Published 5:54 pm Saturday, April 27, 2024
By Josh Boutwell
The Troy Trojans football team wrapped up spring practices with the annual T-Day game on April 27 and the defense won 154-141 in the unique game.
Rather than just playing a simple spring scrimmage, Troy switched things up with the offense going against the defense with a number of ways to score. In the first quarter, the offense and defense faced off in 7-on-7 and one-on-one competitions. The second quarter saw the offense face the defense in a red-zone competition. The third quarter was more of a standard scrimmage and the fourth quarter saw a special teams battle, as well as a skill competition that saw former Trojans Gunnar Watson, Jordan Chunn, Corey Robinson and Chandler Worthy get in on the action.
“Rosters are different now and the game of football is differnet. Our roster is different. We took on some stuff where our roster is a little depleted with some stuff with injuries and things that happened during spring,” Troy Coach Gerad Parker said of the T-Day format. “You have to be smarter and we’ll add more (players) to us with the signees we already have coming in May and some new aquisitions, as well. With that, you have to be smarter and different and we wanted to be creative but also competitive. I think our guys embraced it and took a mature approach and had a fun day.”
Troy receiver Chris Lewis is presented the Spirt of a Warrior Award by Chancellor Jack Hawkins and Janice Hawkins. (Photo by Josh Boutwell)
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A special moment that occured during halftime of T-Day was the presentation of Troy Athletic’s Spirit of a Warrior Award to receiver Chris Lewis. Lewis is currently battling bone cancer and recently underwent a successful surgery and is on the road to recovery and a return to the football field.
During the spring, a name that has popped up during practices routinely is Zeriah Beason. Beason is a transfer that came to Troy after starting his career at Oregon State and playing last season at Hutchinson Community College.
“Troy has been a great place. The environment, coaches everyone has been hands on and I’ve really enjoyed it since i got here in January,” Beason said. “Spring was about everyone geting to know a new system with Coach Parker and a new staff coming in. It took a little while to get adjusted to it but after everyone put in the work and watching extra film everyone is playing fast and making plays.”
Beason caught three touchdown passes during T-Day, including a 43-yard touchdown pass from Tucker Kilcrease. He also caught a 15-yard score from Goose Crowder and a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kilcrease.
Kilcrease also threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lovett. On defense, Jordan Perry made a fourth down stop with a sack during the third quarter. Trent Henry intercepted a pass in the first quartetr, while Anthony Butler also intercepted a deflected pass in the third quarter.
Overall, Parker said he was pleased with what the Trojans got accomplished in the spring.
“I think you’re always surprised by things that happen (in the spring),” Parker said. “I think the way our (coaches) taught and our players learned, I loved the way they embraced the new playbooks in all three phases. I really love the jump we made that way.”
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