Troy Trojans grind out win over Panthers, 21-0
Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News
Nick Coyle | October 23, 2020
BLOSSBURG — The Troy Trojans (4-1) might not have played a pretty brand of football in their 21-0 win over the North Penn-Mansfield Panthers, but it sure was effective.
Troy’s Caleb Binford shakes a tackler during their win over NP-Mansfield on Friday, Oct. 23.
The Trojans offense pounded the ball on the ground 50 times for 279 yards and dominated the time of possession throughout the contest.
They were able to steadily churn out yards and wear out a tough Mansfield defense throughout the night on their way to a season-finale win.
In the opening frame of the game, Troy and Mansfield exchanged possessions before the Trojans were able to set the tone for how the night would play out, long drives that ate off enormous chunks of clock.
Troy drove the ball for 53 yards and capped off their methodical drive with a Chase Roberts touchdown from the one-yard line to draw first blood and move the score to 7-0 with just under four minutes remaining in the first.
The Panthers quickly answered back, and with Noah Spencer taking a return all the way into Trojans territory, they looked poised to put something on the board and even the score.
Spencer was able to break free on the next play on a catch-and-run that moved them even deeper into Trojan territory.
After Colton Litzelman and Kohen Lehman fooled the entire stadium on a third-and-long play, the Panthers pushed
the ball down to the four-yard line.
With four chances to score, Troy came up with a gritty stand and took over after a pass break-up on fourth down.
With thirty seconds remaining in the first, the Trojans started a 99-yard march down the field with a heavy dose of Damion Landon between the tackles and ate up over nine minutes of clock as they inched towards the end zone.
Troys’ Dominick Ayers finally punched the ball in to cap off a monster-drive that brought the score to 14-0.
After a Mansfield three-and-out the Trojans regained the ball and after a nine-minute 99-yard drive, it took them only one play to score on their ensuing possession.
Ayers hit Trevor Williams on a 75-yard strike down the left sideline that brought the count to 21-0, seemingly deflating the Panthers defense in the process.
Neither team was able to hit pay-dirt in the second half, despite Mansfield once again driving the ball down to the one-yard line.
The game ended on a Litzelman interception with the score at 21-0 at the final buzzer.
Troy now sits at 4-1 and sits firmly as the second seed in the 2A District Four bracket. Mansfield now moves to 2-2 on the year and sits at fifth place in the 3A standings as well. Both teams are set to make appearances in the District Playoffs in 2020.
Game Stats:
Passing:
- Litzleman (NPM) 12-30, 123 yards, 1 int. (NPM); D. Ayers (TY) 8-13, 113 yards, 1 TD.
Rushing:
- Lehman (NPM) 21-81; C. Fabian 3-11; C. Litzelman (NPM) 1-(-6); K. Roupp 1-3; D. Landon (TY) 18-77; C. Binford 24-157 (TY); D. Ayers 7-44, 1 TD; C. Roberts (TY) 1-1, 1 TD.
Receiving:
- Roupp (NPM) 5-38; N. Spencer (NPM) 7-75, C. Binford (TY) 2-11; T. Williams (TY) 4-87, 1 TD; I. Kutt (TY) 1-13; R. Perry (TY) 1-2.
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