Troy football: this is when it starts
Channel: Northwest Montana Now
Date: 2019-10-20

The Troy High School football team took a beating from Thompson Falls during their final home game Thursday, but that didn’t stop them from pulling off a few impressive plays. 

Troy fell 52 to 6 in another cold game in the rain for senior night, and the Trojans struggled to keep up with the Blue Hawks, who’ve only lost one game this season.

“Honestly, we just got out-coached, out-played, out-everything today,” said Troy Head Coach Luke Haggerty. “It was just a rough one all around.”

“I just couldn’t be more proud of our seniors though,” he said. Haggerty added that this team has been the most fun to coach or be a part of that he has experienced.

“This group has made it fun the whole time,” Haggerty said.

After making their first two points on a safety, Thompson Falls followed up with a touchdown almost immediately, and continued a steady march, ending the first half 36-6.

Troy senior Dylan Peterson carried the Trojans’ only touchdown late in the second quarter, fighting off an attempted interception by Thompson Falls sophomore Alex Vogelsang.

Troy junior Jace Fisher was unable to make the conversion, but almost every Blue Hawk on the field had to pile on before they were able to bring him down.

Fisher’s power was on display more than once that night. 
In the second quarter, the 6 foot, 5 inch, 300-pound Troy lineman made it look easy as he strode through the Blue Hawks’ offensive line, plucked the ball from the wreckage he’d made, and powered through another seven yards into Thompson Falls territory.

The Blue Hawks seemed to focus more on interceptions than stopping the Troy receivers, eventually resulting in two pass interference calls.

One of those calls came in the third quarter, but did not appear to be an attempted interception. 

Thompson Falls junior Roman Sparks only had eyes for Troy senior Kolton Lewis, as he ran him down and slammed into Lewis a full second before the ball even reached them.

Though the Blue Hawks crippled Troy’s passing game, that didn’t stop seniors Ricki Starks and Dylan Peterson from getting some good yards either.

And though facing a team whose season win-loss record is the complete reverse of Troy’s, the Trojan defense returned from halftime ready to fight on.

“We came out the second half; we were solid on defense,” Haggerty said. “We were playing like we should have been playing the whole game.”

Regardless the bumps, Haggerty said this season is just the beginning of rebuilding the Trojan football program.

“Every team after this year’s team owes a great debt to this team this year,” he said.

Haggerty noted the progress the Libby High School football team has made in recent years as an example of how far a team can come.

“That’s how programs are built,” he said.

But building for the future will take work at more levels than just high school.

“We need more football in Troy,” Haggerty said. “We average like nine kids coming out in junior high, and we can’t have that. We need more kids to play.

Haggerty said he thinks the future holds promise in the classes that are coming up playing football. But he emphasized the importance of keeping them engaged. 

Last year, some 6th grade players came to workout with the high school team, and 
Haggerty expects to keep those opportunities open.

Getting more Troy kids playing football is about more than just building the team’s future for Haggerty. It’s about their future as well.

“That’s why football is so great. It’s like life,” he said. “Especially, you think, coming from a small town like Troy, a lot of us don’t have silver spoons in our mouths. We have to work for everything we have.

“And football, it’s the same way. You’ve gotta work for every yard, just like in life, you’ve gotta work anything you want,” he said.

Haggerty said the benefit it gives to the players is why he loves coaching football.

“I think this senior class is going to do really well in life,” he said. “I’m really excited to see what they do after football.”