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On Sept. 25, 1920, Ashland College played its first football game.
On Saturday (Nov. 16) afternoon, Ashland University concluded its first century of football with a 31-10 victory – the program's 505th win all-time – over Northern Michigan at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field.
With a 7-4 record in 2019, the Eagles capped the team's 10th decade with the most wins (81) and best winning percentage (.736) of any decade in program history. This also was the 60th winning season in Ashland football history.
"We've had an unbelievable run," said Ashland head coach Lee Owens. "You don't see us celebrating seven wins. It's not like we're embarrassed or disappointed by it, but it's not what we had planned."
Ashland's four losses this season were to teams with a cumulative 2019 record of 34-8 (.810).
The first 100 years of Ashland football will be commemorated throughout 2020, with the first game of the new season being Sept. 3 at Indianapolis.
WASHINGTON LEAVES MARK ON FRESHMAN SEASON
Freshman tailback Gei'vonni Washington finished 2019 with eight consecutive 100-yard rushing games, and is the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's rushing leader with 1,205 yards and 264 carries.
In fact, Washington's total of 1,071 rushing yards in the last eight games alone would have led the GLIAC in rushing by 11 yards.
"This is my first 1,000-yard season as a football player," Washington noted. "I really wasn't worried about the stats. I just wanted to come in and make an impact."
Washington set a new Ashland freshman record for rushing yards in a season, and overall, his 1,205 yards are sixth-most in program history.
BOLIN HAS SHOT AT ALL-TIME RECEPTIONS MARK
Junior wide receiver Logan Bolin has caught 125 passes with a senior season to go, and is in eighth place on Ashland's all-time catches list. Bolin caught a GLIAC-high 53 passes this season, and with 59 in 2020, he would become the program's all-time receptions leader.
EAGLES KEEP WILDCATS GROUNDED
Ashland allowed just 51 passing yards to the Wildcats on Saturday – the fewest the Eagles have yielded through the air in one game since…last year's home game with NMU (46).
2019'S FINAL NOTEBOOK
Washington's GLIAC-leading 1,453 all-purpose yards are the most for an Ashland player since Anthony Taylor's 1,783 in 2013…Junior kicker Satchel Denton led the conference with 12 field goals…For the second year in a row, sophomore quarterback/punter Austin Brenner led the league in punting average (41.6)…The Eagles blocked eight kicks – four field goals, three extra points and a punt – this season.
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