Girard falls to Colgan in week five

STAFF REPORTS

The Girard Trojans football team took another loss last night after an intense match-up against the St. Mary’s Colgan Panthers.

The Trojans came out slow initially after being forced to punt on their opening offensive drive and then facing back to back penalties on defense after punting the ball.

Girard’s defense fought to hold the Panthers back, but could not manage to stop them and allowed them to score with less than four minutes down in the first quarter to bring the score to 7-0.

The Trojan’s defense finally came to life as the first quarter progressed, and they forced Colgan into a fourth down and fourteen punting situation inside Colgan’s 20-yard line after denying any progression up the field.

With 3 minutes and 38 seconds left in the first quarter, Girard took possession on the Panthers’ 25-yard line after blocking a punt.

The Trojans’ quarterback Kyler Siebert immediately put them into great scoring position after a hard run up the middle to place the ball just inches out of the end zone.

Siebert had no problem driving the ball right up the middle to score, and brought the score of the game to 7-6 after a missed PAT field goal.

The Trojans turned around after scoring and forced the Panthers into another punting situation to get the ball back right before the end of the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Girard tossed an interception and was forced to switch to defense.

Colgan failed to gain any ground against Girard’s defensive line on run attempts, but still managed to convert their interception into another touchdown after a pass over the top to bring the score to 14-6.

Girard responded with a strong offensive drive up the field after receiving the kick, but failed to convert the drive into a touchdown after turning the ball over on downs.

The Trojans’ defense continued to hold strong until allowing the Panthers to score a third time with less than 30 seconds left in the first half. This brought the score at the end of the first half to 21-6.

Girard opened the second half after kicking off by forcing the Panthers to turn over on downs, but failed to convert the opportunity into a touchdown and punted again.

During the Panthers’ offensive drive to follow, Girard’s defense struggled to hold back their running game and allowed Colgan to score again to bring the score to 28-6 with only three minutes left in the third quarter.

This was the last Panthers’ touchdown allowed by Girard’s defense in last night’s game.

As Girard’s defense continued to battle tirelessly throughout the fourth quarter, their offense matched that intensity.

With less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Girard made a huge offensive play with a pass from Ty Norris to Kreed Curran that gained them nearly 50 yards and placed them in scoring position for the second time.

Ty Norris sealed the deal with a three-yard run into the end zone to bring the score to 28-12.

Girard turned right around to earn offense possession again after recovering an onside kick, but failed to make anything out of it and were forced to turn the ball over on downs.

They continued to prevent the Panthers’ from scoring and as time expired, the final score was 28-12.

The Trojans truly fought until the very last moments and their promising performance throughout last night’s game sharply contrasted the struggling execution seen in prior games.

Girard will move on to host the Southeast Lancers for homecoming Friday, Oct. 6.