When a rivalry game is played, no matter the sport, records are thrown out and all you worry about is the game itself. The Ashland University football team takes on their in-state rival, the Findlay Oilers, this Saturday at Donnell Stadium. The Eagles enter play at 5-3 and 4-3 in the GLIAC while the Oilers are 1-7 and 1-6 in the GLIAC.

Coming into the season, the Oilers had high expectations after a 2009 campaign where they went 7-4 and missed the playoffs by one game. The Eagles defeated the Oilers last year on the last day of the regular season, 41-28, preventing Findlay from the postseason and granting Ashland another winning season. The Eagles prevailed in 2008, 45-38, and in 2007, winning 34-10. This season, Findlay has struggled to score points on offense and have also struggled to stop teams. The Oilers are last in the GLIAC in scoring offense at just over 12 points per contest and are giving up 28 points per game on defense. The Eagles come into this weekend’s action scoring nearly 29 points per game. Even with the scoring advantage, head coach Lee Owens is not taking the Oilers lightly.

“They play us like it’s their Super Bowl,” Owens said. “They have a clock in their weight room counting down to the Ashland game and it’s a big deal for them when they beat us.”

Findlay does have offensive threats in Monterae Williams and Dustin Zielaskiewicz. Williams is the third leading rusher in the conference, averaging 116 yards a game, and has scored four touchdowns on the year. Zielaskiewicz is the team’s leading receiver on the year, averaging over four catches a game, and has 412 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

The Eagles have continued their winning ways of late thanks to an efficient offense and a suffocating defense. Taylor Housewright, the Eagles’ sophomore signal-caller, continues to be one of the best passers in the conference, as he has thrown for over 206 yards a game this season and 12 touchdowns. He also has three rushing scores on the year.

D.J. McCoy has been on a mission the last four weeks. The mission? To run over and through anything that is in his way. McCoy has done just that, rushing for 847 yards this year, including five consecutive games with over 120 yards. He is on pace to be the first 1,000-yard rusher for Ashland since Dawon Harvey rushed for 1,026 back in 2007.

On defense, the Eagles, as a unit, are fifth in the GLIAC in total defense and sixth in the conference in scoring defense. Carmon Wolfe continues to be the leader for defensive coordinator, Tim Rose. Wolfe has recorded 72 tackles and is sixth in the conference in tackles per game.

“Carmon [Wolfe] has been an outstanding player and leader for us this year,” Owens said. “He’s our signal-caller and our heart and soul for us on defense.”

The Eagles and Oilers will kickoff at noon this Saturday as the Eagles are looking for their second road win of the year. Their first came two weeks ago at Wayne State, with Ashland winning 40-35.