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The Troup football team has been painfully close to a season-altering win the past two weeks. That was not the case on Friday night as the team went on the road and upset no. 3 Mary Persons 24-17.

“First of all, hats off to them, because not only are they a good football team, they’re a dang good football program and they’ve been winning here for a long time,” said an ecstatic Troup head coach Tanner Glisson. “We knew we were close, and we just had to finish the game and we did that tonight.”

It took some guts, some high-level execution and a sense of self-belief. The Tigers got the perfect cocktail of those three against the Bulldogs.

It could have all gone south late in the game when Troup led 17-10 just under halfway through the first half. Chase Mosley, who was starting his first game at quarterback, fumbled an exchange with his running back and the Bulldogs took over on the Troup 10-yard line, scoring a touchdown on the ensuing play.

Mosley responded in a big way, leading the game-winning drive, taking minutes off the clock in the process. Troup got the ball with six minutes left in the game and Trenton Hodo scored the game-winning touchdown with just over 1:40 left on the clock. 

“First of all, Chase Mosley is a freaking competitor, and making his first start at quarterback in this environment and to play like that is tremendous, but also hats off to (injured starter) Garrison Edwards, who was a tremendous teammate tonight on the sideline that helped walk Chase through some plays, some things he was seeing. So Chase did really, really well, and we’re proud of that, but I’m even more proud of the way that Garrison Edwards was a true teammate.”

That left precious little for time for the Bulldogs, who turned it over on downs in their final possession. Davis Moncus can count himself as one of the saviors as he extended to tip a deep pass away on what would have been a walk-in touchdown with under a minute to play.

Moncus had a huge night, scoring the first touchdown of the game for Troup with just over 30 seconds off the clock in the second quarter to cut the Mary Persons’ lead to three points.

Troup snatched momentum, recovering an onside kick and then getting a 41-yard field goal from McCarty Harrelson to tie the game.

“So McCarty has been having back spasms all day long, and couldn’t really even sit down, couldn’t even get off the bus by himself, and he comes out there and nails that kick,” Glisson said. “McCarty is a division I kicker.”

Both teams had a chance to take the lead late in the first half with Troup driving into Bulldogs territory but being forced to punt and Mary Persons turning the ball over on downs inside Troup’s red zone late in the first half.

Every time the Tigers needed the defense to stand tall, they did.

“The guys played so hard for (defensive coordinator) J.C. (Copeland) tonight and J.C put together a really good game plan,” Glisson said.

One of the biggest stops of the game came with just over seven minutes left in the game when Jayland Reed broke up a would-be touchdown at the goal line. 

Troup came storming out of halftime and drove it inside the 5-yard line in their second offensive possession of the half, but a costly fumble ensured the game stayed tied.

A sack by KJ McQueen on third down forced a punt from the Bulldogs’ own end zone and Troup got good field position out of it. The offense rewarded the defense’s efforts, marching down the field and taking the lead on a Javarris Warner rushing touchdown with 2:27 left in the third quarter. 

The game would stay locked in at 17-10 until the fourth-quarter touchdowns from both teams.

This is a win that bodes well not just for the present but also for the future.

“I looked up and at one time we had six sophomores on the field. You know, that’s a big deal to come in this environment as a young kid and okay your tail off,” Glisson said. 

After losing two games in a row, Troup responded in a big way to get to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in region play. The Tigers will play a struggling Fayette County team next Friday for homecoming.