TROUP WINS! | Big rushing night, and big turnover night (six, to be exact) sends Tigers past Harleton

TROUP – The Troup Tigers did not, in fact, drop to 0-3.

Troup hosted Harleton Friday night, and ran the ball all over the Wildcats to the tune of a 31-13 final score, getting six turnovers from a stingy Tigers defense in the process.

Coach Sam Wells’ Tigers are 1-2, and will have one last non-district game – at Rusk, next Friday night, Sept. 20 – before beginning their district schedule to wrap up September.

Harleton drops to 1-2, as well, and hosts Beckville next Friday.

The turnovers started immediately for the Wildcats against Troup.

Troup’s Noble Kendrick recovered a fumble by Harleton’s Tyler Lowe at the 34-yard line on the first possession of the game.

After Brett Wells’ run on first down had no gain, a second-down pass from Bryce Wallum to Hayden Huml sure did: a 34-yard touchdown for the Tigers. The point after was good by Wallum, to put Troup up 7-0 with 10:29 remaining in the first quarter.

Disaster struck again – and immediate – for Harleton after the kickoff.

The Wildcats would start drive at their own 25, and on second down, Gage Shirts fumbled the ball. It was picked up by Troup’s Caden Claburn and returned for a 25-yard touchdown.

Wallum booted a second extra point, and the Tigers had taken a 14-0 lead with 9:40 left in the opening quarter.

Harelton’s third possession was looking good. After Shirts lost a yard on first down, Tyler quarterback Skyler Karva found Tyler Crossley on a long pass to Troup’s 41.

Shirts had three runs in a row, the final one to Troup’s 32, and then, maybe it was one too many.

Shirts’ number was called again, this time to Troup’s 25. On the play, he fumbled, the third drive to end in a turnover. Troup’s Hayden Huml would recover at his own 25.

The Tigers wasted no time. Back-to-back-to-back runs moved the ball to the 47, and a penalty on Harleton put Troup in business at Harleton’s 32. Two plays later, Bryce Wallum would get 20 yards on a quarterback keeper, down to the Wildcats’ 10.

The drive would stall there, and the Tigers would have to settle for a field goal. But it was good by Wallum, a 25-yarder, giving the Tigers a 17-0 lead with 1:51 left in the first.

Troup forced a Harleton punt, and early in the second quarter, on another Troup possession, Wells burst free for a 32-yard touchdown run.

 Wallum again was good on the extra point, and with 10:06 left in the half, Troup led 24-0.

Troup might have pushed its luck a little with an onside kick – Harleton recovered it at its own 42 – but that Harleton turnover luck reared its ugly head again, just a few plays later.

At midfield, a fumble on a snap would give the ball right back to Troup, still in the first half, at Harleton’s 48.

Wallum struck immediately: a 48-yard bomb to Huml, which he caught for the score.

Wallum’s point after? You know it was good. And Troup led 31-0, with 8:06 left in the half.

What would you guess happened on Harleton’s next drive?

If you guessed another forced fumble – you’d be right.

The Wildcats started their next drive at their own 25, and after two incomplete passes, Karva was strip-sacked by the Tigers’ A.J. Dewberry, who recovered it, as well, at the Harleton 43.

Wallum connected with Wells for a 30-yard pass, and penalties would beset this Troup possession – a missed field goal would hand the ball back to the Wildcats, still in the first half.

On that drive, though, Karva’s pass would be picked off by Hayden Huml at the Troup 10- yard-line. They’d get no points, but go into halftime with a 31-0 lead.

Neither team would score in the third quarter, and the fourth started with a Harleton punt.

Harleton finally got into the end zone with 4:15 left, a 2-yard run by Kiearie Stoker, and the extra point by Mason Clark made it 31-7, Troup.

And they’d add one more, a 7-yard run by Landon Johnson for the final score (31-13).