As Auburn quarterback Gavin Strojan reflected on his team’s first 3-0 start in six years, motivation was not difficult to find.
“The papers picked us to finish last during the preseason,” he said after the Trojans defeated Decatur 41-7 Thursday in the North Puget Sound League Olympic Division opener for both teams at Federal Way Memorial Stadium. “We’re proving them wrong.”
If that was not enough motivation, Strojan said Auburn’s 25-18 come-from-behind victory in its Sept. 2 season-opener at Kent-Meridian helped instill a sense of confidence in the team.
“That was a huge win for us,” he said. “It got us the Taylor Trophy back.”
It was the second consecutive blowout victory for the Trojans (3-0 overall, 1-0 Olympic) after their 49-14 win Sept. 8 against Tahoma. But Auburn coach Gordon Elliott was much more impressed with his team’s defensive effort against the Gators (0-3, 0-1). Decatur did not score until there was 1:45 left in the game, on Deantre Scott’s 50-yard run.
“The kids are kind of settling in and learning how to play our defense the right way,” Elliott said. “Decatur presented a challenge because that’s an offense we usually don’t see. Our kids had to be disciplined and focused.”
Scott’s run accounted for more yards than the Trojans allowed during the first half (34) en route to their best start in six years. In 2010, Auburn won its first four games and finished with a 9-3 record. Elliott said he will maintain a simple message with his team.
“We’re young,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better each week.”
Elliott was not quite as enthused about the offense’s production. The Trojans led 14-0 at halftime behind Strojan’s scoring runs of 3 and 7 yards out. But Auburn compiled just 106 yards of offense during the first half.
“We’re a young team, and I don’t think we came out as mentally focused as we need to on offense,” Elliott said. “I think maybe our offensive guys were a little bit confident after two weeks of playing really well.”
Neither team attempted a pass until there was 9:34 remaining in the second quarter when Joe’l Gilbert’s pass fell incomplete.
“With two running teams, there’s not much clock stoppage,” Elliott said with a laugh. “It was kind of old-time football.”
The Trojans’ execution on the offensive side improved as they scored on four of their first five possessions to open the second half. Three of those scores occurred during the third quarter on 8-, 1- and 3-yard carries by Joseph Fagan, E.J. Brown and Ben Freeman. Hope Tuamoheloa also scored on a 1-yard run that gave Auburn a 41-0 lead with 6:51 left in the contest.
Fagan was the Trojans’ leading rusher with 82 yards. The team finished with 209 yards on 47 carries. Strojan credited some halftime adjustments for his team’s rushing success during the second half.
“We made some changes in our blocking schemes and really got after it,” he said.
Auburn’s three-week streak of Thursday night games ends next week when it hosts Thomas Jefferson (1-1, 0-0). Elliott said he will look forward to playing again on Fridays. The Trojans have only one more game on a nontraditional date, Saturday, when they play at 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Federal Way.
“It’s been tough with a young team like this playing all of these Thursdays,” Elliott said. “We miss a day of practice each week and these young guys need all of the development time they can get.”
