NTL FOOTBALL: TROY WELCOMES CANTON FOR THE OLD SHOE (2024-10-25)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
The Old Shoe will be back at Alparon Park on Friday as Troy (9-0) looks to finish off the season undefeated and NTL champs as they host Canton (5-4) with a 7 p.m. kick-off.

“We are excited for the Old Shoe game,” said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. “The crowd will be big and it is always a great game atmosphere.”

Troy won the Old Shoe back last year but haven’t had much luck at home over the last two games there.

“This game is a great tradition,” said Troy coach Jim Smith. “It really brings out the fans from both communities. We are really most connected to our rival Canton comparatively to any other town. That’s what makes the game so special.”

The Trojans know they’ll get Canton’s best when they take the field Friday.

“Canton has dealt with a lot of adversity throughout the season,” said Smith. “They have had a lot of injuries early and throughout the season. Despite the difficulties they have been able to remain very competitive in all their games. The last couple of weeks they seem to be getting healthy and are playing very confident again. They are scoring a lot of points and have some really good athletes.  They have a great group of coaches that have won a lot of games the last several years. They will be highly motivated and very well prepared . Looking at their record would be reckless. We have to treat this like a championship game because that is exactly what it is.”

As for Canton, they’ve certainly noticed the type of scores Troy has been putting up this year.

“Troy is a great team and plays at a high level at all three levels offensively, defensively, and special teams,” Sechrist said.

It’ll be a game of athletes versus athletes with two teams that have been putting up basketball type scores recently.

“Canton will throw a lot of different looks at us offensively,” Smith said. “They are a team with multiple formations and different concepts and that puts a lot of pressure on defenses. They are very crafty with their play calling. It’s imperative that we align correctly and adjust our defense to the different formations correctly or we could find ourselves out of position. The difficulty is doing it on the fly as the players have to be able to recognize this quickly. We will have to be focused this week. We are excited to try to limit their success this week.”

As for the Warriors, they know this is an opportunity to test themselves against one of the best teams in the district, regardless of class.

“We have to control what we can control,” Sechrist said. “We need to play fast and disciplined and limit mental mistakes and make tackles when we are in position to make the tackle.”

KEYS TO THE GAME

Canton — Survive the first half. The only NTL team to do that has been Wyalusing, and Troy still pulled away on them in the second half. Taking it one play at a time will be key for the Warriors.

Troy — Contain the big play. Canton has gotten some big plays the past couple weeks from their athletes, and with Holden Ward back, that gives the Warriors another athlete to throw into the mix.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Holden Ward, Canton, RB, LB — Last year the NTL’s leading tackler, Hudson Ward, wasn’t able to play in the game and Troy ran wild on Canton. To keep that from happening this time the Warriors will need Holden Ward, and the rest of the team, to be alert and tackle well.

Brendan Gilliland, Troy, RB — Gilliland has been highly efficient with limited carries. Look for him to keep that going this week as Troy starts to fine tune for the playoffs.

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