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The Troup football team kept its postseason hopes alive on Thursday, trouncing Spalding 37-14 in their final home game of the regular season.

“That’s a really resilient group to be able to go through that last Friday in a rivalry game and then show up like they did tonight in a must win game, because those guys on the other sideline were in the same exact boat that we were in. They had to win tonight to get in the playoffs,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “I’m just really proud of our entire team’s effort tonight.”

The Tigers meant business from the off, scoring the first 23 points of the game, all in the first half. 

Troup had a chance to open the scoring early after Tyreon Smith came down with an interception on the opening drive of the game. The Tigers reached the red zone, but a missed 31-yard field goal kept the game scoreless.

The defense came through once again, forcing a three-and-out and a short 10-yard punt on the next drive from Spalding. Troup was able to capitalize on the short field, scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run from Trent Hodo with 4:01 left in the first quarter.

Troup would double its lead on the first play of the second quarter as Garrison Edwards found the end zone on a designed quarterback run from 15 yards out. 

Troup used a dual-quarterback system with Edwards and Chase Mosley with the latter getting the start in the game. 

The Tigers defense continued to keep the pressure up and got a second turnover in the first half when Chase Hilton picked a fumble from the Jaguars. Sophomore kicker McCart Harrelson nailed a 46-yard field goal to extend Troup’s lead out to 17-0.

“He’s ‘money’ McCarty for a reason,” Glisson said. “We have 100% confidence in him, and we’re gonna run him out there every single time we can. Nothing changed after he missed, it was just wide.”

The Tigers once again got great field position after the ensuing Spalding drive as a botched snap gave the team the ball at the 5-yard line. It took Troup all of one play to score as Monty Heard found the end zone.

It looked like the Jaguars might get back into the game when they had an interception return for a touchdown. Spalding had a chance to cut into the lead even more, driving the ball into Troup territory on its next possession but a turnover on downs gave the ball back to the Troup offense.

“I felt like that the guys came ready to play. I felt like our coaches did a really good job getting our guys ready to play, but we had that little sophomore slump there in the second half and tried to let them back in it but these guys kept competing for all four quarters.”

The Tiger defense was not done there as KJ McQueen got an interception return for a touchdown with just a minute to go in the third quarter to put the home team up 30-7 and all but ice the game off.

“The first pick six of the year. I had three this season that I’ve dropped,” an excited McQueen said after the game. “I just stayed out of my head and took it play-by-play and it paid off. This feels amazing.”

It was a three turnover day for the Troup defense.

“I thought the defense as a whole did really well,” Glisson said. “KJ is another one of those sophomores that has really grown throughout the season, and he’s got a bright future ahead of him, proud of him every night, but it was awesome to see him get that pick six.”

The Jaguars scored again a minute into the fourth quarter to cut into the Troup lead, but the Tigers had an instant response when Edwards took the ball 61 yards to the house on the first play from the ensuing drive. 

“We knew this was gonna be a rebuilding year, and if this is what it looks like, then we’re gonna be alright,” Glisson said. 

Troup moved to 5-4 on the season and 4-3 in region play. The Tigers will play its final regular season game next Friday against region leader Sandy Creek.