“Coming off of last week, we needed a good win,” said Troy’s Caleb Binford, who had two rushing touchdowns on the day. “We worked hard this week, watched filmed and talked about what went wrong (last week), and how to fix it.”

They were hit with the penalty bug hard, getting flagged 17 times for 147 yards, including three times in a row in fourth-down punting situation.

“We have to clean that up,” said Troy coach Jim Smith. “We’re not going to be able to get away with that against other football teams. A lot of it is correctable, and, tonight, a lot of it was questionable, but we need to clean it up.”

For the Knights, they couldn’t ever get comfortable offensively as the Trojan defense was able to get into their backfield quite a bit. They finished with just 52 yards of offense and five total first downs.

Chase Robert had six tackles for the Trojans, four of them for a loss, while Mason Imbt, Damien Landon, Jake Deitrick and Kadyn Raub also had tackles in the Towanda backfield.

Towanda’s defense, though, was solid throughout the night as they battled against the big Troy offensive line. Troy had plenty of short fields to work with and the Knights were able to turn them over on downs a couple times in the first half, but eventually Troy’s physicality wore them down.

Troy got off to a hot start as Nick Williams took the opening kick-off 82 yards to the end zone. The point-after hit the left upright, but the Trojans led 6-0 just 11:47 into the contest.

Towanda’s ensuing possession started well enough with two nice runs by Rhyan West to get to third-and-short, but Robert got a tackle-for-loss on third down and Towanda was forced to punt.

Troy started their first drive at its 28-yard line and raced up field behind runs of 12 and seven yards from Landon to get down to the Knight 33-yard line.

However, Towanda forced three straight incompletions and Troy turned it over on downs.

The Black Knights’ ensuing drive went three-and-out, though, as Mitchell Mosier’s third-down completion to Trent Kithcart came up short of the first-down marker.

Special teams came up big for Troy as Binford returned to the punt down to the Towanda 22-yard line.

However, their second drive ended up much like their first. After an offsides penalty on second down forced them to go to the air, Towanda’s defense held, turning it over on downs again.

The Knights picked up their initial first down of the game on their next drive, thanks to a pass interference call, but it stalled out and they were forced to punt.

Another good return by Binford set Troy up at Towanda’s 27-yard line.

This time, they took advantage. On second down Binford ran it in from 24 yards out to pay dirt. The Knight stuffed the 2-point attempt and Troy led 12-0 with 10:57 left in the half.

The first play on Towanda’s next possession ended up as a Williams interception, setting up Troy inside the Knight 30-yard line.

But two penalties pushed them back, and they found themselves in a 4th-and-24. That’s when they were flagged three straight times and ended up punting the ball four times in a row. before Towanda took over on its own 12-yard line.

A 9-yard run by Kithcart on second down looked to give Towanda some life, but on the next play he was stopped for a loss and the Knights were forced to punt.

The Trojans took over at midfield and immediately went to work as an 8-yard run by Landon and a 7-yard run from Binford set them up at the Knight 35-yard line.

Two plays later, Ayers hit Williams for a 17-yard pass play and first down at the Knight 20-yard line.

Two plays after that, Ayers found Ridge Spencer for a 10-yard gain to set up first-and-goal at the Towanda 10. Ayers took it in himself on the next play for the score.

The 2-point conversion was good as Ayers hit Morgan Madigan and Troy led 20-0 with 3:45 left in the half.

Towanda’s ensuing possession was a three-and-out as a false start on third down set them back. Troy got the ball back at midfield again for one more chance to score.

Things looked promising as Landon kicked things off with a 7-yard run, but three plays later Ayers' pass was intercepted by Zach Schoonover and Towanda was content to take the clock to halftime.

The Knights got the ball to start the second half and, much like their first drive in the first half, things started off promising as they had back-to-back runs of 5 and 4 yards. Then on third-and-1, Troy’s defense came up big, forcing the Knights back and they ended up punting.

Troy’s ensuing drive was a typical Trojan possession — going 63 yards on 12 plays to score and taking over 10 minutes off the clock to do it.

What wasn’t typical was the three penalties that nearly derailed it.

Ayers kicked things off with a 10-yard run from scrimmage followed by back-to-back runs of 6 and 11 yards from Landon to set Troy up at the Towanda 36-yard line.

An 11-yard rush from Binford gave the Trojans a fresh set of downs at the 25. Two plays later, they were looking at third-and-3 when they were flagged for a false start.

The next play ended with a holding call and soon it was third-and-10. It looked like Towanda’s defense was going to hold as they limited Troy to a 1-yard gain on the ensuing play.

On fourth-and-9, though, Ayers rolled left and hit Williams for a 12-yard gain and a first down.

Three plays later, Landon rushed to the 1-yard line to set up first-and-goal. Another false start penalty pushed Troy back to the 6-yard line, but on the ensuing play Landon punched it in from there for the touchdown.

Binford ran in the 2-point conversion and Troy led 28-0 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

Towanda’s ensuing possession looked promising as Mosier hit Kithcart for a big gain, but it was called back on a flag, setting up a first-and-20, which turned into a second-and-21 after a false start.

A 9-yard run from Kithcart gave them a chance on third-and-12. Mosier dropped back and found Benjamin-Fee, but he was tackled just short of the first-down marker and Towanda was ready to punt.

However, on the punt Troy was called for running into the punter — the second time in the game — and Towanda had a new set of downs.

The Trojans, though, forced Towanda into back-to-back negative-yard plays and ultimately forced them to punt again.

Williams gave them a good return to the Knight 21-yard line, where back-to-back runs of 4 and 6 yards by Clayton Smith gave Troy a fresh set of downs at the Towanda 11-yard line.

Two plays later, Binford punched it in from the 10 for the final score of the game. He added the point-after and Troy led 35-0 with 6:42 left in the contest.

Towanda found some offensive rhythm on the final drive of the game — Wyatt Delamater ran the ball twice for seven and three yards to give them a new set of downs. That was followed by a 6-yard run from Kithcart and 11 on a Mosier scamper to get them to midfield.

A pass interference call, followed by a roughing-the-passer call two plays later set Towanda up first and 10 at the Troy 25-yard line.

However, they got stuck there and time eventually ran out on the Knights.

“It was a much more positive football team tonight,” said Smith. “I explained to the kids, we were in this same position a week ago.”

This time, though, they played through to the end.

Smith noted that most of the penalties were little things that they would correct before they travel to North Penn-Mansfield next week.

Landon had 77 yards on 13 touches to lead Troy, while Binford finished with 71 yards on 12 carries. Ayers had 33 yards on four carries, while going 6-for-14 for 48 yards and a pick through the air.

Williams had three catches for 31 yards, and Spencer had two grabs for 13 yards.

Kithcart led Towanda with 25 yards on six carries. while Rhyan West had six yards on 14 touches. Delamater had 11 yards on three carries, as well.

Mosier was 2-for-7 for 15 yards and a pick.

The Knights (0-2) have a bye this coming week, giving them extra time as they prepare for their rivals Athens, where they travel to on October 2.

The Trojans (1-1) will make the trip to Blossburg on September 25.

CULTINE: Troy's Dom Ayers finds running room against Towanda...Photos by Ed Boardman.