Trojans Open Mingo Era with 42 Points in Win at Judson
ELGIN, Ill. – Taylor led throughout its 2021 season opener at Judson on Saturday evening, scoring a 42-26 win over the Eagles for Aaron Mingo’s first head coaching victory with the Purple and Gold.
The Trojans leaned heavily on their ground attack to wear down the young Judson (0-1) defense, running the ball on 49-of-64 plays throughout the contest. Taylor averaged 4.1 yards per carry on the night and finished with 199 rushing yards against the Eagle defense.
TU’s defense was tested by an aggressive and athletic Judson offense, allowing 341 passing yards to the Eagles, who abandoned the ground game after falling in an early deficit to the Purple and Gold. Despite the yardage allowed, Taylor limited Judson’s damage by picking up three interceptions, one fumble recovery and four sacks.
Neither offense did much early, as a pair of Brendan Lamb rushing touchdowns accounted for the only scoring of the first half. Following Lamb’s second score, Judson drove quickly to the Taylor one-yard line with less than one minute to play, but the Trojan defense made three stops and got a sack by Billy Potter on the final play of the half to preserve a 14-0 lead at the break.
The action picked up considerably in the final 30 minutes, but a key four-play stretch helped to put the game away for Taylor. After Judson finally cracked the score column in the third quarter, Taylor struck back quickly to extend the 14-6 lead out to a commanding 28-6 cushion.
The spurt started with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Levi Frazier to Brandon Smith and was fueled by a Collin Woolford interception and return to the four-yard line on the first play of the ensuing Eagle possession. Lamb found pay dirt two plays later to push Taylor’s lead to a three-score gap with his third strike of the contest.
Both sides traded scores over the duration of the night, but Taylor’s lead was never threatened as the Trojans rolled to the 16-point victory in their first outing under Mingo.
Frazier only completed five passes on the evening but made the most of those, picking up 136 yards through the air and a trio of passing touchdowns. Dakohta Sonnichsen found the end zone with both of his receptions and finished with 105 receiving yards in his collegiate debut.
Lamb did the bulk of the work for the Taylor offense however, posting a career-game by toting the rock 33 times for 106 yards and three touchdowns.
Aven Jones led the TU defense with 11 tackles, registering 10 solo hits, one sack, two hits for lost yardage and one forced fumble. Potter also chipped in with three hits for lost yardage, including one sack and Gage Holder, Hojun Yun and Woolford all had an interception.
Taylor (1-0) will have a bye week before hosting NCAA FCS Butler (0-1) on Saturday, September 18. That game is set for a 7:00 pm start inside Turner Stadium