TROY – The whole complexion of the game changed on the final play of the first half of Troy’s 27-24 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.
Troy had moved the ball fine during the first two quarters, but shot itself in the foot twice with lost fumbles. However, after getting the ball on a punt with 30 seconds left at its own 44, Troy made its move.
Kimani Vidal gave Troy a first down at the WKU 40 after a 7-yard run with 14 seconds left. Next, Gunnar Watson was sacked for a 1-yard loss at the WKU 41 and Troy called a timeout with five ticks left to set up a final play.
When play resumed, Watson heaved the ball down field into a crowd and receiver Chris Lewis used every bit of his 6-foot-4 frame to go up and get it in the end zone for a touchdown. Scott Taylor Renfroe drilled through the extra point kick and Troy took a 10-7 lead to the dressing room.
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“We work that Hail Mary situation like every week, because you don’t know when you’re going to have to use it, so we were prepared to make the play,” Lewis said. “When I saw the ball in the air, I knew I had to get it.”
Troy coach Jon Sumrall talked about the significance of the catch.
“We had 200 yards of offense at that point, I think, and they had 70 and we were down 7-3,” Sumrall began. “I really felt like we had out-played them; we hadn’t out-finished them.
“Then if you don’t know what to do, throw the ball up for C-Lew, right? All he’s done is make circus catch after circus catch.”
Vidal also had a huge game with 156 yards rushing on 26 attempts with his first two touchdowns of the season and also caught four passes for 58 yards.
“He’s vital to our success,” Sumrall said. “We want to play the game with physicality … we want to be able to run the football … and part of the way we are able to play such good defense against such an explosive offense is because we have a great running back and we committed to the run.”
Troy had 172 yards rushing in the game on 46 carries, while the Trojans’ defense held WKU to 20 yards rushing on 12 attempts.
Despite the great game, Vidal was talking about his fumble late in the game as he appeared headed for a touchdown, but instead the ball was knocked out of his hands and rolled out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.
WKU would drive the field for the final points of the game when Easton Messer caught a 12-yard TD pass from Austin Reed with 2:29 left before Troy ran out the clock.
“The four-minute situation where I fumbled, you know, that can’t happen,” Vidal said. “It can’t happen for me to put the ball in jeopardy at that point of the game.”
Troy put up 521 yards of total offense while holding WKU to 288.
Watson threw for 349 yards on 22-of-35 passing with the one TD pass to Lewis. Reed threw for 268 yards on 23-of-39 passing.
Along with the momentum swing at halftime, Troy would get a break following its first possession of the second half when a punt by Robert Cole was muffed and bounced off a WKU player and was recovered by Troy’s Blake Matthews at the WKU 38.
Troy would put it back in the end zone when Vidal rushed around left end 19 yards for a TD. Vidal had caught a 16-yard pass prior to the score. Renfroe’s PAT made it 17-7.
WKU pulled within 17-14 with 7:54 left in the third when Malachi Corley took a pass from Reed in from 22 yards out.
Lewis made another highlight-reel, one-handed catch with a defender draped on him late in the third quarter for 32 yards down to the WKU11. Troy’s offense stalled, but Renfroe knocked through a 26-yard field goal to make it 20-14 with 1:55 left in the third.
But WKU answered that, quickly driving down the field on the ensuing possession to set up a 1st-and-goal from the 3 after a long pass completion. However, a penalty on first down backed the Hilltoppers back to the 8. Two incompletions – one thanks to a hard hit by cornerback O’Shai Fletcher to jar the ball loose from a receiver – and a 2-yard completion later and WKU settled on a 24-yard field goal by Lucas Carneiro to make it 20-17 with 14:07 left in the game.
Fletcher spoke on knocking the ball loose on what was a 2nd-and-goal situation from the 8.
“I saw the match-up and knew they were going to 11 (Malachi Corley) and so I really just wanted to slow the game down and do my job,” Fletcher.
Troy virtually put it away when Vidal took it over the left side for an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:37 left. Renfroe’s PAT made it 27-17. On the drive, the Trojans converted on a 3rd-and-13 when Lewis went up high again to catch a 29-yard pass from Watson to the WKU 21.
The Hilltoppers added a late touchdown when Easton Messer caught a 12-yard TD pass from Reed with 2:29 left before Troy ran out the clock.
Mistakes hurt Troy in the first half.
The miscues first appeared on Troy’s opening possession of the game after the Trojans had moved to the WKU 10. On first down, Watson was hit hard while back to pass and the ball popped in the air and was caught by a Hilltopper and returned all the way to the Troy 26. It would lead to WKU’s first touchdown of the day on a 10-yard run by KD Hutchinson.
The next blunder came after Deshon Stoudemire made a nice catch but fumbled on the hit and WKU took over at the Troy 45 with 2:17 left before halftime and trailing 7-3. But Troy got it right back on a WKU fumble when Deshawn Swanson made a hit on a receiver, ripped the ball loose and also made the recovery.
On Troy’s first scoring drive, the Trojans converted a 4th-and-4 from the WKU 37 when Watson connected with Stoudemire on a 15-yard pass. Vidal then ran it for 12 yards to set up a 1st-and-goal from the 10, but Troy had to settle on a 25-yard field goal from Renfroe to pull within 7-3 with 6:08 to play in the first half before what turned out to be an exciting end to the period.
MAKING THE PLAYS: Defensive end T.J. Jackson got his first start of the season and got a sack on the first offensive play of the game. Dothan native AJ Pierce knocked down a pass on WKU’s first possession on a 3rd-and-7 from the Troy 45. Devonte Ross caught a 38-yard pass in the first quarter. Javon Solomon had a sack on Reed for a 9-yard loss late in the second quarter. Lewis went up in traffic to catch 41-yard TD pass on the final play of the first half.
NOTES AND STUFF: Grant Betts moved from left guard to right tackle on the offensive front in place of Carson Burt, and Blake Austin got the start at left guard. Troy hasn’t won the coin toss to start a game all season. The 12 rushing attempts by WKU were the fewest for a team against Troy since Jacksonville State had 17 in a 1997 game.
HOW THEY SCORED: Troy – Scott Taylor Renfroe 25-yard field goal (6:08 2nd qtr). Gunnar Watson to Chris Lewis 41-yard catch, Renfroe PAT (0:00 2nd qtr). Kimani Vidal 19-yard run, Renfroe PAT (11:37 3rd qtr). Renfroe 26-yard field goal (1:55 3rd). Vidal 11-yard run, Renfroe PAT (5:37 4th qtr).
WKU –10-yard run KD Hutchinson, Lucas Carneiro PAT (1:35 1st qtr). Austin Reed to Malachi Corley 22-yard pass, Carneiro PAT (7:54 3rd qtr). Carneiro 24-yard FG (14:07 4th qtr). Easton Messer 12-yard catch from Reed, Carneiro PAT (2:29 4th).
TROY STAT LEADERS: Rushing – Kimani Vidal (156 yards on 26 carries with two TDS). Passing – Gunnar Watson 22-of-35 passing for 349 yards and one TD. Receiving – Deshon Stoudemire 6 catches for 99 yards and Chris Lewis 3 catches for 101 yards. Tackles – Jordan Stringer 5 solos, 2 assists.
UP NEXT: Troy travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State in a Sun Belt battle starting at 6 p.m. CDT.
Jon Johnson is sports editor of the Dothan Eagle and can be reached at jjohnson@dothaneagle.com or 334.712.7965. Support his work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com. Follow Jon Johnson on Twitter @eaglesportsed