By Dan Truttschel
Sports correspondent
For one half last Friday night, the Big Foot football team had one of the state’s top Division 4 squads firmly on the ropes.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they couldn’t quite come up with the knockout punch.
Big Foot held a 22-12 lead over visiting Beloit Turner, but the Trojans scored five touchdowns in the final 24 minutes to pull away in a 46-28 Rock Valley Conference victory. The loss dropped the Chiefs to 1-4, while Turner, ranked eighth in Division 4, improved to 5-0.
“We had a great first half of play,” Big Foot coach Greg Enz said. “We missed on a great scoring opportunity and gave up a touchdown that was a mistake in execution, but that was the best half of football we have played since late in the season last year.
“The key we have harped on is consistency, and that is the key to success. We have made progress over the weeks, and obviously, against very good opponents, the margin for error or inconsistent play can hurt you. We will continue to build on this each week going forward.”
Down 22-12 at halftime, the Trojans turned to Kenny Draeving in the third quarter, and he responded with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to give Turner the lead at 26-22.
After a 4-yard run by Turner’s Kyle Hanaman built the lead to 33-22, Big Foot answered back on a 7-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jackson Enz to Hunter Sharpe that cut the deficit to five points at 33-28 with 6:04 remaining.
But the Trojans closed things out with two more scores, a 30-yard run by Sereno Ferone and a 20-yard run by Hanaman to salt the game away.
“They made a couple of adjustments in their run game and attacked us a little differently than in the first half,” Enz said. “Also, as we made adjustments, they too were able to adjust to those as well, which is a credit to their players and coaches.
“The second part was they asserted themselves on the defensive line in the second half making it difficult to protect and run the ball. This forced a couple of costly turnovers and resulted in a big momentum shift.”
For complete game coverage, pick up a copy of the Sept. 22 Times/Reporter.
On the road
Big Foot travels to McFarland tonight to face the 2-3 Spartans, who fell, 28-27 to Brodhead last week.
Enz knows his squad will be in for a battle from the start.
“This is a solid team,” he said. “They run well and utilize a strong pass game with solid running in a spread offense. Their defense is sound and special teams is always challenging to deal with. They have taken strides as a program this year, and it can be seen in the (quarterback) play and the skill of the receivers on the team.”
The key again is to eliminate turnovers, which has been an ongoing issue, Enz said.
