Fourth Quarter Rally Not Enough for TU in Loss to No. 5 Marian

Fourth Quarter Rally Not Enough for TU in Loss to No. 5 Marian

 

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor scored the final 20 points of the game on Saturday and outscored visiting fifth-ranked Marian by a 20-6 margin in the second half, but the first-half deficit was too much to overcome in a 34-20 defeat inside Turner Stadium.

 

It was all MU (8-0, 5-0 MSFA) in the first 30 minutes, as the NAIA’s second-ranked scoring defense flexed its muscles and limited Taylor to just 41 yards of offense on 28 plays, on its way to a 28-0 halftime lead.

 

A pair of field goals in the third quarter pushed the gap to 34-0, before Taylor finally started moving the ball against Marian which had held foes to 4.3 points per game on the road this season.

 

The Trojans found the end zone on each of their three fourth-quarter drives, posting 20 points over the game’s final 11:14 of game action.

 

All three scores came through the air, with Isaiah Grybauskus catching a three-yard pass from Stephen Ellis, before throwing scores to Jack D’Arcy and Drew Bagley to cap the scoring.

 

Grybauskus finished the afternoon with 12 completions for 98 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing 19 times for 69 yards and hauling in two catches for nine yards and one score. Grybauskus also punted six times, averaging 41.1 yards per boot and pinning MU inside its own 20 yards on two occasions.

 

D’Arcy and Ellis provided the other notable offensive numbers, with D’Arcy catching seven balls for 60 yards and one score and Ellis picking up 26 rushing yards on two touches.

 

Aven Jones led the Trojans on defense once again from his middle linebacker slot, posting a game-high 14 tackles, while Reese Pinckney added nine from the Taylor secondary.

 

The Trojans picked up four sacks and eight stops for negative yardage. Caleb Ranzau led the way with 1.5 sacks, with Luke Graft, Thad Thoman, Braxton Green and Justin Schroeder also having a hand in one each.

 

David Worlds had TU’s lone takeaway with an interception and Dawson Scalley posted a pair of pass breakups.

 

Taylor (2-7, 1-4 MSFA) will play at Lawrence Tech (1-7, 0-5 MSFA) on November 4, before closing its 2023 season with Senior Day against Saint Francis (4-4, 3-2 MSFA) on November 11 at 1:00 pm.