When it finally arrived, they made sure to leave no doubt about it.
No. 1 Troy punched its ticket to the District IV Class 2A Final on Friday night by walloping No. 4 Southern Columbia, 69-28, in a rematch of the 2023 final that saw the Tigers end Troy’s season.
“We’re just really proud the kids executed the way they did,” Troy coach Jim Smith said. “We told the kids we were gonna have to win the game up front, and play our ground and pound. In the end, we were the team that just lines up in the I (formation) and shoves it down your throat. I’m really proud to be able to do that. The ability to sling it around a little bit and have those guys on the perimeter allowed us to be able to do that I believe.”
Troy quarterback Evan Woodward rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries, and also completed three-of-five passes for 81 yards with an interception. Brendan Gilliland led out of the backfield with 93 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 12 attempts, while Kael Millard rushed seven times for 34 yards. Mason Smith added 21 yards on five carries, Lincoln Chimics had a seven-yard gain on a fake punt and Jack Burbage punched in a one-yard touchdown on one of his two attempts in the ground game.
Receiving wise, Chimics hauled in three grabs for 80 yards and a score. Joseph Frye threw the touchdown, completing his only attempt to Chimics for a 36-yard touchdown. Burbage also hauled in a 36-yard over the shoulder grab in the win.
Defensively, the Trojans finished with three sacks — with Gilliland and Eason Teribury both tallying one-and-a-half apiece. Spencer Martin had an interception, returning it for a touchdown. On Special Teams, Chimics and Smith each recorded a kick return for a touchdown.
“We did a good job preparing our kids this week, and we were very fortunate,” Smith added. “We felt like our advantage was that our athletes were better than their athletes. It allowed us to put athletes on an island and shove everybody else in the box.”
For the Tigers, Brayden Andrews rushed for 106 yards and a score on 21 attempts, while quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch had 47 yards rushing and two scores on eight runs. Caden Hopper recorded seven carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, and Talon Piatt added 54 yards on three carries. Joey Williams finished with 29 yards on three attempts of his own.
Hockenbroch finished 4-of-18 passing for 58 yards and an interception in the loss. Blaise Kissinger had a 13-yard grab, Hopper recorded a 15-yard catch, Grady Garcia made a 17-yard reception and Andrews had one catch for 13 yards.
“We knew it was gonna be a tough game coming in,” Southern Columbia coach Jim Roth said. “We were gonna have to play a really good game. Things kind of got out of hand. Probably the most disappointing thing is we thought our defense would hold up better against them. We knew they were physical up front.”
A clash of recent District IV titans on a windy night at Karl Van Norman Field at Mansfield University, much had been made about the rematch in the weeks leading up. Troy had fallen to Southern Columbia 356 days earlier in the District IV Final in 2023, going down 14-0 in a heavy rain night at Alparon Park.
From the onside, the Trojans did their best to prevent a repeat.
Receiving the opening kickoff, Chimics fielded the ball and raced up the middle, blazing the other way and putting a hand towards the sky as he ran in for an opening 84-yard kickoff return touchdown. In a flash, Troy scored more points than they had a year ago, pulling ahead 7-0 following Gavin Lykon-Leffler’s converted extra point with 11:48 still to go in the opening quarter.
“It felt great to set the tone, come out hot,” Chimics said. “I feel like that carried our momentum through the game.”
After the special teams made its first statement, Troy’s defense got the chance as well. The first two plays of the Tigers opening drive ended in lost yardage, before a third down throw brought up 4th-and-14. Fighting the wind, the punt was downed at the SCA 35 and Troy went on offense for the first time.
Woodward opened the drive with a gain of six before a burst for 23 yards by Smith set up first-and-goal at the Tigers’ six. Gilliland took the next handoff and punched in the score, giving the Trojans a 13-0 lead with 9:20 in the first.
Following another Southern Columbia punt, Troy appeared as if it would keep the early onslaught going, but a Tigers’ interception stopped it just five plays in. They would embark on their longest drive so far — marching into the Troy red zone — but came up empty once again after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty put them well behind the sticks. Hockenbroch Scrambled for an 11-yard gain on fourth down, but the Trojans took the ball back at their own eight with the two score lead still intact.
On they marched.
Runs from Gilliland, Smith and Millard got the ball to the Troy 30 and Gilliland earned another first down with back-to-back two-yard gains to get just enough. Facing a fourth down three plays later, Chimics lined up to punt but instead faked it to his left and gained seven. The fake kept Troy on offense as it moved the sticks another time, and Woodward rushed for 10 on the next play to keep churning out yards.
