TROY – Greenville High School football fans driving home from Friday night’s game in Troy who saw flashes of lightning amid storm clouds in the western skies had already been exposed to some of the same as the Green Wave fell to the Trojans by a 49-0 score in Miami Valley League play.
The Trojans struck quickly, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first eight-plus minutes of the contest despite running only four plays from scrimmage. Senior Dakota Manson returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, such an impressive run that the official clock showed only six seconds had elapsed which had to have been either error on the timer’s part or a new world’s record time for the shifty running back! Senior Cameron Stoltz converted the first of seven successful conversion kicks, and the Trojans were up 7-0 in the first game played on the field’s new artificial turf.
On the Wave’s first possession, after a quick three-and-out series, a fumbled snap on an attempted punt was recovered by Troy at the Greenville six-yard line. Two runs by junior quarterback Aiden Kirkpatrick made it 14-0 with 8:38 showing on the impressive new video scoreboard at Memorial Stadium.
On the ensuing possession another Wave fumble was recovered at the Wave 40 and advanced to the GHS 22. An 8-yard Manson run was followed by a 14-yard scoring strike from Kirkpatrick to Kayden Franklin, and it became 21-0 with 3:49 remaining in the opening stanza.
Greenville’s young team was able to move the ball behind the running of junior Lukas Thorp and good blocking from the offensive line through most of the rest of the first half. Thorp, who was filling in for injured running back Gabe Rammel, rambled for 83 yards on 19 carries for the game, making sharp cuts and driving through contact before being slowed by an apparent injury late in the first half.
Yet another GHS turnover led to a 62-yard touchdown run by Manson at the 8:04 mark of the second quarter, and the Trojans completed first-half scoring with a Zachary Ullery reception of a 12-yard pass from Kirkpatrick with 58 seconds left in the half to go into the locker room at intermission with a 35-0 lead.
A running clock was in play throughout the second half as Troy gave playing time to their second and third units, keeping Greenville off of the scoreboard while adding on touchdowns with Asher Merritt scoring on a 10-yard run and Michael Tucker carrying in from six yards out.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 1-1 on the young season (1-0 MVL), while the Green Wave fall to 0-2 (0-1 MVL).
Odds and end zone—
Troy next travels to Butler Friday night to take on the 2-0 Aviators, while Greenville hosts 2-0 Tippecanoe in their home opener at Harmon Field. Almost unbelievably, the new turf is in place, new light standards have been erected, and a temporary press box is completed so that the contest will be played on home ground following damage from the May 7th tornado.
Troy’s Kirkpatrick finished 4 of 6 passing for 64 yards and two TDs, Franklin had four receptions for 41 yards and a TD, and Manson led the ground game with 86 yards on four carries and two TDs, including the opening kickoff score.
In addition to Thorp’s yardage for the Wave, sophomore Titus Eberwein rushed for 47 yards on 13 totes, junior Aiden Manix was 4 of 7 passing for 50 yards, and junior John Barr had two catches for 41 yards. Eberwein was also the Wave’s leading tackler with five stops, while Troy’s Cameron Couch, Aidan Gorman, and Marcus Cavanaugh led the Trojans’ defensive efforts.
Stoltz, a 6’1” 180-pound senior, in addition to being a perfect 7 for 7 on extra-point conversions, also boomed all nine of his kickoffs into the end zone. Stoltz, who kicks barefoot, is the second kicker in as many weeks the Wave have faced who is among Ohio’s finest. Last week it was Eaton junior Jon Hewitt and Stoltz is every bit as good, both being potent offensive and defensive weapons.
First-year Wave head coach Sean Ford will try to rally his young troops against a solid Tipp team which demolished Fairborn by a 41-0 count last night. In other MVL action Xenia blasted West Carrollton 66-0; Butler handled Piqua 17-7; and Sidney outscored Stebbins 67-55 in a game that must have tripped circuit breakers in the Stebbins scoreboard.
