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Ashland U athletics announces football promo schedule, Fan Fest and parking procedures

Just a few days remain until the start of the 2022 Ashland University football season at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, and there are several announcements surrounding the opener and the entire five-game regular-season home slate.

Ashland, receiving votes in the 2022 American Football Coaches Association Preseason Division II Coaches' Poll, will play host to No. 10 Notre Dame College at 6 p.m. Sept. 1. That will be the start of this fall's promotional schedule (Student Welcome Back) and the new Football Fan Fest prior to each home football game.

Promotional Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m. vs. Notre Dame College – Student Welcome Back

Saturday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m. vs. Northwood – Military Appreciation Night / 1972 Reunion

Saturday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. vs. Ohio Dominican – Youth Night / MBA Night / Breast Cancer Awareness Night

Saturday, Oct. 22, 1 p.m. vs. Tiffin – Homecoming

Saturday, Nov. 12, 1 p.m. vs. Kentucky Wesleyan – Senior Day / 2012 Reunion

AU Football Fan Fest

With the promotional schedule comes a brand new opportunity for Eagle Nation. The AU Football Fan Fest is a new activation that will be taking place prior to kickoff at all 2022 home AU football games.

The Fan Fest will take place in Lot E, the parking lot in front of Amstutz and Kem Hall, the entrance to Upper Convo, and across the street from the Troop Center and Jack Miller Stadium. As a result, there will be no fan parking in Lot E this season.

The Fan Fest is a family-friendly environment that will feature food trucks, music, games and activities. It will open three hours prior to the start of each game and close 30 minutes before kickoff.

With the Football Fan Fest taking place in Lot E, as well as campus renovations, there are a few changes to gameday parking to share. To start, Lots F, G, and J will now be available for fan parking. These lots will open up three hours prior to kickoff for all games. Each of these lots will be a $5 charge.

Additional/overflow parking is available in any AU campus lot.

The AU campus map can be found here:  https://www.ashland.edu/administration/events-venues/campus-map , and the AU tailgating policy can be found here:  https://goashlandeagles.com/documents/2021/5/24/tailgate_policy.pdf .

Accessible parking will be in Lot T, which is in front of the Niss Athletic Center. Passes for accessible parking in this lot will be pre-sold. They will not be sold on game days. Anyone interested in purchasing an accessible parking pass for Lot T must have a valid state-issued handicap placard and will be required to show that to the attendant in the lot before being allowed to park. Season passes are $25. There will be no refunds on purchases of these passes.

Accessible parking passes can be purchased online using this link ( click HERE ), or by visiting the  Ashland University Campus Store  during regular business hours.

Street Closures

For Lots F, G, and J, there are a few road closures to share. First, Broad Street will be closed to through traffic from West Walnut Street to Davis Street, beginning five hours prior to kickoff. Also, the intersection of Claremont Avenue and Jefferson Street will be closed, as well as southbound traffic on Claremont from Main Street due to ongoing construction of the Claremont Bridge.

Updates on the Claremont Bridge project can be found  HERE .

Tickets can be purchased online at  https://ashland.universitytickets.com/ , or at the Ashland University Campus Store. The box office will open two hours prior to kickoff for every game. Gates will open 90 minutes prior to every game.

For any ticketing questions, contact  Chris Kohuth , Ashland Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Game Operations/Facilities/Ticketing and Camps, at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland U announces festivities surrounding home football games

The Collegian

AU football releases 2024 schedule after successful previous campaign

The full 2024 schedule can be found at the bottom of the article.

The Ashland University football team has officially unveiled the Eagles’ 2024 schedule to the public.

After finding plenty of success in the 2023 fall season, the Eagles will look to maintain an eight-game winning streak through the season opener against a familiar foe; the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Crimson Hawks.

“The 2024 season schedule will present one of the biggest challenges in Ashland history,” said Eagle Head Coach Doug Geiser.”Once again, we’ll open right out of the chute with two nationally-ranked opponents in IUP and Ferris State.”

When the Eagles took on IUP and Ferris State in the 2023 campaign, the team fell in both outings.

Against the Crimson Hawks, the team lost 24-17 before returning home to take on the defending Division II National Champions in the Bulldogs, where they once again felt the hands of defeat, 38-28.

