BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
TROY — Troy finished off their dominant regular season in style, beating Canton 61-20 in NTL football action Friday to clinch their second straight NTL Large School title and undefeated regular season.
“It feels good coming out, doing it back to back years,” said senior lineman Avery Sens. “And for my senior year to have an undefeated season, it feels really nice.”
The Trojans led 40-0 at the half, holding Canton to just three touchdowns while out gaining them 233-yards to 71.
“It’s only the third time in Troy history that we’ve been undefeated in the regular season, and two years back to back,” said Troy coach Jim Smith. “It’s a pretty special group of kids, and we’re just happy to get out of here with a good win.”
Smith was especially happy with his defense for slowing down a hot Canton offense that had propelled them team to a 2-game win streak.
“Canton is pretty explosive on offense, especially here the last couple of weeks as they’re getting healthy,” he said. “We had some concern with their athletes, and I thought we did a great job containing them.”
Troy got their cold weather game going, pounding out 354-yards on 34 carries, led by Brendan Gilliland’s 126-yards and three touchdowns on eight touches.
Evan Woodward added five carries for 50-yards and a touchdown, while Kael Millard had two rushing touchdowns and 22-yards on five touches.
Noah Ellis (four carries, 25-yards), and Spencer Martin (two carries, 50-yards) also had rushing scores.
“We got to play a little physical football, and mix it up,” Smith said. “Canton doesn’t ever go away, they’re tough kids, and they were well prepared, played hard, and it was your typical Old Shoe Classic.”
They did all this despite Mason Smith being out with an injury, and Joseph Frye leaving in the middle of the game.
“Hopefully we’ll utilize more of our backs, and less of of our passing game,” Sens said. “But we’ll just see how it goes.”
Woodward was efficient through the air, going 6-for-10 for 90-yards with one touchdown.
Frye had two catches for 66-yards, and the score, while Lincoln Chimics hauled in two passes for 15-yards.
Canton was able to get some offensive momentum going in the second half, with Ben Fitch going 9-for-15-for-134-yards with a score and two picks under center.
Holden Ward continued to do a little bit of everything, going 3-for-3 for 23-yards from the pocket, hauling in six passes for 62-yards, and running the ball six times for 35-yards.
Aydin Holcomb had three catches for 72-yards with a score, while Bailey Gardner (five carries, 12-yards) had a rushing and kick-off return touchdown.
“They’re a really good team,” Canton coach Tyler Sechrist said. “Everybody can see it out there. They’re big, they’re strong, they got lots of weapons, they just have that kind of team.”
Canton took the opening kick-off and went 3-and-out with Troy taking over.
After a blindside block penalty backed them up to the 50-yard line it took them five plays to get into the end zone.
A 22-yard run by Gilliland to get to the 10-yard line set up a 5-yard run by Woodward, who used a strong second effort after it looked like Canton had the stop, to get the game’s first score.
The kick was no good but Troy led 6-0 just under five minutes into the game.
Woodward would get an interception on Canton’s ensuing drive. That set up a 53-yard Woodward to Frye touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, as they faked the jet sweep to bring up the safeties, and saw Frye go untouched.
Gavin Lykon-Leffler hit the extra point for the 13-0 lead with 5:13 on the clock.
After another Canton 3-and-out Frye got a big return to Warrior 24-yard line.
Troy needed just three plays to hit pay dirt, this time on a Gilliland left pitch for 20-yards. Lykon-Leffler added the point after for a 20-0 score late in the first quarter.
On Canton’s ensuing drive Eason Teribury had back to back tackles for loss, forcing Canton to turn it over on downs at their own 22-yard line.
The Warriors defense stiffened, though, forcing a third-and-9 only for Woodward to hit Reed Palmer for a first down.
Three plays later Gilliland took a pitch right seven yards into the end zone, finishing off the six-play, 22-yard drive.
Lykon-Leffler added the point after for the 27-0 lead with 9:27 left in the half.
Another Canton punt led to another Troy scoring drive, this going 51-yards on three plays.
A Woodward 45-yard run off an option got Troy down to the 1-yard line, where Millard punched it on the next play. The kick failed after a false start, making git 33-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Burbage would get an interception on the first play from scrimmage on Canton’s ensuing drive.
That set Troy up at the Warrior 32-yard line, where they need just three plays to hit pay dirt. This time was a 13-yard run by Millard on a trap, making it 40-0 after Lykon-Leffler’s kick.
