Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay football team, ranked #20 in the country in the latest American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Poll, dropped its first game of the 2024 campaign on Saturday, October 12 at the hands of the Ashland Eagles, losing by a final score of 41-21. That home defeat gives the Oilers a 5-1 record overall with a 3-1 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) while Ashland moves to 4-2 on the year and now moves into the driver's seat in the conference at 4-0 in league play.
The game, which was a scheduled noon kickoff, would take place over the course of more than five hours thanks to a pair of lightning delays, each of which lasted more than an hour.
Findlay received the opening kickoff and quickly gained their way into the Eagles' territory after a 33-yard completion to senior Tristan Cross, 14 yards on two plays from senior Jayden Farmer, and a short completion from senior Matthew Rueve to junior Bryan Hunt. That final completion put the Oilers on Ashland's 26-yardline facing a second-and-six.
With momentum on its' side, a nearby lightning strike forced the first delay, one that would last from for about 90 minutes.
Out of the break, Findlay got down to the Ashland eight before its' first major miscue of the game. Defensive end Jeffrey Barnett, the Eagles' leader in sacks, came off the left side unblocked and hit Rueve as he attempted a pass. The ball squirted free, was recovered by Ashland, and was returned to the 30. A 70-yard touchdown was the result of the first play of the drive, giving the visiting team some early momentum.
After a punt, Ashland got the ball back before another lightning strike forced an evacuation of the stadium once again. This delay would cover just over an hour.
Like they did after the first interruption, the Eagles came out firing, moving down the field quickly, ultimately scoring a touchdown just before the end of the first quarter, which had begun more than three hours prior.
The Ashland lead would reach 24-0 with less than three minutes to play in the first half before the Oilers switched into hurry-up mode and drove 75 yards to get on the board.
Fast forward to the middle of the fourth quarter when Rueve found junior Justin Roth for the first receiving touchdown of his career, a 34-yard strike that got the Oilers to within two scores at 34-21. But, with only five minutes on the clock, there was little Findlay could do as the Eagles melted away the clock to secure the win 100 years after the two teams first met on the gridiron.
Ashland finished with 499 yards of total offense that included 335 through the air and 164 on the ground while the Oilers had 392 total yards, 343 of which were passing yards.
Turnovers hurt the home team in a big way as AU benefited from three interceptions and a fumble to finish at +4 in the turnover category.
Rueve finished 27-of-45 for 297 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. He was sacked three times. The other touchdown pass of the day came from the arm of senior Mitch Nielsen who had a 46-yard scoring toss on a trick play to senior Makya Matthews in the fourth quarter.
Farmer had 67 yards on 18 carries, including a touchdown, while Matthews was the leading receiver with two receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. Hunt had a team-high seven receptions for 60 yards. Roth finished with two catches for 54 yards and a score.
Junior Romaro Warren Jr. was all over the field, making a team-high 11 tackles including 1.5 tackles-for-loss to lead the defense. Junior Christion Stokes had nine stops while junior Sam Weihrauch and sophomore Adonai Bumba each had eight.
Findlay looks to get back on track next week as they hit the road to battle another long-time rival in Ohio Dominican. That game will kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 12:00 pm in Columbus, Ohio.
