Troy football is on its way to the Class A championship game, beating Ballston Spa 23-13.

Troy scored on a safety less than five minutes into the game to make it 2-0. Then both teams showed off their defense in the first half. That was the score at the break.  

WHERE BOTH COULD IMPROVE

Troy Head Coach Bob Burns thought his defense played well but told me at halftime he thought his team missed some opportunities by dropping a few passes and taking too many penalties in the first half.  

Ballston Spa Head Coach Greg O’Connor said he thought his defense did a good job, saying they bent, but didn’t break. He also said his offense needed to find a way to get going in the second half.

THE SECOND HALF 

Troy looked like a different team offensively in the second half. Xavier Leigh did a good job establishing the ground game and that opened up the passing game. Alex Wolfe went to Makai Cruel and Nasir Dawud-Soto to really open up the game in the second half. Troy took a 16-0 lead.  

Ballston Spa made it interesting in the second half and showed a lot of fight never giving up and scoring as time expired. The Scotties have a lot of seniors on their team and they really should be proud of putting Ballston Spa football back on the map.

A STEP FORWARD

After the game, Burns said this was the best game Troy has played this season. He told me they took another step forward this week in Friday night’s win. Troy will now await the winner of the Burnt Hills-Queensbury game Saturday.

Interesting note: Xavier Lee will not be able to go to the Burnt Hills-Queensbury game to watch because he is visiting Syracuse. The Orange have shown interest in the junior.