The Ashland Eagles’ football team has been on a roll over the last few weeks, currently riding a five-game winning streak, with all the wins coming against conference opponents.

This stretch has been all the more impressive, considering that the Eagles lost a key sophomore just two games into their conference schedule – Jack Talkington.

Defensive linebacker Talkington was lost for the season with a crushing leg injury back on Sept. 28 against the Tiffin Dragons.

This came just one week after an excellent performance in a 24-21 victory against the Hillsdale College Chargers, where Talkington led the Eagles’ defense with nine tackles (six individual) and a pickoff, which led to his first collegiate touchdown. With this impressive stat line, Talkington was named Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Athlete of the Week on Sept. 23.

It is safe to say that timing could not have been much worse for such a severe injury.

“This is my first setback in my sports career and there is a physical challenge, but the hardest challenge is the mental aspect of it,” Talkington said. “This injury has taught me how to help the team in a different way rather than being on the field playing.”

Despite the challenge, Talkington has noticed some essential keys to his team’s success, while being off the field.

“The team’s chemistry is at a high level,” Talkington said. “Watching these guys out there play their hearts out just urges me to get on the field quicker.”

Talkington is set to begin a long recovery process following surgery on Oct. 28.

“The recovery process is around 6-7 months of physical therapy which puts me at the beginning of summer when I would be cleared,” Talkington said. “When I come back to the field and play, I just want to help the team the best

I can and win a conference championship and hopefully more after that,” Talkington said.

The Ashland Eagles’ football team is next in action on Saturday, October 26 when they host the Northwood Timberwolves. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm from Jack Miller Stadium.