ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights football team rolled to a 51-23 blowout win over Taylor on the final regular-season game inside O'Laughlin Stadium on Saturday, November 13. The Saints (5-5, 4-3) had 334 yards on the ground and won the time of possession battle with 32:19.
Andre Chenault rushed 17 times for 145 yards and a touchdown to lead the ground attack for SHU. Quincy Johnson Jr. rumbled for 84 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Ryan Minor finished with two rushing touchdowns and was also 5-10 for 48 yards through the air. Kole Murlin led the way for the defense with 11 tackles. Andrew McGaughy had a monster day as he recovered two fumbles, one of which he returned for a touchdown. As a unit, the Saints defense forced two fumbles and recovered five loose balls in the victory.
Siena got off to a rocky start as Ethan LoPresto fumbled the ball on the second play from scrimmage to give the ball to Taylor on the SHU 44-yard line. The Trojans used seven plays to move the ball down to the 12 before settling for a 29-yard field goal to take the 3-0 lead with 10:54 left in the first quarter.
LoPresto bounced back with a five-yard touchdown run to cap the next drive for the Saints as Siena would take a 7-3 lead with 8:15 remaining in the first quarter. However, the very next play from scrimmage, an errant pitch behind the line of scrimmage, saw McGaughy scoop up the ball at the Taylor 18-yard line and into the endzone to double the SHU score, 14-3. After forcing a three-and-out, The Saints held onto the ball for 6:28 during a 13-play drive that stalled inside the five, and Anthony Secchi lined up for the chip-shot field goal to extend the lead to 17-3 with 12 ticks left in the quarter.
Taylor cut the deficit to seven points, 17-10, with a 19-yard touchdown run by Stephen Ellis with just over nine minutes left in the first half. A one-yard touchdown rush by Minor two Saint drives later pushed the home team's advantage to 14, 24-10, with under a minute left. A fumble on the kickoff recovered by Vincent Walker gave Siena the ball back on the Taylor 26-yard line, and Secchi drilled another field goal, this one from 30, as the clock expired for the 27-10 lead at the break.
Another fumble stopped the Trojans' second-half opening drive and gave the Saints good field position to start their drive. Minor's pass to Eric Williams II on 4th-and-3 ended the SHU drive without a score. Chenault would put more points up the next drive with a 33-yard touchdown run that saw the lead go to 34-10 with 8:37 remaining. Minor scored again on a one-yard sprint with 5:12. The Trojans scored in the closing minute of the third to make the score 41-17, heading into the final quarter of play.
Secchi hit another field goal (33 yards) with 11:06 left. Another touchdown by Taylor put things at 44-23. The score would stay there after a failed 2-point conversion. Johnson Jr. scored the game's final touchdown in the last two minutes with his 32-yard run.
Season Wrap Up
The Saints finish the 2021 season with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the Mid-States Football Association Mideast League.