In response, the Eagles would go on to win the next eight of nine contests, to finish the campaign with an 8-3 overall record. During that span, the team was able to take down the Hillsdale College Chargers, a contest that was highlighted by the Eagles taking home the Traveling Trophy.

In the 2024 season, the schedule will once again see the Traveling Trophy be played for early in the season after they take on the Bulldogs and Crimson Hawks.

The Eagles will take on the Bulldogs on Thursday, Sept. 5 at home with kickoff set for 7:00 P.M. while the road game against the Bulldogs will take place on Saturday, Sept. 14 with a time yet to be decided on.

“We then will follow that up with a trip to Hillsdale to play for the Traveling Trophy,” said Geiser. “After, we’ll play Tiffin, Ohio Dominican, and Findlay in rapid succession – they have all won a G-MAC title (or titles) in the past seven years.”

The Eagles’ 2023 season was stamped by a blowout loss to the Tiffin Dragons, 55-30, before the Dragons would go on to compete in the NCAA D-II Postseason Playoffs. While that contest came on the road, the team will get the chance to face the Dragons at Jack Miller Stadium in 2024 on Saturday, Sept. 28 with game time set for 1:00 P.M.

Straight after opening the season with four strong opponents, the Eagles will host Homecoming against the Ohio Dominican Panthers on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1:00 P.M.

For the Eagles, it will be the team’s 100th Homecoming game.

Following the Homecoming festivities, they will travel on the road to take on the Findlay Oilers on Saturday, Oct. 12 and the Thomas More Saints on Saturday, Oct. 19. The times for both have yet to be determined.

Through the opening seven contests, the Eagles will be on the road for four of them and at home for just three.

Into the back-half of the season, the Eagles will return home for an outing against the Northwood Timberwolves on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:00 P.M.

The next two contests will come on the road yet again as they will head to Painsville, Ohio, to take on the Lake Erie College Storm on Saturday, Nov. 2 and then to North Canton, Ohio, to face up against the Walsh Cavaliers on Saturday, Nov. 9.

Against the Storm, the Eagles will play at a time yet to be determined, while the game against the Cavaliers will occur at noon.

To finish off the 2024 campaign, the Eagles will avoid the seven-hour drive south to take on Kentucky Wesleyan and instead stay at home to face the Panthers.

With the spring season finally upon the Eagles, the team will look to the 2024 Signing Day, spring scrimmages and preparation for the 2024 season in hopes of making a run in the NCAA D-II Postseason Playoffs.

“Spring practice will be especially vital this year, as we prepare for one of the most challenging fall schedules in school history,” said Geiser

Retrieved from the Ashland University Athletic Department Press Release

The Student News Site of Ashland University

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Ashland University football to lean on experience, depth in 2022

The Ashland University football team is back for a second crack at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

The Eagles are set to open the 2022 season with a 6 p.m. home game Thursday against Notre Dame College before jumping into their second year of play in the G-MAC Saturday, Sept. 10, at Findlay.

Ten games are on Ashland’s 2022 schedule — five at home at Jack Miller Stadium and five on the road. After a nonleague game Saturday, Sept. 24, at Quincy, the Eagles will finish the season with a run of seven consecutive G-MAC clashes.

“A lot of people look at this league and say it’s a step back from the (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, AU’s previous league home), but to be honest it was pretty good last year,” Ashland coach Lee Owens said. “Every week we had to go play.

“We’ve played most of those (G-MAC) teams before, so we knew how tough they were going to play us. (Ohio Dominican) and Findlay and Tiffin, we knew it was going to be a battle. Those are some great rivalries for us, and it was great to renew those rivalries, but we’ve got to win those rivalry games.”

In 2021, Ashland was hit hard by injuries and finished 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the G-MAC, with those three losses coming to ODU, Findlay and Tiffin.

But the Eagles enter 2022 with a streak of 14 consecutive seasons finishing at .500 or better. AU also received votes in the 2022 American Football Coaches Association preseason Division II coaches poll.

The Eagles return seven starters on offense and six on defense. With many players taking advantage of an extra COVID year of eligibility, in addition to redshirt seasons, AU has a veteran team ready for 2022.

“Getting that extra year has really made a big difference for a lot of guys,” Owens said. “We probably have more experience back now than ever.

