In the third week of the season, the No. 7 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs beat the Ashland University Eagles by a score of 43-3 on Saturday, Sept 14.
After their dominant win over Lake Erie on Sept. 7, the Bulldogs (2-1) kept the momentum going into this game, dominating the Eagles with 530 total yards of offense.
Ferris got out to a quick lead on the opening kickoff of the game with a 90-yard kick return touchdown by sophomore Taarik Brett. In the first quarter, the Eagles kept the Bulldogs’ offense at bay, keeping the score close at 14-3.
The Bulldogs’ offense sprung into action in the second quarter with a rushing touchdown from junior running back Kannon Katzer, a receiving touchdown from junior wide receiver Jeremiah Lee, a safety and a rushing touchdown from junior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, making the score 36-3 going into halftime.
Chambliss kept his strong play going behind 76% (23-30) 286 passing yards and two passing touchdowns as well as 27 yards on the ground on seven carries with an extra two rushing touchdowns. Chambliss only played three of the four quarters of Saturday’s game.
The defense held the Ashland offense to only 127 yards and two interceptions, those being by sophomore defensive back Michael Edwards and redshirt freshman defensive back Ahlston Ware. Junior linebacker Iosefa Saipaia was the defender to watch, having five total tackles and a half a sack on the game.
Saipaia spoke about how dominant the defense has been to start this season.
“I think it is just holding ourselves to a higher standard of play no matter who we play, it’s always going to be about us and who we play.”
Despite the big win, penalties were a problem for the Bulldogs, as they had seven penalties going to halftime. Three of those calls were unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Annese touched on how to clean up the penalty issue going into the next game.
“One is the irresponsibility of losing your emotional control, I am going to watch film and some of those guys are going to be getting up early to get that under control,” Annese said. “Over time you just have to know who your hurting, and if you don’t care enough about your team to control yourself emotionally, you’re going to have a problem with me.”
Thanks to the large lead going into the fourth quarter the Bulldogs were able to use three different quarterbacks to determine who will end up being Chambliss’s backup with standout junior quarterback Carson Gulker going down last week with an injury that will keep him out.
Redshirt freshman Leeshaun Mumpfield got most of the snaps in the fourth throwing for 57% (4-7) and 41 yards. The second quarterback that got snaps was redshirt freshman Jack Schierholz, he completed his only pass for six yards but did rush five times for 20 yards. The third quarterback that saw snaps was redshirt freshman Chase Carter, who did not attempt a pass, but did rush once for five yards.
Annese spoke about the possibility of who would possibly take over Gulker’s spot.
“Missing Carson is a big deal for us, he’s a great player and has done great things for us, so we’re still trying to sort out who might be the guy to be the backup for Trinidad,” Annese said. “Mumpfield played a lot tonight and last week I used Chase Carter in the third quarter, and Jack’s kind of a strong, physical guy so he did a really nice job, so we’re just trying to sort it out right now.”
The Bulldogs dominantly outgained the Eagles on offense with 530 yards of offense to Ashland’s 127 and a big part of that was thanks to senior wide receiver Emari O’Brien who had four receptions for 85 yards alongside senior wide receiver Tyrese Hunt-Thompson who caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Hunt-Thompson spoke about how well the offense has clicked in the past two home games.
“I think we just attack every day the same, trying to get better at practice and that’s how you get better, obviously it’s just effort and getting better every day, I think Trinidad really came out today and led to us a real complete game.”
This coming week the Bulldogs will have a bye week, but the following week the Bulldogs head to Springfield, Mass. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 12 p.m. to face off against the American International Yellow Jackets (1-1). Last season the Bulldogs confidently defeated the Yellow Jackets at home by a score of 56-0.