TROUP, Texas — The Troup Tigers opened their district slate in front of a home crowd Friday night for the first time since Cooper Reid left the field with a brain injury.
Their opponent, the Quitman Bulldogs, eventually going on to rout the visiting team, 63-6.
“Quitman is a good football team, let’s start there," said Troup head coach, Sam Wells. "It was a good win for us to start district and that's what we wanted to have happen. We played really well and I was happy with the way we performed.”
Kevin Pierce led the early surge, running for two touchdowns in the first quarter, capped off by a long, 77 yarder to put the Tigers up 21-0 early in the game.
"It's really, really tiring to be honest," Pierce said. "I'm not a long distance person. I'm good with 10 yards and just taking a break after that. But you know, when I got to the end zone, it was relief. I was relieved that I've made it down there. I'd say probably is my longest run.”
"That was just another instance of a big play and good player making a big play," Wells said. "And everybody doing their job offensively.”
Pierce finished the night with 108 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries and added two tackles for loss and an interception on the defensive side.
“Every point we score, every tackle we make, every fumble recovery, all that it's all for Cooper,” Pierce said.
Next, the Troup Tigers hit the road Friday against a tough Edgewood team that lost their district opener to Grand Saline.
The Tigers vowing to continue playing for Cooper.