Trojans knock off Bluehawks, 35-32
The Troy Trojans hosted a barn-burner on their home field Friday evening, hanging on to beat Thompson Falls 35-32 on the strength of senior quarterback Sean Opland.
Coach Brendan Miller said the Trojans’ emotion helped carry them to victory.
“It was quite the game,” Miller said. “There was a lot of emotion on our side of the ball all game, with it being senior night and a revenge game, since they knocked us out of the playoffs last year.”
Opland scored the first touchdown of the night, punching the ball into the end zone from one yard out. Thompson Falls’ Kade Van Elswick responded, scoring on a 40-yard pass to Joe Frields, but the point-after kick missed, leaving Troy with a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.
The Bluehawks captured the lead in the second quarter, as Frields and Van Elswick connected for another score from 23 yards out, but the Bluehawks again missed the point-after kick, leaving the score 12-7. Austin Patty narrowed the gap to 12-10 before halftime, kicking in a 28-yard field goal.
Troy took the lead in the third quarter, after Opland broke free for a 46-yard run and then ran in the two-point conversion, making the score 18-12 in favor of the Trojans. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Van Elswick found another target in McKenzie Holt for a five-yard passing score. This time, the Bluehawks opted for the two-point conversion, but the Trojans’ defense held, leaving Thompson Falls with just six and the game tied at 18-all going into the fourth quarter.
Opland ran in another touchdown in the fourth quarter, along with a 38-yard pass to Tucker Winn for another touchdown. Van Elswick hit Cory Tessier from 40 yards out and Jacob Douthit added an 8-yard touchdown run in the final stanza, but it wasn’t enough as Troy held on to win the game, 35-32.
The Trojans added a new look to their lineup, in the form of new formations and a few misdirection plays to help them keep the Bluehawks guessing.
“We added a couple new formations this week that really caught them off guard, add that to a bunch of misdirection plays and we were able to put up good numbers,” Miller said. “We changed up the defense too and let us get more pressure on the quarterback. We had nine sacks on the game.”
The Trojans end their regular season Friday evening against Bigfork. A victory earns them a first seed and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. A loss ends their season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.