In the middle of September, with baseball season winding down and football season just beginning, turnovers can be viewed as good or bad. In baseball, you think of apple turnovers at the ballpark, which are good. In football, you think of interceptions and fumbles, which are bad.

On Saturday, Sept. 11, the Ashland Eagles experienced “the bad” three times in a 17-12 GLIAC opening loss to the Indianapolis Greyhounds. Taylor Housewright, making his first road start of his career as well as his GLIAC debut, struggled early against a swarming Greyhounds defense.

Two of Ashland’s first three possessions resulted in interceptions, but didn’t cost them on the scoreboard as the Eagle defense snuffed both Indy drives. Housewright’s first mistake gave Indy great field position at the Ashland 36 yard line, but the Eagles forced a field goal attempt which was missed from 36 yards out by Aaron Puntarelli. The second miscue cost the Eagles points, as Alex Byrnes stepped in front of a pass in the end zone. Housewright went 24-for-37 on the day with 239 passing yards and three interceptions.

The Eagles, despite their struggles, scored first late in the second quarter on a Gregg Berkshire 36-yard field goal. The Eagles special teams unit set up the offensive score when Indy punter, Tyran Fakes, felt the pressure on fourth down and managed just an eight-yard punt. The Eagles set up shop at their own 44 yard line and drove 37 yards on eight plays to take the halftime lead, 3-0.

The second half was a much different story. In the first half, the Eagles allowed the Greyhounds only five yards rushing while pitching the shutout. In the second half, Indy strayed from the running game and started finding holes in the Eagle secondary through the air. The biggest hole of the game was found by Greyhound quarterback, Rob Doyle, who connected with Mar’Quone Edmonds for a 40-yard touchdown strike, beating two Eagle defenders and coasting in for the game’s first touchdown.

The Eagles responded quickly, but failed to reach the end zone on the ensuing possession as Housewright led the Eagles on a 14-play, 72-yard scoring drive, which took over six minutes off the clock. Berkshire capped the scoring drive with his second field goal of the game, this time converting from 33 yards.

After a Puntarelli 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter, both teams exchanged punts. The dagger in the Eagles’ side came early in the fourth quarter, as Housewright and the Eagle offense were pinned deep in their own territory after a brilliant punt by Fakes was downed at the Eagle one yard line. Two plays later, Housewright rolled to his right and fired a pass intended for Ethan Webb, but Tyler Peterman stepped in front of Webb and intercepted Housewright at the Eagle six yard line.

Defensively, the Eagles weren’t going down without a fight, as Indy managed just four yards on the first three plays on the drive. Indy went for the jugular on fourth down, and successfully punched the pigskin into the end zone on a two-yard scamper by Paul Corsaro, bumping the Greyhound lead to 17-6 after the successful extra point.

The Eagles finally found pay dirt on their next possession, as they went 72 yards in just under four minutes and capped the drive with Webb scoring from one yard out on second and goal. After a failed two-point conversion, the Eagles trailed 17-12 with five minutes remaining.

Housewright and the Eagles had two more possessions on the night, but failed to convert on a fourth and three and then Joe Horn lost a fumble to end the game after taking a lateral from Christian Livingston.

Despite the loss, the Eagle defense was stout for the second consecutive week. After an impressive opener against Bloomsburg, the Eagles allowed just 11 rushing yards and 242 total yards to a Greyhound team that scored 38 points in their season opener. The Eagles pressured Doyle on the day, recording three sacks, as Doyle rushed for 34 yards. Carmon Wolfe led the charge for the Eagles in the loss with nine tackles, while Matt Stoinoff, Julian Goodwine and Jamie Meder each totaled seven on the night.

The Eagles, now 1-1 and 0-1 in the GLIAC, return home this Saturday to take on the Hillsdale Chargers in the first-ever night game at Jack Miller Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.