Northern Tier Sports Report

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NTL FOOTBALL: TROY SURVIVES WYALUSING TEST TO PULL AWAY IN FOURTH (2024-09-28)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
WYALUSING — After three straight weeks of blowouts by halftime Troy football coach Jim Smith was hoping to see his kids tested by a true ground and pound type team. Wyalusing was all too happy to oblige on Friday, and, even though the Trojans pulled away in the fourth to win 41-6, it was just a one score game at the half.

The Rams were able to play keep away for much of the first half, limiting Troy to just three offensive possessions, two of which Troy scored on, for a 14-6 score at the break.

“We’ve been really looking forward to a game like this,” Smith said. “Kudos to them, they had a good game plan. I don’t think we had six or seven offensive plays the first half, so the issue was getting off the field on defense, and they inched their way down the field, and made some good plays when they had to amok plays, and drew us offsides when they needed to do that. They showed up and played tonight, they’re a physical team, and it’s good because we really don’t see enough of that throughout the year. The reality is, if we’re going to proceed deep into the playoffs or the state playoffs, all those teams run the ball.”

Wyalusing had no answer for Troy’s offense, outside of trying to keep it off the field. The Trojans scored on six of their seven offensive possessions, with the one they didn’t score on they simply ran out of time before the half.

Evan Woodward accounted for four of the six Trojan touchdowns, throwing an efficient 7-for-10 for 143-yards and two touchdowns through the air, while running the ball five times for 73-yards and two scores.

Mason Smith had two touchdowns on the day - one rushing and one receiving - hauling in three passes for 94-yards, while running the ball three times for 54-yards.

Brendan Gilliland had six carries for 62-yards and a score, while Kael Millard ran the ball five times for 49-yards. Reed Palmer also had a 15-yard reception to round out their scorers.

But getting the offense on the field was another matter, at least in the first three quarters.

Wyalusing’s first two drives of the first half lasted 8:08 and 9:06, though only the second drive ended in points.

Their opening drive of the second half knocked 8:40 off the clock, but also came up short of the end zone. After that their offense ran out of gas, while Troy’s was hitting the gas, with the Trojans scoring three touchdowns in the fourth to pull away.

Still, coming off two straight losses where Wyalusing either didn’t do much on offense, or shot themselves in the foot with penalties, Rams’ coach Rich Rogers was heartened to see their effort against top ranked team in the state for Class AA, especially considering they’re missing three starting linemen and a starting running back.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys than I was,” said Rogers. “We had some guys scared, and I said, ‘here’s the truth - love casts out fear. You’re all playing for each other, you all love each other, you love the guy next to you, he loves you. Nobody’s on their own tonight, every offensive play where there’s a single back fighting for yards, I want everybody to his aid. Every defensive play we have a single guy making a tackle, I want everybody to his aid.’ And these guys responded. I also told them, somebody, please, give me a helmet. The last thing I told them was, ‘I want in this game so bad, but I can’t. My time is gone, but yours is not, you have tonight.’”

They had 64 offensive plays to Troy’s 29 and ran the ball for just short of 200 yards. They held the penalties down to two for 10-yards, and if not for a couple of fumbles, things might have been a little different.

Ayden Hunsinger ran the ball 33 times for 122-yards with a touchdown while quarterback Johnny Earle ran 14-times for 51-yards.

Earle was also 2-for-6 for 11-yards with Reuben Kinney catching both passes.

They penny and nickeled their way down the field, while throwing in a dime when they needed to, going 5-for-9 on fourth down conversions in the game.

Wyalusing’s intention of keeping Troy from having the ball were evident in the opening kick-off when they did a surprise onside kick that was recovered by Hunsinger.

Starting at the 50 getting all the way down to the Troy 13-yard line with a fresh set of downs.

However, on third-and-4 a fumbled snap got them off schedule, and they eventually turned it over on downs.

After a couple small gains Troy got things rolling with an 11-yard Gilliland run on third-and-5. Three of their next five plays were chunk plays, picking up yards of 27, 26, and 19, to get to the Wyalusing one.

Woodward called his own number and punched it in, finishing off the 91-yard, 8-play scoring drive. Gavin Lykon-Leffler added the point after for a 7-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Rams started their ensuing possession at their own 27 and continued to chip their way down the field. A 3-yard run by Earle on fourth down kept things going, and he followed that up with a 15-yard sneak up the middle to get across midfield.

