La Salle wasn’t playing -- in a good way, of course. The Cadets walked onto the field at Troy with a swagger we haven’t seen from them in a few years, despite a tight 20-18 loss in the Collar City Cup game Friday.

Troy scored two quick in big plays, but La Salle really settled down after that.

La Salle trailed 14-6 at the half, but you would think they had the lead with the fire and energy they came off the field with. The Troy student section was letting them hear it and they were completely unfazed.  

La Salle Head Coach John Audino said at the half that “we played hard like I knew we would.”

Bob Burns of Troy was not as pleased. "Quite honestly, I think we need to play with more effort," he said.

The second half was wild as the teams traded TDs. La Salle got the ball back with less than 4 minutes to go. Facing a third and long deep in their own territory, senior QB Christian Luizzi played like a senior, remained poised and hit one of his receivers for a big conversion, and the Cadets eventually scored.

La Salle went for two and didn’t get it, but with less than two minutes to play, they forced Troy to punt and actually blocked the punt.

But in a bizarre play, La Salle recovered and had possession, but fumbled. Troy ended up recovering the fumble, giving the Horses a fresh set of downs, and ran out the clock.

This was what you want in a rivalry. A close game, lots of emotion and a game that goes right down to the wire. The Collar City Cup rivalry is back.  

MOST IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: It’s a rivalry game, it’s heated, but I was beyond impressed with the sportsmanship at the end of the game. It’s something most people won’t get to see unless they were there. About 20 seconds after that wild and emotional play that sealed it for Troy, many of the La Salle players were shaking the hands of the Troy players, and the Flying Horses were returning the gesture with pats on the back. Then at the end during handshakes, there was an injured Troy player on the sidelines, and a bunch of the La Salle players went over to check on him and show him some love. The rivalry is renewed, and this one includes a lot of respect.