Troy 17 Dunbar 6

High School Football (scrimmage)
Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Dunbar Wolverines
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

The only really important thing that needs to be said is this: football is back. I go to this scrimmage each year mainly to give myself a taste of being back at Troy Memorial Stadium, sitting under the lights and watching the Trojans do their thing. As much as I enjoy the action of the scrimmage, I'm never totally sure what to take away from it. I'm just happy to be here.

All that said, one thing this scrimmage definitively did show is that the Wing-T offense is back in effect in Trojanland. That's the offense that Coach Nolan has run for most of his 24-year career in Troy, but he went away from it last year to maximize the talent he had - QB Tyler Wright and HB Matt Allen. Those guys are gone now, though, and the Trojans this year will look to a full stable of running backs to provide most of the offense with the passing game relegated back to its customary afterthought position. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing; any longtime follower of Troy football will tell you that the Trojans have had a good amount of success with that approach. Whether that will be the case this year remains to be seen.

There were also encouraging signs from the defense, which was manhandled at times last year. Tonight they looked strong against the run. That's good, because the secondary is young and will undoubtedly be tested throughout the year. If the defense can count on being strong against at least one phase of the game, that's one less thing to worry about.

Now it's time to tee it up for real. The season opener is a little bit different this year, being held on Thursday night at an off time (5:30 p.m.). The game is being held at Dayton's Welcome Stadium as part of a doubleheader.