Ashby's record setting day spoiled by Clarion's epic comeback

Saturday, November 14

Clarion, PA

12:00 PM

Millersville University

1-10 , 0-6

Clarion

6-5 , 3-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Millersville	7	21	7	7	42
Clarion	7	7	0	29	43

Photo by: Kaya Wagner 2026

11/14/2026 4:46:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

CLARION, Pa. – Mekhi Ashby's record-setting day was spoiled by Clarion's epic comeback, as the Golden Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter for a 43-42 win over Millersville in Saturday's season finale.

With 11:02 remaining, Ashby scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the game to put the Marauders in front 42-14, but the Marauders could not close out the win. A 93-yard kickoff return by Tyreeck Hall started a run of 29 unanswered points for the Golden Eagles. The rally included touchdowns on three consecutive offensive possessions—all in the span of 5:29—and a two-point conversion scramble by quarterback Jase Ferguson with 34 seconds to play.

"When it starts going sideways, it's really hard to keep it from spiraling," said Millersville head coach Drew Folmar. "It's hard to win football games and easy to lose them. More football games are lost than won. But I don't think there was ever a moment, even when we gave up the two point conversion, that the kids thought they were out of the game. They stuck together, encouraged each other. I've got to do a better job teaching them to finish. That doesn't help our seniors, but moving forward that's going to be a focus in the offseason. But I never felt at any point we were fractured as a team."

Ashby set a school record with 47 carries and rushed for 322 yards—the second most in program history, and his performance made him Millersville's first 1,000 yard rusher since Ian Sadon in 2013 and just the second runner to hit that mark in the last 21 years. He finished the game with the third most carries and sixth most yards in PSAC history.

FB: MEHKI ASHBY DOES IT AGAIN. His fourth touchdown of the day gives the Marauders a 41-14 lead! https://t.co/R2s5SGGLJO
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) November 14, 2026

"The kids up front, they were blocking their tails off," said Folmar. "We ran a lot of 12 personnel. The wideouts did an unbelievable job. Mekhi ran behind his pads all day. You could feel it. He was running hard. We are going to keep feeding him. The kids believed that we could keep hammering the ball. It was a good unit effort, and I was proud of them to see that in them. There was a point in the third quarter where we didn't think we'd have a call a pass play the rest of the game. We just have to learn, and we have to coach them, on how to finish."

FB: Mekhi Ashby with his third touchdown of the day! https://t.co/DdV7nKlFQx
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) November 14, 2026

Kai Stiansen picked off a Ferguson pass with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter, and the Marauder D turned over the Golden Eagles on downs the following series. That's when Ashby's ripped off a 67-yard run that looked like the back-breaking score. In the second and third quarters Millersville's defense turned over Clarion three times and forced two punts on five possessions. But when trying to run out the clock and salt away the win, the Marauders could not get Ashby free and could not get the stop it needed.

FB: Causing chaos! https://t.co/gV7naC4Ozg
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) November 14, 2026

Clarion recovered an onside kick with 5:28 left after pulling within 42-28 and needed seven plays to pull within seven when Davon Jones caught a 17-yard pass from Ferguson. Millersville put the ball in Ashby's hands, and while he picked up a first down and faced a second-and-two from the Clarion 36, Ashby was stuffed on three consecutive runs, and Clarion took over with 1:03 to play. Ferguson connected on 3 of 4 passes in quickly moving Clarion to the 'Ville 6, and that's where he found Davon Jones for a touchdown. Clarion elected to go for two. Ferguson ran a bootleg to the right before reversing course and scrambling in and putting his team up by one.

Millersville still had 34 seconds but no timeouts, and after a completion on first down, Millersville rushed to the line but was flagged for flagged for false starts on back-to-back snaps. The 10 second runoff ended the game.

In addition to Ashby's historical day, Tommy Hunsicker was an efficient 19 for 24 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdown catches were made by Caileb Howse. Howse finished his sophomore season with a team high six touchdown catches. Millersville totaled 31 first downs to Clarion's 21 and set season highs in points and yards (577).

FB: Caileb Howse is dangerous in the open field! He ties up the game! https://t.co/B4Ki5EtYj2
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) November 14, 2026

"The kids did a good job offensively today," said Folmar. "There were some things going in that we thought we could take advantage of. They executed and did an awesome job. It wasn't anything unique or special. It was day one installs for us. It didn't always show on the scoreboard this season, but they got better because they got more confident as the season went on. My heartbreaks for them because we were six inches from being able to run the clock out. Credit Clarion because they made the plays that they needed to."

While Millersville finished its season 1-10, Saturday marked another near miss for the young squad under first year head coach Drew Folmar. Millersville lost five one-score games, including two by one point.

"I hope the team learned how to compete this season," said Folmar. "We have to learn how to finish. But I hope they've learned how to win their match-up, that one of 11. The first week we talked, we asked them for blind faith and the coaches worked to earn their faith every day. We asked for trust in each other, and I think we got that."