Inside the Troy 30 they converted another fourth down, this time 4th-and-4, with a 19-yard Hunsinger run. He finished off the 15-play scoring drive with a 1-yard run off a pitch left on third-and-goal.

A bad snap doomed the extra point but the Rams made it 7-6 with 3:19 before the half.

The Trojans only needed a little over two minutes to answer, though.

Wyalusing tried another onside kick, but JB Burbage fell on this one for the Trojans.

Starting at the 50 they needed just five plays to get into the end zone, with Gilliland running left 16 yards to pay dirt. Lykon-Leffler added the point after for a 14-6 lead.

The Rams’ ensuing drive ended in a punt, giving Troy 27 seconds to try and go 69 yards for the score.

They got all the way to the 16 but Wyalusing was able to hold until time ran out to keep it an 8-point lead.

The Rams got the ball to start the second half, taking over at their own 36-yard line.

They would move the chains three times along the drive, including an 8-yard pass play from Earle to Kinney on 4th-and-8 to keep the drive alive.

However, back to back negative plays followed by a delay of game call backed them up to 4th-and-15. Kinney nearly made another big catch to keep things going but Woodward knocked it away as Troy took over at their own 35-yard line with 3:16 left in the third.

Wyalusing would force them into a third-and-7 right toff the bat but the Trojans went back to their staple, the quarterback option, and it gave them gains of 21, 25, and 11 yards on three straight plays to get to the Wyalusing five.

Smith then ran it in from there to push Troy’s lead to 20-6 after the blocked extra point with 51 seconds left in the quarter.

The Rams turned the ball over on downs on their next possession and it was off to the races for Troy.They went 30-yards in two plays to score on their ensuing drive, with Woodward hitting Palmer over the middle for a touchdown as Lykon-Leffler’s kick made it 27-6 with 10:34 left in the game.

After another Wyalusing drive ended in a turnover on downs Troy needed just three plays to go 40-yards, this time ending in a Woodward sneak up the middle for 28-yards to pay dirt.

The kick was wide left as Troy extended their lead to 33-6 with 8:41 left.

The next Rams’ drive started out promising with an 8-yard Hunsinger run, but on the second play from scrimmage a fumble ended up in the hands of Troy’s Camden Coyle.

The Trojans needed just one play to score this time, a 66-yard hook up between Woodward and Smith. Woodward ran in the 2-point conversion and Troy put it in the mercy rule, 41-6, with 8:07 left to play.

“There were some we were trying on the D-line that after one half of play we scratched,” Smith said. “We went back to some of the stuff that we’re used to, so it’s a learning thing still with this group, but kudos to Wyalusing. They played really hard, and they played physical football. This is the first time we’ve brought our starters out, really, in the second half. We need more games like that, and, I’m hopeful that, as teams get better, we’ll see more of that.”

Despite their third straight loss Rogers feels better about his team going forward, beginning with a road game at Canton next week.

“As somebody said last year after Loyalsock against Loyalsock, ‘you know what guys, I think we could do this against anybody,’” explained Rogers. “They did it against Mount Carmel, they did it against Loyalsock. I think it took this tonight for them to believe, moving forward, that, yes, we can do this together.”

Troy will hit the road, too, as they travel out to Wellsboro next week, with North Penn-Mansfield after.

“Both of those teams are very much improved,” said Smith. “They’re young so their ability for growth is large, and they have some confidence. They’re gaining some confidence, and we’re excited to go play on some turf. It’s a real pleasure for our kids, and we’re really excited to be able to be fast next week.”

TROY 41, WYALUSING 6

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

T: Evan Woodward 1-yard run (Gavin Lykon-Leffler kick), :29

Second Quarter

W: Ayden Hunsinger 1-yard run (kick failed), 3:19

T: Brendan Gilliland 16-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 1:07

Third Quarter

T: Mason Smith 5-yard run (kick blocked), :51

Fourth Quarter

T: Evan Woodward 15-yard pass to Reed Palmer (Lykon-Leffler kick), 10:34

T: Evan Woodward 28-yard run (kick no good), 8:41