Troy 49 Fairborn 6

I went into this game not really knowing what to expect. On one side of the field you had my beloved Troy Trojans, a team that looked very good in their Week 1 shutout win over a solid Chaminade-Julienne but then couldn't get out of their own way in a 38-7 loss to a good Middletown team in Week 2. On the other side you had the 2-0 Fairborn Skyhawks, a team with wins over a usually solid Tecumseh team that may be down this year and a usually dreadful Stebbins team that may be better than normal. Then you add in the fact that Troy lost at Fairborn (20-6) last year.

Any fears I may have had were put to rest pretty early. The Trojans were up 8-0 at the end of the first quarter, and it should have been more than that - after the Trojans scored a TD to go up 6-0, the Skyhawk returner ignored the ensuing kickoff, which bounced at the 1-yard line and went nearly straight up before being covered by a Trojan defender...only to be somehow awarded to Fairborn anyway. That was kind of the theme of the night - Fairborn's lone touchdown came after a terrible pass interference call (the ball was uncatchable by a clear margin) against the Trojan defense. Fortunately, the Trojans had already put 29 on the board at that point, and they went into halftime with a 42-6 lead. That allowed quite a few Trojan backups to log some extensive time in the second half.

It was tough to watch the Trojans get waxed by Middletown, but such a loss may not have been all bad. They looked a lot crisper this week, more focused. That's hard to tell from the stands, of course, but that's how it appeared from Row M. Granted, Fairborn was pretty obviously no Middletown, but it was good to see the Trojans recognize their issues and correct them.

Next week will be another adventure to another stadium I haven't visited before as the Trojans travel to play the 2-1 Springboro Panthers.