The Trojans would get the second half kick-off, taking over at their own 25-yard line. Four plays in Gilliland took a pitch to the left 58-yards to the house to make it 47-0 after the Lykon-Leffler kick.
Gardner would give Canton fans something to cheer on the ensuing kick-off, as the Warriors used a bit of trickery with it looking like Holcombe had the ball.
Troy followed him, allowing Gardner to go 80-yards to the house. Alexis McRoberts added the point after for a 47-7 score.
After an onside kick attempt Troy took over at the Canton 49-yard line. They needed just six run plays to get into the end zone, with Ellis running the ball on the final four.
On third-and-goal he punched it in from the 2-yard line, Lykon-Leffler added the point after and it was 54-7.
Canton’s ensuing drive was their best of the night, going 75-yards on 12-plays, ending with a Gardner 10-yard run to the end zone.
McRoberts’ kick was good and it was 54-14 with 8:12 left to play.
Troy’s back-up quarterback Martin would answer on the first play from scrimmage on their next possession, going 51-yards on an option to pay dirt. Lykon-Leffler’s kick was good for the 61-14 lead.
The final score came on a 45-yard hook-up from Fitch to Holcomb on third-and-long. The extra point was no good for a 61-20 final.
“It’s just another step on the ladder,” Sens said about the win. “We can’t take any game lightly, every team wants to defeat us to show that they beat Troy.”
It looks like Canton will travel to Muncy in the first round of the playoffs next week, renewing a Class A rivalry there.
“It’s a good game to prepare us for Muncy,” Sechrist said. “We got banged up a little more, that’s the only thing. We’ve got a few more linemen banged up, hopefully they’ll be there for next week, but these guys are definitely tougher than Muncy. We’ll have to be ready for next week, too, because Muncy has been rolling.”
Troy has locked in the top seed and will likely host South Williamsport in the opening round, a team they beat all the way back in week three.
“We can’t overlook anything,” said Smith. “South is one of the best programs in the state. They’re young, and they’ve had their struggles, but they coached by a wonderful staff the does everything right, and they get better throughout the season. They’re not going to be the same team they were many weeks ago, and we’re going to have to look at that, and prepare like we would for anyone else.”
After losing a close district title game to end last season Troy is now ready to wash that taste out of their mouths.
“It puts more pressure on our backs, because any game can be our last,” Sens said about the playoffs. “So that gives us more of a reason to play harder.”
TROY 61, CANTON 20
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
T: Evan Woodward 5-yard run (kick failed), 7:11
T: Evan Woodward 53-yard pass to Joseph Frye (Gavin Lykon-Leffler kick), 5:13
T: Brendan Gilliland 20-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 1:50
Second Quarter
T: Brendan Gilliland 7-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 9:27
T: Kael Millard 1-yard run (kick failed), 6:10
T: Kael Millard 13-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 4:37
Third Quarter
T: Brendan Gilliland 58-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 9:37
C: Bailey Gardner 80-yard kick-off return (Alexis McRoberts kick), 9:24
T: Noah Ellis 2-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 4:46
Fourth Quarter
C: Bailey Gardner 10-yard run (McRoberts kick), 8:12
T: Spencer Martin 51-yard run (Lykon-Leffler kick), 8:02
C: Ben Fitch 45-yard pass to Aydin Holcomb (McRoberts kick), 5:13
Individual Stats
Canton
Passing
Ben Fitch 9-15-134-1-2, Holden Ward 3-3-23-0-0
Rushing
Holden Ward 6-35, Ben Fitch 9-3, Bailey Gardner 5-12-1, Dawson Burgess 1-3, Aydin Holcomb 1-2
Receiving
Holden Ward 6-62, Aydin Holcomb 3-72-1, Ben Fitch 2-19, Dawson Burgess 1-4
Troy
Passing
Evan Woodward 6-10-90-1-0
Rushing
Brendan Gilliland 8-126-3, Evan Woodward 5-50-1, Kael Millard 5-22-2, Jack Burbage 1-18, Noah Ellis 4-25-1, Spencer Martin 2-50-1, Jayden Kutt 1-28, Reed Palmer 1-6, Garret Parks 5-11, Evan Allen 2-18
Receiving
Joseph Frye 2-66-1, Lincoln Chimics 2-15, Reed Palmer 2-9
Team Stats Canton Troy
Rushes/Yards 22/56 34/354
Passing Yards 157 90
First Downs 10 18
Penalties/Yards 8/38 7/70
Fumbles/Lost 2/0 3/0
Interceptions: Troy (Evan Woodward, Jack Burbage)
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
