Looking back on Saturday’s 46-6 loss at Plains-Hot Springs, veteran Troy head coach Rich McElmurry saw a little bit of Aaron Palmer in his opponent’s quarterback … an all-around player that could make things happen with his offense.

“He’s a pretty athletic kid … we knew that going in,” McElmurry said about Plains QB Riley Winebrenner, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more – all in the first quarter. “He threw the ball well and had speedy targets to throw to.”

Winebrenner scored on his team’s first play from scrimmage with a 72-yard scamper to the end zone. Later in the first, he scored on a 1-yard run and tossed touchdown passes of 37 yards to Carson Lilja and 6 yards to Brian Green.

“We came out very flat. They had that long run and we turn around and pick up two first downs but fumble the ball,” McElmurry said.

The fumble led to Winebrenner’s second TD. On the ensusing possession, the Trojans also moved the ball but the Horsemen took over with an interception. Plains scored again on Lilja’s reception and Troy was in a huge hole quick.

“Defensively we just didn’t play very well,” McElmurry said. “Offensively, they had too many weapons for us. They were very explosive and we were very flat.”

Troy never got much going offensively. Jake Alexander rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries and Caleb Kelso scored the lone Trojan touchdown on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

“We ended up with 200 yards of offense but it was pretty much scattered around,” McElmurry said.

Cody Hoff and Dillon Fryxell scored touchdowns for the Horsemen in the second quarter. Plains held a 37-6 lead at the half.

Although the defensive unit struggled as a whole, McElmurry did point out the efforts of one of his players.

“Brian Hammrich had a real good game … Brian was all over the field,” McElmurry said.

Troy allowed only nine points in the second half on a safety and 52-yard TD run by Fryxell.

The Trojans drop to 1-2 in District 7-B and 2-2 overall. Troy will step out of the conference this week with a trip to Superior.