SLUH Tops Vianney By 1: Takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday night, October 4th the Billikens hosted the Griffins in a MCC matchup that didn't disappoint. Vianney has yet to record a MCC win in 5 years. They came within 6 points to Chaminade, and this time walked away only a point shy of victory. WithTrain a flag and injury plagued game, SLUH's run game and defense held true to form and was the main reason they finished with a win. Below are takeaways from the game that could have gone either way until the final seconds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>SLUH (3-3)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='284042' first='Jordan' last='Taylor']</strong> <strong>(RB)</strong>- set the tone on the ground by slicing through Vianney's defense more times than not. Taylor showed off his speed and power by consistently carrying the ball with attitude. He finished with 25 touches for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also, had 2 catches for 16 yards showing off his versatility. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233162' first='Landon' last='Pace'] (TE)</strong>- big target that played in space most of the night unlike most typical tight ends. Pace was able to stretch the field inside and came up with some big catches to keep the chains moving. He charted the best average out of all the receivers that night with 23 yards. Also, blocked well downfield to keep running run for RB's.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>O-Line-</strong> the bigs popped out of their stances and clearly dominated the line of scrimmage on run plays. This afforded the ball carriers to not get touched at times until the second level. Pass protection broke down here and there but gave QB the space and time needed to deliver when it counted. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vianney (2-4)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1130311' first='Sam' last='Deen'] (QB)</strong>- made something happen with not a lot of time. Showed poise and kept the Vianney offense in the game by converting some much needed third downs. Deen went for 278 yards in the air with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also was averaging 10 yards per carry when the pocket collapsed. Turnovers obviously hurt but was not the reason they couldn't pull off last second win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Running Backs</strong>- <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1130170' first='Kyle' last='Hogan']</strong> had 87 total yards with some highlight runs up the B gap while making people miss for a spark against a stingy defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1198142' first='Robert' last='Eatherton']</strong> subbed some during short yardage downs and put 6 points on the board. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1130309' first='Sam' last='Smith'] (WR)</strong>- found himself in the right place at the right time running decent routes to grab Deen's eyes. Smith caught 5 passes for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns. He wasn't just a possession receiver but tried to get yacs after ball was in hands. Averaged 19.2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1250643' first='Jacob' last='Smith'] (LB)</strong>- was in the smoke all night with how well SLUH was moving the ball on the ground. Smith however was shooting gaps and making plays to try and slow things down. Ended up with 17 total tackles on the night and 1 sack. Impressive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->