FULLERTON – Thanks in large part to its defense, Troy was in control during their entire nonleague contest against Canyon on Friday at Fullerton High.
The Warriors then broke the contest open with three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a season opening 34-7 victory.
For the first three quarters and well into the fourth, the Comanches didn’t have a rush longer than six yards and were 3 for 10 on third down conversions for the game.
“Our defense stifled their offense all night,” Troy coach Kevin Hastin said. “We put our defense in some tough spots and they responded big time.”
Hastin was pleased with the play of his first-year starting quarterback Thomas Becerra, who completed nine of 17 passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
“He ran the offense well,” the coach said.
Senior Dominic Vaccher, who will likely be Becerra’s favorite target all season, was on caught touchdown passes, one for 6 yards and the other for 39 yards.
Troy’s Junior running back Draytwoine Shaw wore down the Comanches defense, carrying 22 times for 206 yards and scoring on runs of 18 and 70 yards in the fourth quarter.
Troy (1-0) led 14-0 heading in the fourth when quarterback Jason Harman scored on a one-yard run to get Canyon (0-1) on the board.
But Shaw’s 18 yard scoring run on Troy’s ensuing drive put the Warriors back up by two touchdowns.
Later in the quarter, Canyon punted after being held to three-and-out.
Then, on Troy’s first play of the series, Shaw put the game away with his 70-yard touchdown run.
Junior running back rushed 20 times for 112 yards and Harman completed 16 of 26 passes for 146 yards for Canyon.
Hastin said his team made some mistakes and is looking for improvement in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got to get a lot better, but I’ll take it for the first game,” said.
Contact the writer: lponsi@ocregister.com
