Road Warriors: Eagles dominate Panthers in first-ever meeting

By Matt Brubaker

Everyone is welcomed at home, but it’s a different story when you enter someone else’s home. The Eagles found success against the Ohio Dominican Panthers at Panther Field Saturday, winning their third road game of the season, 44-15.

The Eagles came out firing on all cylinders as the duo of Taylor Housewright and Christian Livingston teamed up for the first two Eagle touchdowns. Livingston caught his first touchdown pass with 8:39 left in the first quarter, a one-yard reception on fourth and goal, and followed that catch with an eight-yard touchdown reception on the same route with 2:16 left in the first. The senior had as many touchdowns in the first quarter against the Panthers as he did in the previous nine games.

After Gregg Berkshire’s punt was blocked out of the end zone early in the second quarter for a safety, Joe Horn etched his name in the Eagle record books for the second consecutive week. Last week against the Findlay Oilers, Horn became the Eagles’ all-time leading receiver with 2,351 yards. This week, with 1:38 left in the first half, Horn caught his 24th touchdown pass of his career, a 23-yard reception from Housewright. Horn’s record-setting touchdown reception moved him past Chris Harkness. The Eagles went into the half leading 21-2 and outgained the Panthers 221-120 in the first 30 minutes.

The Eagles broke the game open in the third stanza thanks to defense and special teams. Berkshire extended the Eagles lead to 24-2 with a 26-yard field goal two minutes into the third quarter. Two minutes later, Tarell Lewis recovered a Mike Noffsinger fumble and returned it 45 yards for his first touchdown of the season. D.J. McCoy continued his impressive streak of 100-yard games against the Panthers, as he rushed for 102 yards on 25 carries and found pay dirt for the seventh time late in the third quarter, giving the Eagles a comfortable 38-3 advantage.

Berkshire added two more field goals in the fourth quarter from 48 and 31 yards as the Eagles finished off their road schedule going 3-2 and winning their three road games by a combined score of 140-57.

The Eagles outgained the Panthers 452-282 and forced four Panther turnovers. Housewright finished the day going 19-for-25 for 281 yards passing and three touchdowns, while rushing for 46 yards on 10 carries. Horn finished the game with eight receptions for 167 yards with a long of 73. Fellow senior Alan Dunson made five receptions for 45 yards. Logan Kerr picked off his sixth pass of the season, which leads the team, and Quinton Scott and Jacob Lerman also recorded takeaways. Kerr and Scott also led the team with eight tackles.

The Eagles improved to 7-3 on the season, 6-3 in the GLIAC, and are one win away from winning their last seven games of the regular season. Ashland will take on Lake Erie this Saturday on senior day beginning at 1 p.m. at Jack Miller Stadium.