COLUMBUS, OH – The picturesque Ohio Dominican campus is located within a stone's throw of Port Columbus International Airport.
Maybe the ODU Panthers should have put in a call to the airport to see if there was a spare air traffic controller who was willing to double dip at Panther Field on Saturday (Nov. 6).
AU sophomore quarterback Taylor Housewright (Ashland, Ohio) threw three touchdown passes, two to senior wide receiver Christian Livingston (Newark, Ohio) and one, a record breaker, to senior wideout Joe Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio/Waynesfield-Goshen) in a 44-15 victory where the Eagles turned the gridiron into a runway.
Ashland is 7-3, 6-3 in the GLIAC and has won six consecutive games. That's the second longest winning streak in the seven-year tenure of head coach Lee Owens. His 2007 team won seven straight to close out the regular season. AU has not trailed in a football game since there was 10:04 left to play in the game on Oct. 16 at Wayne State. Ashland has scored 40 or more points in four of the last five weeks.
Housewright completed 19 of 25 passes for 281 yards. He's thrown eight touchdown passes over the last two weeks and has 20 for the year (with eight interceptions). Against an ODU (2-7/2-7 GLIAC) team that was determined to deprive the Eagles of junior tailback D.J. McCoy (Cleveland, Ohio/Collinwood), AU's ability to strike through the air was paramount. That air game eventually opened up lanes for McCoy, who rushed for 102 yards on 25 carries. This was his sixth consecutive 100-yard effort.
"They were big and physical inside," said Owens. "They did a good job up front, they were stout. Taylor made some good throws. Once we spread them out it was easier to throw the ball."
The Eagles scored on their first two possessions, both on Housewright-to-Livingston passes. AU's first drive ended with a 1-yard scoring pass between the two, Livingston running a post pattern with little opposition. The Eagles went 70 yards in 13 plays.
Ashland's next drive covered 70 yards on 11 plays and ended with Livingston reaching the end zone on a 9-yard pass from Housewright. Gregg Berkshire's (Ashland, Ohio) extra point put the Eagles in front, 14-0 with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles seemed to hit a lull at that point. The Panthers didn't come apart after those two early AU scores and got the Eagles' attention when they blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety with 3:47 left in the first half. The block went to Nate Weeks, who roared up the middle to connect with Berkshire's kick.
"They overloaded and I made a quick punt call," Owens reported. "They got two guys through the 'A' gap. To answer your question, I shouldn't have made the quick punt call."
ODU got the ball back after that punt block and had a chance to gain some momentum. But on the Panthers' first play from scrimmage, junior cornerback Logan Kerr (Ashland, Ohio) picked off Billy Griffin's pass. That was Kerr's team-high sixth interception of the season and it set up a Housewright-to-Horn 23-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown reception was the 24th of Horn's career. The reception allowed him to move past Chris Harkness as the program's career leader in touchdown catches. Berkshire's extra point gave the Eagles a 21-2 with 1:38 left in the half. Horn finished the game with eight catches for 167 yards.
Turnovers short-circuited just about every opportunity the Panthers had to get back in the game. After the Horn TD catch, the Panthers drove into AU territory, but Griffin was intercepted by senior safety Quinton Scott (Fort Wayne, Ind./Indiana State).
Early in the third quarter, AU went in front, 24-2 on a 26-yard field goal by Berkshire. Moments later, junior defensive lineman Jeris Pendleton (Chicago, IL/Joliet Junior College) forced Mike Noffsinger to fumble. Senior safety Tarell Lewis (Redford, Mich./Bowling Green) picked up the loose ball and raced 45 yards for a touchdown. That was his first touchdown of the season. With 11:13 to play in the third quarter Ashland was in front, 31-2.
The AU defense did not enjoy its most consistent performance, of the season, but it didn't allow the Panthers to reach the end zone until Jeremy Scott scored on a 1-yard run with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter. Grffin's pass attempt on the two-point conversion fell incomplete.
"They kept playing and playing hard," said Owens of ODU. "I told Bill (ODU head coach Conley), he plugs a few more players in there, they'll be pretty good. They play hard and they're well coached."
The Eagles answered Scott's score with a 5-yard touchdown run by McCoy with 1:40 left in the third quarter. Ashland led after three quarters, 38-8.
Ashland made it 41-8 on a 48-yard field goal by Berkshire. Berkshire has two 48-yarders this season. His third field goal of the game, a 31-yarder, came with 4:33 left in the game and gave Ashland a 44-8 lead. He rebounded nicely on Saturday after going 0-for-2 on field goal tries a week ago at Findlay. Berkshire scored 14 points against ODU.
AU outgained the Panthers, 452-282, didn't have a turnover and forced four turnovers. Kerr and Scott both had eight tackles.
"I told our guys after the game, we got away with some things you won't get away with against the top teams in the conference," said Owens. "Ohio Dominican is struggling and we got away with some things. But Lake Erie is playing well. We have to clean up some things."
The Eagles return home next Saturday (Nov. 13, 1 p.m.) to host Lake Erie.
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