Anderson 33 Troy 0

And so it ends. The last game of the year for Troy turned out to be so much like the first one: shut out on the road by a really good team.

As you can see from the photo above, I did not attend this game. It killed me to miss it, the first playoff game I've missed in the entire time I've been following Trojan football, dating back to their ill-fated rematch with Piqua at Welcome Stadium back in 1992, when I was a sophomore at THS. But the logistics of making it from Columbus to Cincinnati (almost Kentucky) in time for kickoff (despite the more convenient 7:30 start time) and then back again after the game were going to be difficult. Add in the limited parking and seating at Anderson High School, and the trip started to sound like a night of misery just waiting to happen. And so, with the ability to stream a video broadcast, I opted to go that route instead. I'm getting soft in my old age.

Thinking about this game beforehand, I came to the conclusion that no outcome would surprise me: I could see either team winning in a squeaker; I could see either team winning fairly easily. Well, ha ha. As the game played out, it occurred to me that there was one outcome I hadn't really considered: the Trojans being shut out and running-clocked. That did, in fact, surprise me.

It surprised me because Anderson seemed like Sidney: high-powered offense, questionable defense. I knew they would score on Troy, but I figured the Trojans would be able to move the ball and score as well. I wasn't sure they would be able to score enough, of course, but seeing them blanked did catch me off guard.

This just didn't look like the same Troy team of the past several weeks, particularly on defense. Granted, Anderson runs an offense unlike any other, but still. The Trojans couldn't get any pressure on the quarterback. There was always a receiver wide open somewhere. It didn't look like they were taking good pursuit angles, and they missed a lot of tackles. Just not typical for Troy. Still, all of that matters little when you don't put points on the board. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what happened to Troy's offense, other than Anderson's defense playing lights-out. Jaydon Culp-Bishop had a decent night but had to work for absolutely everything, and couldn't break free for any long gains. Sam Coleman didn't play poorly either, even though he was on the run a lot. Really, you just have to give Anderson credit for being ready for everything Troy wanted to do, and stopping it.

I said it last year and I'll say it again now: I really like Anderson's aggressive style of play. It's tough for other teams to match up against. It'll be interesting to see how they do next year with a quarterback other than Volpenhein running the show. Something I don't like? Anderson's racist team name, unmentioned here now and always. Come on, folks, it's 2017; make this go away.

Back to football, I also hate the running clock rule. I've come to accept it in the regular season, but I really hate it in the playoffs. By the time it kicked in for this game, sure, the Trojans weren't going to come back and make it a game, but it would have been nice if they would have had more of a chance to get on the board. After the season these guys had, I just hated to see them go out this way.

But hey, they have nothing to hang their heads about. It really was a hell of a season. After losing the seniors they did last year, to come back and put together another run to the playoffs, not to mention a GWOC North championship, was nothing short of incredible. The individual players and the entire units made visible strides as the season went on, and it was awesome to see and fun to watch. A hearty congratulations goes out to all the players and coaches, as well as everyone else associated with the team. I'm already looking forward to next year.