“We have nine guys on offense already with a degree doing graduate work. We were talking and we have 170-some starts back on offense.”

One of those graduate players is quarterback Austin Brenner, who missed the second half of the 2021 season with a broken leg. Brenner, who has started 27 games under center for the Eagles, enters the 2022 season No. 4 on AU's all-time passing yards list (4,493) and No. 8 on the all-time touchdown passes list with 27.

He was GLIAC freshman of the year in 2018 and an All-GLIAC second-team selection in 2019.

Backing him will be three more veterans. Sophomore Trevor Bycznski, a transfer from the University of Buffalo, begins the season as the backup, and sophomores Cameron Blair and Trent Maddox both got starts last year when Brenner went down with his season-ending injury.

“I can’t remember a time when we’ve had this much depth at quarterback,” Owens said. “If nothing else, last year we developed some depth.”

Junior tailback Gei’vonni Washington also suffered a late-season injury in 2021, when he still earned first-team All-G-MAC honors with 618 rushing yards and three touchdowns and 22 catches for 194 yards and three TDs.

Junior running back Larry Martin gives the Eagles a solid one-two punch after leading AU in rushing in 2021 with 713 yards and eight touchdowns.

Junior Eli Potts and sophomore Patrick Blubaugh are also expected to contribute as running backs.

Up front, the Eagles return three starters with two newcomers. Back are junior Nehemiah Cannon at left guard, senior Sam Puthoff at right guard and senior Gavin Posey at right tackle.

Cannon started all 10 games in 2021 and was named first team All-G-MAC.

Completing the offensive line are redshirt freshman Ethan Enders at center and redshirt freshman Nick Walker at left tackle.

Sophomore Alex Enders, Ethan’s brother and a transfer from Toledo, slots in at tight end.

“We were 12th in the country in rushing last year and had the top two rushers in the league,” Owens said. “But we still threw for 200 yards a game and averaged 30 points a game.”

Another big-time offensive performer returning from injury is receiver Logan Bolin, who recently was granted another year of eligibility. He begins the 2022 season No. 6 all-time in AU history with 132 catches. He led the GLIAC in receptions with 53 in 2019, good for 791 yards and six touchdowns.

He played three games last year before he was sidelined with an injury.

Other experienced receivers returning are seniors Garrett Turnbaugh, Malik Wooldridge and Keshun Jones. Turnbaugh was the leading receiver in 2021 with 36 catches for 520 yards and four touchdowns.

Sophomore Jent Joseph, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, also is expected to contribute.

“I think we developed a physical presence (on offense) at the end of last year, and it’s carried over,” Owens said. “I think we’re more skilled than we were a year ago. We have tons of experience, and we’re able to do more because of the number of snaps.

“As talented and skilled as we are, we don’t just want to throw it around the park. We want to get after teams and establish a run game. It makes so much more of our offense go.”

The Eagles story on defense has to start with senior inside linebacker Michael Ayers, who earned first-team Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association All-Super Region 1 honors and was named G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.

He finished first on the team in total tackles (100), solo tackles (52) and assists (48). He had 12 tackles for loss, forced two fumbles and added three sacks and a fumble recovery.

Junior defensive end Jeff Barnett also had a big season in 2021. The converted running back was second-team All-G-MAC with 5½ sacks, 32 tackles, 11½ tackles for loss and three pass breakups. 

Joining Barnett on the line will be senior defensive tackles Nick Cone and Dawson Riley and sophomore transfer defensive end Chris Julian.

Sophomore Kristian Gehrisch also is in the mix at tackle.

Junior Jackson Myers and sophomore Cayman Williams will line up with Ayers at linebacker.

Defending the pass on the edge will be corners sophomore Devin Prude, junior transfer Jovon Sewell and junior Kamazi Bell.

The safeties will be experienced seniors Jourdan Swett (second team All-G-MAC in 2021), Jordan Mosely and Justin Moore (first team All-G-MAC in 2021 with three interceptions and 58 tackles).

“I’d like to see us be more physical on the line,” Owens said. “And we have to continue to get better on special teams, returning kicks and punts, covering kicks and punts. I’d like to see us be really good at that.”

For the special teams, Bycznski will be the punter and Storm Elsesser returns as the kicker.