A Southern Columbia personal foul neutralized a would-be three-yard loss on the next play, and then Troy took its next shot.
Coming in motion from left to right, Frye got the ball in the backfield and moved towards the sideline. Rather than rushing upfield, he stopped and fired for Chimics. Making the catch, he made a defender miss and found paydirt for the second time as Troy took a 19-0 lead following a missed two point conversion attempt.
With still 4:33 to play until halftime, Troy had already bested the output put up against them in last year’s contest and was having fun doing it.
“We’ve been practicing it a little bit in practice, but I didn’t expect to run it,” Frye said. “It was great to get out there and just execute it. I’m supposed to fake the run, I thought I did that well. I just saw Lincoln go out, he was open. I was like alright, got to put it on him.”
Watching the opposition’s lead grow, Southern Columbia was again forced to punt and Troy took over at their own 38. On the first play of the next drive, Woodward broke open and raced upfield, not stopping until he too was in the end zone. The 62-yard burst grew the lead even further at 25-0.
“I just saw a big hole and I just ran as fast as I could,” Woodward said. “I felt slow, couldn’t feel slower, but I made it.”
The Tigers finally punched back, using a three-play drive to go 49 yards and adding points when Hopper powered it in from three yards. A missed two-point try meant they’d leave with just six, but they were on the board at 25-6 with 2:30 to play until the break.
Troy wasn’t finished with first-half statements.
On the kickoff following Southern Columbia’s first score, Mason Smith backtracked and fielded the ball around his own eight. He let his blockers set up and then accelerated. Breaking away up the left side, he added a kick return touchdown of his own to the growing tally as Troy went up even further at 32-6 with the break in action still approaching.
Southern Columbia launched a final drive of the half that ended in points, with Hockenbroch pushing in a one-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 18 points at halftime. Getting the ball out of the locker room, the Tigers scored again as Hockenbroch scrambled for 46 and couldn’t be tackled before finding the end zone. A failed two-point try kept the deficit at 12, but Southern Columbia was in range following a barrage of Trojans’ early blows.
Unfortunately for the seven-time consecutive defending state champs, Troy had more ready in the second half.
First, Woodward responded to his counterpart on the other sideline with another rushing touchdown of his own. Racing free up the middle, he added a 57-yard rushing touchdown to double up the Tigers. On Southern Columbia’s next drive, Spencer Martin picked off an errant pass and returned it 36 yards for a pick six. A few drives later, Gillliland punched in another touchdown — from 28 yards — for another consecutive score.
Burbage hauled in a 37-yard pass from Woodward and then punched in a one-yard score to start the fourth. The Troy defense tacked on a safety from there and Gilliland rounded out his night with a five-yard run with 2:45 to play.
Thirty-seven unanswered points in a flurry of ways. Troy avenged its only loss in two seasons in the most emphatic way it could, and everyone was involved. A true team win.
“We told the kids at halftime, 35 points isn’t enough I didn’t feel like.” Smith said. “This is a team that is so successful and their expectations are so high, that they don’t ever give up. The team understood that we had to keep the foot on the pedal if you will, and I’m just glad we were able to do that.”
Southern Columbia scored a final touchdown on the evening before the final horn, as Troy emptied its bench before the celebration. Just another check on the way to what they hope is more for this year’s iteration of Trojans, they gave their fans a treat on Friday night and had a lot of fun in the process.
“It feels great, been waiting two years now since I’ve been playing, to finally get this win it feels awesome,” Burbage said.
“This game wasn’t even for us, it was for everyone back in Troy,” Teribury added. “We’re representing the NTL now.”
No. 1 Troy will be back at Mansfield next week facing No. 6 Warrior Run in the Class 2A Final.
Troy quarterback Evan Woodward evades tacklers on Friday against Southern Columbia.
Southern Columbia running back Brayden Andrews turns up field after a catch on Friday against Troy.
One response to “No. 1 Troy blazes past No. 4 Southern Columbia in start-to-finish rout, 69-28”
Excellent article about a great team whose time has come. I can’t give enough credit to the coaching staff headed by Jim Smith, they GET_IT, they know what it takes to WIN! This team is prepared every week and they don’t take their foot off the throttle. That is so hard to convey to young athletes. FINISH THE JOB! Every DOWN EMPOSE YOUR WILL. You have this Downingtown Whippet’s full support and I expect to see you on the BIG STAGE! This is fabulous for the great small community of Troy. The town needs this adventure and success. The very best to you ,LET’S GO TROJANS! Thank you Logan Hill.