CANTON — Quarterback Austin Brenner threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as Ashland University pounded Walsh 35-10 on Thursday at GlenOak High School.
Brenner completed 20 of 27 passes for 296 yards in AU’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference debut. He spotted the Eagles to an early lead on a 12 yard run with 9:3 remaining in the first quarter.
Less than three minutes later, Brenner hooked up with tailback Gei’vonni Washington on a 55 yard touchdown pass to give AU a 14-0 lead. Brenner’s 3 yard TD run with 9:37 remaining in the second quarter capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive and gave the Eagles a 21-3 lead.
Ashland put the game on ice with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Larry Martin scored on a 13 yard run on AU’s first possession of the second half to make it 28-3. On Ashland’s next possession, Brenner found Garrett Turnbaugh for a 38 yard touchdown pass to make it 35-3.
Ashland (2-2, 1-0) piled up 471 yards of total offense while limiting the Cavaliers (1-4, 0-1) to 238 total yards.
Martin led the Eagles with 82 yards rushing on 12 carries. Turnbaugh caught seven passes for 127 yards.
Defensively, safety Justin Moore picked off a pair of passes. Michael Ayers, Luke Crabtree and Curtis Roupe each had six tackles.
“It’s nice to win and the defense played a lot better,” AU coach Lee Owens said. “We played well at times on offense. We have a lot of work to do.”
The Eagles return to action Oct. 9 at home against Ohio Dominican.
