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Sports

Colts Look to Build on Offensive Success

The Troy High School football team will play Rochester in the Colts' home opener tonight.

After a shaky start to the season, the Troy Colts football team seems to be back on track.

The team (1-1) was held to just three points in a season-opening loss at Romeo, but the Colts rebounded to put up 56 points in Week 2 against an improved Royal Oak team coming off an emotional win in its opener.

Junior quarterback Justin Losey accounted for six touchdowns against Royal Oak, four rushing and two passing, while Oliver Jiang added another 210 yards rushing and a touchdown. Troy finished with 468 yards rushing as a team.

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The Colts will look to build on last week’s performance in the home opener against a Rochester team that is looking to bounce back following a 35-7 defeat at defending state champion Lake Orion. The Falcons (1-1) defeated Troy, 17-7, last year en route to their first playoff appearance since 1999.

Following the Royal Oak game, Troy coach Gary Griffith said the Colts will need to play a great game and continue to improve defensively in order to succeed against Rochester.

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“Rochester is a good football team and they beat us last year,” Griffith said. “They always play us tough, regardless of who wins, and it’s a big game for us.”

To avenge last year’s loss, Troy will likely need another strong performance from Losey, who started for the team last year as a sophomore. Griffith said he was pleased with the strides Losey has made so far in his junior season.

“(Losey) does a really nice job of reading the option, when to hand it and when to keep it,” Griffith said. “Tonight with the offensive line coming off the ball, he was able to make his reads and catch a breath, where (Week 1) against Romeo he wasn’t able to do that.

“He’s an excellent athlete who starts at safety for us also and he can return kicks. He’s probably a guy that does it all for us right now and I expect him to continue to improve.”

Griffith said a lot of the team’s rushing success could be attributed to the improved play along the offensive line. He especially thought the line’s play stood out on a 92-yard touchdown run by Losey at the end of the first half against the Ravens.

“There’s a reason why that play happened,” Griffith said. “(Losey) made a couple cuts, but if we don’t block people he doesn’t have an opportunity to make that play. It goes back to the fact that we controlled the line of scrimmage and came off the ball well; there was a marked improvement from last week.”

Kickoff for Friday’s home opener is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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