The Selma Times-Journal

The Trojans upset Abbeville in week one but fell at Jefferson Christian 14-6, but Friday, the Trojans bounced back and defeated fifth-ranked Evangel, 25-6.

The Trojan offense was led by their senior running back Dustin Lee, who carried the ball 33 times for a career high 246 yards and three touchdowns.

Lee wasn’t just dominant on the offensive side of the ball. He brought down an interception and returned for 19-yards to set the Trojans up inside the Lion 20 yard line.

The Trojans also had Landon Mehan back on the field. The senior middle linebacker and fullback is, as Jackson describes, the heart of the Black Hat defense and one of the team’s top leaders. Against Jefferson Christian, Mehan was forced to sit and watch, nursing a cervical sprain. But, this week, he was cleared by the doctor to play and made an impact through the first three quarters of the game. But, once the Trojans had the game well in-hand, the senior came out.

According to Jackson, his offensive line and wide receivers also got in on the blocking action and helped blow the Lion defense off the ball to create running lanes for Lee, Mehan and quarterback Blake Smith, who also rushed for a touchdown. As a team, the Trojans rushed for over 300 yards.

Friday night, Meadowview’s Black Hat defense made their presence felt, forcing a fumble and then recovering it inside the Lion 30-yard line.

Lee led the offense to a pair of first downs before breaking free on a 16-yard sprint capped off by a stumble into the end zone. The point after attempt was wide left, and the Trojans jumped ahead 6-0.

The Trojans threatened to score a second first half touchdown, but a toss from Smith to Lee sailed high and was recovered by the Evangel defense.

With 1:09 left in the half, the Trojans finally began to separate themselves from their foes when Lee broke through the line and sprinted 34-yards and into the end zone. The Trojans try for two points, but Smith’s pass to Mehan in the end zone was broken up. The Trojans, however were still in control, 12-0.

The Lions returned the kickoff to midfield. On first and 10 from their own 37, Evangel’s J.J. Blackmon was a victim of football theft.

Mehan stripped the ball from Blackmon and carried it 30-yards in the opposite direction before being forced down at the seven-yard line.

On first and goal, Smith rolled out on a play-action and into the end zone for the score. The two-point attempt fell into the hands of the defense, but the Trojans were able to carry an 18-0 lead into the intermission.

The Trojans, however began to let complacency take over as Andrew Allen fumbled the opening kickoff which was recovered a Lion defender.

Evangel began to string together a small drive, but after being tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then one play later were flagged for failure to wear proper equipment resulting in a loss of down, were forced to hand the ball back over to the home team.

Smith, Lee and Mehan led the Trojan offense on a march from their own 19-yard line down the field and into the end zone. The 71-yard drive, which ate more than seven minutes off the clock, was capped by a three-yard blast into the end zone from Lee.

The point after touchdown split the uprights and the Trojans were cruising with a 25-0 lead.

With time ticking down in the fourth quarter, the Evangel offense finally began to fire on all cylinders, granted it was against mostly underclassmen in the Black Hat defense. The Lions moved the ball 92-yards, hitting paydirt with 7:25 left in the game.

Chris Bibb took the handoff from quarterback Matthew Lanier. Bibb, who is built low to the ground, blasted through the Trojan defense for the score. But it was too little, too late for the Lions.

The Trojans will be on the road next weekend, traveling to Harpersville to face the Rebels of Coosa Valley Academy

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.