ASHLAND, Ohio - The IUP football team capitalized in key moments and fended off Ashland 19-10 in Thursday's non-conference season opener at Jack Miller Stadium.

IUP outgained Ashland 335-278, featuring a wide margin in the rushing attack where the Crimson Hawks totaled 159 rushing yards while limiting the Eagles to negative one.

Karst Hunter tallied 210 total yards with a touchdown and interception including 176 yards through the air and 34 on the ground. The redshirt senior completed 17 of 25 (68%) pass attempts.

Adam Houser logged a team-high 16 carries for 72 yards and JD Younger averaged over 5.0 yards per carry on nine attempts.

Cyair Clark hauled in a team-high five receptions for 54 yards while Maurice Massey pulled down his first touchdown reception in his IUP debut.

Defensively, Chuck Ingram (11) and Garrett Cox (10) led with double-digit tackles while Darius Bruce, Randy Okungu and Logan Goodwin each registered a sack.

IUP jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Houser's 11-yard touchdown run with 7:38 in the first quarter and the Crimson Hawks tacked on a pair of Nick Andrasi field goals for a 13-0 advantage at halftime. 

Houser's score was the first play following a bad snap from Ashland's punt team, which sailed deep in the Eagles' territory. Ashland's punter tried to recover but was taken down at the 11 yard line. It was a huge stop for the IUP defense and major momentum shift after Ashland had just intercepted Hunter on IUP's second possession of the game.

IUP's defense produced another big play midway through the second quarter when Jaheim Howard recovered a fumble that halted a 10-play drive from the Eagles near the red zone.

The Crimson Hawks, who dominated time of possession (35:50), flipped around and marched on a 14-play drive of their own capped by Andrasi's second field goal with 10 seconds before halftime. Andrasi was good from distances of 31 and 33 yards on the night.

After the break, Ashland responded quickly with a 94-yard drive on the opening possession, resulting in a 35-yard touchdown strike from Trevor Bycznski to Jent Joseph.

But IUP's drive of the night, a 12-play, 85-yard march in the third quarter kept the Crimson Hawks in front for good.

Hunter, who completed passes to seven different receivers on the night, connected with Clark on a key 22-yard strike to get down to the Ashland 23 yard line. Following a sack, Hunter found Massey over the middle for a 15-yard leap and catch with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. IUP went for two but came up just short.

Ashland added a field goal on the following possession before the teams were held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

With the win, IUP remained undefeated in the all-time series with five consecutive wins over the Eagles.

UP NEXT
IUP travels to Lock Haven for its Week 2 contest on Saturday, September 14 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

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