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On Saturday, the Troy Trojans held the second scrimmage of fall camp but it ended up being about more than simulating a game for the team as sophomore safety Justin Powe was awarded with a scholarship.

Powe, a Mobile native, was surprised by his parents walking onto the field just before the announcement was made that the former walk-on would now be a scholarship athlete.

“I saw my parents and I was a little bit confused,” Powe said with a smile. “After everyone started running at me I knew what was going on. (My parents) said they were proud of me and acknowledged my handwork and determination and effort to keep pushing and striving to get to where I am today.”

Troy coach Gerad Parker said that it was special to be able to surprise Powe with his parents for the announcement.

“There is no better feeling than that,” Parker said of awarding Powe with the scholarship. “He earned it, we just get a little pleasure to be a part of it. He did the work and put everything in to being a good player and he earned this. As parents we don’t get many secrets and to be able to bring his parents here without him knowing, and to do that to surprise him and for them to be able to experience, that felt pretty special.”

Powe played at Davidson High School in Mobile, earning All-State honors as a senior. Like Powe, former Troy All-American Carlton Martial started his career as a walk-on.

“Carlton is from the city, Mobile, so it’s like following in his footsteps almost,” Powe said. “That’s big shoes to fill but I feel like if I keep working anything can happen.”

Another big moment for the Trojans last week came with the announcement that junior Goose Crowder will be Troy’s starting quarterback as the season starts.

“The process of that decision is totally made up from production,” Parker said of Crowder. “That’s how we have to award every position on his whole roster. If you do that, guys know you stand for the truth. The fact is the truth behind his numbers, his completion percentage, how he honors the ball and his leadership skills, he won the job and it was time to name him as the starter and let the guys celebrate him. He’s our starting quarterback.”

Troy played in the heat on Saturday with a situational scrimmage and Parker was pleased with the physicality he saw.

“I thought it was good,” he continued. “We didn’t tackle to the ground because it isn’t time to do that because of how close we are (to a game). As a team, though, we were still physical about tackling. It’s good working with the officials in the stadium and treating it like a game scenario.

“We did a lot of segments of situational football. We did four minute segments, two minute scenarios, a couple of late plays with the whistle down to the clock that we need to work on the mechanics of a live game to get as close as we can to have our team prepared for all of that.”

Parker also saw plenty to clean up before the season opener against Nevada.

“We had some pre-snap penalties on offense that were disappointing and I thought defensively, we got caught in some situations where we weren’t lined up,” he said.

Troy is back at it this week as the Trojans get closer to preparation for Nevada.