Florence outlasts Troy in wild one
In what was called one of the most memorable games in recent history, Florence held on to defeat Troy, 43-30, in high school football action on Friday.
The Trojans outgained their opponents but fell short on the scoreboard primarily because of turnovers.
“It was a good game, back and forth, back and forth,” Troy coach Rich McElmurry said. “It was cold and we played in the snow – they just plowed the lines. Maybe we should play in the snow more often because offensively we had a nice game.”
Jake Alexander rushed for 155 yards, Kody Hoffman caught nine balls for 118 yards and Mike Ormiston completed 16-of-24 passes for 196 yards in the loss.
After Florence (5-1) missed an early field goal, Troy came back and scored first on an 87-yard run by Alexander. Florence responded, however, with a 68-yard TD pass from Spencer Burns to Bryce Chacon. The Falcons followed with a pair of short TD runs by Burns, the latter coming after Florence recovered a fumble at the 5-yard line on a kickoff return.
Still in the first quarter, Troy countered with an 80-yard TD by Hoffman on a screen pass from Ormiston. The play was helped by a couple of nice blocks up front by Troy offensive linemen.
The Trojans then tied the score, 22-22, before halftime with a 1-yard plunge by Derrick Winslow.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, the Trojans took the lead on a 40-yard run by Ormiston. The short field was set up by a 42-yard kickoff return by Alexander.
Florence followed with a 60-yard TD run by Burns to tie and a 30-yard TD pass from Burns to Chacon for the lead. The Falcons held on to a 37-30 lead until the final moments of the game. Troy turned the ball over on downs at its own 5-yard line late and Florence took it in on a 3-yard run by Zach Damron.
In all, Troy compiled 432 yards of total offense – 236 on the ground and 196 through the air.
“I was a little amazed with both teams,” McElmurry said. “I thought they’d come out and run the ball at us and they threw the ball about 25 times.”
Burns rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 227 yards and two other TDs.
The Trojans (2-4) play host to Bigfork on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.