BLOG 13: Ashland Hopes To Bounce Back From Loss To Bloomsburg

By Sandy Gholston

ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland head coach Lee Owens is hopeful his Eagles can make the customary big improvement from week one to week two as they prepare to host Ferris State University in a 1 p.m. Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest from Community Stadium.

Owens and his team (0-1) hope to bounce back after a painful 49-42 loss to Bloomsburg – in a battle of teams that were nationally-ranked at the time.

“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes. All three (of our) turnovers were forced turnovers, great defensive plays. Those were good hits. I thought we had good ball security. Those kind(s) of turnovers, those are going to happen. Those happen when a defense makes a good play. The penalties, that’s the first time out of the gate,” said Owens, whose team still has playoff and GLIAC championship hopes alive. “We have to eliminate those. We had a couple of lack of discipline penalties.”

The Eagles know they have a challenge to score against a Ferris defense that held Tiffin to -3 rushing yards led by the big man in the middle. Ashland has been very complimentary of Ferris All-American defensive tackle Jake Visser, who possesses the ability to dominate games and oftentimes requires a double-team effort to slow him down.

“He’s got a great get-off, he puts pressure on the offensive lineman right away,” said Eagles associate head coach and offensive line coach Doug Geiser, who has been around the league for a long time. “He gets his hands on you before you’re out of your stance. Number two, he has great hand strength, he does a great job of grabbing and pulling with his hands. He feels leverage very well. He has size, strength, those sort(s) of things, but what really makes him a tremendous player is his motor. He stays on his feet, he doesn’t stay blocked.”

In the Bulldogs’ 14-12 non-conference victory over Tiffin, last week, Visser had two solo tackles and assisted on two others. He also racked up 1.5 tackles for loss and had 1.5 sacks in addition to a fumble recovery.

The Eagles lead the all-time series with Ferris, which dates back to 1967, 12-8. The teams have split the last four games.

Ashland was picked to finish second in the preseason GLIAC Coaches Poll while Ferris was chosen seventh.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com