Middletown 28 Troy 18

High School Football

Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Middletown Middies
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

I have great reverence for the Wing-T offense. That's what Troy was running when I was in high school 30+ years ago, and they had been running it for a long time then. But in the year of our lord 2024, brother...I don't think this is it. It's a different coach running it and a different era in football, and watching Troy's running backs and quarterback plow into the line for a two-yard gain over and over and over and over again was a chore. Without at least one beast on the line or in the backfield (preferably both), this offense just isn't the advantage it used to be.

Now, I have no doubt that Troy will right the ship and be more or less fine this year. Not world-beaters, maybe, but they'll be in the hunt for a league title. Probably. We'll see. Middletown is a team that has been up and down in football, and it seems like they only end up on Troy's schedule on their upswings. Troy lost to them in 2010 and 2011; Middletown's head coach then is Troy's head coach now. The Middies have a new coach this year, and the team he came from (Withrow) ended Troy's season in the playoffs last year. So they're probably going to turn out to be pretty decent.

And at any rate, this particular game wasn't so much about the game itself. This was all about Troy Memorial Stadium, which at long last has been converted from a natural grass field to an artificial surface, and also now features an upgraded video scoreboard. I'm pretty sure the scoreboard it replaced was installed for the 1994 season (although it's possible it happened after that season and debuted in 1995), and its best days were long behind it. As for the turf, I have mixed feelings. The evidence seems to suggest that natural grass is better to play on in terms of injuries, and I wouldn't be surprised if the pendulum swings back in that direction sooner rather than later; Troy may have been better served to wait it out with the grass field. But in the meantime, it looks fantastic, and it's great that the stadium will be able to serve as a neutral site in the playoffs again.