The stage was different, but the result was the same on Friday evening for the Troy High football team.

The Flying Horses, who are ranked No. 4 in New York State, at the Class A level, played under the Friday night lights for the first time ever and defeated Bishop Maginn, 48-7.

Troy High has a very strong tradition under longtime coach Jack Burger, but they haven’t ever played a home game under the bright lights.

"Guys played with a lot of enthusiasm," Burger said in the postgame, after his team improved to 5-0. "It was exciting. It was the atmosphere we've been hoping for a long time. I just want to thank everyone in the Troy community for making this possible for our football program and these guys and all these kids in Troy. This is going to be huge for everybody and it's a first-class facility."

The Flying Horses have won seven Section II titles, under Burger, including last year, when they advanced all the way to the Class AA New York State championship game, at the Carrier Dome, in Syracuse.

Troy had played its first four games on the road, as their new facility was in the final stages of completion. The facility includes new football, soccer and lacrosse fields, in addition to tennis courts and practice fields.

While the track around the field was still not yet complete, the school put the beautiful new FieldTurf field on display for the area Friday night, as the game was televised on Time Warner-3.

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On this evening, the Flying Horses were playing a tough Griffins team that lost their first game of the year, the week before.

Bishop Maginn played tough for the first half, but eventually Troy High showed just too much fire power, turning a 21-0 halftime lead into a runaway.

Quarterback Raheem Felder, who missed the first two games of the season with an injury, ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.

"It was a great experience," said Felder, about playing under the lights.

Daquan Holmes, who hauled in a 33-yard score from Felder, also returned a punt for a score and Victor Pirela added a late touchdown run for Troy.

"This has never happened in Troy history," Holmes said. "We were pumped."

The Griffins did get on the board in the fourth quarter, when talented tailback Matthias McKinnon ran in a long touchdown.

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