JOLIET, Ill. - University of St. Francis was hoping that a friendly Homecoming crowd and a beautiful Saturday afternoon would help the Saints forget a difficult start to the 2009 football season and be the setting for their first win of the campaign.

But the Taylor University Trojans had different ideas.

Taylor (2-1, 0-0) produced 516 yards of total offense and never trailed as the Trojans came into Memorial Stadium and captured their first-ever win over USF, 38-23.

The Saints (0-4, 0-1) had won all four previous meetings with Taylor and had not played the Trojans since posting a 13-7 win back in the 2001 season.

Taylor took command early in this Mid-States Football Association crossover meeting, taking its second possession 80 yards in 7 plays and scoring the game's first points on a 3-yard Travis Spitnale run less than five minutes into the game.

USF got on the board three minutes later with a 38-yard field goal by freshman kicker Patrick Wright (Providence Catholic H.S./Lemont, IL) which came four plays after the Saints recovered a Taylor fumble at the Trojan 28-yard line.

But that 4-point deficit would be as close as the Saints could get for the rest of the afternoon. Taylor scored touchdowns on three of its next six first-half possessions and opened up a 28-3 lead with 5:03 remaining in the half. USF did get on the board before halftime, as senior quarterback John Goolsby (Morris H.S./Morris, IL) found senior Jason Fiske (Belvidere H.S./Loves Park, IL) with a 4-yard scoring pass at the 1:34 mark to cut the Taylor lead to 28-10.

When the Trojans misfired on a field goal on the final play of the half, the Saints both dodged a bullet and went to the locker room with a little momentum.

The teams traded punts and Taylor missed another field goal try in the third quarter before any more points were put on the board. But the Trojans finally found paydirt and did so with a 2-play drive that was made up of a 1-yard run and a perfectly executed 58-yard screen pass for a touchdown that pushed the lead to 35-10 and, for all intents and purposes, deflated any hopes the Saints had of a big comeback.

USF did manage to get a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Goolsby to senior wide receiver Markus Hood (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL) but the damage was too little and too late to get the Saints back into the game.

Taylor quarterback Shaun Addison was the biggest thorn in USF's side as he completed 20 passes in 34 tries for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns. Addison was also the game's leading rusher with 139 net yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

Goolsby's numbers improved with a strong fourth quarter as he finished the disappointing day with 20 completions in 47 attempts for 194 yards and 3 scores. He was intercepted twice.

Hood snared 5 catches for 51 yards and the pair of touchdowns. Fiske also caught 5 balls for 46 yards and one score. Seniors Ponce Palmer (MacArthur H.S./Findlay, IL) and Andy Zurales (Lincoln-Way Central H.S./New Lenox, IL) each grabbed 3 receptions on the day.

Freshman Connor Krisch (Joliet Catholic Academy/Plainfield, IL) led USF rushers with 59 yards on 15 carries. Junior Javon Stewart (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL) gained 55 yards on 11 carries before leaving the game in the second quarter with an arm injury.

The Saints return to MSFA/Midwest League action next Saturday night when they travel to Mount Pleasant, Iowa for a 6 p.m. matchup with Iowa Wesleyan.