Matz sidelined with sprained ankle
By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
Fans attending Friday’s Homecoming contest in East Troy barely had a chance to get to their seats when the Trojans lost starting quarterback Brandon Matz to a severely sprained ankle.
That could have been the start of something bad for East Troy if the Trojans had let it.
But they simply refused.
Back-up quarterback Charlie Kutschenreuter moved from his wide receiver position to under center and helped lead the Trojans to a convincing 54-14 Rock Valley Conference victory over visiting Parkview.
The win improved East Troy to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the RVC. The Trojans need to win their last two regular-season games to qualify for the post-season.
“We felt good about winning and felt a better about this game than after the Edgerton game (last week),” Eric Sulik said. “Now it put us in position if we win this Friday and next Friday, we qualify for the playoffs.
“We don’t have the opportunity to be a conference champion, but we can still qualify for the playoffs and have a pretty successful season.”
East Troy wasted little time in taking control, as Zach Lamb’s 13-yard touchdown run put the Trojans on the scoreboard a little more than three minutes into the contest.
Kutschenreuter, who rushed for 234 yards on 21 carries, got into the act with a 10-yard score late in the period to give East Troy a 13-0 lead. Lamb, who had 130 yards on the ground, added a 6-yard run to paydirt at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter before the Vikings finally scored to cut into the deficit.
But with just 14 seconds left before the intermission, the Trojans struck again, this time on a 3-yard run by Kutschenreuter, who then connected on the two-point conversion to Cody Studt and East Troy led 27-6.
The second half was much the same, as East Troy added four more touchdowns to salt away the win.
Kutschenreuter scored on runs of 79 and 25 yards, while Lamb added touchdowns of 1 and 5 yards to put the game out of reach.
Lamb, who saw limited action last year because of injury, gave the Trojans quite the one-two punch Friday night, Sulik said.
“He had an outstanding game, too, probably his best effort of the season,” Sulik said. “He’s mature enough to understand it wasn’t all on his own, that the offensive line did an outstanding job opening up holes.”
In addition to his team-high rushing yards, Kutschenreuter completed six of eight passing attempts for 82 yards. Sam Eckert led the receiving corps with four catches for 54 yards.
Kutschenreuter practiced at quarterback during the summer, but as the season began, his reps at that position were pretty limited, Sulik said.
But the transition didn’t appear to be much of a struggle Friday night.
“He had some, but out of 10 snaps, I would say Brandon gets nine of them,” Sulik said. “Charlie is one of the most intelligent football players I’ve ever coached. The kid is very, very bright and can pick up things. He’s really made himself into a really good football player.”
Sulik added that his team felt confident right after Matz went down that Kutschenreuter could do the job.
“He brings a different element to our offense,” Sulik said. “His leadership is part of the reason the kids didn’t flinch. He had shown that abilities when he wasn’t playing quarterback.”
As a team, East Troy rushed 38 times for 412 yards, while Parkview had just 96 yards rushing on 42 attempts.
Playoffs on the line
This week’s matchup at Evansville Friday night features a pair of teams with plenty on the line when it comes to the playoffs.
Evansville-Albany comes into the game at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the RVC after it whipped Beloit Turner 41-8 last week. One win in its final two games will send Evansville to the post-season.
And for the Trojans, they must win both of their last two if they want to play at least one more game
Sulik knows the challenge his team faces.
“There’s a lot of motivation for us going into the game,” he said. “(Evansville) has a pretty good defense, but at the same time, they don’t look nearly as physical as they did last season.
“I have to respect their tradition. It seems like they’re always making the playoffs. Their guys will be motivated, too. We haven’t played well on the road, and hopefully, we can break that streak on Friday.”
Sulik said it looks like Matz will miss at least this week’s game and possibly the season finale as well. If the Trojans earn a playoff berth, Sulik said there’s a chance Matz could return to the lineup at that time.
