IUP ends Ashland University's season in second round of Div. II playoffs
Ashland University had its chance in the fourth quarter of its playoff game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
It just ran out of time.
Despite not scoring, IUP exhausted almost the entire final eight minutes with a 15-play drive to eke out a 19-13 win over Ashland in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Ashland scored with 8:05 to go on a nine-yard Gei'Vonni Washington run to cut IUP's lead to six points, giving the Eagles a chance to pull out a win late in the fourth, but the Crimson Hawks did everything outside of scoring points to make sure that didn't happen.
Their offense took the field with 8:00, running the ball 10 times during a 15-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a turnover on downs. By the time Ashland got the ball back with 37 seconds left, they needed to go 74 yards for what would have been the game-winning touchdown.
They never made it past their own 37-yard line.
While IUP scored first, Ashland led for a little more than four-and-a-half minutes of game time when Garrett Turnbaugh caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Austin Brenner with 4:33 left in the first quarter to go up 7-6.
However, IUP regained the lead on the first play of the second quarter and led by as many as 12 before Washington's touchdown made it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.
Both defenses made sure it was a low-scoring game, with Ashland intercepting two IUP passes and the Crimson Hawks holding the Eagles to 289 yards of total offense.
Brenner threw for 188 yards with a TD and an interception, finding Turnbaugh seven times for 88 yards and a TD and Logan Bolin five times for 53 yards. Washington ran for 45 yards and a TD on 11 carries.
Michael Ayers and Devin Prude came up with AU's interceptions.
Ashland finished its season with a 10-2 record — its best mark since 2017, when it went 11-2.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: IUP ekes out 19-13 win over Ashland University in Div. II playoffs
