No. 9 Cougars Deal Trojans 51-35 Loss
October 03, 2009
Three blocked punts by No. 9 Saint Xavier (Ill.) University helped seal a 51-35 Cougars victory over the Taylor University football team Saturday at Jim Wheeler Memorial Stadium. Taylor falls to 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in league play, while Saint Xavier improves to 6-0.
Despite not giving up any turnovers, Taylor's punting woes led directly to one score for the Cougars and swung momentum in the direction of SXU at several key points in the game.
"Field position was a big factor in this ball game," said Taylor head coach Ron Korfmacher. "Our breakdowns in the punting game and on special teams certainly hurt us. There's no question we have to shore up those two phases of our game."
Taylor trailed by just three points, 30-27, midway through the third quarter, but three touchdowns by the Cougars in an eight minute span put the game out of reach.
Halfway through the second quarter, things were looking bleak for the Trojans as they fell behind 23-0 after producing just four yards of total offense in their first seven possessions.
Taylor backup tailback Cory Anderson gave the Trojans a spark when he scampered 27 yards to the SXU 14. Shaun Addison then completed two straight passes, with the second being a four-yard touchdown to tight end Travis Tomaszewski. The PAT attempt was blocked, but Taylor was on the board, 23-6.
The Trojans hit paydirt again just four minutes later when junior Trenton Schmale got behind the Saint Xavier offense, where Addison found him for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Taylor converted the two-point conversion to make it 23-14.
Saint Xavier quarterback Anthony Kropp, the reigning NAIA National Offensive Player of the Week, had a quick answer for Taylor's two scores. The junior completed three straight passes and then put the Cougars up 30-14 when he scored on an 11-yard run to cap a five play, 60-yard drive with just 36 seconds left in the first half.
At the 11:46 mark of the second half, Addison and Schmale connected for their second big play of the game that made the score 30-21. This time it was a 70-yard scoring strike that gave Schmale his fifth touchdown catch of the year. He finished the game with four catches for 168 yards.
The next possession saw Taylor make a huge stop of the Cougars on a fourth and one play at the Taylor 41-yard line. However, the Trojans were unable to capitalize and were forced to punt the ball back in the direction of SXU.
On their second play of the possession, Kropp completed a pass to wide receiver Xavier Torres, but Taylor's Chris Wheeler popped the ball loose and Nahum Masimer recovered at the Saint Xavier 34.
Anderson came up with his second big run of the day on the second play of the drive as he ran 34 yards for his first career touchdown and brought the Trojans to within three points of the 9th-ranked Cougars, 30-27. The junior, who also handled kickoff duties for the Trojans, carried the ball nine times for 62 yards on the day.
"Cory hit the line of scrimmage hard today," said Korfmacher. "He has that bigger frame and when he gets into the open field, he really has some speed."
The Kropp led offense responded quickly with a six play, 71-yard scoring drive to increase the Cougar lead to ten points.
"Saint Xavier is a very good football team," Korfmacher said. "One of the things they did really well is, when we scored, they answered very quickly. They really know how to take advantage of their speed on the screen plays."
Five minutes later, Saint Xavier's quick-strike offense extended their lead to 44-27 on a one yard run by Bill McKeon.
The Cougars took advantage of their third blocked punt of the game on Taylor's next possession and turned it into its third score in an eight minute span when Kropp found McKeon for a seven yard scoring strike.
With just over eight minutes to play in the game, freshman Bryan Onuselogu intercepted Kropp and ran it back 58 yards for a touchdown. It was Onuselogu's first career interception that closed out the scoring for a 51-35 final.
For the second straight game Addison matched a career best with three touchdowns on 14-for-32 passing and 231 yards.
Coming into today's game Saint Xavier was giving up just 11.4 points per contest, but they surrendered 35 points to the Trojans. On the flip side, the Cougars racked up 656 yards of total offense, with 409 yards coming through the air.
Saint Xavier converted on 7 of 14 third down attempts compared to 2 of 16 for Taylor.
"We have a lot of improvement that needs to take place," Korfmacher said. "There were some positives today, but certainly some teachable moments that we'll get back to practice and go to work on."
The Taylor defense was led by defensive back Brandon Mitchell, who intercepted one pass and broke up three others. The senior collected 12 solo tackles and assisted on seven others.
Taylor travels to No. 23 Malone (Ohio) University next week for a 1 p.m. kickoff.