Second-Half Scoring Barrage Leads Troy Past Athens
By: Chris Manning | NTL Sports | September 13, 2025
Troy ran the ball for 412 yards as they pulled away from Athens, 51-35, during NTL football action.
Brendan Gilliland ran for 256-yards and three scores on 21 carries, while Mason Smith added 137-yards and two touchdowns on 14 touches.
Kael Millard chipped in with seven carries for 19-yards and two touchdowns.
Smith was 6-for-8 for 84-yards through the air as Trey Teribury hauled in three catches for 42-yards. Gilliland had two receptions for 32 yards.
A Millard 1-yard run made it 7-0 after the Gavin Lykon-Leffler kick halfway through the opening quarter for the Trojans.
Athens would take a 9-7 lead but a 78-yard Smith run made it 14-9 after the Lykon-Leffler kick.
An Athens touchdown put the Wildcats up 16-14, but a Lykon-Leffler 38-yard field goal to end the half saw Troy go up 17-16.
Athens jumped back on top 19-17 with a field goal, but a 22-yard Gilliland touchdown run put the Trojans back up 23-19.
Athens would take a lead for the final time late in the third for a 26-23 score.
A 2-yard Millard run to start the fourth made it 30-19 after the point after.
That was followed by Gilliland touchdown runs of 62 and 71 yards, followed by a Smith 5-yard run to shut the door.