Barring injuries, the Eagles are expected to rely heavily on veteran players with a lot of playing experience.

“The fact we’re a veteran team I think really helps us,” Owens said. “There’s no freshmen in the two-deep, probably for the first time since I’ve been here, and the freshmen we signed were as good as any class we’ve signed here.

“That tells you a lot.”

The Eagles will get tested right out of the gate with the home opener against Notre Dame, ranked No. 10 in the country in the preseason Division II Top 25, and G-MAC favorite Findlay in the league opener 10 days later on the road.

Ohio Dominican and Tiffin, both home opponents in October, are receiving votes in the Division II preseason poll.

AU was picked to finish third in the G-MAC preseason poll with Tiffin second. Findlay, Tiffin and AU all received first-place votes in the poll.

“I don’t think there’s any one team that’s head and shoulders above the rest,” Owens said. “I think we match up well against every team. Even last year when we had such a depleted roster with injuries, we played every game right to the wire.

“Our summer program has been good. Our camp has been good. We know a lot about our team. They’re not going to be intimidated. They know how to get ready to play.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland University 2022 football preview

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• Self Service

Former student and wildlife enthusiast helps establish a tower to track birds in Lorain County

Attending the 2020 Ohio Bluebird Conference in Ashland turned out to be a very good decision for Rob Swindell.

He not only visited his former college, but also discovered the Motus Wildlife Tracking System.

“I got the chance to see the campus and reminisce,” said Swindell, who played baseball at Ashland in the 1980s when it was Ashland College. “I drove around and looked at the new facilities, the baseball field. If the conference had been held somewhere else, I am not sure I would have attended.

“When I heard the presentation about Motus, I was captivated by this wonderful technology,” added the wildlife enthusiast, “but also somewhat in disbelief that we didn’t have a tower in Lorain County.”

The Lorain County resident helped change that recently with the installation of a Motus tower at Avon Lake Library. A second one is planned for later this summer at Lorain Library.

Swindell wrote in one of his recent “birding” columns in the Chronicle-Telegram of Elyria, Lorain County, that the Motus system uses small transmitters attached to birds, which “ping” off Motus towers — antenna structures strategically placed along bird routes — which then relays the information back to researchers .

While the second tower is only expected to take a few months, the first one took several years.

“I have joked with friends that law school was easier,” said Swindell, who earned a juris doctor degree from Concord Law School. “But it has been very satisfying.

“It is a challenge for volunteer organizations to do long projects as people come and go,” added the president of the Black River Audubon Society, the volunteer organization that spearheaded the Motus project with help from other organizations and individuals. “That was our situation, in addition to COVID, an effort to save a park from development and a personal cancer diagnosis, it was really an accomplishment of perseverance.”

In addition to COVID shutting everything done shortly after the February 2020 Ohio Bluebird Conference, saving an important bird area in Lorain from development consumed the Black River Audubon Society once the world began to recover from COVID in early 2022, putting many of its projects, including Motus, on hold. Then Swindell’s cancer surgery in late 2022 and yearlong treatment toward remission in 2023 delayed progress on the Motus tower even more.

With the tower now in place and another soon to follow, the long wait was well worth it, Swindell said.

“Motus is such a great collaboration, providing valuable information for conservation management, monitoring diversity, climate change research and public awareness and education,” he said. “The information is available to everyone, from students and individuals to professional researchers and institutions.”

Growing up on a small farm, Swindell said he always loved animals.

While he eventually graduated from college with a degree in environmental science, he started off majoring in math at Ashland, which gave him a scholarship to play baseball.

“Even though I was a math major, I took a variety of classes and spent a lot of time in the library trying to figure out what I really wanted to do,” said Swindell, who added that he also enjoyed meeting students from so many different places and developing relationships with his roommates and teammates at Ashland.

Some of that math knowledge he learned at Ashland comes in handy now in his full-time job in the auditor’s office in the City of Lorain.

Because he also was a racquetball player and another Ohio college had one of the best racquetball programs in the country at the time, he left Ashland to become the top-ranked collegiate racquetball players in the state and eventually played semi-professionally, Swindell said.

“Ashland was both a special time in my life and also a missed opportunity,” Swindell said.

