Olpe 36, Troy 28

Playing in their first-ever Sub State football game, the Troy Trojans overcame several obstacles before ultimately ending their season with a hard fought 36-28 loss at Olpe.  On a damp and very foggy Friday night, Troy overcame a slow start, that included a pair of turnovers and serious leg injury to sophomore, Jarren Frump, to take a commanding 20-7 lead with 3:06 to play in the first half.  Yet, Olpe scored nine quick points on special teams then added a touchdown pass just 14 seconds before the break and grabbed a 22-20 advantage to steal the momentum.  Troy would again battle back and took a 28-22 lead early in the fourth quarter with a 14 play, 75 yard-drive as Derek Franken rushed for a touchdown and Jake Ross threw a reverse pass to Tristan Speer for the two-point-conversion.  The Eagles, however, scored the final two touchdowns of the night and held on to earn their first trip to the 2A State Championship since 2008.  

On the third play of the game, Troy was intercepted for only the third time all year and Olpe's first offensive snap was a 33 yard score by senior quarterback, Bo Krueger for a quick 7-0 lead.  However, the Trojan defense forced a trio of three-and-outs following the rough start and went on three long scoring drives to take control of the contest.  Tristan Speer tossed a 22 yard strike to Jake Ross on a fourth and 10 play to pull within 7-6 midway through the first quarter.  That capped a 12 play 62 yard drive and Troy took their first lead on their next possession as Speer ran for a four yard score to put Troy ahead 12-7 with :35 left in the first frame.  The second score finished a 79 yard drive that went 9 plays and the touchdown also came on fourth down play.  The Trojans missed both two-point-conversions and lost a fumble before driving 10 plays and 61 yards to go up 18-7 on another short TD run by Speer and Franken's conversion run made it 20-7 with Troy having dominated most of the first half.  

Krueger returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards and then Troy was forced to punt and Nathan Gaarder had the kick the ball out of the back of the endzone after a high snap as Olpe used special teams to get back in the game.  The Eagles also got the ball after the safety and drove 61 yards on five quick plays before Krueger found Dugan Herrick on a 12 yard touchdown pass to seize the momentum and a 22-20 lead in the final seconds of the half.  

Both teams had only two drives in a quick and non-scoring third quarter, but Troy was driving and Franken's four-yard TD run on the second play on the fourth quarter capped a seven-minute drive to put Troy back in control.  Olpe answered on the next drive, despite Collin Jasper nearly picking off a pass, and Krueger ran for two yards on a fourth down and one play with 5:45 left in the game for a 29-28 lead.  After Olpe stopped Troy on downs, the Eagles added one final rushing score from Krueger with 2:29 to play and then stopped the Trojans again on downs to seal the victory.  

Troy outgained Olpe by more than 50 yards and finished with 309 total yards of offense.  Speer threw for 153 yards, but completed only 3 passes for 17 yards in the second half.  Ross had 88 yards on 2 catches and a score, while Franken and Alex Schmille shared the rushing load with Franken gaining 56 yards on 19 carries and his fellow senior adding 62 yards on 11 totes.  It was Krueger however that stole the show with 147 yards on 24 rushes to lift Olpe to the win and title game.  Olpe has won 11 straight after opening the season with a loss to LaCrosse, and will take on El-Saline in the 2A Championship at Hays on Saturday.       

Troy had won nine consecutive games and finished with a 10-win season for the first time since the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, but this year advanced to Sub State under second year Coach, Derek Jasper.  

"It was a heartbreaking and disappointing ending to a wonderful season," Jasper said after the game. "I believe we were the better team, but it just wasn't out night.  Olpe made the game winning trype plays and the ball bounced their way tonight.  This one is going to hurt for a while, but with time, we will be able to look back and enjoy our historic season.  Troy football is as strong as ever, we will be back!"

Seven super seniors bid farewell in Speer, Ross, Franken, Schmille, Gaarder, Jay Whetstine Collin Jasper.  Troy had 28 defensive takeaways for the season, but lost the turnover battle 2-0 on Friday in their second long playoff road trip.  The Trojan defense pitched five shutouts on the season, including last week's 23-0 playoff win at Lyndon, but Olpe's 36 points were the second most scored on Troy all year and 25 more than the defense season average.   

Injury Note:  Frump was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital after his leg injury in the first quarter.  However, he meet the team when they arrived back at Troy High School early Saturday morning, and it appears his leg is not broken or fractured like the originally feared.  

Assistant Coach, Dallas Keller missed the game for Troy while with his wife Andrea at the hospital.  The couple welcomed their third child, Tayla Lourie Keller to the family at 1:11 AM early Saturday morning.

Senior Stats:  Speer finished with more than 2,500 yards passing on the season while Franken ran for 800 yards and Schmille added 500 yards on the ground.  Jasper had an 800 yard receiving campaign while Cutar Huss finished with more than 700 yards and Ross had 600 yards receiving.  Jay Whetstine and Nathan Gaarder led the team in tackles and Jay surpassed the 110 tackle mark for the second year in a row.