Gilliland's Career Night Leads Troy To 48-34 Win Over Warrior Run And Back To D4 Title Game
By: Chris Manning / November 8, 2025 / Photo: Chris Manning
Troy's Brendan Gilliland had one of the best performances in program history as he ran for 330-yards and five touchdowns with the Trojans out running Warrior Run, 48-34, during the District IV, Class AA football semifinals Friday.
"That felt great," Gilliland said about running ball. "The O-line, they did an excellent job - a couple of runs I wasn't even touched. Once I get an open field I'm pretty confident that I can get there, but the O-line did a great job."
Gilliland saw plenty of green on the night, but also had his fair share of broken tackles as he had touchdown runs 6-yards, 39-yards, 26-yards, 96-yards, and 18-yards.
That was part of Troy's fast start, jumping out to a 21-0 lead with in the first 5:30 of the opening quarter.
"We really emphasize with our team there's a lot of games where we sort of hold back a little bit, and we told the kids there's no holding back tonight," said Troy coach Jimmy Smith. "We've got to lay it on. That start was huge, and looking back at it, we needed that. I was really happy to have had our kids be able to play a full game for the first time in 10 weeks - you've got to know whether you can do it or not. Warrior Run made some plays, and you can see why they had 10 wins."
After that the game turned into a shootout with Warrior Run's pass game going against Troy's run. While the Defenders would make it a 2-score contest in the second half the 21-point deficit to start things was ultimately too much for them to overcome.
Troy finished with 473 yards of total offense while the Defenders had 480.
Mason Smith had an efficient game for the Trojans, rushing for 59-yards and a score on eight carries while going 2-for-5 for 52-yards and a touchdown. Kael Millard added 10 carries for 32-yards.
In the air Reed Palmer had a 16-yard touchdown reception to go with a fumble recover on defense, while Trey Teribury hauled in a 36-yard reception.
"I'm very confident with our offense, and I have been all year," Coach Smith said. "We clammed up a little bit just trying to manage the clock because we had some struggles on defense, but I was really impressed with how our line played against the physical line, and how our backs ran. We took care of the ball in a really wet situation - no fumbled snaps, no lost fumbles - we played really, really well overall."
Cohen Zechman had a career night for Warrior Run, hauling in nine receptions for 191-yards and two scores, setting the programs single season touchdown receptions record.
"He's impressive," Mason Smith said about Zechman. "He's a real shifty player. He's really good, and obviously it showed tonight."
Quarterback James Keifer was 16-for-32 for 288-yards and four touchdowns with Tyler Ulrich hauling in three receptions for 50-yards, and Liam Moore adding three catches for 37-yards.
Moore and Maxwell Fogelman each had touchdown receptions.
Denyn Beachel led Warrior Run on the ground with 16 carries for 93-yards and a touchdown. Keifer also proved elusive in the pocket, running ball the for 56-yards on eight carries.
"We've got to clean some things up," Gilliland said about their defense. "I think we could have sacked him about 20 times. We just need to break down."
The Trojans got the opening kick-off and went 65-yards on five plays to open the scoring with a 6-yard Gilliland touchdown. A 25-yard run from Mason Smith, followed by a 36-yard hook up between Smith and Teribury got them to the Warrior Run 11-yard line.
Gavin Lykon-Leffler added the point after for a 7-0 lead with 9:30 on the clock.
After a Warrior Run 3-and-out Troy needed just two plays to hit pay dirt again. This time it was 58-yard run from Smith as he burst through the hole, broke a tackle, and was off to the races.
Lykon-Leffler added the point after for a 14-0 lead with 7:02 on the clock.
On Warrior Run's first play from scrimmage they would fumble away to Palmer, which set up a 39-yard touchdown run from Gilliland two plays into their third drive.
Lykon-Leffler's kick was good for the 21-0 lead 6:30 into the game.
"It was an excellent start, and that's what we needed to do," Gilliland said. "We haven't done that much this year, and last week we were slow. We came out firing, so it was awesome."
That's when Warrior Run woke up using two big pass plays to get back into it. The first was a 34-yard pass from Keifer to Ulrich, then two plays later Keifer hit Zechman for a 34-yard scoring play to finish off the 4-play drive.
Carter McCormick hit the point after for a 21-7 contest with 5:52 left in the first quarter.
Troy responded on their fourth possession of the game, going 67-yards on six plays as Gilliland capped things off with a 26-yard scoring run. Lykon-Leffler's kick was good for a 28-7 lead with 2:43 left in the opening frame.
Warrior Run would put together a 12-play drive on their ensuing possession, but it fizzled out inside the Troy 10-yard line as the Trojans forced them to turn it over on downs.
That set up the big play of the night, a 96-yard Gilliland touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. He was untouched through the left side of the line and out ran everybody down the left sidelines.
The kick was no good but the Trojans led 34-7 with 9:34 left in the half.
The Defenders would come back with another long drive, starting at their own 1-yard line and going 99-yards on 18 plays over the course of seven-and-a-half minutes.
They converted on fourth down twice to keep the drive alive as Keifer hit Fogelman for a 16-yard scoring strike.
The kick was no good but they cut it to 34-13 going into the locker rooms.
Warrior Run got the ball to start the second half and scored much quicker this time, going 67-yards on five plays.
A hook-and-ladder for 26-yards got them start, while Beachel ended it with a 26-yard scoring run. McCormick's kick was good for a 34-20 score.
The Trojans needed just two plays to respond as Gilliland had runs of 55-yards and 18-yards to get into the end zone. Lykon-Leffler's kick was good and it was 41-20 with 10:21 on the clock.
The Defenders responded with a big play of their own as Keifer hit Zechman for a 64-yard scoring strike on their first play from scrimmage. McCormick's kick was good for a 41-27 contest with 10:07 on the clock.
Warrior Run then got the stop they needed, forcing Troy into a missed field goal on the ensuing Trojan possession.
Taking over with 4:14 left in the third quarter Warrior Run drove down to the Trojan 30-yard line. They converted one fourth down, but back to back incomplete passes on third and fourth down saw them turn it back over to Troy with 10:26 left in the game.
Troy then went on a game clinching drive, going 70-yards on seven plays with Smith hitting Palmer on play action for a 16-yard touchdown capping off the possession.
The key play was a 27-yard run from Gilliland to get inside the Warrior Run 30-yard line.
Lykon-Leffler added the point after and it was 48-27 with 6:23 to play.
The Defenders got one more score as Keifer hit Moore for a 7-yard touchdown strike to cut it to 48-34 after McCormick's kick but there was just 3:22 left.
Troy recovered the onside the kick, then ran out the clock to send them to the district finals against Southern Columbia.
"It'll be fun, probably a defensive battle," Mason Smith predicted. "Maybe very few scores, so it'll be a real fun game."
The Tigers rolled past Bloomsburg 41-21 in the other semifinal, and will host Troy down there next Friday.
"It's a totally different animal next week," Coach Smith said about Southern. "They can throw the ball, and they can convert on some things throwing the ball, but to beat Southern Columbia you have to be able to stop the run game. We're going to have to try to sell out to do that, and if we can't, we're going to have to outscore them - hopefully it'll be just an epic game."
