Chesser’s Record Day Paces TU to Homecoming Blowout of Saint Francis

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor treated a standing-room only Turner Stadium crowd to a resounding, 58-36, victory over Saint Francis on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Trojans rode Jameson Chesser's program-record seven rushing touchdowns to the Homecoming win.

In the matchup pitting the NAIA's third and seventh-best offenses entering play, it was Taylor's Chesser who stole the show, finding the end zone twice in the first quarter, three times in the third and twice in the fourth to keep TU in control throughout. The junior took the ball 26 times, rushing for 143 yards at a 5.5 yards-per-rush average and adding the historic seven touchdowns.

With the seven scores, Chesser broke TU's single-game mark of five rushing touchdowns, set in 1984 by Ken Browner and climbed to within one of Walter Moore's 1989 single-season record-tally of 15. Chesser also took over the NAIA's lead with 14 rushing touchdowns on the season and moved to No. 2 in the NAIA with 712 rushing yards this season.

Nearly matching Chesser's production for the Trojans on defense was Aven Jones, who was at it again with 17 total tackles to take over the top spot in the NAIA with 76 hits on the year. The reigning NAIA National Player of the Week notched 14 solo stops, added one sack, forced two fumbles, applied pressure that led directly to a safety due to an intentional grounding call in the end zone and had two more quarterback hurries.

Chesser and Jones had plenty of help, as Kyle Stratton rushed for 94 yards and Nathan Parker added 59 on nine touches. Jack D'Arcy led the air attack with 98 yards and one touchdown in addition to 49 yards on his lone carry of the ballgame.

Thad Thoman joined Jones in wreaking havoc on the USF offense, notching two of Taylor's five sacks, with Jeremiah Mansfield adding seven tackles and one sack. Reid Messer continued his strong play from his safety position, as the NAIA's leader in interceptions broke up two more passes and Wade Jones added one interception.

In addition to the five sacks, Taylor had seven total hits for lost yards, three takeaways, four pass breakups and eight quarterback hurries to slow the NAIA's seventh-ranked offense entering play on Saturday.

Lucas Shilts and Carter Loveless handled the kicking duties, with Shilts going eight-for-eight on point-after attempts and Loveless averaging 42.8 yards per punt over four tries.

The Trojans never trailed in the contest, recovering a strip-sack from Jones on the first play from scrimmage and getting a 14-yard touchdown scamper from Chesser three plays later for the 7-0 lead just 93 seconds into the contest.

USF (3-2) briefly drew even, forcing the lone tie of the day, before Stratton hit D'Arcy for a 68-yard touchdown and Chesser closed the first-quarter scoring with a touchdown from seven yards out for a 21-7 Trojan cushion.

A safety forced by Jones pushed the lead to 23-7, but USF controlled the rest of the second quarter and drew within 23-21 heading to the break.

The second-half belonged to Chesser and TU, with a 53-yard touchdown jolt from Chesser 91 seconds into the third quarter being followed minutes later by another Chesser score to push the margin back out to 37-21.

The Cougars once again momentarily hit back with a score and a two-point conversion to draw within eight, but Chesser put the game away with his fifth, sixth and seventh touchdown carries of the day to balloon the Taylor lead to 58-29 deep into the final quarter.

Taylor ended with a season-high 585 total yards of offense in the game, gaining 155 more than USF. The Trojans passed for 226 and rushed for 359, marking a fifth-straight game with at least 300 yards on the ground.

With its fourth output of at least 50 points in its past five games, Taylor climbed to No. 2 in the NAIA with 50.5 points per game and extended its NAIA-lead in touchdowns with 43 through its first six games. TU also took over the NAIA's top spot with 537.7 total yards of offense per outing.

Taylor (5-1, 1-0 MSFA) will take its bye on October 12, before heading to No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan (5-1, 1-0 MSFA) for a 4:00 pm start on October 19.