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Troup put on a show on the road to cruise past North Clayton for a 62-28 region win. The score was not indicative of just how dominant the Tigers were as they led 49-0 at halftime before putting in their freshmen team in the second half.

“We came out really well, started fast like we planned,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “The game was pretty much over by halftime.

“I felt like our guys responded with some great energy to start the game.”

The powerful Troup offensive line was opening up running lanes left and right for the Tigers, who ran for eight touchdowns combined in the game.

“We have to rely on the offensive line this year, and they responded with a big game tonight,” Glisson said. 

Ashton Williams showed off his blazing speed and scored four of those rushing touchdowns, including the first three touchdowns of the game for Troup to put the Tigers up 21-0 with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

“Ashton really ran the ball hard tonight with no Javari Fannin,” Glisson said. “That was good to see, and I’m really really happy for Ashton because he works super hard for moments like this.”

Williams scored his fourth of the game in the early second quarter to put the Tigers up 42-0. 

The Tigers were in complete control from the opening whistle and had a 35-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

“We wanted to come out and try to control the temp early,” Glisson said. “Last week, we ended up playing Starr’s Mill type football as they controlled the tempo, but that is not the kind of game we want to play, and we were able to get back to that tonight.”

With Taeo Todd out for the season, senior Logan Sinkfield is the starting quarterback for the Tigers, and he looked more settled in his second straight start.

“He was more settled in, but the level of competition wasn’t as good and the pressure wasn’t quite as big,” Glisson said. “He needs to get reps, and he took a step forward for us tonight.”

Sinkfield ran in a touchdown from 10 yards out after Ricco Dunson blocked a punt to put Troup up 28-0. Sinkfield threw his only passing touchdown of the night to Noah Dixon later in the first quarter.

Sinkfield found the end zone once again before the end of the first half.

The Tigers made a massive platoon swap as some of their younger guys got reps to the second half. 

“Starting with the opening kickoff of the second half we had the freshman unit out there,” Glisson said. “We had a lot of backups in the second half.

“It helps morale and practices and gets those guys some more experience. That freshman year is a hard year, so I’m really happy we were able to do that.”

Trent Hodo scored the first touchdown of the second half early in the third quarter. Garrison Edwards got the final score of the game when he ran it into the end zone from a long way out as time expired in the game.

The starting defense pitched a shutout, but some miscues from the freshmen allowed North Clayton to make the scoreline a bit more flattering.

Troup (5-1) is now 2-1 in region play. The Tigers will return to action next Thursday on homecoming night against Riverdale. With Trinity Christian beating Starr’s Mill 17-10 on Friday, it seemingly throws region 4-4A back to being wide open, but Glisson is focused on taking it a week at a time.

“We just have to worry about Troup and how we can get Troup better,” Glisson said. “If we do that, who knows what could happen for us at the end of the season.”