NTL FOOTBALL: TROY LOOKS TO KEEP ROLLING AS THEY WELCOME CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (2025-10-16)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
After cruising through the NTL in recent weeks Troy (7-1) will host non-league Central Mountain (0-8) on Friday with a 7 p.m. kick-off.

“Central Mountain has an extremely tough schedule,” said Troy coach Jim Smith. “Their record is not indicative of their potential. They are five times our size, play a large school schedule, and are used to high level competition. We cannot look at their record and assume anything.”

That’s the focus for Troy this week as we near the end of the season. They have the Old Shoe next week, then begin their state title defense in earnest with the first round of districts after that.

“It’s important we don’t overlook anybody,” Smith remarked. “Football is played one week at a time. You either get a little better, or worse every week. Getting better is a choice. At this point it’s about mental focus, discipline, avoiding preventable errors, and never settling for average results. The truth is, we are rarely happy at the end of every week regardless or the result on Friday night. The goal is to look back at season’s end and have no regrets. That’s not an easy task, but living with regret is worse. We are working hard to be the best team we can be.”

KEYS TO THE GAME
Central Mountain - Keep the offense on the field. The best way to slow down Troy is by keeping their defense on the field. 
Troy - Watch those trick plays. NPM was able to tie the game on a halfback pass as the Trojan over-pursued on defense. The team has to watch those little wrinkles as they tighten things up for the postseason.

PLAYER TO WATCH
Dalton McDermott, Central Mountain, RB - McDermott leads the team with 418 yards on the ground to go with one touchdown. He’ll need to have a big game to give Central Mountain a chance.
Max Randall, Troy, LB - Randall has 32 tackles on the season, including five last week against NPM. 

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