Troy Grinds Out Win over Central Columbia

Tagged under: District 4, News

Ed Weaver | September 11, 2021

In typical Troy fashion the Trojans ran their way to a 35-7 win over Central Columbia at Alparon Park on Friday, September 10.

However, it was the Trojan defense that put the home team ahead to start. After going three-and-out on their opening drive the Trojans punted the ball away to Central. Taking over at their own 24-yard line, the Bluejays went backwards instead of forwards as they lost three yards on their opening play from scrimmage, were hit with a holding penalty, then fumbled the snap, which Troy’s Damien Landon recovered in the end zone with 9:32 on the scoreboard.

Troy’s next drive ended in a fumble but they scored on their third possession midway through the second quarter. The Trojans took over at their 39 yard line after a Bluejay punt, and put together a 12-play drive (all on the ground) that culminated on a 7-yard run by Landon to put Troy up 14-0.

As the half was winding down the Trojans capitalized on another errant snap that went way over QB Logan Welkom’s head. Welkom scrambled to recover the loose ball, but was unsuccessful, and Kory Schucker of the Trojans recovered it and returned it all the way down to the Central 14-yard line. From there the Trojans only needed five plays to find the end zone again, this time Clayton Smith fought his way in from three yards out to put Troy up 21-0 at the half.

Troy picked up where they left off when the third quarter started. Again, they capitalized off a third Bluejay lost fumble, and again, turned to their ground game. This time they only needed two plays as Smith found the end zone from 52 yards out on a toss sweep to push Troy’s lead to 28-0 with 8:12 remaining.

Central found the end zone with 7:41 remaining in the game as QB Greyson Shaud ran in from a yard out after the Bluejay put their own nine-play drive together.

Troy wasted little time and scored four plays lateron Landon’s second rushing trip to the end zone. The senior took the quick-hitting dive handoff and went untouched through the Bluejay secondary and sprinted towards the end zone from 49 yards out.

Landon led all rushers with 123 yards on 18 carries. Smith finished with 96 yards on 12 attempts and QB Justice Chimics rushed 4 times for 20 yards.

Shaud and Welkom combined to complete 9-of-16 passes for 83 yards. Dylan Gregory (2 catches for 27 yards) and Auston Rainier (2 catches for 25 yards) led the receiving corps. Shaud led Central’s ground game with 27 yards on 19 carries.

Troy (2-1, 1-0 NTL Large School Division) hosts North Penn-Mansfield (1-2, 1-1 NTL Large School Division) while Central Columbia (1-2, 1-1 PHAC-II) hosts Warrior Run (0-2, 0-0 PHAC-III) next Friday.

Photo courtesy Brett Crossley/Northcentralpa.com

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