Turnovers Squash TU's Hopes at William Penn
September 12, 2009
Five turnovers and a powerful William Penn ground game propelled the Statesmen to a 42-16 win over the Trojans. TU jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter, but WPU took over from that point.
The statistics tell much of the story as Taylor had just 18 yards rushing on 28 attempts, while William Penn rolled up 421 on 57 rushes. Toss in five interceptions and the Statesmen's dominance becomes clear.
The game began with the Trojans clicking on all cylinders. Brett Currens forced a fumble on the opening kickoff recovered by Ryan Robertson. The offense took over on the Statesmen 25-yard line and 11 plays later QB Shaun Addison plunged over the goal line on a 4th and goal from the one-yard line. Cameron Parker's PAT was good and the Trojans held a 7-0 advantage.
William Penn marched 69 yards in 10 plays on their possession, scoring from five yards out, but Marcellus Burton blocked the extra point attempt and returned it for a two-point score giving TU a 9-6 lead.
Trojan Trevor Terrell returned the ensuing kickoff 17 yards to the Taylor 44, and from there the Trojans struck in one swift play as Addison connected with Ryan Magnuson for a 56-yard TD pass. Parker was again perfect on the PAT and TU was up 16-6 with 4:52 remaining in the first quarter.
WPU took only four plays to score, hitting paydirt when quarterback Ryan Van Dalen ran for 60 yards. The point after failed, but the gap was narrowed to 16-12.
In the second quarter, the Trojans marched to the WPU 20-yard line, but the drive faltered there. The Statesmen drove 80 yards in six plays to take a 19-16 lead and they would never look back.
Midway through the second period, freshman Nick Freeman replaced Addison at QB. However, his second pass attempt was intercepted by William Penn leading to Statesmen field goal and a 22-16 score.
On TU's next possession, Freeman was again picked off, and this time it was returned 65 yards for a WPU score as they took a 28-16 lead after the PAT was missed with just 39 seconds remaining in the first half.
Addison returned to the field to begin the third quarter, but the William Penn defense again snagged a TU pass giving them the ball at the Taylor 44.
Later in the quarter, Jordan Coffey stepped in at QB, but met a fate similar to his teammates as his second pass attempt was intercepted to lead to a Statesmen TD as they went up by a 35-16 margin.
After a three and out, WPU marched 50 yards in six plays for their final score of the day.
The Trojans did manage 13 first downs to 17 for Penn, but the Statesmen averaged 7.4 yards per rush to Taylor's 0.6.
Travis Spitnale gained 37 yards on the ground, while Shaun Addison passed for 157. Ryan Magnuson had 103 yards receiving to lead the Trojans.
Garrett Wheeler topped the Trojan defensive effort with 10 tackles, while Brandon Mitchell added 9.
Penn was very clear in their intent to avoid putting the football in the hands of punt returner Pagel Williams as they kicked away from Williams on each of their four punts.
Next week the Trojans travel to Joliet, Illinois to take on St. Francis (IL) in a 1:00 pm game.