By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – As the Troup Tigers prepared for a new season, one of their goals was to be unbeaten by the time their region scheduled rolled around.

Troup is one victory away from making that a reality.

Troup will host Lamar County today in its final game before opening Region 5-AAAA play against Chapel Hill.

Troup brings a 3-0 record into today’s game after beating Hardaway, Kendrick and Bowdon.

“One of the big things was, we want to be 4-0 ahead of all of our region games,” Troup head coach Tanner Glisson said. “We can get that done this week and reach that goal, and then head into our bye week and get ready for region.”

Troup’s opponent is a Lamar County program in a transition phase.

John Flath has taken over the Lamar County program following the departure of Bryan Love, who led the team to a 6-5 record a year ago.

Lamar County is 0-2 following losses to Northeast-Macon (20-14) and Jackson (38-23).

“They’re making the transition from the spread to the Wing T,” Glisson said. “It’s just more about what we’re doing right now, trying to get ready for region play.”

Troup made it three in a row with last week’s 35-6 road win over Bowdon.

For the second straight game, Troup’s first-team defense didn’t allow a point, while the high-powered offense continued to put up big numbers.

Quarterback Montez Crowe completed 13-of-22 passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

Seven different Troup players caught passes, including Ja’Rell Smith, who had four receptions for 76 yards with a touchdown.

Mark-Anthony Dixon had two catches for 65 yards, Jamari Thrash had two receptions for 13 yards with a touchdown, and tight end Kenly Bridwell had two catches for 20 yards.

Running backs Tyree Carlisle and Trey Williams each had one catch for 40 and 25 yards, respectively, and Kobe Hudson had one reception for 15 yards.

In the ground game, four different Tigers combined for 94 yards on 20 attempts.

Crowe led the way with 36 yards on eight attempts with a pair of touchdowns, Williams ran for 33 yards on five carries, and Carlisle had 22 yards on six attempts.

Macenta Stafford had a 3-yard touchdown run.

Defensively, Glisson said the men up front have done a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage.

“We’re starting to get a pretty good push on our D line with Andy Boykin and Kaliff (Thornton), and (King Mwikuta’s) starting to do a really good job with his hands,” Glisson said.

Coming off two outstanding defensive performances, Glisson wants to see that trend continue today.

“I think our defense has more to gain than anybody right now, just keeping momentum, keeping our pad level down, staying in our run fits,” Glisson said. “We haven’t given up a varsity point in five quarters, so we want to see that continue.”

Glisson said a goal today will be to get backup quarterback Sydney Lawson some playing time, and not just when and if it turns into a blowout.

“We’ll try to get Lawson in the third series of the game,” Glisson said. “We’re not going to wait until the second half.”

Following today’s game, Troup will take two weeks off before beginning its six-game region schedule against Chapel Hill.

A year ago, Troup finished second in the region to eventual state champion Cartersville.