A lot of things went right for the Trenton Bulldogs on Friday night as they hammered the Lincoln Prep Blue Tigers 56-16 at C.F. Russell Stadium. Individually, a lot of things went right for Austin Taul, too.
Trenton’s senior running back carried the ball 10 times for 177 yards, caught one pass for 17 yards and scored four touchdowns on the night.
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Taul got Trenton in the end zone for the first time on the night in the first quarter with a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown that electrified the crowd and set the tone for what would be a dominating night for the Trenton Bulldogs. He then scored on runs of 62, 19 and 38 yards as the Bulldogs rolled.
“Austin had a really good night,” Trenton Head Coach Wes Croy said. “He had a really good week in practice and it paid off for him. He is really working hard on his ability to run in traffic and run inside and I thought a couple of times that paid dividends for him. Then when he is in the open field, he is an explosive kid.”
Taul was great, but he wasn’t the only Bulldog breaking the century mark on the evening. Dillon Triplet went for over 100 yards for the third time on the season, finishing with 109 yards and two TDs.
“We feel really good about both of our backs,” Croy said. “They can both make things happen when they get the ball in their hands. It was Austin’s turn to have a big night and he responded well for us.”
Trenton finished the game with 354 rushing yards, but also had success through the air. Jacob Spillman completed 9-of-10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Colby Larson was his primary target on the night, catching a season-high seven passes for 105 yards, another season-high, and a touchdown.
“Colby had a great night, probably as good a night as we have had from a receiver here in two or three years,” Croy said. “We were able to be more balanced and keep them guessing as to what we were going to do and that allowed us to be very efficient offensively.”
Croy pointed to the play of the offensive line and gave the kids up front a lot of credit for the way the Bulldog offense played on the night, both through the passing and running games.
“We put an emphasis this week on being a more physical football team,” Croy said. “I thought the offensive line set the tone early by knocking Lincoln Prep off the ball. That’s something we haven’t done nearly as well as we would have liked to this season. It was good to kind of see them get a payoff for the hard work and effort that they have put in in practice. Hopefully, they understand that the more physical we are in practice through the week, the better the chance that we will be physical on Friday night. Their ability to play well up front allowed us to do more things than we normally do. It allowed us to open up our passing game a little bit and run the ball really well.”
On a night when Trenton could seemingly do no wrong, even kicker Seth Acton was at his best. Acton booted two successful field goals, one from 32 and another from a career-long 42 yards. Acton also went 6-for-6 on point-after kicks.
“There wasn’t really (a conversation) before he went out there for the 42-yarder, because he has been making them for 50 yards consistently in practice,” Croy said. “We knew that if Nick (Gass) had a clean snap and Spill got the hold down, then Seth had a good shot at making it. That is something that we kind of told ourselves over that past few weeks – when we get in field goal range in a fourth and questionable situation, it’s a luxury to have a kid who can kick it that consistently and that far. We gave him the opportunity and he did a great job. He is a weapon for us and a kid we are certainly glad we have and one we need to use as much as possible.”
The Bulldogs ran up 49 points in the first three quarters, keeping Lincoln Prep scoreless until the fourth quarter when the Blue Tigers were able to find the end zone twice on back-to-back drives with an on-side kick in between. Croy re-entered the varsity after removing them for the most part at the beginning of the final stanza and they promptly scored with a Triplet run of 75 yards. That score, followed by a successful Acton kick, gave the game its final score of 56-16.
Trenton now turns its attention out-of-state to the Illini West Chargers of Carthage, IL where Trenton will travel for this week’s game. Kickoff time is moved up one hour due to the distance of the road trip. Trenton and Illini West will begin play at 6 p.m. in Carthage, IL Friday night.
“That was a win that we needed,” Croy said. “We told the kids it’s not very often that you go into a week six football game and call it a must win, but it was for us. Our kids responded well and gave us a hint at what we are capable of. We have been able to beat three football teams that we thought we should have beat, We let one get away from us in week two and we have lost to a couple of pretty good football teams. It’s time for us to make the next step and go beat a good football team on the road. This is our opportunity this week against Illini West. Hopefully our kids have a good week of practice and we are able to have some success on Friday.”
STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
T – Seth Acton 32-yard field goal
T – Austin Taul 59-yard punt return (Acton kick)
T – Taul 62-yard run (Acton kick)
Second Quarter
T – Acton 42-yard field goal
T – Taul 19-yard run (Jacob Spillman run)
T – Dillon Triplet 8-yard run (Acton kick)
T – Colby Larson 50-yard pass from Jacob Spillman (Acton kick)
Third Quarter
T – Taul 38-yard run (Acton kick)
Fourth Quarter
LP – Tyrone Russel 97-yard pass from Seth Fisher (Charles Williams pass from Fisher)
LP – Isaac Smith 17-yard pass from Fisher (Smith pass from Fisher)
T – Triplet 75-yard run (Acton kick)
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TEAM STATISTICS
THS LPHS
First Downs 8 9
Rushes-Yards 24-354 16-8
Passing Yards 130 261
Comp-Att-Int 9-10-0 18-42-2
Total Yards 484 269
Penalties-Yards 4-50 1-5
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1
Punts-Avg 0-0 5-31.6
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Trenton, Austin Taul, 10-177; Dillon Triplet, 7-109; Dakota Schultz, 1-43; Mason Mounce, 2-27; Jacob Spillman, 3-3; Colby Larson, 1-(-5). Lincoln Prep, Eric Rowe, 5-11; Charles Williams, 1-2; Tyrone Russel, 3-0; Seth Fisher, 6-(-1); Duane Clayton, 1-(-4).
PASSING – Trenton, Spillman, 9-10-0, 130 yards, 1 TD. Lincoln Prep, Fisher, 18-42-2, 261 yards, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Larson, 7-105; Taul, 1-17; Seth Acton, 1-8. Lincoln Prep, Russel, 3-102; Charles Harris, 5-66; Williams, 3-47; Smith, 2-25; Clayton, 4-12; Rowe, 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS – Trenton, Larson, 1-43; Taul, 1-5. Lincoln Prep, none.
FIELD GOALS – Trenton, Acton 2-2, 32 yards, 42 yards. Lincoln Prep, none.
PUNTING – Trenton, none. Lincoln Prep, Joshua Vandunk, 5-158 yards, 31.6 avg.
PUNT RETURNS – Trenton, Taul, 2-84. Lincoln Prep, none.
KICK RETURNS – Trenton, Travis Leeper, 1-32; Dalton Ellis, 1-0.
DEFENSE – Trenton, Larson, 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 int.; Triplet, 7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Garrett Runnels, 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Dakota Galvin, 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Charlie Hoffman, 4 tackles; Dalton Burkeybile, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; Mounce, 4 tackles; Josh Davis, 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Landon Hughs, 3 tackles; Wyatt Coffman, 3 tackles; Spillman, 3 tackles; Taul, 2 tackles, 1 int.; Ellis, 2 tackles.