That’s why he enjoyed the 2020 Ohio Bluebird Conference so much — it gave him a chance to return to the Ashland campus.

“It was very exciting; I had not been back for a while,” Swindell said. “I kept trying to get back for a football game to see Jack Miller Stadium and other facilities. When I attended Ashland, they played their football games at the high school. The athletic facilities have come a long way. We once held baseball practice in a field next to the bowling alley.

“It brought back a lot of memories,” he added about that 2020 visit to Ashland University.

Great Midwest Athletic Conference

Ashland Concludes 2023 Season With Win at America's Crossroads Bowl

Ashland Source – Ashland County Ohio News & Info

Telling the Whole Story of Ashland County

Bernhard has long, winding road to college football

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series. Part I was published on Aug. 17 .

ASHLAND — There will be a rarely-walked balancing act the next few years for Ashland High School quarterback Nathan Bernhard.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound sophomore already has dipped his toe in the tough-to-swim waters for any signal-caller playing at an elite college program.

In June alone, Bernhard worked out at 11 NCAA Division I college camps over 21 days, traveling 5,500 miles across eight states to do so.

The schools on that list included Ohio State, Penn State (offered him in February), Iowa State (offered in June), Michigan, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Bernhard added another offer, from Louisville, earlier this week.

“Traveling to those places, it’s kind of cool, to see those colleges,” Bernhard said. “In that aspect it wasn’t that bad. But you do get worn down a little bit.”

While conference rivals like Mansfield Senior and Lexington have had a number of players move on to Division I college programs, it’s a path very few at Ashland have walked.

Arrows head coach Scott Valentine, a 1981 AHS graduate who will be leading the team for the 18th season this fall, noted former Ashland standouts Dave Crecelius (1981 grad, Ohio State), Cory Zwick (1996, Kent State) and Phil Hawk (1998, Miami of Ohio) as three players who moved on to Division I college careers.

Obviously, Jim Roseboro, who led the Ashland football team to 21 straight wins, blazed a path for all Arrows in the 1950s when he played for Woody Hayes at Ohio State. Before that, Hayden “Dub” Fouts, a 1927 graduate, played for the Buckeyes for a year, too.

Bill Seder Jr. starred for the Arrows before playing at Ohio University in the 1980s. More recently, 2022 AHS grad Kadin Schmitz signed with Navy. After spending a season at the Naval Academy’s prep school — he made 80 tackles and was a defensive captain — Schmitz transferred to Ohio University.

While Ashland isn’t exactly a hotbed for major college football recruits, Bernhard got a boost from the quarterbacks coach he began working with last summer, Hudson-based Brad Maendler.

Maendler groomed former Medina star Drew Allar on a career path to Penn State, where he likely will be the starting quarterback as a sophomore this fall. The owner of QB Excelerate, Maendler is working with a stable of other quarterbacks set to move on to the next level.

“The relationship with Brad was a big step in me getting the offer (from Penn State),” Bernhard said. “It was a big step to me even getting noticed, actually, because Brad has all kinds of connections. Me being from Ashland, not a place that’s known to have a ton of high-level (college football prospects), he was instrumental.”

If there is some hometown advice that could go a long way in helping Bernhard, it could come from more recent star quarterbacks Taylor Housewright (2008 graduate) and Marcus Fuller (2011).

Both were two-time, first-team All-Ohioans (the only other one at Ashland was legendary running back Roosevelt Robinson in the 1960s), and both led the Arrows to back-to-back regional championship games while also navigating their way toward college careers.

Housewright’s 2007 squad was the only Ashland team ever to reach the state semifinals and he passed for 6,582 yards and 67 touchdowns. He went on to star at Ashland University, where his 7,259 yards and 71 touchdowns both rank third in program history. Housewright was the conference player of the year in 2012 at AU and finished fifth in Division II Player of the Year voting.

He now is entering his third season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Division I Montana State after previous coaching stops at Oregon, Mississippi State, Wyoming, Ashland, Wittenberg and Miami (Ohio).

Needless to say, he knows a bit about the recruiting trail.

“Recruiting is different now because of all the social media,” said Housewright, who was in contact with a variety of Division I programs and had scholarship offers to Ashland, Findlay and Youngstown State.

