The football team finished the season on a two game losing streak after Saturday’s 45-42 loss to Lake Erie. The Eagles lost the previous week to Ohio Dominican and lost a chance to make the playoffs.

Last year the Eagles played Lake Erie in the season finale and dominated with over 700 yards of offense in an 87-17 win over the Storm. The Storm was looking for revenge in this showdown after last year’s embarrassing loss and stunned Ashland on Senior Day at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium in Painesville.

Senior quarterback Sean Bedevelsky had a career game in his last in a Storm uniform, with 99 yards rushing three touchdowns. He also completed 17-23 passes for 262 yards and another two scores.

Ashland has had the most success when they run the ball efficiently, coming into the game with an average of 186.6 yards on the ground with the three-headed attack of D.J. McCoy, Anthony Taylor and Jordan McCune. The Eagles were held to 103 yards rushing; McCoy had 62 yards and McCune had 58 yards and two touchdowns.

Ashland linebacker Cody Bloom led the team in tackles with 12, and the Eagles secondary gave up two touchdowns, one being the game-winner for the Storm. The Eagles defense gave up 502 yards of total offense and failed to stop the Storm offense repeatedly in the first half, as the Storm when into halftime with a 24-14 lead.

The Eagles would come out the second half fired up and try to come back behind the arm of junior quarterback Taylor Housewright, who completed 23-37 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns.

Housewright had a brilliant game, connecting repeatedly to wide receiver Anthony Capasso. The two connected for three touchdowns. The first play from scrimmage for the Eagles offense was a 64-yard touchdown pass caught by Capasso.

The Eagles scored on two straight possessions in the second half to take a 28-24 lead. However, the Storm didn’t give up as they scored twice in a row to take back the lead at 38-28.

After another Storm touchdown for each team the score was 45-35 and the Eagles drove down the field and scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Housewright to Capasso on fourth-and-four to make it 45-42.

The Storm ran out the clock and held on for the upset victory, capping off their season with the win. Lake Erie finished the season at 3-8 (2-8 GLIAC) and the Eagles finished at 6-5 (6-4 GLIAC).

As for Ashland the seniors, they finished their last game ever in an Ashland uniform with a loss. This was a disappointing season for the Eagles as they failed to make the playoffs for another season and the expectations for this team were not met.

The Eagles rode a huge four-game winning streak in the middle of the season, but finished 1-3 in their last four games. The once nationally ranked and playoff-contending football team failed to win the GLIAC and make the playoffs.

For head coach Lee Owens this has to be devastating for him and his coaching staff as they had such huge expectations to be contenders in the GLIAC. Through all the negatives, the Eagles have a lot to look forward to next year with freshman tailbacks McCune (who led the team in rushing) and Taylor having outstanding seasons. Housewright will look to lead his team into playoff contention next year.