Casey Anderson breaks away for one of his three touchdowns in Troy’s 45-31 win over Butler. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Troy ran for over 450 yards and overcame a huge night by Drew Suess to beat Butler and improve to 6-1 under Ryan Jones.
Troy, OH — The entertainment value was high Friday night at Troy Memorial Stadium.
The defense? Not so much.
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All that mattered to Ryan Jones was getting another win in his first season as the head coach at Troy High School.
“I mean, the kids have been great,” Jones said. “They’ve worked really hard at learning any new schemes that we put in, and they’ve constantly improved. We talked about getting better and better throughout the season, and we had a good start but not getting complacent with that. And so that’s the battle we’ve been fighting.”
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The 45-31 victory over Butler will bring lots of playoff points for the Trojans (6-1) in Division II, Region 8, but pride was also on the line along with another piece of evidence Jones has things moving in the right direction in his first season at the helm.
“I thought they had a good week of practice, and we came out and executed pretty well tonight.”
Progress is easier to come by when guys like Casey Anderson and Colton Akins are running the ball for you.
Akins struck the first blow when he went 70 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage on a quarterback counter.
Colton Akins ran for three touchdowns for Troy in a win over Butler.
The senior scored again on an 18-yard run off the same action later in the first quarter and added a third TD on an option keeper in the second quarter.
“We knew watching film that they had a very strong pass offense, but not necessarily the strongest run defense,” Akins said. “So we knew that stuff like that would work with that kickout and the pulling guard, and I got a leading block from Casey.”
Then it was Anderson’s turn, and he did not disappoint.
The sophomore burst through gaping holes on the left side of the line for touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards in the final five minutes of the second quarter to put the Trojans ahead 35-10 and electrify the homecoming crowd.
“I was going through some injuries the last few weeks and just praying to God this week, ‘Just let me play the game,’ and I’m glad that He let me play the whole game,” said Anderson, who who hit triple digits in rushing for the third straight week. “Just honestly, thankful to the O-line. They did an amazing job tonight. Obviously a lot of people like to thank the guy running the ball, but honestly, you can’t do anything without the O-line in front of you.”
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Trailing by 25 points, Butler did not fold up the tent and head back down I-75 for home, though. Not even close.
The Aviators (5-2) kept fighting back with a high-powered passing game late in the second quarter and throughout the second half.
Troy’s Pierre Bratton breaks up a pass intended for Lucas Miller of Butler.
Drew Suess, a big, strong quarterback blessed with both power and touch in his right arm, kept finding receivers open from sideline to sideline, not to mention over the middle.
He drove the Aviators 80 yards for a score with 58 seconds left in the first half then led two more 80-yard touchdown drives in the third quarter to keep Butler within 11, but that was as close as they could get.
“We knew it was going to be tough, and they made plays,” Jones said. “A lot of credit to their quarterback and their receiving core. Their offensive line gave them time to do that. We tried to bring pressure, and they did a good job of giving them enough time, and the receivers made big plays. They had some contested catches, and they were able to find some holes.”
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After Matt Barth connected on nearly the shortest field goal possible (23 yards) with 6:57 left to make it a 14-point game, the Trojans finally got to Suess and shut down the Butler offense for good.
Quinn Barhorst and Waylon Smith had sacks on Butler’s final drive before Akins was credited with a pass breakup on fourth-and-27 to force a turnover on downs and allow the Trojans to run out the clock.
That meant Suess finished the night 31 for 41 passing for 441 yards with three touchdowns. His top target was Landon Thompson, who caught 12 passes for 186 yards, but seven different Aviators had receptions.
Troy, meanwhile, threw two passes, including none in the second half.
The Trojans simply didn’t need to put the ball in the air with Akins and Anderson ripping off big chunks of yardage.
Anderson ended up with 289 yards on 24 carries while Akins had 140 on 11.
“We thought misdirection would help,” Jones said of the liberal use of the counter play. “They run a lot of man coverage so they’re running with you. I think sometimes when you run man coverage, you can get guys out of position.
Drew Suess threw for 441 yards for Butler in a 45-31 loss at Troy.
“We do a lot of that anyhow, but I think it helped with some of those big plays for sure, and just the line and the fullbacks — Ethan Kirkpatrick at fullback did a great job, and Cole Tasker when he got in did really well, and the line up front — Mitch Finkes, Owen Swift, Alex Stuchell, Jake Ernsthausen and Landon Rademachir — did a tremendous job, and our two tight ends, Landen Adkins and Damari Morton also were a big part of those big runs.”
Despite his offense’s successes, Butler coach Zach Gueth was not in the mood to look for any positives when the game was over.
His team has five wins but has failed its two biggest tests, including a 42-0 defeat at Tippecanoe two weeks ago.
“We gotta be better if we want to have success in meaningful football games, and that’s where we’re at right now,” said Gueth, whose squad has not beaten a team with a winning record. “Kids have to step up. We have to be better at making sure our guys are in the right positions, and we all gotta be better across the board, right?
“So, still a lot of season to go so we’re gonna go back, keep working defensively. Got to figure some things out. Offensively, still some things to work on for sure, but we can’t expect the offense to go out every series and score to keep up. We’ve gotta be able to make plays and get off the field defensively. We couldn’t do that tonight, and that’s what it was.”
Next up is a trip to West Carrollton for the Aviators while Troy goes to Sidney next week.
Then the Trojans will play their final home game of the regular season against Tippecanoe, a game that could decide the winner of the MVL Miami division.
“I think a lot of people and Troy were a little nervous filling a lot of senior spots from last season, but I think we got some athletes in our class,” Anderson said. “And I think we work hard, and I think that when we stepped up, we took the opportunity. Our coaches always tell us when you get an opportunity to take it, and I think we’re doing that right now. Just hopefully we don’t let up and just get prideful and unhumble and stuff. We’ve just got to keep going and just take this opportunity.”
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