“Any kid now is easier to get ahold of because of social media and the kids need to do a good job of putting boundaries on coaches and when they can reach out.”

Housewright said he didn’t get into attending camps until later in his high school career, so his experience was different than what Bernhard is going through in that regard.

“It’s difficult at any level to play college football,” Housewright said. “He just needs to worry about what he’s doing tomorrow to help the Arrows and everything else will take care of itself.”

Fuller, meanwhile, still holds Arrow records for career passing yards (7,848) and touchdowns (76), and the 521 points the offense scored his senior season are nearly 100 more than any other in AHS history.

He went on to become a two-year starter at Brown University in the Ivy League, throwing for 5,154 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Fuller’s recruiting experience was more along the lines of what Bernhard is experiencing. He worked with quarterback coach Cliff Stoudt, a former quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, for three years in high school and had another Division I offer from Colgate.

Fuller also had preferred walk-on interest from a variety of Division I programs.

“I really enjoyed the process,” said Fuller, now a senior manager in analytics at FanDuel living in New York City. “It was always really cool to get out there and kind of stack myself up against kids from Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana — wherever we were at.”

Fuller’s biggest offseason came the summer before his senior year, when he totaled a combined 14 camps and college visits and traveled 5,200 miles. Even during his experience, though, he was still sending out DVD highlights of his performances in the mail.

He said he tried to cast a wide net for possible college destinations while prioritizing academics and offenses that fit him best.

“It can be a difficult balance to adhere to your commitments back home while pursuing what is at this stage your biggest lifelong dream,” Fuller said. “I think that’s a challenge for any athlete, but particularly the quarterback position.

“The most important thing for me was to prove that whether I was on the road or back home, that no one on the team was working harder than me.”

One other aspect of the college search that wasn’t around during the careers of Housewright and Fuller was the NCAA’s name-image-likeness (NIL) policy. The NCAA seemingly has always been able to drive revenue by promoting its athletes, and for the past few years, the athletes have been able to get paid for the use of their NIL.

With that newer development, athletes might base a lot of their college decision on a potential NIL deal, but Bernhard said he’s far from worrying about that at this point.

“Obviously, if you go to Ohio State or somewhere like that, you’re going to have the most (NIL opportunities),” he said, “but you’re going to have them if you perform anywhere at the highest level of college football.”

A lot of the next couple of seasons for Bernhard will be spent building relationships with college coaches and recruiters. Schools can verbally offer as many players as they want, but nothing is official until Bernhard signs a national letter of intent in December of 2025 at the earliest.

After spending a few years as a part-time coach at Ashland University before leading the high school program at Madison last season, Valentine feels he gained a lot of knowledge he can share with any high school player looking toward the next level.

“I tell guys all the time that they’ve got to catch the attention of one of the (coaches where they’re interested in going),” Valentine said, “because I’ve been in rooms where coaches are talking about recruiting money and they’re talking about who they like the most, and it comes down to a tough decision for the staff of who’s the best guy and who you want to offer.”

Recruiting websites and video means athletes are far more easily able to open the door to communication across the country.

It makes the player pool Bernhard is competing against that much bigger and will force him to find ways to separate himself from the pack. Valentine said the sophomore’s size, arm strength, decision-making and accuracy are already helping that cause.

“Whatever fit that works for me within the power five (conferences) … that’s the ultimate dream,” Bernhard said. “I want to play football at the highest level, and wherever best fits me, it’s not really about location. I like to prioritize the culture and how my career could play out there.”

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Doug haidet ashland source correspondent.

Doug Haidet is a 17-year resident of Ashland. He wrote sports in some capacity for the Ashland Times-Gazette from 2006 to 2018. He lives with his wife, Christy, and son, Murphy. More by Doug Haidet

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Ashland University 2024 Football Schedule: 11 Games, 5 Home Games, Challenging Match-ups

The 2024 Eagle football schedule was released, featuring 11 regular-season games, with five at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field. The season starts with challenging matchups against nationally-ranked opponents, and the team is looking to build on an eight-game win streak from the previous season.

