By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

DOUGLASVILLE – The Troup Tigers went on the road and came away with a hard-earned 21-14 win over Chapel Hill in the Region 5-AAAA opener for both teams.

Chapel Hill made it deep into Troup territory in the closing moments with a chance to tie with a touchdown and an extra point, but it was unable to find the end zone.

It was a big win for Troup over a quality team that will likely be fighting for one of the region’s four playoff spots.

“I feel like they’re a playoff team, so for us to go on the road and get that win, it kind of gives us a leg-up on them at least,” Troup head coach Tanner Glisson said. “Being 4-1 and 1-0 in the region is real big with this team right now.”

As has been the case in every game this season, Troup fell behind after giving up a first-quarter touchdown.

In the second quarter, backup quarterback Nick Schweizer entered the game and led the Tigers on a touchdown drive.

Schweizer capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run, and the extra point deadlocked the score at 7-7 with 5:46 left in the first half.

It was still tied at 7-7 when Troup showed off its big-play ability moments into the second half, with Mark-Anthony Dixon catching a short pass from Kobe Hudson and turning it into a 68-yard touchdown.

Early in the fourth quarter, Trey Williams’ 30-yard touchdown run and Hudson’s two-point conversion run gave Troup a 21-7 lead.

Chapel Hill returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, cutting Troup’s lead to 21-14.

With less than a minute remaining, Chapel Hill had the ball on the Troup 19-yard line when a fourth-down play failed.

Troup ran a kneel-down play, and the clock ran out.

The Tigers were short-handed with some players missing because of injuries, but they hung tough and found a way to win.

“We looked out there in the third quarter and we had three sophomores and a freshman on defense,” Glisson said. “That was the first time in a long time that a team looked better than us in uniform. They looked really good. That defensive end (Bradyn Swinson) going to Oregon is a really good player, and they’ve got several interior linemen that are really good. So it was a tough-fought game.”

Troup hosts Sandy Creek next Friday.