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It was homecoming night for Troup High and the Tigers were more than up to the task, putting on a show in front of a large home crowd by dismantling Riverdale 45-0.

“I feel like we played really well,” Troup coach Tanner Glisson said. “I think we got guys open. Our offensive line blocked well. The defense played well. It was a complete team effort tonight.”

It was absolute domination for all four quarters. The Tigers had a 35-0 lead by halftime which meant that a running clock ensued in the second half.

Logan Sinkfield was one of the stars of the show as the former back-up quarterback is beginning to settle into his role as starting quarterback in his third straight start.

“I thought his touch was much better tonight and his nerves were a little bit more settled,” Glisson said. “He looked fast when he was running the ball and made some really good throws for us tonight.”

Sinkfield threw for three touchdowns and ran for another — all in the first half. He connected with Noah Dixon on the opening touchdown as Dixon made a nice one-handed catch in the back of the end zone with a hair under eight minutes left in the first half.

He connected with Dixon again on a 40-yard touchdown connection early in the second quarter before throwing his third touchdown of the game to Ben Taylor on a 14-yard connection to put Troup up 35-0.

He found the end zone on the ground with under a minute to go in the first quarter, running past multiple defenders for a 24-yard touchdown run.

Sinkfield has been thrown to the wolves at practice as it is late in the season, and there is not much other choice.

“We don’t have a choice this late in the season,” Glisson said. “We only had two possessions in the second half, and those are so valuable for us right now.”

Sinkfield, who has multiple division I offers, had been a standout wide receiver and cornerback for the team, but has sacrificed a lot in the last few weeks since all-state quarterback Taeo Todd went down with a season-ending injury. 

Dixon was everywhere on offense and defense. He caught two touchdowns, made multiple tackles to help preserve the shutout and found the end zone a third time late in the fourth quarter on a wildcat run play.

Dixon and Taylor, both tight ends, were heavily involved on Thursday night.

“We had them open all night long and just kept coming back to them.” Glisson said.

Troup’s defense, which has been one of the best in AAAA this season, was back at it once again, pitching its second shutout of the season. 

“I thought we really controlled the line of scrimmage,” Glisson said. “The guys up front worked really hard and controlled their run game.”

The Tigers got some quality play from special teams as well with McCarty Harrelson nailing a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter.

About the only negative for the Tigers was an interception in the end zone as time expired in the first half.

Troup did not get the backups much work as Glisson understands the importance of getting live first-team reps with a new quarterback.

“We are still trying to get Sinkfield as many reps as possible which is why we didn’t have the luxury of emptying the bench in this game,” Glisson said. 

Troup heads into the bye week 6-1 overall and 3-1 in region play. The Tigers will host Fayette County (1-5) on Oct. 19.

“We got to get healthy,” Glisson said. “We are without Javari Fannin. We are without Tyler Leslie. We have to get healed up and get better.”