WELLSBORO – The promise of an extra day or two off from practice can be a powerful motivator for a football team at any point in the long season.
Playing its second Thursday night road game in the last three weeks, unbeaten Troy had that carrot dangling in front of it for its game at winless Wellsboro. Play well after having three great practices, and earn some time off.
Not only did the Trojans earn that time off en route to improving to 6-0 with a 45-3 win over the Green Hornets, but there are some deer in Bradford County that may need to be a bit more concerned for their own safety over the weekend.
“We offered the kids a deal and that was three great practices and a good game, and we’ll give you Friday and the weekend off, and they’re off school on Monday, they’re excited about the upcoming (archery, which may involve items like that target quiver) deer season, but they had to complete the deal with a good game and they did that, so they’re excited about their weekend off,” said Troy coach Jim Smith.
Troy played like a motivated team in the first half, as the game was largely decided before halftime, as most of Troy’s starters did not play in the second half. The Trojans took advantage of four Wellsboro turnovers in the game, including three in the first half, and turned all three of those first-half turnovers into points.
More than halfway through the first quarter, however, it looked like the Green Hornets may be able to hang with the Trojans for at least a little bit. Wellsboro turned the ball over on its first possession as Will Gastrock was picked off by Evan Woodward at midfield, who returned it 41 yards to set up the Trojans at the Wellsboro 9. Two Clayton Smith runs later, it was 7-0.
However, from there, the Green Hornets put together a nice eight-play drive that featured a 37-yard reception by Jack Poirier to set up Wellsboro at the Troy 12-yard line. A negative run, a pair of incompletions, and a false start penalty stalled the drive, but Poirier kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 5:34 remaining in the opening quarter.
But from there it was all Troy. The Trojans immediately answered on the ensuing kickoff, as Charles Oldroyd took it 92 yards to the house to make it 14-3. It marked the fifth special teams’ touchdown of the year for Troy through six games.
The Trojans then recovered an onside kick when it hit one of the Wellsboro up-men, who was unable to gain possession, and Troy had it again at the Wellsboro 47. Two plays later, Woodward got loose for a 44-yard run down the left sideline to put the Trojans up 21-3 with 4:34 left.
Wellsboro picked up a first down on its next possession but was forced to punt, and once again, a big play produced a touchdown for the Trojans on their ensuing drive, this time a 78-yard touchdown reception by Justice Chimics just prior to the end of the quarter, making it 28-3.
That touchdown pass was the first of just four pass attempts by Woodward on the evening, but he made them count as he completed 3-of-4 passes for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the second of which came on his next pass attempt on the Trojans’ next drive, which followed a three-and-out and subsequent punt by the Green Hornets. After a 33-yard run by Smith flipped field position, Evan Woodward found Mason Woodward for a 20-yard touchdown reception to cap a 70-yard, five-play drive.
“They busted some big ones early on us and it was because we didn’t do our assignments,” said Wellsboro coach Matt Hildebrand. “Everybody has to take care of their guy when they run the veer like that – the pitchman and the quarterback – and if you don’t do that, bad things happen, and that’s what happened early and things got away from us.”
Two more Wellsboro turnovers in the second quarter led to two more Troy scores – a 31-yard field goal by Chimics and Smith’s second rushing touchdown of the night.
Although the Trojans had another big advantage in total yards, outgaining Wellsboro 366-121, it was a very balanced and team effort for Troy. No individual had more than 47 yards rushing, and 10 different players had rushing carries. Their leading rusher was Clayton Smith with 47 yards on 11 carries to go with his two touchdowns. Woodward led the way in total offense with 45 rushing yards to go with his 104 passing yards and a 41-yard interception return.
“It was a good team win today. I told the kids everyone had a little piece of this game,” said Smith. “You like to see that, it keeps all the kids interested. Sometimes the focus is one or two kids, and that’s just sort of the way it goes, and sometimes it’s everybody. I love nights like tonight, to see all the different players get a chance to touch the ball, be a part of the game, and make big plays.”
For as much as the big plays on offense were responsible for Troy’s success on Thursday, it was also its defense, which held Wellsboro to just 45 yards in the first half, of which 37 came on the one completion to Poirier that set up Wellsboro’s only score of the contest.
For Wellsboro, it’s been a challenging season so and one of frustration. Despite having leads in four of its first five games, the Green Hornets are yet to register one in the win column in 2022.
“We’ve had a heck of a schedule and besides tonight and Canton, we’ve led in every game we’ve played and we’ve led at halftime,” said Hildebrand. “We’re honestly playing probably 13 guys every week so it takes a toll. We ran into a bit of a juggernaut tonight and couldn’t hang with them, but these guys are fighting every week and they don’t give up or quit.”
Troy 45, Wellsboro 3
Troy (6-0) 28 17 0 0 – 45
Wellsboro (0-6) 3 0 0 0 – 3
First quarter
8:50 – (T) Clayton Smith 4-yard run (Chimics kick), 2-9, :40
5:34 – (W) Jack Poirier 33-yard field goal, 8-46, 3:16
5:21 – (T) Charles Oldroyd 92-yard kickoff return (Chimics kick)
4:34 – (T) Evan Woodward 44-yard run (Chimics kick), 2-47, :47
:02 – (T) Justice Chimics 78-yard pass from Evan Woodward (Chimics kick), 4-65, 1:47
Second quarter
7:48 – (T) Mason Woodward 20-yard pass from Evan Woodward (Chimics kick), 5-70, 2:05
5:40 – (T) Justice Chimics 31-yard field goal, 3-7, 1:56
1:43 – (T) Clayton Smith 1-yard run (Chimics kick), 8-72, 3:38
Statistics
T W
First downs 16 9
Rushes-net yards 37-195 32-80
Passing yardage 171 41
Passing 7-11-2-0 2-12-0-3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 5-30 5-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Troy: Clayton Smith (11-47-2), Kael Millard (4-23), Carter Austin (4-6), Evan Woodward (3-45-1), Jack Burbage (3-22), Mason Smith (3-20), Charles Oldroyd (3-12), Noah Ellis (2-21), TEAM (2-(-2)), Jackson Taylor (1-2), Justice Chimics (1-(-1)); Wellsboro: Ryder Bowen (19-44), Will Gastrock (9-27), Gavyn Jelliff (3-8), Jonathan Carl (1-1)
PASSING — Troy: Evan Woodward (3-4-104-2-0), Mason Smith (2-4-26-0-0), Joseph Frye (2-3-41-0-0); Wellsboro: Will Gastrock (2-12-41-0-3)
RECEIVING — Troy: Justice Chimics (2-98-1), Lincoln Chimics (2-29), Mason Woodward (1-20-1), Ben Warburton (1-14), Eason Teribury (1-24); Wellsboro: Jack Poirier (1-37), Marek Mascho (1-4)
