Titans hammer Trojans in 76-0 victory

The Troy Trojans fell to the Flint Creek Titans 76-0 on Sept. 11 in their third game of the season.

Troy head coach Luke Haggerty deemed Flint Creek the best team the Trojans would face this year. Ranked second in the state, the Titans arrived in Troy with a roster that was 25 players strong. The Trojan squad, by contrast, boasted only half their opponent’s numbers.

“We were struggling to get through our warm up drills because we literally don’t have enough guys to do our warm ups,” Haggerty said. “And they bring a busload and were able to sub in multiple teams.”

Having to spend nearly entire games on the field has taken a toll on many Trojan players. In their season opener against Arlee, the team had to fight through a series of injuries. Despite the Trojan’s efforts to hydrate throughout the game, Haggerty said that his squad fell victim to cramps in the second half.

“I haven’t seen anything like it before,” he said following that game.

During the Aug, 28 season opener, the Trojans lost one of their key players, senior left tackle Jace Fisher, to a shoulder injury. After sitting out the following game, Fisher, who has committed to play at Montana State, returned to the gridiron for the match up against Flint Creek.

While overall the Trojan defense struggled to slow the Titans’ advance, Fisher bulldozed through their offensive line throughout the game. Standing at six foot five inches and weighing 310 pounds, Fisher towered over the competition and put pressure on the Titan’s throwing game.

After the game, Fisher said a lack of attention to detail was holding the Troy squad back.

“We’re not mentally tough,” Fisher said. “A lot of the guys are young and that’s just going to happen.”

Errors like quarterbacks fumbling the ball off the snap and incomplete passes cost the Trojans serious yardage throughout the game.

Haggerty said that one benefit of having a short roster was that he could give younger players on the team more time on the field. Players like freshman center Derek Cole were stepping up and starting to play good football, Haggerty said.

Senior wide receiver Dylan Peterson agreed that the rookies were improving. During the Trojan’s second game of the season against Plains on Sept. 4, he said Tory’s eight-man team had to play over half the game with no subs.

“The younger guys got in there and got some opportunities to make some plays,” said Peterson.

Recently the Trojans also regained a few veterans. Following Troy’s game against Plains, the squad regained a senior and junior player. These students had failed classes when Troy Schools switched to a remote learning schedule in the spring, according to Haggerty. That meant they were ineligible to play in the first two games of the season.

As they prepare for their senior night game against Charlo on Sept. 18, the Trojans will be working on wrapping up and gang tackling, according to Haggerty.

“Good football teams swarm to the ball and we're still working on getting better at that,” Haggerty said.

Despite the hurdles the Trojan’s have faced so far this season, Fisher was confident about the team’s upcoming game.

“Next week is senior night. We’re going to push hard, we’re going to make a statement,” he said.