By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Tigers ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, but in a game that looked like it could be over at halftime, they made things interesting.

Troup was ahead 14-13 in the first quarter, but by the time the halftime break rolled around, Callaway was ahead 40-14.

When a team has an offense as explosive as Troup’s, though, a game is never over.

With the aid of two recovered onside kicks in the third quarter, the Tigers scored three touchdowns and converted a pair of two-point attempts in a five-minute span to get within three.

The comeback stalled at that point, and Callaway won 56-45 in a wild, back-and-forth shootout.

“Once we got back within three I thought we had a shot, but we were out of gas,” Troup head coach Tanner Glisson said. “It’s kind of like a basketball team that’s down 20 and they make that run. It’s hard to get over the hump.”

That the Tigers even had a hope of winning was a testament to a quick-strike offense led by quarterback Kobe Hudson.

As has been the case all season, Troup’s ground game was formidable.

Trey Williams, who is having a big senior season, led the way with 166 yards on 24 attempts, and he had scoring runs of 16 and nine yards.

Williams also had a pair of two-point conversion runs in the third quarter.

In four games, Williams has 645 yards on 84 carries with seven touchdowns.

Hudson added 147 yards on 22 attempts against Callaway, and he had touchdown runs of 11 and two yards.

Navontae Moss chipped in with 28 rushing yards on five carries.

Hudson also made plays with his right arm, completing 10-of-25 passes for 144 yards with two touchdowns, both to Zy Varner.

Varner had a 27-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, and a 37-yard scoring reception that was a part of the third-quarter flurry of points.

Varner, who has been exceptional in his first season as a wide receiver, had four catches for 90 yards.

Tight end Luke Purnell added three catches for 16 yards, and Mark-Anthony Dixon and Marquarious Kelley each had two receptions.

For Troup, it was more of the same offensively.

The Tigers have scored 45 or more points in three of their four games, and they had a season-high 68 points in a road win over the Columbus Blue Devils.

Despite scoring 45 points, though, the Tigers ended up on the short end of the score.

It was Troup’s first non-region loss in the regular season since it lost to Hardaway in the 2016 season opener.

Troup will try to keep the offense rolling while tightening things up on defense in Friday’s Region 5-AAAA opener at Chapel Hill.

“Sometimes, a little bit of humility goes a long way, so we’ll see if it works for us,” Glisson said.