Pioneers Dominate Avila as Taylor Closes on Rushing Record

MNU scored early and never looked back in a 64-3 victory at Avila on Saturday. On the second play of the game, Justice Jardine stripped Avila's quarterback, giving the offense the ball. The Pioneers quickly capitalized with a Drake Tofi rushing touchdown. In the first half, the defense was stellar, allowing the Eagles to score a single field goal while causing 3 turnovers (a fumble recovery by Jaron Reed and another by Justin Jardine, along with an interception by Dominic Swillum). Javon Taylor had 4 touchdowns in the first half and ended the day with a career-high 5 total touchdowns and 211 yards. Next Saturday, Taylor will look to break MNU's all-time rushing record. The Pioneers were able to run the ball well and went into halftime with the score of 42-3.

In the second half, the defense finished well creating a total of 5 turnovers and allowing a total of three points. The most impressive defensive play came from senior safety Kameron King, who made a great interception and ran it back 55 yards for a Pioneer touchdown. Dylan Myers came up with a thrilling 34-yard catch from Trey Cooper, that ended with a dive into the endzone for another great touchdown. "I was proud of how this team came out fast and never looked back," said head coach Brian Willmer. "We played well in all three phases of the game. We scored 7 touchdowns on offense, 1 touchdown on defense, and a saftey and 2 field goals on special teams."

Javon Taylor's 4th career 200-yard rushing game puts him just 3 yards shy of Greg Gates (2010-2013) for the MNU all time career rushing lead. Gates recorded 3,692 yards in his career. Taylor sits at 3,689 with 2 games remaining.

Trey Cooper was 11-13 for 203 yards and a touchdown. Devon Boyce caught 4 passes for 77 yards. Dylan Meyers hauled in 2 passes for 59 yards and a score. And Dominic Swillum led the defense with 11 tackles.

Next Saturday, the Pioneers will participate in the Defeat All Cancer game and celebrate Senior Day with a home game against Central Methodist (1-8, 0-3). The game will start at 1:00 at ODAC.