Troy 32 Piqua 6

In all my years of going to high school football games, I've sat through my fair share of unpleasant weather. When it rains, normally it will either storm, in which case the game will be suspended and I can take shelter somewhere, or the rain will slacken and strengthen over the course of the game. Tonight was probably the most solid, straight-up downpour I've endured. It was raining steadily when I got to the stadium, it was raining steadily when I left, and it rained steadily the whole time in between.

Which made me nervous about the game. All things being equal, I knew Troy was probably the better team coming in, but that doesn't always matter in a rivalry game of this magnitude. Then you add in the weather conditions and you really just never know what's going to happen.

There was nothing to worry about, as it turned out. The weather did contribute, probably, to some early Troy turnovers, which gave Piqua a chance to stay in the game. Fortunately for the Trojans, however, their defense is phenomenal in all conditions, and they were able to keep Piqua off the scoreboard as the offense found its footing. Their one score came on a long fumble recovery late in the third quarter, but the defense pitched a shutout. Jaydon Culp-Bishop had his now-standard awesome performance to give Troy the edge in this one.

This win gives Troy the edge in the long-running series, which now stands at 64-63-6, and that was worth sitting through the rain and cold to see. Now the Trojans are on to the playoffs, while Piqua will be handing in their equipment and turning their eyes to basketball season. It looks like Troy will be making the trek down I-75 to take on Anderson in a rematch of last year's first-round playoff game (a 41-35 Troy win, in Troy). Should be fun!