Northern Tier Sports Report

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NTL FOOTBALL: TROY CAN'T GET OFFENSE GOING IN LOSS TO BALD EAGLE (2021-08-29)

BY BRIAN FEES
For the Northern Tier Sports Report
TROY -- In the first drive Bald Eagle made things look easy. From that point on, the Troy defense did everything they could to make life difficult for the Eagles. The Troy defense held strong the rest of the night, but the Troy offense couldn't get on track and Bald Eagle handed the Trojans a 20-0 loss to begin the season.

"This wasn't an NTL team," Troy coach Jim Smith said. "We have been blessed with a schedule like no other team in the league, but what doesn't kill you makes you better. We are just going to keep trying to get better every week and focus on the NTL next week with a pretty good Athens team that is coming off a pretty confident win."

On the opening drive Bald Eagle came right out and hit back-to-back passes and then quarterback Garrett Burns used his legs to give the Eagles the early lead, racing down the left side for a 25-yard score just 1:58 into the game. Kaden Burns made the extra point and Bald Eagle quickly led 7-0.

Troy was able to move the ball, but they just couldn't finish drives against the Eagles.

"We moved the ball well, unless we were penalized or had people go the wrong way," Smith said. "A lot of the things that happen in week one games, it's not that surprising. We have a young team, whole new secondary, linebacker crew and these kids are just getting their feet wet. A lot of them are spending more time thinking than they are playing and it's hard to really play fast when you are trying to figure out what you are trying to do, and that will get better.

On their opening drive Damien Landon had three carries for 19 yards and Clayton Smith had three carries for eight yards as the Trojans moved into Bald Eagle territory, but the drive ended as they came up less than a yard short on fourth down.

Bald Eagle quickly moved back into Troy territory on their next drive as a 19-yard pass from Carson Nagle to Owen Irvin had the Eagles sitting at the Troy 36 yard line. Bald Eagle used two quarterbacks in the backfield most of the game. Burns threw the ball on the first drive and the final two drives of the game, while Nagle was making the passes on the other drives.

The Bald Eagle drive came to an end as Troy forced two incompletions to help end the threat.

Neither team got much going until midway through the second quarter, when Bald Eagle started to move the ball.

Nagle completed five of six passes as he helped march the Eagles from their own 35 to the Trojans 15 yard line.

Bald Eagle appeared to have a touchdown as Nagle hit Irvin from 15 yards out. After a holding penalty wiped out the score, the Eagles wasted no time scoring again as Nagle quickly hit Camron Watkins on a 24-yard touchdown with 4:21 left in the half. The kick failed and the Eagles led 13-0 late in the first half.

Troy's final drive of the half was their best, as they took over at their own 26 yard line and moved deep into Bald Eagle territory.

Landon had back-to-back carries for 11 yards and quarterback Justice Chimics hit Jeff Roy on an 18-yadr pass to move into Bald Eagle territory. A 15-yard penalty on Bald Eagle helped Troy move inside the red zone, but the half ended as Chase Thompson got an interception for Bald Eagle to halt the drive.

In the second half Bald Eagle quickly started moving the ball again as Nagle completed back-to-back plays and Troy was hit with a 15-yard penalty. After a false start pushed the Eagles back, they appeared to have a touchdown pass from Nagle to Irwin, but for the second time in the game the pair had a touchdown called back due to holding. This time they couldn't bounce back and Troy took over.

Troy quickly got to work on their next drive. Chimics had a pair of Chimics to Roy passes for 17 yards and Chimics had a 27-yard run to get Troy to the 17 yard line. After two runs for no gain and an incompletion, Troy faced a 4th and 10. Chimics scrambled as the pressure came, and got nine of the 10 yards, leaving the Trojans less than a yard short of a first down inside the Eagles 10.

After Troy's defense again came up big to stop the Eagles, the Trojans got the ball with one last chance. Facing a 4th and 10 at midfield the Trojans were picked off by Max Yetsko, who took it to the house from 60 yards away. The kick by Kaden Burns was good and it was 20-0 Bale Eagle with just 4:34 left.

Troy coach Jim Smith knew that was a tough spot for his young quarterback late in the game.

"He is capable," Smith said. "You hate to take any young quarterback and put the game on his back, so we tried to manage that a little bit. Like what happened there at the very end when we are just trying to make something happen and they are sitting on our routes. It probably was a bad call on my part, we probably should have been a 13-0 game, but four minutes to go and you are still trying to make things happen."

Despite the loss, Smith was happy with the way the defense slowed down the Bald Eagle attack all night.

"The defense gave a good effort," Smith said. "We gave up 13 points against a team that predominately scores a lot of points. We had a lot of the first game confusion and shot ourselves in the foot offensively, which we can't afford to do. We didn't pick up a couple short first downs when we had scoring opportunities, and we aren't in game shape yet.

"Playing iron man football, it's hard, we aren't quite there yet. A lot of cramping, a lot of kids having to be pulled out because of that type of thing, and we are going to work on that and get a little better."

One thing that also helped the defense at times was the big leg of Landon.

After Troy's second possession in the first half he boomed a 57-yard punt to switch the field and push the Eagles to their own 10 yard line. After the Trojans final drive in the fourth quarter he drilled a 64-yard punt that pinned the Eagles at their own one-yard line.

Smith knows what kind of weapon he has with Landon, he just wishes he didn't have to punt as much in the game.

"I just hope we don't have to use it as much in weeks to come," Smith said of his special teams weapon.

Landon ran for 75 yards on 19 carries for the Trojans, while Chimics was 6-for-10 passing for 45 yards and he ran for 26 yards in the game. Roy had four grabs for 35 yards to lead the Trojans receivers.

Nagle was 12-for-17 for 118 yards and a score for Bald Eagle, while Burns was 6-for-7 for 43 yards as the two combined to compete 18-of-24 passes in the game, for a 75% completion percentage on the night.

Irwin had seven grabs for 61 yards for the Eagles and Burns ran for 61 yards and a score in the Bale Eagle win.

CUTLINE: Troyâ€™s Damien Landon runs the ball against Bald Eagleâ€¦PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

BALD EAGLE AREA 20, TROY 0

Bald Eagle 7 6 0 7 -- 20

Troy 0 0 0 0 -- 0

FIRST QUARTER

BE: Garrett Burns 25-yard run (Kaden Burns kick), 10:02

SECOND QUARTER

BE: Camron Watkins 24 yard pass from Carson Nagle (Kick failed), 4:21

FOURTH QUARTER

BE: Max Yetsko 60 yard interception return (Kaden Burns kick), 4:34

INDIVIDUAL STATS