MTZ football loses to Troy on the road

By Editor | September 10, 2024 |

Jacob Harvey and Connor Fox make a touchdown saving tackle in a 17-10 loss against Troy Triad at Troy Triad.

By BLAKE FAITH
Staff Writer

The Mt. Zion football team suffered its first loss of the season, losing to Troy Triad 17-10. Keller Stocks had the lone rushing touchdown for the Braves and Gabe Shumaker nailed an extra point attempt and a field goal.

The game was scoreless after the first quarter. Issac Alena broke the game open when he rushed for a four yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper. Jacob Dulaney nailed the extra point to give the Knights a 7-0 lead.

The Knights’ defense contained the Braves’ offense in the second quarter. With less than a minute left in the quarter, Dulaney hit a 23-yard field goal to give the Knights a 10-0 halftime lead.

The Knights ran off nearly nine minutes of the clock to start the third quarter but couldn’t make a score. Stocks on 3rd and 14 made his biggest pass of the game to Jacob Harvey for a 30-yard gain. Stocks finished the drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown and Shumaker nailed the extra point to cut the Knights’ lead to 10-7.

In the fourth quarter, the Braves’ defense forced a fumble that Jc Anderson recovered. Stocks on 3rd and 7 ran the ball for 45 yards on the keeper and set the Braves up in the red zone. On 4th and Goal, Shumaker nailed the game-tying field goal from 31 yards out to make the score 10-10.

Ackerman delivered the game winning touchdown with less than a minute left as he found Mac Musgrave open in the endzone for a touchdown. Dulaney nailed the extra point to give the Knights a 17-10 win.

The Braves are now 1-1 on the season. They will face Salem this week on the road and kickoff will be at 7 p.m.

“Our kids did a good job, they stayed level, they stayed with it, they didn’t panic,” Head Coach Patrick Etherton said. They knew at halftime we made some corrections. Our kids came out and played better. They’re (Troy) a good football team and we knew that and they did some good things in the first half. We’ve got a lot of kids who play and then we’ve got some kids who haven’t played. So they’re learning as we go and sometimes learn some tough lessons. I think our kids after this week of practice will be excited to play somebody.”