Troy escapes Troy Athens 21-14, stays alive in Division 1 playoff hunt

TROY -- An emphatic fist pump from Troy head coach Chris Frasier as the Colts took over on downs late in the fourth quarter symbolized more than just a potential game-sealing drive as his squad held onto a 21-14 lead.

As Troy and Troy Athens went head-to-head Oct. 18 at Troy High School, Athens was eager to snap Troy’s three-game win streak against the Red Hawks while the Colts were looking to find themselves back in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 playoff picture.

If a neighborhood rivalry didn’t already have enough emotions and weight added onto it, both senior groups, separated by roughly five miles depending on the route, were facing off one last time.

Troy senior Noah Oury, who struggled through the air with two interceptions in the matchup, barreled his way for the go-ahead score on a 1-yard touchdown run to give Troy its first lead of the night at 21-14 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Athens, a run-heavy offense known for its T-formation, would be forced to expand its passing ability in a fight against the clock.

Courtesy of a pass interference call on Troy and a 10-yard pass from junior Andrew Dunlap to junior Nathan Piggott, Athens would have possession at the Troy 49-yard line after being backed up on an offensive holding call.

Facing a fourth and long, Athens executed a fake punt with a pass downfield to an Athens gunner who appeared to be dragged down on the play, resulting in a flag thrown.

Troy had already been called twice for pass interference, so it came as a surprise to nearly everyone, including the Troy sidelines, when the referee asked Frasier if he'd like to decline it – leading to the emphatic fist pump from Frasier.

“During that time they were talking, everyone of us in the headset were talking as if they were calling it on us, so we were trying to do the math since there’s no automatic first downs in high school,” Frasier said. “We were all under the assumption that it was going to be fourth and one or fourth and two. When he asked me if I wanted to decline the penalty, I graciously declined the penalty.”

Athens coach Tom Cook approached the referees in efforts for some clarity, but said there wasn’t any to be found.

“They didn’t give me a great explanation,” Cook said. “I mentioned that when they said it wasn’t against them (Troy), there was a huge sigh of relief because everybody on both sides thought it was a pretty clear PI (pass interference). It cost us. One thing we focus on as a football team and a football program is when things happen, we’re going to overcome it. I liked how our kids responded and said, ‘We’re going to overcome this.’”

Athens would be hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct prior to Troy’s first snap, setting up Oury and company at the Athens 38-yard line with four minutes left.

The Red Hawks defensive unit, which already had a 24-yard pick-six to its credit courtesy of Piggott for the first score of the game, would stand its ground to give the offense another shot, but Troy senior Jaielen Peacock would slam the door shut with a game-ending interception as Athens crossed Troy territory.

Peacock, a Saginaw Valley State University commit, opened the Troy scoring with a 50-yard rushing touchdown early in the second quarter, tying the game up at 7-7.

The Colts rushing attack was the saving grace against the Athens defense, who played well all night, especially against the pass.

“We put in a few things this week and the kids responded,” Cook said. “They’re a talented offense. They have some scholarship football players on that offense. I thought we did a nice job neutralizing the things they did best.”

A 1-yard rushing touchdown from Dunlap would give Athens the 14-7 lead at halftime, leaving Oury and his offensive unit executing a new game plan for the second half.

“Who’s going to step up and be a man,” Oury said. “That’s what we were talking about. Who’s going to step up and be a man? When we went into half, we said we were going to run it down their throats every single play this next half. That’s what we did.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Grand Valley State University commit took it upon himself to get the offense going, rushing for 148 yards and two scores, including a 3-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to tie it at 14-14.

“He’s (Oury) one of our toughest players,” Frasier said. “He’s been on varsity for three years. I don’t know how many carries he had today, but he got smashed at least 20 times. We ask a lot of that guy running the ball. Big props to him for being able to do those things.”

Peacock added 121 rushing yards in the win while senior Lucas Tic paced the defense with nine total tackles.

Troy was on the outside looking into the MHSAA Division 1 playoff, but crept its way back into the picture with a win.

The Colts will have to face the Oakland Activities Association Blue champions, North Farmington, Oct. 25, who will be outright league champions if they can beat Troy. With a loss, Troy could miss out on the playoffs for the second straight season.

“We have our confidence back, but I know I need to clean up some things,” Oury said. “I'm going to have no life this week. I’m going to go to bed at eight o’clock. It’s going to be a lot of film. I’m going to put everything I have into this. I’m leaving it all on the field because it could potentially be my last game as a Troy Colt and I don’t want it to end like that. We have so much talent on this team. If we play our best game, we will beat North Farmington. We just need to have a good week at practice to make that happen.”

Athens will end its season against Fraser Oct. 25, marking the end of an era for a very talented senior class that Cook said helped restore the football program.

“I coached here a lifetime ago for a few different head coaches such as Darrell Mayne, Jim Harding, and Josh Heppner, and for lots of different reasons we started losing kids,” Cook said. “When we wanted to come back and turn this thing around, this senior group had more to do with the turnaround in our numbers and in our program than any group up until this point. They mean the world to this program, they mean the world to our coaching staff, and they mean the world to me.”