A high-quality performance from offense, defense and special teams on Saturday (Sept. 27) afternoon lifted the No. RV Ashland University football team to a 21-13 win at Northwood – keeping the Eagles tied for first place in the early-season Great Midwest Athletic Conference standings.
The Eagles improve to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Great Midwest, and the Timberwolves are 3-1, 1-1.
Boasting one of the top defenses in NCAA Division II in a number of categories entering Saturday, Ashland allowed just 13 points, 54 rushing yards and 246 yards overall to Northwood.
On offense, senior quarterback
Cameron Blair distributed the ball to nine different receivers, en route to going 18-for-22 for 159 yards and a touchdown. Ashland's running game had its best day of 2025, as well, finishing with 170 yards and a TD on 41 attempts.
After each team traded punts to start the game, Northwood drove from midfield to end with a 30-yard field goal from kicker Drew Cady to go on top first with 8:01 left in the opening quarter.
The Eagle defense stayed stout in the first quarter, then a Timberwolves punt got blocked by redshirt freshman cornerback
Damien Johnson Jr., and he returned it 25 yards to put AU ahead 7-3 with 1:05 to play in the period.
That blocked punt was Ashland's 24
th blocked kick since the start of the 2022 campaign, and third blocked kick of 2025.
The Eagles followed that up with an eight-play, 73-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, with junior tailback
Olando Kamara capping it on a 23-yard scoring run for a 14-3 lead at the 9:28 mark.
Cady's 32-yard field goal with 6:56 left until halftime got Northwood closer at 14-6, and the two teams went to into the locker room that way. The Eagles kept the Timberwolves to 116 yards of offense and 3.9 yards per play in the game's first 30 minutes.
Ashland took a two-score lead again at 21-6 at the 3:57 mark of the third quarter, when Blair found senior wide receiver
Jent Joseph for a 19-yard touchdown. For Joseph, it was his first TD reception since Game 1 of 2024 – after which he missed the rest of the season due to injury.
Quarterback Ethan Hamby's three-yard touchdown run with 2:22 to go in regulation moved Northwood closer at 21-13, but the Timberwolves' ensuing onside kick was unsuccessful.
WRAPPING IT UP
- Ashland has blocked at least one kick in four of the last seven games dating back to the end of 2024.
- In a fairly clean game, neither team had a turnover, and there were eight total penalties.
- The Eagles kept the ball for a season-best 36:47 on Saturday.
- Ashland moves to 27-13-1 all-time vs. Northwood.
NEXT UP
Another Great Midwest road game on Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. at Kentucky Wesleyan.
