MECHANICSBURG – Six and one-half minutes and seventy-eight yards separated the Troy football team from the Class 2A state championship on a windy and cold afternoon at Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field.

The Trojans just saw their slim lead evaporate midway through the fourth quarter and trailed Central Clarion by six points. Only a touchdown and extra point would get the job done.

Troy marched down the field smartly as the clocked winked down under the two-minute mark with the ball resting on the Central Clarion 16.

Senior Mason Smith appeared to drop back for a halfback option pass, but instead, cut across the field and scrambled 16 yards for the game-tying TD. Gavin Lykon-Leffler, who missed a first quarter extra point, split the uprights to give the Trojans a one-point lead.

Troy snuffed out Central Clarion’s final rally and survived a 50-yard field goal attempt as time expired, to win the 2A state title, 25-24, over the Wildcats in a game featuring six lead changes.

The 2024 2A championship is the first in Troy football history and it marks just the fourth time a District 4 school has annexed a state crown.

“I told these guys they are pioneers and there’s a reason pioneers are remembered forever, because they’ve done something no one else has done,” said Troy head coach Jim Smith. “it’s important for our area to show other teams that it’s possible.

Troy finishes a state championship season with an unblemished 16-0 record.

Central Clarion, the District 4 Class 2A winners, close the year at 15-1.

THE STARS

Troy’s four-pronged rushing attack of Gilliland, Mason, fullback Kael Millard and quarterback Evan Woodward combined for a total of 264 yards on 54 carries

Brendan Gillilland spearheaded the Trojans rushing game, toting the rock 25 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Gillilland also hauled in a 20-yard Woodward pass for a score.

Central Clarion QB Jase Ferguson completed 17-of-24 passes for 189 yards and two TD’s – both to Ethan Rex, who snared a total of 7 passes for 79 yards. Ferguson ran for 79 yards and a rushing touchdown.

GAME DECIDING MOMENTS

The Trojans’ ultimate go-ahead drive took 12 plays in the span of 5:22 and left Central Clarion with 1:15 to work with.

Ferguson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Troy 46 and converted a fourth-and-13 with 16 seconds to play with the ball at the Trojans 33. Two incomplete passes forced Central Clarion to try a 50-yard field goal into the wind on the game’s final play. The attempt fell short and wide.

Central Clarion took a 16-12 lead into the fourth quarter on two touchdown passes from Ferguson to Rex in the span on 3:03 – the first from 18 yards out and the second from 49 yards away.

Troy answered with a monster 14-play, 92-yard drive that ate up more than seven minutes, capped by Gillilland’s third score of the day, this time from 20 yards out.

Central Clarion quickly re-took the lead with five pass plays spanning 62 yards with Ferguson rushing to pay dirt from 11 out and hitting Kohen Kemmer for a two-point conversion and a 24-18 lead.

THEY SAID IT

“(Central Clarion) settled down and made plays. We knew they would. It was important that our offense, when they got the ball, used a bunch of time to keep them off the field. That was part of our theory and it worked. I had no doubt that we would take them right to end and I’m proud that they stood up there when it mattered. We have a lot of athletes and we don’t know who’s day it’s going to be. In the end, it was our line. We heard all week about this big line from Clarion and I think we dominated the line of scrimmage,” – Troy head coach Jim Smith.

“It’s awesome. It’s great. The support is great, the crowd here is double, triple what they had here. We came in here and wanted to be physical on offense and that’s exactly what we did, especially on that last drive. We just had to keep pushing. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew they were coming out in the second half and take it to us. We just had to stay tough and trust in our game plan and our defense,” – Troy’s Brendan Gillilland.

By Quarters

Troy 6 6 0 13 – 25

Central Clarion 3 0 13 8 — 24

First quarter

CC: Thomas Uckert 36 field goal 9:46

T: Brendan Gillilland 4 run (kick failed) 2:36

Second quarter

T: Gillilland 20 pass from Evan Woodward (pass failed) 10:20

Third quarter

CC: Ethan Rex 18 pass from Jase Ferguson (kick failed) 7:11

CC: Rex 48 pass from Ferguson (Uckert kick) 4:08

Fourth quarter

T: Gillilland 28 run (run failed

CC: Ferguson 11 run (Ferguson pass to Kohen Kemmer) 6:37

T: Mason Smith 23 run (Gavon Lykon-Leffler kick) 1:15

Team statistics T CC

First downs: 21 12

Rush-yards: 54-264 15-53

Passing: 20 189

Comp-Att-Int: 1-5-0 17-24-0

Fumbles-lost: 2-1 1-1

Punts-Avg.: 2-37 1-30

Penalties-yards: 3-17 3-40

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Troy: Gillilland 25-142, Evan Woodward 13-62, Smith 9-43, Kael Millard 6-13; Central Clarion: Ferguson 13-47, Noah Harrison 2-6.

PASSING: Troy: Woodward 1-5-0—20; Ferguson 17-24-0—189

RECEIVING: Troy: Gillilland 1-20; Central Clarion: Rex 7-79, Mason Burford 5-42, Jesse Siwiecki 3-47, Kemmer 2-21.