 5-2 and 4-2 in the GLIAC.

It wasn’t the most impressive win of the year from a defensive standpoint as the Eagles allowed a season-high 35 points and allowed the Warriors to accumulate 440 yards of offense, but the Eagles offense answered each Warrior touchdown with one of their own.

The Eagles found themselves down early after Troy Burrell caught a 41-yard touchdown pass with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter.

It was Burrell’s first of three scores on the day from quarterback Mickey Mohner, who finished the day completing 30-of-45 passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns.

Logan Kerr would respond with his third interception of the season as he returned the pick to the house for six.

For Kerr, it was his first touchdown as an Eagle. After another Warrior touchdown, the “first Eagle touchdown” trend continued as Joe Wasserbeck found pay dirt on a 13-yard pass from Taylor Housewright with one second left in the first stanza. The Eagles trailed early in the slugfest, 14-13.

Burrell continued to be the X-factor for the Warriors in the first half, as he gave Wayne State a 21-13 lead after a 16-yard score with nine minutes left in the first half.

Burrell, in the first half alone, had six receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Housewright would keep the Eagles close however, this time with his feet, as he ran five yards for his second career rushing touchdown to cap an eight-play, 58-yard drive. The Eagles would still trail going to intermission, 28-20.

The second half was owned by Ashland, as the Eagles allowed just seven points and the offense showed off their firepower.

D.J. McCoy would lead the Eagles to the only score of the third quarter as he punched the ball into the end zone for the sixth time in 2010, bringing the Eagles within one.

For McCoy, he finished with 120 yards on 35 carries and recorded his fourth consecutive 100-yard performance. The Eagles finished the game with 147 yards rushing.

The Eagles would put the game away with two more late touchdowns as the receiving core showed off their skills in the fourth quarter.

Christian Livingston was the beneficiary of the first touchdown as he caught a 51-yard pass on a flea-flicker from Housewright with ten minutes remaining in the game.

Livingston finished with 124 yards on just five receptions. Senior speed demon Joe Horn also found pay dirt three minutes later, as Housewright found him from seven yards out.

Despite being blanketed all day, Horn led the team with six receptions and had 69 yards receiving.

Housewright finished the day going 21-for-30 passing for 272 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another 30 yards and one score.

The Eagles return home this weekend to take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals at 1 p.m. at Jack Miller Stadium.