The Troy Trojans will head out on the road to face off against the Lorena Leopards at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Troy will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings (they are ranked 442nd, while Lorena is ranked 192nd).
Two weeks ago, Troy took a serious blow against Franklin, falling 63-23. It was the first time this season that Troy let down their fans at home.
Despite the loss, Troy had strong showings from Cory Padalecki, who rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns, and Cannon Negron, who rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown on only six carries.
Meanwhile, Lorena had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 52-49 victory over Franklin. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Braylon Henry was his usual excellent self, rushing for 255 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry. Henry hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for six straight games. Collin Hill did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 82 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Troy has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season. As for Lorena, their victory was their fifth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-2.
Troy was dealt a bruising 49-21 loss at the hands of Lorena when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Can Troy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
