Troup puts on offensive show

Published 12:42 am Saturday, August 12, 2017

By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – It was an offensive clinic.

The Troup Tigers tuned up for the season by overwhelming the Harris County Tigers 48-35 on Friday night at Callaway Stadium.

Troup’s offense was unstoppable whether it was starter Montez Crowe or backup Sydney Lawson at quarterback.

In the first half, Crowe had two touchdown runs and a scoring pass as Troup built a 28-21 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Lawson took over at quarterback, and he threw touchdown passes to three different receivers.

Harris County had plenty of offensive success of its own, but it was unable to keep pace with Troup.

Troup will be back at Callaway Stadium on Thursday for its regular-season opener.

A strength of Troup’s offense this season figures to be its versatility, and that was on display against Harris County.

Six players scored touchdowns, and all four scoring passes were to different players.

Crowe, who had a breakout junior season where he set school single-season records for touchdowns and yards, threw a touchdown pass to Jamari Thrash in the first half.

Crowe also had two scoring runs in the first half.

Running back Tyree Carlisle also had a touchdown run.

In the second half, Macenta Stafford, Marc-Anthony Dixon and Jarell Smith all had touchdown catches from Lawson.

A number of other players contributed to the offensive success as well, including tight end Kenly Bridwell, who made some outstanding catches in traffic.

Running backs Jackson Davis and Trey Williams both ran hard, and sophomore wide receiver Kobe Hudson had a handful of catches, including one for a two-point conversion.

Sophomore tight end Luke Purnell also got in on the act with a catch in the third quarter that set up a touchdown.

Troup went three-and-out on its first possession, but it scored touchdowns the next four times it had the ball.

The story was the same in the second half, with the Tigers putting the ball in the end zone three times in the third quarter to hold off Harris County.