Troy Comes Up Short Against Montoursville

By: Brian Fees  /  August 29, 2026  /  Photo: Brian Fees

TROY - After a big play by Josiah Pesesky gave Troy the lead and all the momentum in the final seconds of the first half, Montoursville struck back in the blink of an eye on their way to a 26-19 season-opening win over the Trojans.

Montoursville went 73 yards in just 39 seconds, with Elijah Eck capping the drive with a 13-yard scoring run as time expired in the half.

The touchdown put Montoursville up 20-16 at the half, a lead they would never relinquish.

"The thing that really hurt us, when they scored with 30 seconds left to go into the half, they kind of stole the momentum back," Troy coach Jim Smith said. "That probably was the key for them. It gave them a boost and gave them confidence and our heads hung a little bit. We never gave up, but we never really regained confidence."

Montoursville came right back to start the third quarter, getting a one-yard scoring run by Kaden Kleinman at 8:27 of the third quarter to put Montoursville up 10. Troy got three points back on a 39-yard field goal by Gavin Lykon-Leffler with 2:17 left in the third, but those were the final points of the game.

"I was proud when that happened the kids did respond, they got it back within a score," Smith said. "Got some defensive stands and gave ourselves a shot, but in the end they made a great play on a throw and put the game away."

Troy had the ball at the Montoursville 30 on their next possession, when Brayden Burkett picked off a Trojan pass. Troy got the ball back, and Burkett again came up big, getting a hand in on what looked like a competition, and tipping the ball up to himself for an interception.

"Brayden Burkett, he's a dog," said Montoursville coach Reese Holmes, a Canton graduate. "He's battling through. He's sore, he's beat up, just like everyone, but he's a warrior."

For Holmes it's always tough, and special, to play at Troy.

"We knew it was going to be a tough, fought battle," Holmes said. "I'd never easy coming into Troy. Just tried to get the boys as prepared as possible and it's nice we got the win.

"When I saw the schedule, when I first got hired, I said that's a big surprise. I wasn't expecting to come back to Alparon Park anytime soon to coach football. It's a great place to come play football. Troy does it the right way, we do it the right way. It's a great battle."

Troy had plenty of chances in the game, but four turnovers, and some big plays by Montoursville on offense swung the game toward Montoursville.

"A couple of turnovers, and a couple of penalties stalled us early on," Smith said. "Some blocking assignment mistakes that we are going to have to clean up. There is a lot we have got to do to be better. They were just better tonight, ad that's that."

After Troy went 3-and-out to start the game, the Trojans defense forced a three-and-out. However, on the punt the ball bounced off a Troy player and Montoursville recovered.

Again the Troy defense stood strong, but both teams traded defensive stops.

Late in the first quarter Troy got a 63-yard run by Spencer Martin, who broke multiple tackles to get the ball down to the seven. Troy got to the two, but a penalty pushed them back to the 12. Martin then hit Logan Heasley on a 12-yard touchdown catch with eight seconds left in the opening quarter. Lykon-Leffler hit the extra point to make it 7-0.

Montoursville quickly answered back as Eck had a 73-yard touchdown run on third down with 11:42 left in the half. Austin Davidson hit the extra point to tie the game at seven.

Troy went 3-and-out, and punted away. On the punt the ball hit off a Montoursville player, and while Montoursville recovers, they took over at their own one-yard line.

After Troy almost forced a safety the first play, they did get the safety on the second play with 9:05 left in the half to put Troy up 9-7.

On Troy's next drive they moved the ball to the Montoursville 20, but a bad snap led to a fumble and Montoursville took over. Eck drove down the field, going 70 yards in 9 plays, with Eck either running, or throwing for, all 70 of the yards.

The drive ended on a two-yard Eck run with 53 seconds left in the half. The Davidson kick made it 14-9.

Pesesky then had the 81-yard kick return with 39 seconds left in the half and Lykon-Leffler had the extra point to put Troy up 16-14.

"Josiah is a 10th grader, and he's a big, athletic kid and he has a bright future," Smith. "He made some really nice plays on special teams especially, and made some nice plays on defense as well."

That led to the late touchdown drive by Montoursville which set up the win.

"Week one, you've got to feel things out," Holmes said. "You have a game plan, and sometimes the game plan comes out and you have to tweak it a little bit. We couldn’t get anything up the middle, so we spread it out and tried to get it that way."

Eck ran for 129 yards and two scores and threw for 172 yards for Montoursville. Kleinman ran for 40 yards and a score.

James Williams had two grabs for 63 yards and Jacob Schon had two grabs for 48 yards, while Burkett had two grabs for 35 yards.

Martin ran for 80 yards and threw for 46 for Troy. Jayden Kutt ran for 25 yards and had four grabs for 23 yards. Pesesky had two grabs for 11 yards and Heasley had the touchdown catch. Reed Palmer ran for 20 yards in the game.

Montoursville held the Troy run game to 127 yards, 63 on one run by Martin.

"They had nine in the box and were daring us to throw and we weren't really able to do that effectively enough to hurt them," Smith said.

For Montoursville the game plan was to try and limit the Trojans run attack.

"Couldn't be happier," Holmes said. "We prepped all week for the option, for the power, for the dive and the kids really stuck to what we were telling them and they did a great job of that."

Troy is home again next week as they host Athens and standout quarterback Connor Davidson.

"The kid we saw tonight is a similar type of kid and throws the ball very well and runs well enough," Smith said. "We are going to have to clean some things up. Connor is a nightmare, he is to anybody. Athens did a great job with us last year. We are going to have to play a great game to beat Athens."