Troy Is Well-Positioned for a 40-13 Victory Over Sunny Hills

Troy’s football team delivered a lesson in real estate Friday night against Sunny Hills, illustrating the principle of location, location, location.

Despite barely edging the Lancers in total yards, 362-336, the Warriors scored three times as many touchdowns en route to a 40-13 victory at Buena Park High in the Freeway League opener for both teams.

Consistently better field position, mostly due to Sunny Hills turnovers, provided the difference for Troy, which started four of 10 possessions at the Lancer 35-yard line or better.

“The defense played a big role tonight and gave us a short field a number of times,” said Troy Coach John Turek.

Running backs Brett Murray and Tom Osborn took it from there.

Murray, who entered the game as the county’s leading rusher, gained 142 yards in 27 carries--running his season total to 1,115 yards--and scored four touchdowns for Troy (5-1, 1-0). Osborn added 107 yards rushing and a fourth-quarter touchdown in 12 carries.

“It’s my line,” Murray said. “I’d run and there’d be a huge hole you could drive a truck through.”

Sunny Hills running back Brandon Shepard broke tackle after tackle to finish with a game-high 252 yards in 36 carries, but he fumbled twice, setting up touchdowns for the Warriors.

Troy led, 7-0, before two minutes had elapsed. Steve Harris intercepted a pass on the game’s second play, and three plays later Murray ran for a three-yard touchdown.

Shepard’s 36-yard touchdown run three minutes later drew Sunny Hills (2-4, 0-1) even, but Troy took a 21-7 lead before halftime, then drove 60 yards in seven plays to open the second half for a 28-7 lead.