Trojans Topple Judson in Lopsided Home-Opening Victory
UPLAND, Ind. – A competitive contest turned quickly in Taylor’s favor after the half, with Taylor scoring the final 38 points of the night to run away with a 52-6 win over Judson in the 2022 home opener inside Turner Stadium on Saturday evening.
The victory improved Taylor to 2-0 on the season, with the Trojans having outscored their opposition by a 79-18 count to open the campaign for the program’s best start since posting an 87-14 scoring margin during a 2-0 start in 2012.
Saturday’s affair saw the Trojans lead throughout, getting a defensive stop on the first possession of the night and dialing up a 61-yard scoring strike from Elijah McCloskey to Dakohta Sonnichsen on their fourth offensive snap.
The lead doubled to 14-0 at TU’s final drive of the opening quarter, with Stephen Ellis finding the end zone on a four-yard burst to cap an 11-play drive.
Judson (0-1, 0-0 MSFA) struck back with a pair of field goals in the second stanza to draw to within a single score, but it was all Taylor over the final 30 minutes. The Trojans scored 24 points in the first 10:25 of game action out of the intermission to put the game out of reach and added 14 more in the fourth quarter to outscore the Eagles by a 38-0 gap after the break.
The onslaught started calmly, as Taylor used a Zane Shilts 29-yard field goal on its first drive of the third to push the lead to 17-6.
A quick three-and-out from JU was highlighted by a trio of tackles for lost yardage from the Taylor defense, with Caleb Ranzau collecting two of those hits and forcing a punt with a seven-yard sack.
A 20-yard Judson punt put TU just 31 yards from pay dirt and Brendan Lamb got all the needed yardage on one play, breaking loose and taking it all the way for a 24-6 lead.
A pair of defensive takeaways led to two more quick hits from the Trojans, as Dawson Scally picked off a Judson pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown and a 31-6 lead. Jeremiah Mansfield then recovered a fumble at the Judson 30, before McCloskey hit Hutson Hohlbein in the end zone two plays later for a 29-yard connection and a 38-6 cushion.
The Eagles never recovered from the third-quarter blitz, and Taylor added fourth quarter touchdowns on a 40-yard pass from McCloskey to Sonnichsen and an 11-yard run from Braxton Ream to cap the scoring.
Taylor controlled nearly every phase, piling up 393 total yards of offense and averaging 6.6 yards per snap, while also benefitting from 11 Judson penalties that resulted in 103 penalty yards in favor of TU.
The Trojans had their way up front for the second-straight game, rushing for 220 yards over 45 carries, and piling up five sacks and 12 hits for negative yardage on the defensive side of the ball.
McCloskey orchestrated the balanced offensive attack, finding the end zone on three of his seven completions and finishing with 173 yards through the air. Sonnichsen was the main beneficiary of that work, catching three balls for two touchdowns and 122 yards.
Lamb paced 10 different Trojans with at least one carry, taking the rock 16 times for 91 yards and a score, with Darien Taylor netting 7.3 yards per touch for 58 yards.
Shilts was busy once again for TU’s kicking game, going seven-for-seven in point-after attempts and hitting a 29-yard field goal to account for 10 points. Joining Shilts in anchoring the special teams was Jozef Osiecki, who averaged 39.0 yards per punt and 57.2 yards per kickoff.
The TU defense did not have a single player record more than seven stops, with 21 players registering at least two tackles. Scally highlighted that group with seven stops and the one interception, while Jacob Hockett had two hits for lost yardage among his six stops.
Cole Baker joined Mansfield in recovering one fumble, while Ranzau, Baker, Mansfield, Braxton Green and Larry Schoenefeld each had one sack.
Taylor (2-0, 1-0 MSFA) will now turn its focus to NCAA Division I FCS Butler (1-0), with a 6:00 pm clash against the Bulldogs in Indianapolis slated for September 10.
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