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The Troup football team suffered a heartbreaking 33-27 loss to Upson-Lee on the road Friday.

The Tigers had to dig themselves out of an early hole after a blocked punt set up the Knights deep in Troup territory, but a sack from Amarius Perdue on third down forced the home team to kick a field goal.

Upson-Lee would convert an onside kick and then hit a 39-yard touchdown pass on its first play on the possession to take an early 10-0 lead.

Troup would fight and claw and get back in the game when Perdue came through again, this time stripping the ball out of the quarterback’s hand. Chase Hilton scooped up the ball and tumbled into the end zone with under a minute to play in the first quarter to cut the deficit to just three points.

The Tigers would force a three-and-out on the ensuing Knight possession. The snap on fourth down sailed over the punter’s head and Jeremiah Culpepper jumped on the ball in the end zone as Troup took a 14-10 lead. 

The Knights would connect on a short field goal just before halftime to cut the Troup lead to just one point heading into the break.

Upson-Lee took the momentum into the break and flipped the game on its head to start the second half, scoring less than two minutes into the third quarter to take a 20-14 lead.

The Knights kept on rolling, scoring another touchdown just over four minutes later to go up 26-14.

The Tigers had an instant response as Javarris Warner took a handoff on the first play of the ensuing drive and took it 78 yards to the house to cut the deficit to just one score. 

Troup would cut into the Upson-Lee lead even more when McCarty Harrelson connected on a 40-yard field goal, trimming the Knight lead to 26-20 with under a minute to go in the third quarter.

The game would be locked into a stalemate until Upson-Lee intercepted a pass from Chase Mosley and then marched 51 yards down the field for a dagger touchdown that put the Knights up two scores (33-24) with three minutes left on the game clock.

The Tigers fought to the bitter end. Harrelson connected on a 28-yard field goal to bring the Tigers within one score with less than a minute on the clock, but an unsuccessful onside cook would doom their chances of a historic comeback.

Troup fell to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in region play. The Tigers will look to rebound next Friday against Trinity Christian for just the second home game of the season.