Miamisburg 23 Troy 14

Tough loss to swallow. This is a game the Trojans should have won.

It looked good early on. For the third time this season, tailback Miles Hibbler took handoff on the second play of the game and housed it, scoring from 59 yards out to put Troy up 7-0. After Miamisburg tied it up in the second quarter, Hibbler again scored for the Trojans, giving them a 14-7 lead that they'd take to halftime and nearly into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, those two touchdowns were all Troy's offense could muster. Much like Springfield did last week, Miamisburg loaded up the box to stop Hibbler from running wild. The Trojans tried to alter their offensive strategy to defeat that approach, but just couldn't make it happen. Troy receivers dropped pass after pass--Hibbler himself dropped one that would have been a sure touchdown--and without a threat from the passing game to make them pay, the Viking defense was able to shut the Trojans down. A couple of stupid personal foul penalties didn't help.

That being the case, Miamisburg was able to use their size up front to hammer away at the Trojans and wear them down in the second half, tying the game and finally taking the lead in the fourth quarter. It's too bad. Until that point, the defense, which had been inconsistent and much maligned so far this year, had finally looked like the defense the Trojans have grown accustomed to seeing from a Scot Brewer team (either as head coach or defensive coordinator). They played well enough to win. The offense just couldn't give them any help.

So the Trojans, now 2-3 on the year, will try to put everything together next week when they travel to Sidney to open GWOC North play against the Yellowjackets (3-2). Unfortunately, I won't be able to make that game; my next chance to see the Trojans play will be when they return home to take on the Butler Aviators in two weeks. Hopefully Troy will have an even record at that point.