• 2023 opponents combined for a 60-62 record (.492)
• Team ended 2023 at 9-3 overall and 8-1 in the Great Midwest
• Second-longest win streak in D-II at the start of the 2024 season
• Team to start spring practice on March 14 and conclude with the annual spring game on April 20
• Junior Day for future eagles to be held on April 13

Team preparing for one of the most challenging fall schedules in school history

The 2024 football schedule presents a significant challenge for Ashland University , and the team is gearing up for a season that will test their capabilities and determination.

Read more at Ashland University

The summary of the linked article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology from OpenAI

Ashland University

Eagle Football Releases 2024 Schedule, Takes Eight-Game Win Streak Into New Season

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• Buckeyes In the NFL

'I Love It!' Five-Star DL Jahkeem Stewart Opens Up About Ohio State Visit

Matt galatzan | jun 8, 2024.

The Ohio State Buckeyes might already have the No. 1 class in the 2025 recruiting cycle, but they are still focusing ahead on the 2026 class as well.

In fact, over the weekend, the Buckeyes hosted one of, if not their top targets in the cycle in St. Augustine (Reserve, LA) defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, who comes in as the No. 1 player in the class per On3's player rankings.

And according to Stewart, things could not have gone any better.

“I really love it,” Stewart said told Eleven Warriors. “It's a great school, great academics. I'm just looking forward to the coaching.”

In fact, it might be that coaching aspect that ends up giving the Buckeyes a chance at landing Stewart in the end.

Why? Because of his admiration and respect for defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who he believes is one of the best defensive line coaches - not just in the nation - but in the history of the sport.

“Coach Johnson, he's a great coach. One of the best defensive line coaches in college football history," Stewart said in the interview. "Just getting a chance to work with him, the drills he had me going through... it was all great."

Stewart also believes that his fit within the Buckeyes defense would be ideal. And standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 270 pounds as a rising junior, he might be right.

As it stands, Stewart is still barely scratching the surface of his potential, and he believes with a coach like Johnson, he could do something special.

“I feel like I could fit perfectly in the defense,” Stewart said. “With the technique Coach Johnson’s teaching, and me being the person I am, my second effort, I want it more than a lot of these kids out here... And with Coach Johnson's mindset, we'll do great things together.”

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email [email protected]

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Lsu basketball to host top available transfer portal player, share this article.

As LSU basketball continues to ramp up its rebuild under Matt McMahon , the Tigers are set to host the top available recruit in the transfer portal on June 17, according to On3’s Joe Tipton.

Coleman Hawkins , originally a three-star recruit in 2019, hit the portal after playing four years at Illinois. He’s coming off a career year where he averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting over 45% from the field. The 6-foot-10 forward was a factor inside but could score it from deep too, averaging 1.4 threes made per game his last two years in Champaign.

Along with LSU, Kansas State is also getting a visit from Hawkins. Louisville was originally a contender, but Hawkins elected to cancel that visit.

Hawkins also tested the NBA draft waters before pulling his name and returning to the college ranks.

“I would go somewhere I can enjoy a football game,” Hawkins quipped last month.

There’s a lot more to his decision than that, but LSU’s athletic tradition across the board can’t hurt.

Illinois transfer forward Coleman Hawkins, the top available player in the portal, is scheduled to visit LSU on June 17th, source tells @On3sports . https://t.co/SKq17pgNY8 pic.twitter.com/hgrhPcHp7B — Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) June 8, 2024

With Coleman Hawkins withdrawing from the NBA Draft, the now former #Illini is in the portal. His thoughts earlier this month about a new school: "I will never play in the Big Ten again, I wouldn't play in the Big East. I would go somewhere where I can enjoy a football game" pic.twitter.com/q1AgGD6GFU — Bret Beherns (@WCIA3Bret) May 30, 2024

If McMahon pulls this off, Hawkins would be the fourth member of an already strong transfer class that ranks No. 11 in the country, according to On3.

Contact/Follow us  @LSUTigersWire  on Twitter, and like our page on  Facebook  to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

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Looking at the lsu tigers' history in the us lbm coaches poll since 2000, how each of lsu baseball's true freshmen fared in 2024, rb john emery jr. withdraws from transfer portal, returns to lsu for final season, where paul skenes ranks among national league pitchers after 5 starts, a letter to lsu baseball freshman jake brown, where angel reese ranks among wnba rookies in key stats, elite lsu receiver target jaime ffrench sets commitment date.

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