The Troy Trojans football team took to Veterans Memorial Stadium on April 12 to finish off spring practices with the annual T-Day Game in front of Trojan fans. 

The game was surrounded by a number of festivities that included the annual Lunch with Legends luncheon, Kids Camp with nearly 200 children taking part and the Tory Athletics Yard Sale.

The game itself was different from a typical spring scrimmage. The first quarter saw a combination of 7-on-7 competition and individual one-on-one competitions. The second quarter was the “Race for 18,” which saw the offenses and defenses face off against each other with the first two get to 18 winning along with a kicking competition. 

The third quarter was more of a scrimmage scenario and the fourth quarter saw a punt, pass and kick competition. In the end, the final score had the Cardinal team winning 99-74 over the the white team. 

In the first quarter, starting quarterback Goose Crowder was intercepted by Georgia transfer safety David Daniel-Sisavanh. Freshman quarterback Jack James was also intercepted by freshman cornerback Marlin Odom and freshman safety OJ Vaughan Jr. in back-to-back drives. 

In the second quarter, kicker Paddy McAteer hit a 32-yard field gaol and Matthew Caldwell threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to DJ Epps. Running back Jordan Lovett also broke off a 25-yard touchdown run. 

Trent Henry intercepted Caldwell and then McAteer capped off the first half with three-straight 40-yard field goal makes. The highlight of the third quarter saw Troy native Jywon Boyd make a leaping 20-yard catch from James along the sideline. 

“As I said before, this was all about our families, our players and the great fans and youth in our community,” Troy Coach Gerad Parker said of T-Day. “We went back and forth, had some fun and go to play a little bit. It’s exactly what we wanted today.”

Quarterback Goose Crowder reflected on his first chance to play in front of Troy fans since suffering a head injury last season. 

“It went good, another day out here with the guys throwing the ball around was great,” Crowder said with a smile. “I was glad to see all the fans in the stands and the kids camp was awesome. It was a beautiful day for it and we had a lot of fun. 

“You never truly know how much you miss something until it’s gone. It was weird putting that helmet on the first day and I haven’t taken anything for granted, not a single season. I loved every minute this spring.”

Boyd was a player that could be seen all spring making highlight catches, not just his third quarter leaping grab during T-Day, but he pointed to some other players that Troy fans should be watching out for in 2025.

“People should watch out for Tray Taylor,” Boyd emphasized. “The No. 1 reason people will doubt him is because of his size but he’s dangerous. He has speed and he can catch and get open any time he wants to. Roman Mothershed already feels like he has a lot to prove coming from (junior college) and I think he’ll be dangerous this season.”

Parker said that the biggest plus for the Trojans this spring was the ability to develop players that they weren’t able to do as much last spring because of roster size.

“The key for us is we have a roster number that allowed us to practice and develop from the first group to the second group and third group,” Parker emphasized. “We developed our team and got better and that was the whole key. We were able to do that because of our roster numbers and being able to practice three groups.”

The next step for the Trojans is to continue to improve during summer workouts heading into fall camp.

“We have to take better from the spring and take more steps forward to apply that to the summer,” Parker continued. “Now we have to go and attack our deficiencies and our strengths in the summer to take another step before we get into fall camp.”