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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Tigers and Columbus Blue Devils are both coming off their first victory of the season, and one of those teams will be on a winning streak at the conclusion of Thursday’s game.

The two Region 2-AAAA opponents will face off at Kinnett Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Troup (1-3 overall) broke through in a big way last week, blanking Spencer 42-0 to even its region record at 1-1.

Columbus (1-3 overall), one week after failing to hold a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against LaGrange, eased past Jordan 41-26 to also even its region record at 1-1.

Troup has played Columbus in each of the past two seasons, and neither game was competitive.

In 2018, a Troup team that went 12-2 and reached the state semifinals overwhelmed Columbus 47-14.

It was the same story a year ago, with Troup surging to a 68-13 victory on a Thursday night.

Even though the Tigers haven’t been tested the past two seasons, head coach Tanner Glisson has plenty of respect for the Blue Devils.

“They’re averaging 29 points per game, and they throw it all over the park,” Glisson said. “We’ve played them several times over the last few years, so they’re not going to be scared of us, or intimidated.”

For Troup, Glisson is hopeful last week’s performance will be the start of some big things for a team he strongly believes in.

Even as the Tigers were losing their first three games, Glisson remained confident in his players, and he appreciated their no-quit attitude.

That attitude was on display in a 28-26 loss to Hardaway in the third game of the season.

Trailing 28-13 with less than two minutes to play, Troup staged a near miraculous comeback, only to fall two points short.

The Tigers scored two touchdowns and recovered two onside kicks in the closing moments, and they had the ball at the end with a chance to win it, but their hopes ended when a fourth-down play failed.

“If you want to look at a five-minute picture of what our program has become, it’s being down two scores against Hardaway with three or four minutes left,” Glisson said. “People are leaving, but we go and score, and we get the onside kick and score again, and go for two and don’t get it. It could have been a big letdown, but we get another onside kick and almost win it.”

Troup came back the following week and delivered its most complete performance of the season in the shutout win over Spencer.

“It’s a very healthy culture,” Glisson said. “I’m proud of the leadership that we have.”

Following the Columbus game, Troup will take a week off before returning to Columbus to play Kendrick on Oct. 15.

TROUP VS. COLUMBUS

WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Columbus (Kinnett Stadium)

RECORDS: Troup (1-3 overall, 1-1 in Region 2-AAAA); Columbus (1-3 overall, 1-1  in Region 2-AAAA)

LAST MEETING: Troup won 68-13 last season