“Every time Taylor Housewright takes the field, it is fun to watch him because you can see him grow during each game,” Head Football Coach Lee Owens said.

Housewright is a junior here at Ashland University and is the starting quarterback for our varsity football team. The week of Oct. 18, he was selected as the Player of the Week. Before playing for AU, he was the quarterback at Ashland High School.

The AU football team is currently 6-3. They started off the year right with a win against Bloomsburg, followed by three tough losses. Now AU’s football team is on a five-game winning streak mainly because of the leadership that the team contains.

“This year started off pretty slow but because of the good leadership that our captains have, they didn’t let us give up which is why we’ve won the past five games,” Housewright said.

According to Owens, Housewright and the rest of the team, one of the main goals for them is to beat all of the Ohio teams. The two Ohio teams they have played so far are Tiffin who the Eagles shutout 49-0 and Findlay, whom Ashland almost shutout, 56-7.

The last two games consist of AU playing Ohio Dominican and Lake Erie, whom they are hoping to beat to achieve their goal.

“Ashland is like the bulls-eye; all the other teams want to beat us more than any other school,” Owens said. This is what makes the team stay focused, so that no other Division II team can beat them.

Housewright is second in the GLIAC for his passing and total offense. His pass efficiency is 150 and he averages 250 yards on offense per game. Housewright also completes 64 percent of his passes and so far he has accounted for 17 touchdowns this season.

According to Owens, Housewright has two things to live up to: to try and fill the shoes of Bill Cundiff, last year’s quarterback and to fulfill the local legend prophecy, considering everything he did at Ashland High School before he came to AU.

“Housewright isn’t worried about what has happened in the past. He is all about living in the moment, which is a great attitude,” Owens said. “He is creating his own legacy here at AU. At first I was concerned about Housewright and how he was going to do this season because of all the pressure he was under, but by the results of especially these past five games, there is no reason for me to be concerned.”

Housewright has had an outstanding season so far and each game gets even better. Only two Ohio teams remain for the Eagles this year.