Johnson passes Senn past Taft

Not many people at Lane Stadium knew any of the Senn players after the team forgot to bring the bag full of rosters.

After Thursday's 50-16 victory over Taft, everybody should get to know these Bulldogs, who now control their own destiny in the Big Shoulders.

Senn got going right away as Joshua Thomas blocked a punt on the first series, picked up the ball and ran 39 yards for a touchdown.

When Senn got the ball first, Quinell Johnson hit Jermaine Baker for three-yard scoring pass. The sophomore quarterback threw four touchdowns and added another on the ground.

"We come out ready to play hard," said the rookie starter, who threw two TDs to Rashaun Roberts. "We stayed focused."

The Bulldogs added three more TDs, including a 45-yard run by Cody Gillard, in the first quarter to lead 36-0.

By handing Taft its first loss of the season, Senn moved to 6-0 overall and now sits 4-0 and alone in first place in league play.

The Eagles, who brought a 10-game, regular-season winning streak into the game, shouldn't feel too bad. The Bulldogs have treated every opponent this season with similar authority. Senn has outscored its teams by a combined 286-32. Only one team on the remaining schedule has a winning record.

"We just need to stay humble and not get too caught up in ourselves," Johnson said.

Senn added to its first-half lead on Gillard's 37-yard catch and run with 3:40 left before the half to go up 42-0.

But Taft answered with a three-play drive that resulted in Mike Shewchuk's TD run to leave the score 42-8 that enabled the Eagles to avoid a running clock to start the second half.

Taft, which beat Senn 13-0 in 2008, still has a chance to grab one of the two playoff spots the conference offers. The Eagles also play only team the rest of the way with a winning record.

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