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A young Troup Tigers football team hit the road for their season opener on Friday and put together a complete performance in their 39-6 demolition of Villa Rica.

“We’re still trying to find our way and find our identity. We thought we made a lot of improvements from the Cedartown games and tonight, and we were glad that they showed it,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “We still made a lot of mistakes, but our guys are practicing hard and playing hard, and I think they’ve got a high ceiling and they showed that tonight.”

The Tigers played a complete game, dominating in all three phases. It started with the special teams as McCarty Harrelson hit a 31-yard field goal to put Troup up after a long opening drive. Harrelson went on to prove just how talented he is when he nailed a 54-yard field goal later in the quarter to put Troup up 13-0.

“That was awesome, and it gave us a lot of momentum,” Glisson said. “It was such a huge play that gave us a lot of momentum because they were trying to stop us right there, and then possibly have good field position.”

After going up 3-0 on Harrelson’s first kick, it was the defense’s turn to make a play. Chase Hilton came through with a big sack that forced a punt on the opening drive from the Wildcats. 

The offense took the ball and marched into the end zone on a long touchdown run from Javarris Warner. 

On the ensuing possession for Villa Rica, Jayland Reed came through with a big interception on the drive’s first play, which set up Harrelson’s second field goal of the evening.

The Wildcats eventually found a response, rattling off a long touchdown run to cut the Troup lead to 13-6 late in the first quarter, but that is all the ground the stout Troup defense, led by first-year defensive coordinator J.C. Copeland, would allow. 

“I thought KJ McQueen had a couple of really big sacks, third down and one on fourth down. That was really big for us,” Glisson said. “Even when we had a great defense last year and only let up 11 points per game, we didn’t come away with a lot of takeaways like we did tonight.”

The complimentary football continued into the second quarter as Joshua Bradfield came away with a fumble recovery. The Tigers would turn that cost turnover into seven points when Garrison Edwards found the end zone for his first of four rushing touchdowns in the game. It was all set up by a 30-yard connection from Edwards to Davis Moncus. Moncus, a sophomore wide receiver, made a couple of big catches in the game.

“Davis is going to be a very important player for us this season and he came up with some big plays for us tonight,” Glisson said. 

Edwards would get his second rushing touchdown just before the half to put Troup up 26-6 at the break.

The rain moved in during the second half as the teams had to deal with some adverse conditions. It had an immediate effect as the Wildcats coughed up the ball on the first possession of the second half and Troup jumped on it. The Tigers would once again get points out of a Villa Rica turnover when Edwards scored on a short rushing touchdown.

Edwards would cap off the scoring with a long, rushing touchdown late in the third quarter. 

“The number one thing is, he took care of the football, he didn’t turn the ball over. And the number two thing is, he made really good decisions, and he ran the ball with some toughness,” Glisson said. “We have seen that from him all summer.

“And, you know, I think anytime your quarterback does that, your teammates respond to that.”

A running clock in the fourth quarter came as sweet relief to the few fans who stuck it out in the stadium.

Troup starts the season 1-0 and will return to action next Friday on the road to Harris County. 

“I’m tremendously proud of them and you got to tip for that just a little bit, but It’s just one game,” Glisson said. “The toughest thing for young teams is consistency, so we have to build on this heading into next week.”