The longer a team allows its opponent hang around, the worse off it is.

West had every opportunity to put Troy away in Thursday's Westfest Bowl, but it couldn't deliver the knockout blow.

And when Jason Mayo sacked Kolbey Carpenter on a two-point conversion in the fourth overtime, the battle of the Trojans went Troy's way, 39-37 Thursday night.

West's Heath Harris scores past Troy's Jason Mayo in the first half Thursday night at Waco ISD Stadium.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

Marcus Ege ripped through the West defense 21 yards untouched for a touchdown, and Bodazypha Farmer dove in for the two-point conversion that proved to be the decing points in the final stanza.

West still had a chance, though. Carpenter delivered a strike to Heath Harris, who leapt and caught the pass just as he was being blasted by a Troy defender and held onto it as he fell backward into the end zone.

But on the two-point try, Carpenter rolled right and tried to fight Mayo off. But Mayo took out Carpenther's legs, and the Troy sideline erupted in jubilant celebration.

"We were talking about how much fun the game was (in overtime)," Troy coach Grady Rowe said. "Some good and some bad was happening, but we were having fun. I just told them to keep their head up."

Both teams had a chance to win in overtime needing only a field goal.

For Troy, that chance came in the second extra session, but Troy kicker Brandon Clark followed Harris' missed field goal with one of his own, and the game continued. Carpenter scored on West's possession, but a penalty on the run brought it back, and Harris' kick was wide right.

Carpenter made a sliding interception of a Tyler Whitley pass on the first play of the third overtime, but this time it was Harris who couldn't capitalize on a game-winning field goal attempt.

The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, with Ege rumbling in from 9 yards out, while Harris leapt above his defender to come down with a fade pass from Carpenter.

Carpenter had a huge night, going 25-for-36 for 341 yards, while Harris toyed with the Troy secondary to catch 16 passes for 241 yards and all three of Carpenter's touchdown strikes of 30, 8 and 25 yards to earn West's MVP honor.

But for the second straight week, five turnovers dismantled any chance of West carrying any momentum.

And most of them hurt badly because they either killed potential scoring drives or set up Troy for points.

West jumped all over Troy early, scoring on its first two drives on an 8-yard run by Kolby Webre and a 30-yard catch-and-run by Harris.

"We talked a little because we came out dragging," Rowe said. "We had our heads down, and we looked like a whipped little puppy dog with its tail between its legs. But it was big for us because we faced some adversity and overcame it."

On West's last possession of the first quarter, its turnover flaw began to show.

Hayden Grimm fumbled on the first play of the march, and Troy's Justin Morales gladly scooped up the loose pigskin and strolled 39 yards untouched for the score to cut its deficit in half, 14-7.

That was just the beginning, as West turned it over on its next two possessions as well. The first one came when Carpenter couldn't handle the snap cleanly, but picked it up and tossed to Chris Kunkel, who never got the handle and Troy's Isaiah Ross jumped on the fumble at the Troy 2-yard line.

That miscue kept West from scoring, but the next one allowed Troy to even the score. Carpenter was picked off by Mayo, who raced 22 yards to the West 16. On fourth-and-1 from the West 7, Ege plowed in for the first of his three touchdowns to go along with 116 yards on the ground with less than a minute remaining before halftime.

"We went from a situation where we could control the whole game to being tied," West coach Rick Wolf said. " ... We've got to do a better job of being focused and responsible when carrying the ball. We have great things happen, then something bad happens and it just builds."

West managed to take the lead into the locker room on a 35-yard Harris field goal two seconds before halftime.

Troy’s Marcus Ege (left) strips West’s Kolby Webre of the football in the second quarter, one of five West turnovers Thursday night at Waco ISD Stadium.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Still, Troy was thrilled to go into halftime trailing only by three after being thoroughly dominated in the game's first 24 minutes. West piled up 222 yards of total offense during that span, while Troy managed only 38.

"We told our kids to play every play as hard as they can and play with heart," Rowe said. "Look how bad we played, and look at the scoreboard. After that, they started believing a little bit."

And when West couldn't get out of its own way again, Troy finally found itself with momentum — and the lead.

Carpenter and Harris connected on a 19-yard pass across midfield, but a big hit forced a fumble and Zach Gibson recovered at the Troy 44.

Despite a holding penalty, Troy took only five plays to strike paydirt. Ege raced 23 yards to the West 27, and Farmer, who led Troy with 130 yards rushing to earn his team's MVP award, did the honors two plays later on a 26-yard burst up the middle to make it a 21-17 Troy lead with 1:22 left in the third quater.

Troy tacked on a 21-yard Clark field goal for a seven-point bulge with 9:05 left in regulation after Carpenter and Harris had a bad exchange on an end-around.

Undaunted, West marched all the way to the Troy 2, where it faced a fourth-and-goal with the clock ticking away. Carpenter took the snap and darted into the middle of the line, where he met a wall and was stopped just short of the goal line.

That's when Troy went to work on the clock. Despite moving only 19 yards on its next march, it took more than three minutes, leaving West with only 2:12 for its final chance to extend the game.

Carpenter was at his best, alternating with Justin Sepeda and Harris on the drive before back-to-back 5-yarders to Harris put the ball at the Troy 3. From there, Webre found a seam off-tackle and scored with 43 seconds left in regulation and send the game to overtime.

This wacotrib.com exclusive is an expanded version of the article that appeared in the Friday, Sept. 3 edition of the Tribune-Herald.