Ty Clark spent the last season down in Louisiana at CMP Prep Academy working on his football skills.(Photo: Submitted by Ty Clark)

ASHLAND - Ty Clark Jr. hoped he would be impressing his new coaches at Ashland University right now.

After spending a year in Lafayette, Louisiana, at CMP Prep Academy, he made the move back closer to home to continue his football career in the purple and gold as an Eagle.

Catching the eye of head coach Lee Owens and quarterbacks coach Tom Stacy was how he envisioned his spring.

Instead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark is missing out on what he was hoping would be his golden ticket to making a name for himself at Ashland.

"It's a weird feeling, especially for us underclassmen," Clark said."Spring time for football is when you can really get your name out there to coaches before fall camp. We don't have that opportunity, it's weird thinking if you're going to get that chance or not, and how long it'll be before you get that opportunity since you didn't have a chance to in the spring.

"I was hoping to make the most of that opportunity because it was just me and (Austin) Brenner there, I was going to try to get my name up on the roster early before we had six quarterbacks this fall."

Upon graduating from Crestline in 2019, Clark had offers from Division III schools and even some at theDivision II level including Ashland but not to play quarterback. He opted to spend a year at CMP Prep to work on his football skills and grow as an athlete.

Week 1 | Buckeye Central at Crestline football on Aug. 24, 2018.(Photo: Mike Dornbirer/Correspondent)

"I enjoyed myself in Louisiana," Clark said."Coach Hutch, coach Black and coach Butler all took good care of me, took me in, made sure I wasn't just out on my own right away because I didn't know the area. It was a fun experience, they have some of the best food down there, we had really nice apartments with nine swimming pools. They taught me a lot about football, coach Black taught me the characteristics of being a quarterback and coach Hutch got my 40 time from a 5.1 to about a 4.9 and I put on almost 40 pounds doing so.

"They got me right down there, I was fortunate to be there."

It paid off as Clark proved himself as a quarterback and now has the chance to compete for a spot on the depth chart at Ashland.

Right now, his days are pretty routine work, train, school, sleep, repeat.

"I work about 50 hours a week, give ortake, Monday through Saturday," Clark said."Then I try to do my schoolwork when I get home. I work for Brian Glowaski at MWD Logistics, he has a weight room upstairs, so I work out right after work, go home, do some school work, then run."

Unlike numerous athletes right now, Clark is fortunate enough to have access to a weight room. He's using that to his advantage and hopes it'll pay off when he's able to link up with his new football team.

"I've been working out just about every day lifting," Clark said."I want to take advantage of this time to separate myself because I know not everyone is working out, not everyone is doing this because they don't have the opportunity to.

"When it is time, I can say I gave it my all."

Ty Clark moves from CMP Prep Academy to Ashland University this year.(Photo: Submitted by Ty Clark)

School is the one thing he has found most difficult during these times.

"I'm not too good with online learning as it is and you can tell these classes aren't meant to be online courses," Clark said."And it's hard to just sit there and want to do school work. It's weird."

His coaches check up on him and the rest of the team routinely reminding them how crucial this downtime is to their success both in the classroom and on the field.

"The coaches have been checking in every once in a while to see how we're doing and make sure we're still coming back in the fall," Clark said."Right now, the whole conference is canceled through May 31st, so we're hoping in June we can get back there, start lifting and working together.

"They express it all the time they're here for us if we need anything. A place to stay, food, really anything. It feels good knowing we have that support system. But they also stress taking advantage of this time and keep up with classes, but make sure we're working out so that we don't get behind.

"There will be players who do get left behind because they took time off instead ofworking out."

Clark, will not be one of those players.

zholden@gannett.com

419-617-6018

Twitter: @Zachary_Holden

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Missed opportunity in spring now motivation for incoming Ashland University QB Ty Clark - Bucyrus Telegraph Forum