Pollard Paces Trojans with Four Touchdowns in Season-Opening Win

by | Sep 3, 2017 | Headlines, RRSN News | 0 comments

Pollard Paces Trojans with Four Touchdowns in Season-Opening Win

 

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor opened its 2017 campaign in thrilling fashion Saturday night under the lights in front of a near-capacity crowd at Turner Stadium with a 28-21 victory over NCAA Division II Malone.

 

The visitors marched down the field for a score on the evening’s opening drive but Taylor countered with the next 28 points of the contest, with Pollard guiding the offense and the TU defense stifling the Pioneers well into the fourth quarter.

 

MU finally found the end zone again, scoring on a 67-yard pass and again 2:33 later on a 70-yard punt return to cut Taylor’s cushion to 28-21, but Dovi Gamble and Cameron Gray pulled down key fourth-quarter interceptions to keep Malone at bay and preserve the win.

 

Taylor dominated the trenches all night, completely shutting down MU’s running game and holding the Pioneers to minus-18 yards on 20 carries. TU racked up 141 yards on 41 rushes, ran 18 more plays that Malone and held an advantage of nearly nine minutes in time of possession.

 

The TU defense had Malone on its heels all night, piling up eight sacks, 11 tackles for lost yardage and nine quarterback hurries to go with the pair of pivotal interceptions. Darius Stanley, Josh Lamica and Cameron Gray each recorded two sacks, while Stanley Gilbert and Gray logged one. Stanley also added three quarterback hurries and Gilbert ended with three tackles for a loss, as the defensive tackles provided game-changing plays throughout the contest.

 

Pollard orchestrated the offense by completing 24-of-36 passes for 278 yards and two scores through the air, while rushing for two more scores and 34 yards on the ground.

 

Pollard had plenty of help, as Spencer Crisp set career-highs with 30 carries and 92 yards out of the Trojan backfield and Grant Hohlbein turned in a career game with nine catches for 103 yards and one 38-yard touchdown. Nicholas Lamica also excelled with five catches in his TU debut, ending with 49 yards and one fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

 

Austin Gunderson was busy handling kicking and punting duties for TU, pinning Malone inside its own 20-yard line on three occasions and booming a pair of touchbacks on kickoffs.

 

Taylor improved to 9-1 all-time under Ron Korfmacher in season openers with the win and pushed the 10th-year head coach to within a pair of victories from matching Bob Davenport as the winningest coach in program history.

 

Taylor (1-0) will return to action on September 16, when it heads to NCAA Division I FCS Butler University (0-1) for a 6:30 pm start.

Related Stories

Taylor baseball earns third straight Crossroads League crown

Kolpien Crosses 300-Hit Threshold as TU Secures Three-Peat of CL Crown   MARION, Ind. – Kaleb Kolpien surpassed 300 career base knocks with a booming six-hit day, Brayden Manning went 6-for-8 with six RBIs, and No. 11 Taylor (35-8, 26-4 CL) secured a third consecutive...

Harvey’s complete game gem helps Bethel baseball split with USF

The Bethel Pilots (13-25, 8-22) split the crossroads league doubleheader against the University of Saint Francis Cougars (21-22, 18-12) on Thursday afternoon in Jenkins Stadium. The Pilots suffered a 13-4 loss in game one before securing game two 4-1. The nightcap win...

IUSB Softball Sweeps Judson

ELGIN, Ill. - The Indiana University South Bend (12-24, 6-6 CCAC) softball team extended their winning streak to four games with a CCAC doubleheader sweep of Judson University (9-29, 1-11 CCAC) winning game one 14-7 with a big six run inning late in the game and won...

VU Comeback Effort Comes Up Short for Softball Thursday

VU Comeback Effort Comes Up Short for Softball Thursday   The Valpo softball team scored a pair of sixth-inning runs and had the potential tying run in scoring position with one out in that frame, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling 4-2 in its series...

2025 Men’s Volleyball All-Conference Honors Announced

2025 Men's Volleyball All-Conference Honors Announced The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) has announced its 2024-25 Men's Volleyball awards. All-Conference teams are selected by a vote of conference head coaches. First and Second Teams consist of 14...

IUSB Baseball Splits with Grace

WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The Indiana University South Bend baseball (16-26, 11-13 CCAC) team split their midweek non-conference doubleheader with Grace College (16-25, 8-20 CCAC), losing game one in lopsided fashion 20-4 and winning game two late with three runs in the...

VU Softball Falls at Illinois

VU Softball Falls at Illinois   The Valpo softball team opened a busy stretch of games Wednesday in Urbana, Ill. by taking the lead over Illinois in the top of the second inning, but two swings in the bottom half of the inning proved to be the difference as the...

Frasure Named CSC Women’s Basketball All-American of the Year

Frasure Named CSC Women’s Basketball All-American of the Year   AUSTIN, Texas - The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its 2024-2025 NAIA Women’s Basketball Academic All-American Teams on Wednesday, with Indiana Wesleyan’s Lilli Frasure being named the CSC...