WYALUSING – Jim Smith is not a huge fan of games on Thursday night. With the shortage of football officials, however, Thursday games are becoming a somewhat normal occurrence in the Northern Tier League.
But with the way his Troy Trojans came out and performed on Thursday at Wyalusing, one wouldn’t have known what day it was without checking the calendar.
Troy scored on all six of its first-half possessions and raced out to a 38-0 lead at halftime to improve to 4-0 with a 44-12 win over Wyalusing.
“The short week part isn’t fun,” said Smith. “I’m more concerned about tomorrow with the kids getting out of bed and making it to school. I think that’s why they play football on the weekends because, for some of the kids, it’s tough to move the next day, but we discussed that sometimes you have to do things that are hard, so they’ve got to get themselves rested and get to school tomorrow.”
That is always less difficult to do when coming off a win, and the Trojans will be unbeaten for at least one more week after a dominating performance. Clayton Smith ran for 208 yards on just 12 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the way for Troy’s powerful running game, which racked up 326 yards on the ground for the game.
The younger Smith ripped off a 71-yard touchdown run on Troy’s second play from scrimmage after receiving the opening kickoff, and there was no looking back for the Trojans from there.
Smith capped a more conventional Troy drive with a four-yard touchdown on the Trojans’ next drive, which spanned 10 plays, 55 yards, and 4:40 to put Troy up by two scores late in the first quarter.
After Troy stopped Wyalusing on downs near midfield, the Trojans put together another lengthy drive, taking eight plays to go half the length of the field in 3:21, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Evan Woodward to Camryn Harwick early in the second quarter.
A pair of holding penalties backup up Wyalusing on the Rams’ next drive, and Troy took over just shy of midfield for its next drive. Smith then burst loose for another long run, this one a gain of 49 yards, and then freshman fullback Kael Millard finished that drive with a 9-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 28-0 at the 6:45 mark of the second quarter.
Wyalusing got a nice 43-yard kickoff return from Dylan Johns on the ensuing kickoff to set it up from the Troy 32-yard line. But Troy’s defense held the Rams to a four-and-out, as the Trojans stuffed Ram quarterback Parker Petlock on a keeper on fourth-and-2.
Troy took over on its own 23-yard line and took seven plays to find the end zone once again on another long run by Smith, this one from 38 yards, to go up 35-0.
Wyalusing was stopped by Troy again on fourth down with :22 left in the half, and Trojans managed to tack on a 31-yard field goal by Justice Chimics on the final play of the half after Charles Oldroyd picked up 26 yards on a run, followed by a pass interference penalty by the Rams.
With a running clock in the second half, Wyalusing managed a pair of scores. Joey Gonsauls converted a fake punt as he took a fumbled snap, picked it up, and instead of punting, picked up 26 yards, and then two plays later, picked up 26 yards again on a more conventional play that ended in the end zone. Gonsauls had a solid game with 106 yards on eight carries.
Gonsauls had a 34-yard run on the first play of Wyalusing’s first possession of the fourth quarter, and that spurred an 84-yard drive for the Rams that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Alex Hunsinger.
Troy’s last score came on the ensuing kickoff after Hunsinger’s touchdown as Jackson Taylor took the kick back 76 yards for the score. Taylor fielded the kickoff that had bounced off a teammate’s helmet and directly into his hands before taking it down the field nearly untouched for the score.
While the Thursday contest may present some challenges the week of the game, in addition to the extra day of rest until the next week’s game, it also will afford Troy the chance to take a live look at its next two opponents – Athens and Wellsboro – who play on Friday night, a game Smith the coach is planning to attend.
“One good thing about playing on Thursday is being able to see someone (else) live on a Friday, so we’re excited about that, but we’re just going to keep working on what we do,” he said. “We need to get better in a lot of ways but I think this was another step forward for a young team.”
Troy 44, Wyalusing 12
Troy (4-0) 14 24 0 7 – 44
Wyalusing (1-3) 0 0 6 6 – 12
First quarter
11:13 – (T) Clayton Smith 71-yard run (Chimics kick), 2-72, :47
4:46 – (T) Clayton Smith 4-yard run (Chimics kick), 10-55, 4:40
Second quarter
11:14 – (T) Camryn Harwick 20-yard pass from Evan Woodward (Chimics kick), 8-49, 3:21
6:45 – (T) Kael Millard 9-yard run (Chimics kick), 2-58, :37
2:21 – (T) Clayton Smith 38-yard run (Chimics kick), 7-77, 2:47
:00 – (T) Justice Chimics 31-yard field goal, 1-31, :22
Third quarter
6:30 – (W) Joey Gonsauls 26-yard run (run failed), 6-52, 3:42
Fourth quarter
5:41 – (W) Alex Hunsinger 3-yard run (fun failed), 8-84, 4:49
5:27 – (T) Jackson Taylor 76-yard kickoff return (pass failed)
Statistics
T W
First downs 18 12
Rushes-net yards 37-326 32-126
Passing yardage 49 106
Passing 5-10-1-0 6-14-0-1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-1
Penalties-yards 4-46 5-48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Troy: Clayton Smith (12-208-3), Kael Millard (6-41-1), Charles Oldroyd (5-32), Mason Smith (4-8), Evan Woodward (3-16), Mason Woodward (3-12), Jack Burbage (2-8), Carter Austin (2-1); Wyalusing: Joey Gonsauls (8-106-1), Alex Hunsinger (7-18-1), Parker Petlock (7-(-26)), Ayden Hunsinger (5-21), Dylan Johns (3-2), Liam Franklin (2-5)
PASSING — Troy: Evan Woodward (3-5-28-1-0), Joseph Frye (2-4-21-0-0), Mason Smith (0-1-0-0-0); Wyalusing: Parker Petlock (6-14-106-0-1)
RECEIVING — Troy: Camryn Harwick (2-17-1), Jackson Taylor (1-11), Lincoln Chimics (1-11), Justice Chimics (1-10); Wyalusing: Liam Franklin (5-101), Gus Tabernacle (1-5)
