From staff reports

CAIRO - Let the show go on.

The Troup Tigers, after collecting the first state-tournament win in school history Friday night at Baldwin County, kept the good times rolling with a 3-2 win over Cairo on Tuesday.

The Tigers were down 2-1 at the half, but led by Sean Malloy, they rallied in the second half to earn the win and advance to the Class AAA quarterfinals.

The Tigers will visit St. Pius Friday with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

St. Pius is the state’s top-ranked team and the favorite to walk away with the state title.

Whatever happens in that game, it has been a historic season for Troup’s program.

“This has been a remarkable run,” Troup coach Mark McCloud said. “For my seniors especially, it’s a special time to get this far.”

The Tigers are still playing thanks largely to the performance of Malloy, who notched a hat trick.

He scored a goal in the first half to put the Tigers up 1-0, but Cairo rallied to take a 2-1 lead at the break.

After Malloy’s goal, Cairo scored twice in a span of five minutes “due to mental lapses,” according to McCloud.

In the second half, Malloy scored two more goals to power the Tigers.

He scored the tying goal in the 55th minute when he headed the ball in off a corner kick from Nathan Stein.

Malloy had a chance a few minutes later to give his team the lead, but he missed a penalty kick.

In the 65th minute, Malloy didn’t miss.

He fought through a mass of players in the penalty area and found the net for the game-winner.

Cairo kept attacking, but Troup was able to make the lead stand up.

Making the win even more impressive, the Tigers played most of the game with 10 players after one of their players was ejected after receiving a red card early in the game.

“It was truly a gritty performance tonight,” McCloud said. “We dug ourselves a hole, played a man down due to a red card for most of the night, but somehow we dug out and prevailed.”

McCloud called the performance “very couragerous.”

The next test will be the Tigers’ toughest yet, but McCloud doesn’t doubt his players will give it their all.

“For some reason, these guys like some adversity and have the resiliency to tackle it,” McCloud said. “It will be a tough match against St. Pius, but we expect to give them everything we have. These guys play with an awful lot of heart.”