Three north central Ohio products are off to big starts in their 2021 collegiate sports seasons.
Mansfield Senior’s Angelo Grose, Shelby’s Brennan Armstrong and Madison’s Taylor Huff are carrying the north central Ohio banner high in their new locations.
Huff was Ohio’s state soccer player of the year last season, while leading the Rams to a state championship.
Adjusting to a Division I college soccer program has been no problem at all for her. Starting in her very first game at Tennessee on Aug. 19, Huff scored two goals and added an assist against Florida Gulf Coast in a 6-0.
In her first road game at Tennessee Tech on Aug. 26, the freshman drove a ball far post from the top of the box to score in a 6-0 victory.
She found the net again off a pass from Maddie Eskin vs. Louisiana in a 4-0 win on Aug. 29.
On Sunday, Huff split the pipes and had an assist in a 3-0 victory over Chattanooga.
So far, Huff has led the Vols to a 6-0 record while compiling 12 points on five goals and two assists. She is tied for the team lead in goals and is second in assists.
Anyone who watched this young lady play for four years at Madison can’t be surprised at her spectacular play even at the next level.
Grose didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt his freshman season a year ago at Michigan State, and he’s rolling again this year.
A year ago, while playing safety for the Spartans, he collected 23 tackles, including 15 solo stops. The highlight of the year was beating arch-rival Michigan.
So far this season, Grose has already registered 13 tackles with two passes defended in victories over Northwestern and Youngstown State.
For Armstrong, he’s waited his turn and is now the starting quarterback at Virginia.
After garnering ACC Co-Quarterback of the Week honors in Week 1, Armstrong authored a record-setting performance in Week 2.
The Shelby product completed 27-of-36 passes for 405 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Cavaliers past Illinois 42-14 victory on Saturday. He also garnered 31 yards on five carries.
“He’s unmatched in terms of how competitive, how tough in his determination,” Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said of Armstrong. “He had an injury of some sort and didn’t look like it affected him much.”
In UVA’s 43-0 season-opening win over William & Mary, the redshirt-junior completed 21-of-31 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns. He added two rushing TDs.
Through two wins, Armstrong has completed 71.6% of his passes for 734 yards and seven touchdowns.
