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Troy eliminates Riverside to advance to Class 2A title game

Tagged under: District 2, District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 30, 2024

Playoff Central

It was a brisk night in Towanda for the PIAA Class 2A East Semifinal between 14-0 Troy and 13-1 Riverside. The Trojans came in with a dominant 42-16 win over Bedford, while the Vikings held on for a 28-21 victory over Williams Valley. The winner of the game would punch their ticket to Chapman Field in Cumberland Valley, more affectionately known as “the Chap” and the opportunity to play for a state championship.

It was a shame one team had to lose.

Troy withstood an exhausting 3rd quarter drive from Riverside and turned 2 turnovers into scores as they won 35-14 and advanced to Cumberland Valley where they will play Central Clarion for the Class 2A State Title on Friday 12/5 at 1pm. Troy WR Lincoln Chimics had a punt return TD and RB Brendan Gilliland had 3 total TD’s for the Trojans. Vikings QB Chase Taddonio had a rushing TD and a passing TD.

Troy won the toss and elected to receive. On the kickoff, Senior WR Lincoln Chimics fielded the ball at the 25 yard line and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good and only 14 seconds into the game it was 7-0 Troy.

Riverside started their ensuing drive at their own 34. TE/RB Richie Kostoff got to work right away with 3 runs for 17 yards into Troy territory at the 49. QB Chase Taddonio ran it for 5 on the keeper, and on 4th-and-44 from the 44 he hit RB Carmello Barnett for a nice 22-yard gain to the Troy 22. 3 straight runs gained only 4 yards, and on 4th-and-6 from the 18 they lined up for a 35-yard field goal attempt. Unfortunately, the kick sailed wide left and Troy took over on downs at the 18. Unfortunately, Troy had a net loss of 6 yards after 3 downs and had to punt it away.

Riverside got great field position at the Troy 36 to start their next drive. Taddonio hit Kostoff on a nice swing pass for 5 yards to get things started, then just missed on a long connection with him on 2nd down. On 3rd-and-5 from the Troy 31 Taddonio took the snap and scrambled and ran it up the middle for a tough 7-yard gain and a 1sst down at the 24. A holding penalty then pushed Riverside back to the 29, but on the next play Kostoff ran it and gained 4 yards back. An offsides penalty on Troy aided Riverside and made it 2nd-and-6 from the 20. Taddonio then hit TE Max Jackson for 11-yards and made it 1st-and-goal from the Troy 9. On 1st-down, Taddonio ran it for 6 yards and on the next play he ran it in from 3-yards out to tie the game at 7 with 40 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

Troy started their next drive at their own 40. RB Brendan Gilliland had 2 runs totaling 21 yards as the 1st quarter gave way to the 2nd quarter. QB Evan Woodward had 2 runs for 5 yards, then RB Mason Smith then had a nice 12-yard run down to the Riverside 22. FB Kael Millard then got in on the action as he ran it for 3 yards, but on the next play Woodward threw a screen pass to Chimics which was fumbled and recovered by Chimics but lost 6 yards. On 3rd-and-13 from the 25, Woodward ran it for 7 down to the 18 and on 4th down there he hit Gilliland on a center screen pass for 11 yards and a 1st-and-goal at the 7. Gilliland ran it for 3 yards, then hit paydirt on a tough 4-yard run to make it 14-7 Troy with 7:25 to go in the 1st half.

The 2 teams then traded possessions as both went 3-and-out on their next drives. Riverside then took over at their own 40, and on 1st down Taddonio went for it down the right sideline and just missed an open Kostoff as the ball went off his fingertips. Barnett then ran it for 5 yards, and on 3rd-and-5 from the 45 Taddonio threw it to Kostoff again who rumbled down the left sideline for 27 yards that was aided by a horsecollar tackle to tack on 15 more yard to the Troy 14. A nice run by Taddonio was then negated by a holding penalty to make it 1st-and-22 at the 26. On the very next play, Taddonio was pressured and rolled left and threw it but it was intercepted by Troy DB Joseph Frye who returned it to the Troy 39.

Troy then struck quickly on their next drive. A holding penlaty on the Trojans made it 1st-and-20 at the 29 but on the next play a personal foul on Riverside made it 2nd-annd-2 at the Troy 47. Woodward then took the snap and hit a streaking Gilliland on a center screen for a 53-yard score. With only 1:40 to go in the 1st half, Troy took a 21-7 lead.

Needing to move quickly with time running down, Riverside started their next drive at their own 39. After 2 straight incomplete passes, Taddonio called hit own number and rumble down the right sideline for a 32-yard gain to the Troy 29. On 2nd-and-10 from the Taddonio ran it for 6 yard to the 23 and on the very next play he hit Kostoff in the end zone for a 23-yard TD that drew Riverside closer at 21-14 with only 49 seconds left in the half.

Disaster hit Troy on the ensuing kickoff as it was fumbled and recovered by Riverside at their own 41. With only seconds remaining, Riverside could not get anything going and time ran out in the first half with Troy leading 21-14.

Riverside seemed to have a bit of momentum with them heading into the 2nd half, the last drive notwithstanding. Starting the initial 3rd quarter drive at their own 28, Riverside began what became the defining drive of the game that drained 11:25 off the clock. On the drive Taddonio had 7 runs for 11 yards and went 2-3 passing for 19 yards. Kostoff ran it 3 times for 6 yards and Barnett ran it once for 8 yards. A key play in the drive was a sack of Taddonio for a loss of 10 to make it 3rd-and-24 at the Troy 34. Taddonio scrambled on the next play for no gain and Riverside was forced to punt it away, and the special teams unit for Riverside downed it at the 9-yard line of Troy.

The Trojans were pinned back deep to start the ensuing drive. Gilliland ran it for 1 yard as the 3rd quarter gave way to the 4th quarter. Gilliland then ran it twice for a total of 10 yards to the 19 and a 1st down. Smith then had 2 runs for 3 yards, and on 3rd-and-7 from the 22 Woodward hit Chimics for a big 40-yard gain to the Riverside 37. Gillliland ran it for 5 yards, then Milllard ran it twice for only 3 yards to make it 4th-and-2 at the 29. Gilliland then took the handoff and broke free for a 29-yard TD run to make it 28-14 with 7:11 left in the game.

Riverside got a boost when WR Jared Jackson got a huge kick return down to the Troy 47-yard line. Unfortunately, 2 straight incomplete passes were followed by a interception by Chimics that was returned to the Troy 32. The Riverside defense stood tall however and forced a 3-and-out. Some confusion by the Vikings prior to the punt attempt caused them to waste their last 2 timeouts of the game though, and they took over at their own 34. Needing to again move quickly, it was an incomplete pass followed by a false start penalty and then another incomplete pas to make it 3rd-and-15 at the 29. On the very next play, Taddonio’s pass was intercepted by Woodward and returned to the Viking 14. 3 straight runs by Gilliland gained 8 yards, and on 4th-and-1 from the 5 Woodward called his own number and ran it in for the 5-yard score that made it 35-14 Troy with 2:32 left in the game.

Riverside began the ensuing drive at their own 35 and with no timeouts. 4 straight runs by RB Quinn Pucilowski netted 15 yards and the game clock expired with Troy getting the 35-14 win as they advance to play for the Class 2A championship next Friday.

After the game, PFN’s own Lindsey Bennett spoke with WR Lincoln Chimics about his big game, and you can find that interview below.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery from the game, courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  PHOTO GALLERY

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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