Trojans fail to complete comeback against No. 11 Coastal Carolina

The Troy Trojans (5-6, 3-4) were just 1:20 away from upsetting the No. 11-ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (11-0, 8-0) on Dec. 12 but a late touchdown helped Coastal escape “The Vet” with a 42-38 win.

Both Coastal and Troy came into the matchup with a lot riding on the game as Troy needed to win out the regular season to guarantee a spot in a bowl game and Coastal needed to continue winning to hold out hope for a spot in a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Late in the third quarter, Troy cut the Coastal lead to 28-23 on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Gunnar Watson to Reggie Todd. Coastal managed to drive back down the field and got the ball inside the Troy 3-yard line midway through the fourth quarter.

The Trojan defense managed a goal line stand that gave Troy the ball back on its own 1-yard line. On the next play, however, Watson hit his head on the ground attempting a pass and was taken out of the game.

Brantley native Jacob Free entered the game and heaved a deep pass into double coverage, which was intercepted by Coastal Carolina and returned inside the Troy 5-yard line again.

Coastal extended its lead 35-23 when quarterback Grayson McCall dove into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown run with 5:03 left in the game.

Troy wasn’t quite ready to quit, though, and Free led Troy back down the field with running back Jamontez Woods capping off an 11-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to cut the Coastal lead to 35-30.

On Coastal’s ensuing possession, a fired up Trojan defense made another big play. With Coastal facing a third-and-long, the Chanticleers went against their nature and came out with an empty backfield and a spread look. Pressure got to McCall causing his pass to float in the air where All American Troy linebacker Carlton Martial intercepted it near midfield.

Free drove Troy inside the 10-yard line again and then found a wide open Tray Eafford for a 6-yard touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 38-35 lead with 1:20 remaining. Free also converted a two-point try. It was Troy’s first and only lead of the entire game.

Unbeaten Costal wasn’t done yet either, though, and drove down the field in just five plays with McCall connecting with Jaivon Heiligh for a 23-yard touchdown pass with just 35 seconds remaining to retake the lead 42-38.

Troy had just 35 seconds to try and get back into scoring position but Free was sacked and fumbled on the ensuing possession securing the win for Coastal.

“(We) came up a little short obviously, just a few plays short. I want to say that I’ve never been more proud of a group of kids than I am of our team for what we’ve gone through this year,” Troy coach Chip Lindsey said after the game. “They never quit on us and they are going to stay here and keep fighting and I’ve never been more proud of a group of guys than I am right now.

“We didn’t make enough plays at the end. That’s the bottom line. Our guys fought their guts out. We know Coastal’s a good football team, but I thought we fought them tooth and nail and really had an opportunity to win the game there at the end.”

Coastal was efficient early in the game scoring on a 59-yard run from CJ Marable and then a 20-yard pass from McCall to Marable early on. Troy’s Evan Legassy managed to cut the Coastal lead to 14-3 on a 42-yard field goal late in the first quarter.

Troy found the end zone for the first time early in the second quarter with a 4-yard run from freshman Kimani Vidal to cut the lead to 14-10 . Legassey booted a 28-yard field goal later in the second quarter to bring Troy within one point as Coastal held on to a 14-13 lead.

Marable scored on a 2-yard run with just under two minutes remaining in the half to extend the Chants lead to 21-13 but Legassey booted another field goal as time expired in the half to cut the lead to 21-16.

Coastal then opened up the second half with a brutalizing 16-play, 83-yard drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes capped off by a 6-yard scoring pass from McCall to Heiligh with 4:33 left in the period. Troy’s comeback attempt began on its ensuing possession.

The Trojans racked up a total of 443 yards against one of the top defenses in the conference but gave up 514 yards themselves.

Watson completed 25-of-37 pass attempts for 260 yards, one touchdown and one interception before leaving the game with an apparent head injury. Free completed 9-of-18 passes for 94 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Woods rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown, while Vidal rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown. Vidal also caught seven passes for 76 yards.

Kaylon Geiger caught nine passes for 103 yards and Todd caught eight passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. Geiger also had two kickoff returns for 94 yards. Eafford caught four passes for 42 yards and a score.

Martial had his third straight game with 10 or more tackles totaling 21 tackles, which is second most in Troy history. Martial also had 2.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack and an interception in an inspired performance. TJ Harris added 10 tackles and a tackle-for-loss.