Troy Is No Match for Eisenhower

Troy High School has half as many students as Rialto Eisenhower, and Friday night the Warriors learned why smaller schools shouldn’t schedule football games against larger schools.

Eisenhower, the fourth-ranked team in the Southern Section’s Division I, thoroughly dominated Troy at Fullerton High, winning 28-0 in the final nonleague game for both teams.

Even so, Eisenhower Coach Tom Hoak said the Eagles (5-0) didn’t play very well. Hoak said his team may have been overconfident.

“I didn’t think we were aggressive,” Hoak said. “I thought they were more aggressive than us.”

But Troy (2-3) didn’t have the athletes to keep pace, as was evident on Eisenhower’s first drive.

After Omar Love, the Eagles’ leading rusher entering the game, returned the kickoff 37 yards, Eisenhower’s second-leading rusher, Anthony Stewart, carried the ball four times for 17 yards. Quarterback Jason Davis then completed two passes--one for eight yards to Demond Thompkins and one to Robert Talley for a 32-yard touchdown.

Talley was well-covered by the Troy secondary but outjumped his defender for the ball. After a two-point conversion, Eisenhower led 8-0.

The Eagles scored twice more in the first half to take a 21-0 lead. Stewart scored on a two-yard run and Davis threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Thompkins.

Troy slowed down Eisenhower’s running attack but never completely shut it down. One had the feeling Eagle running backs were often only a step away from breaking into the open for long runs, but none ever did.

All totalled, 10 Eisenhower players carried the ball, rushing 27 times for 143 yards. Only twice was an Eagle runner held to less than a one-yard gain.

Davis completed 14 of 21 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns, including the Eagles’ final score--a 44-yard pass to Talley in the third quarter for a 28-0 lead.

Troy tried to establish its ground game with Bryant Burchit, a sophomore playing his first varsity game at running back. But Burchit gained only 24 yards in 17 carries.

Warrior quarterback Greg Windle had a little more success, completing 13 of 24 passes for 122 yards, but Troy was never able to sustain a drive.

Troy’s original opponent for Friday’s game backed out, and three other schools declined to play the Warriors, Troy Coach John Turek said.

Turek called Hoak last spring and Hoak agreed to have his team fill the empty spot on Troy’s schedule.