Local Sports

Hughesville’s season ends in District 4 Class AA quarterfinals against Troy

MANSFIELD -- Jayden Kutt scored a touchdown for Troy with less than a minute remaining before halftime to give the Trojans a 21-13 advantage over Hughesville.

With the Spartans set to receive the second-half kickoff, Troy's defense needed a stop in the final minute to keep Hughesville from finding the end zone. Logunn Heasley delivered with an interception to preserve Troy's 21-13 lead heading into halftime.

The Trojans then forced a punt on Hughesville's opening possession of the second half and added two more touchdowns to defeat the Spartans in the District 4 Class AA quarterfinals Friday night.

"The playoffs are a lot of fun," Troy coach Jimmy Smith said. "We put ourselves in a lot of adverse situations tonight. Made probably more penalties and mistakes than we've made all year, we have to clean that up. But we made plays when we had to, and fought through some of our own adversity, and for that I'm proud. But we can't go into next week with a bunch of penalties and mistakes."

For Hughesville, the loss ends its season at 4-7. The Spartans started 0-4 before turning things around midway through the season.

"We started off slow this year," Hughesville coach Howard Rainey said. "A lot of people weren't at our summer workouts. We knew we're going to have a slow start because of that. We got everybody working together, and we started looking good at the end of the season. Hopefully, it carries forward to next year."

Troy's drive that ended with Kutt's 7-yard touchdown run began with 3:10 remaining in the first half. The Trojans ran the ball on every play, looking to use as much clock as possible.

Kutt finished the drive with consecutive carries, scoring from 7 yards out to put Troy ahead 21-13 with less than a minute remaining before halftime.

Kutt, who typically sees around 10 carries per game, finished with 31 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown. It was his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance.

"Jayden only normally plays a half every game because of how most of the games go," Smith said. "But he was a workhorse tonight. Had a lot of tough runs and did a great job."

Hughesville had an opportunity to score before halftime, trailing by just eight points and set to receive the second-half kickoff.

However, on the first play of the drive, Nicholas Stubbs was intercepted by Heasley, allowing Troy to maintain its 21-13 advantage heading into the break.

The Spartans were forced to punt on their opening possession of the second half, and Troy took over at its own 9-yard line. The Trojans put together an 11-play, 91-yard drive that Spencer Martin capped with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Troy leaned on its running game throughout the drive, with Kutt accounting for 38 yards over four carries before Josiah Pesesky added a 21-yard run to move the Trojans into scoring position.

Facing third-and-10, Martin found Pesesky for a 13-yard completion to extend the drive. After Kutt lost 3 yards on the next carry, Martin found the end zone from 10 yards out to make it 28-13 in favor of Troy.

The Spartans looked to respond after a strong kickoff return gave them possession at Troy's 31. A 20-yard pass from Stubbs to Connor Anstadt moved Hughesville to the 11.

However, Troy's defense held firm, forcing three consecutive incompletions to turn Hughesville over on downs.

"We got the stop and put on a nice drive together and scored and just ran just a couple plays," Smith said. "They knew what we were running and they couldn't stop it and that's a head hanger when that happens. And we left some more points off the board at times too where we didn't convert, but I'm proud of the kids. Fought through some adversity. We haven't been in a four-quarter game really in six or seven weeks, so it was good to get back to playing football again."

Troy threatened to extend its lead but came up short on fourth-and-3 when Martin was sacked for a 3-yard loss.

The Spartans took over and put together two big plays to cross midfield. Stubbs found Anstadt for a 14-yard completion before Chase Shrawder broke off a 38-yard run to move Hughesville to Troy's 40.

On the next play, however, Reed Palmer forced a fumble by Stubbs and recovered it, giving Troy possession at midfield.

"We had a lot of good drives, and then two or three drop passes in the end zone that hurt," Rainey said. "But other than that I was happy with the game. I thought we played them well. We stopped them a lot of times, but when we got into the red zone, they would stop us, and we just couldn't finish."

The Trojans capitalized on the turnover as Martin scored from 1 yard out to extend the lead to 35-13, which proved to be the final score.

Pesesky added an interception on the final play of the game.

Troy received the opening kickoff and scored to take an early 7-0 lead. A 23-yard completion from Martin to Pesesky moved the Trojans to Hughesville's 33, and a 17-yard run by Kutt brought them into the red zone.

Penalties pushed Troy backward, but Martin still found Teribury for a 20-yard touchdown pass.

Hughesville scored its first points with 7:19 remaining in the first half. Shrawder broke off a 35-yard run during the scoring drive before finishing it with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Troy responded on its ensuing possession. Facing third-and-15, Martin connected with Kutt on a screen pass for a 32-yard touchdown.

Anstadt returned the ensuing kickoff to set up the Spartans at Troy's 18-yard line. Three plays later, Stubbs found Jullian Smith for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 14-13 after a missed extra point.

The Trojans answered with Kutt's 7-yard touchdown run before halftime.

Troy finished with 357 rushing yards. Kutt led the way with 159 yards, while Allen added 77 and Martin contributed 70 and two touchdowns. Kutt also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Martin completed 8 of 16 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Pesesky had four catches for 49 yards, while Teribury caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.

For Hughesville, Stubbs completed 8 of 27 passes for 100 yards. Smith had three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown, while Anstadt finished with five catches for 72 yards. Shrawder led the Spartans with 139 rushing yards.

Troy advances to face Southern Columbia, which defeated Towanda 62-28, on the road next Friday.