East Troy loses to Cougars, 53-21
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The Clinton football team raised more than a few eyebrows last year when it advanced all the way to one game from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 5 state championship.
And four contests into 2017, it looks like the Cougars are setting the stage for another long postseason run.
East Troy became the latest victim to the juggernaut that is Clinton on Friday night, as the Cougars sprinted out to a 46-0 halftime lead en route to a 53-21 Rock Valley Conference victory.
The loss dropped the Trojans to 3-1, while Clinton, ranked third in last week’s wissports.net poll, improved to 4-0.
Clinton, Beloit Turner and Jefferson all sit atop the RVC standings, each at 4-0.
The numbers the Cougars have put up in just four games are eye-popping. The Cougars have outscored their opponents, 177-56, including a decisive 134-16 advantage in the first half.
Count East Troy coach Jeff Crandall as among those who are impressed.
“Clinton is very sound in how they run the option,” he said. “It makes them very hard to defend.”
The Cougars led 14-0 in the first quarter before they put five more touchdowns on the scoreboard to put things out of reach.
Clinton quarterback Tyler Halsted scored on runs of 14, 1 and 3 yards, along with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Nelson.
Adding touchdowns for the Cougars were Zach Krause on a 28-yard run, Connor Mulooly on a 33-yard interception return and Colin Warpula on a 14-yard run.
Krause led the Clinton rushing attack with 18 carries for 232 yards to bring his season total to 926 yards on 69 carries and eight touchdowns. He’s averaging 13.4 yards per carry and 231.5 yards a game.
In short, he’s a load to deal with, Crandall said.
“Krause is a big, strong kid with very good speed,” he said. “He has teammates who block very hard for him.”
After Krause scored on a 34-yard run midway through the third quarter to push the Cougars’ lead to 54-0, the Trojans finally reached the end zone.
Quintin Schoville scored on a 65-yard touchdown run, followed by a 3-yard score by Eli Newhouse. East Troy closed out the scoring on a 4-yard pass from Jake Dessart to Newhouse.
Led by Schoville’s 100 yards rushing on 13 carries and Dessart’s 45 on 14 carries, the Trojans finished the night with 235 yards on the ground.
But nothing they gained came easy, Crandall said.
“Clinton tackled very well,” he said. “It was hard to get yards after contact against them. They play very fundamentally sound on defense.”
East Troy looks to rebound this week when it travels to Whitewater tonight for a 7 p.m. RVC matchup with the Whippets.
Whitewater is still seeking its first win, as it dropped to 0-4 with a 14-7 loss last week to Edgerton – but Crandall knows his team will have to put its best foot forward.
“Whitewater has a number of very good players,” he said. “They are getting better each week.”
The keys to success moving forward aren’t complicated, Crandall said.
“We need to execute our game plan,” he said. “(We need to) play fast and physical from the start of the game to the end.”
