Trojans earn first win of 2014 season
BY NICK CORN
Two 0-2 teams who had struggled in the first two weeks of the season entered Friday night’s game, and one of them had to win. Girard entered the game with losses to Riverton (21-9) and Galena (36-6), while Baxter Springs came into week three with losses to Southeast (36-0) and Colgan (42-0). Girard was able to dominate this week’s game and obliterated the Lions at a score of 57-13. Six different Trojan players reached the endzone in the win, while Trey Eaton and Dylan Page doubled up to score two apiece. Girard got their running game going early and often, rushing for an unofficial 331 yards on 40 carries, good for 8.27 yards per carry. The Trojans completed one of three passes on the night, and that one was huge as Tucker Johnston hit Tyler Green in stride for a 40-yard score. Of their 371 yards, 246 came in the first half as the Trojans led 35-0. In the first half, the scoring plays looked as follows: Eaton 33 yard run, Green 40 yard reception, Noe Guzman 17 yard run, Eric Wilson 29 yard run, and Kord Curran 32 yard run. Eaton led the charge for Girard in the first half with 68 yards on the ground, and Curran added 61. Both saw limited action in the second half, and Eaton was able to return a kickoff 82 yards for another score.
In the second half, Dylan Page saw most of his carries and he made the most of them. Page rushed 10 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns; all were team highs. Defensively, the Trojans held Baxter to an unofficial 73 total yards of offense, including -14 yards in the first half. Baxter’s first of the season came on a third quarter sack and fumble that they landed on in the endzone. On their next drive, the Lions took the ball 35 yards in five plays to score their second touchdown and cut the lead to 57-13. After two weeks of struggles for the Trojans, a win like this could propel them in the right direction.
Although they blew out the Lions, Girard lost three turnovers, two of which were in the first half with most of the starters still in the game. Turnovers have hurt the Trojans so far this year, so they will need to fix that problem if they want to compete against more stout opponents. Girard will face last year’s top dog in the CNC, Columbus, in this week’s game. The Titans won last year’s meeting 26-7, and are now 3-0 on the year after defeating Galena last Friday night. Columbus is ranked second in all of 4A-II the latest kpreps.com rankings.