HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Bus trouble delayed the TCNJ football team's arrival for Saturday's non-conference finale at Juniata, forcing the game to start 90 minutes later than the scheduled time.
Once they got there, there was nothing stopping this Lions freight train.
Sam Dech scored two of their four first-half rushing touchdowns, including an 80-yard jaunt late in the second quarter, and
Michael Strachan added two scores of his own as the Lions ground up the Juniata defense to the tune of 347 rushing yards and put up a stifling defensive effort to match in a 35-7 victory.
Matt Cassidy and
Sam Kuhns each grabbed an interception,
Remy Feniello notched 1.5 sacks, and the rest of their defensive mates combined to limit the Eagles to just 180 yards of offense – much of it in garbage time – as TCNJ rolled to its first triumph of the season.
The Lions' offensive explosion allowed junior place-kicker
Tim Willever to boot five extra points and become the program's all-time leader with 74 and counting.
TCNJ methodically marched down the field on its opening possession, traversing 80 yards in 16 plays and chewing up over 10 minutes of clock in the process.
Jordan Morrell picked up two short third downs and converted a 4
th-and-1 near the goal line before
Michael Strachan got the call to the end zone, scoring from a yard out on the next play to stake the blue and gold to a 7-0 lead.
That was just the start of four consecutive touchdown drives for the Lions. Dech's 5-yard touchdown run made it 14-0 at the midway point of the second stanza, and
Matt Cassidy picked off the Eagles quarterback on the next play from scrimmage, returning it 17 yards down to the 2-yard line for Mendes to punch it in, and in a matter of seconds TCNJ had opened up a 21-0 lead.
After the defense forced another Juniata three-and-out, Dech took a handoff and sprinted 80 yards to paydirt, his second 60-plus yard touchdown in as many weeks.
Sam Kuhns came up with a diving interception on the Eagles' next play, and the Lions nearly had a fifth touchdown just before half but were denied at the goal line on a fourth-down play.
Still, by the time the first half came to a close the Lions had already piled up 291 yards of offense – 236 of them on the ground – and held the ball for over 21 minutes. Juniata quarterback Zachary Grande had nearly as many interceptions (2) as completions (3), and the hosts had accumulated a paltry 44 yards of total offense and three first downs.
TCNJ went right back to work out of intermission, carving up the Juniata defense for 80 yards across 10 plays and going up 35-0 on a 5-yard scoring run by
Michael Strachan, who also had a 28-yard tote on the drive. Dech and Morrell each broke off double-digit yardage runs, and Morrell also hauled in a 16-yard reception from
Walker Bailey.
The Lions' lone defensive blip came on the next possession, when Juniata converted a 4
th-and-10 near midfield and finished off a 75-yard drive – nearly double the Eagles' total yardage to that point – to get on the board with a touchdown at the 3:33 mark of the third.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ rolled up 424 yards of total offense, 347 of them coming on the ground
- The Lions outgained the Eagles, 424-180, and had 24 first downs
- TCNJ averaged 6.7 yards per rush and 8.6 yards per completion
- The blue and gold went 6-for-11 on third downs and held the ball for just shy of 37 minutes
STANDOUT LIONS
- Dech produced 130 rushing yards and two scores on just five touches
- Morrell carried 18 times for 80 yards and added 17 yards on a pair of receptions
- Strachan tallied 56 yards and two touchdowns on his six totes, also catching two passes for another nine yards
- Remy Feniello had 1.5 sacks among his four tackles
- Noah Croutch matched Feniello for the team lead with four tackles and shared a sack with his defensive mate
- Bailey finished 9-of-12 for 77 yards
- Rookie Reggie Lawrence gained 37 yards on nine carries in his collegiate debut
NOTES
- Strachan scored his first career touchdowns, while Mendes logged his first rushing score and second overall
- Cassidy and Kuhns each snagged their second career interception
- Willever's second extra point of the day broke Scott Osborne's 35-year program record of 70
- Dech has already scored four rushing touchdowns in his first three games
- TCNJ has outscored Juniata, 70-7, in their meetings over the NJAC's two-year non-conference scheduling agreement with the Landmark Conference
UP NEXT
- The Lions open NJAC play at home next Saturday with a 3 p.m. kickoff against No. 12 Salisbury
