ASHLAND — Survival has been the modus operandi of the 2025 Ashland University football team.
The 17th-ranked Eagles lived by that mindset again on Saturday, brushing off Walsh 23-16 in a gritty Great Midwest Athletic Conference clash.
Coach Doug Geiser’s squad was sentenced to a brutal early schedule, with six of the squad’s first eight games on the road. Perhaps as a result, four of Ashland’s eight wins have come by a TD or less, not to mention the lone loss (a 33-26 defeat at 8-1 Indianapolis).
Still, AU has found a way to climb into a tie top the GMAC standings with an 8-1 overall record, 7-0 in the league.
The most recent recipe for success was to rely on the foot Manaki Watanabe. The 6-foot redshirt freshman kicker drilled three field goals, including a school-record 59-yard walk-off shot at the half to key the Eagles’ victory.
Walsh opened a 7-0 first-quarter lead on Jake Gill’s 4-yard TD blast to cap a 61-yard march.
Watanabe’s 39-yard field goal narrowed the gap to 7-3 heading to the second period.
Freshman Chris Maloney shook free for a 39-yard touchdown sprint to put the Eagles in front 10-7 early in the second quarter.
But the Cavaliers tied it when Jarrad Kerekes split the uprights from 39 yards with 1:43 showing in the half.
The Eagles moved the ball 20 yards after the ensuing kickoff and Watanabe struck again with his monster boot to give AU a 13-10 edge at intermission.
Watanabe’s 19-yard field goal midway through the third quarter expanded the gap to 16-10, but Walsh answered when Kerekes nailed a 20-yard field goal to make it 16-13 heading to the fourth quarter.
Chris Maloney’s 1-yard plunge capped a game-defining, 10-play 90-yard march to lift Ashland to a 23-13 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Kerekes added a 20-yard field goal with 1:31 showing, but that finished the scoring.
AU quarterback Cameron Blair completed 19-of-25 passes for 200 yards, but suffered two interceptions. Maloney ran for 116 yards on 20 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Michael Shimek registered 10 tackles, including a pair of sacks to spearhead the Eagles’ defense.
AU hosts undefeated Findlay, (9-0, 7-0) next Saturday at 1 p.m. in a monumental clash dripping with conference, postseason, and poll implications.
(Photos by Tom Theodore)
