Troy Scouting Report

Written Tuesday September 24th, at 5:30 PM

This has been a tough week for Dragons fans and players that saw what happened at Stoney Creek last week maybe this week could be a good opportunity to heal after the fireworks of disaster happened in Rochester when the Dragons return to where they won the Division One 2010 State Championship and beat Troy Athens last season 68-20.

Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.

The Dragons (3-1, 2-1 Red) will play the Troy Colts (2-2, 2-1 Red) on Saturday night at 6 PM as part of a three game Gridiron Classic. The first game will be Romeo (1-3) against Sterling Heights Stevenson (1-3) at 2 PM followed by Walled Lake Central (1-3) against Walled Lake Northern (2-2) at 4 PM and then the Dragons and the Colts battle it out.

The Colts beat Pontiac last week 20-13 at Wisner Stadium last week and beat Rochester 21-14 three weeks ago but lost 21-12 to Stoney Creek and 33-24 to Romeo.

Troy is a spread team who likes to throw the ball a lot but against Pontiac they went to a ground and pound attack when their quarterback went out with an injury last week.

The Colts will be led by quarterback Jay Darish. Darish did not play last week against Pontiac due to a stinger and separated shoulder injury he suffered against Stoney Creek two weeks ago but is expected back for this game. Darish has a quick release and was 21 for 29 for two touchdowns three weeks ago against Rochester and was 13 for 19 for 270 yards and two touchdowns against Stoney Creek but Darish have been prone to throw interceptions. He had two picks against Romeo and a lost fumble in week one in a 33-24 loss at Dan Barnabo Field.

The Colts lost a lot of experience from a season ago but have become more of a passing team with Darish’s throwing ability. Troy coach Gary Griffith has called Darish the best thrower that he has seen come in his 39 seasons at Troy have three very good receivers and a very good tight end but has a good running back as well.

Troy’s running back is Senior, Charles Adams. Adams had a big game with 240 yards and two touchdowns against Pontiac last week and is a power back who can take over games by himself if he has the chance.

The first receiver is Senior Jerome Marshall. Marshall is a quick receiver whom caught the game winning 56 yard touchdown pass from Darish against Rochester and had four catches for 73 yards in that game.

The next receiver is Senior Danny Wunderlich. Wunderlich is Darish’s top target whom caught a 75 yard touchdown pass from Darish against Stoney Creek. He does play safety as well on defense and is the team’s punter.

The next receiver is Junior Eric Paperanda. Paperanda caught a six yard touchdown pass against Rochester and also had a big night with seven catches for 58 yards in that game and had a ten yard touchdown pass against Stoney Creek.

The next receiver is senior tight end Justice Bigelow. Bigelow had three catches for 55 yards against Rochester and does very well when it comes to slant passes and other stuff from the tight end position.

The Colts are not a deep team though as they have several players go two ways but with the way the Dragons played last week against the blitz happy Cougars anything can happen.

We’ll see what happens on Saturday night in downtown Detroit.