The El Paso-Gridley Titans scored six touchdowns on the ground to deliver a 54-21 loss to the Charleston Trojans Friday night at Trojan Hill.

The Trojans (0-2) were given little time to settle into the game. A big opening kick return by the Titans sparked a quick opening drive, capped by an 18-yard outside run by senior running back Aaden Adams for the Titans’ first score of the night.

A three-and-out by the Trojans put the Titans back in position to capitalize on another series filled with heavy screens, culminating in a second touchdown by Adams and an early 14-0 start for the Titans.

Another Titans stop resulted in a massive 54-yard rushing touchdown for Adams’ third score of the game, and a 21-0 lead to open the game for the Titans.

The early deficit only grew from there, as the Titans defensive pressure continued to hinder Charleston’s ability to protect the football. The Trojans finished the game with two fumbles and just 155 yards from scrimmage.

The run game proved to be a big strength for the Titans that largely continued throughout the remainder of the game as well, as the Titans totaled 224 yards on the ground.

Likewise, following a record-breaking performance in last week’s game by Charleston senior Treylin Couch, the Titans seemed to have an emphasis on slowing down the dominant run game of the Trojans, resulting in just 85 rushing yards as opposed to over 300 the week prior.

“Treylin ran for 300 plus last game and had a phenomenal game, and we knew they were gonna take that away,” Charleston head coach Brian Halsey said. “That’s our job we have to identify where we struggled and we have to patch it up.”

Following a 54-7 opening half, Charleston showed signs of life in the second half. The Trojans shut out the Titans and trimmed the deficit on a 17-yard touchdown run by junior running back CJ Patterson, along with a 25-yard touchdown reception from senior Drey’Sean Eich following a takeaway.

Charleston plays its first road game of the season next week against Carterville.

“We got a long way to go between now and then,” Halsey said. “We need to get better in practice and find out who’s going to say ‘I want to play football and play it the right way’ and make it happen. There were a lot of intangibles, but I also want to see improvement.”
Kickoff for the Carterville game is set for 7 p.m.

(Statistics courtesy of Victory 103.9)

 

JD Golden can be reached at [email protected].