The Malone University football team suffered a 42-13 defeat in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest at Ashland University Saturday night.

The host Eagles (4-1 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) jumped out to an early 21-0 advantage after engineering touchdown drives on each of their first three possessions.  The Pioneers (0-5, 0-5 GLIAC) answered back with just under five minutes remaining in the first half as running back Kyle Nutter capped a 12-play, 72-yard drive with a one-yard TD plunge.  The lengthy scoring march was aided by a 34-yard pass from quarterback Kaleb Scott to wide receiver Josh McLaughlin and a four-yard run by Nutter on 4th & 1.

Ashland moved the ball to the Malone 22 on its next possession, but the Pioneer defense stopped the Eagles on downs, forcing three straight incomplete passes to keep the score 21-6 at halftime.

The hosts took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and advanced deep into Pioneer territory before the Malone defense came up with another big stop on 4th down – this time stuffing an Ashland running play at the MU 10-yard line.   The visitors were unable to cut into the deficit, though, as a fumbled option pitch on a 4th-down conversion attempt gave the ball back to Ashland at the Malone 35-yard line.  The Eagle offense quickly capitalized on the good field position, punching across the goal line from four yards out to increase its lead to 28-6 with 4:46 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The hosts would then melt nearly 12 minutes off the clock on their next two possessions, putting together touchdown drives of 58 and 85 yards to stretch the lead to 42-6.  Malone wrapped up the scoring late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Tyler Wentz hit wide receiver Eian Elsass with a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Ashland, which entered the contest ranked among the GLIAC leaders in rushing, tallied all six of its TDs and 382 of its 552 total yards on the ground.  Malone countered with 258 yards of offense, 138 passing and 120 rushing.

Nutter paced the Pioneer ground game with 13 carries for 40 yards.  McLaughlin led the receiving corps with five catches for 53 yards. 

Defensive backs Lloyd Phillips and Lucas Haupt each posted a team-high seven tackles for the Pioneer defense.  Linebacker Will Johnson and safety Demarco Donaldson both added six stops.

Running back Anthony Taylor posted 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Eagles while quarterback Travis Tarnowski completed 13 of 21 passes for 136 yards with one rushing TD.

The Pioneers will return to Fawcett Stadium next Saturday for their Homecoming Game against Northern Michigan University.  Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.  Fans can catch all the action live on the Malone Sports Network (radio broadcast on ESPN 990 AM or streaming live at www.espn990.com).