By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
While it was on the schedule as a high school football game Friday night, the Rock Valley Conference matchup between East Troy and McFarland quickly turned into an old-fashioned shootout.
And, unfortunately for the Trojans, they didn’t have quite enough ammunition.
McFarland scored on three plays of 50 yards or more and held on for a 46-34 victory. The loss dropped East Troy to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the RVC North.
While the game likely was entertaining for the fans, it didn’t quite reach that level for East Troy coach Eric Sulik.
“It would have been a lot more fun if we came away with a win,” he said. “The difference was turnovers. We had five and they didn’t have any. Credit to McFarland.
“We fought the entire game and never gave up. We are just making too many execution errors to win games. McFarland executed better in critical situations.”
McFarland held what appeared to be a comfortable 40-21 lead after a 59-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
But the Trojans refused to go away.
Quarterback Charlie Kutschenreuter, who passed for 238 yards and rushed for 157 more, scored on a 49-yard jaunt and then hit Will Iloncaie on an 8-yard score to pull the Trojans to within six points at 40-34 with 3:18 left.
“Charlie often is the best athlete on the field and shows it game in and game out. I know he would like to take back two passes he had in the first quarter (both interceptions). He is truly a dual-threat at quarterback.”
But that was as close as East Troy would get, as the Spartans iced the win with a late 32-yard touchdown run.
The first quarter started and ended with plenty of fireworks.
McFarland scored on a 76-yard touchdown pass just 39 seconds into the game and then added a 74-yard run with 10 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Not to be outdone, the Kutschenreuter-Iloncaie duo hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown strike less than two minutes later to put East Troy on the scoreboard
From there, the teams exchanged touchdowns before the exciting fourth-quarter finish.
Kutschenreuter, who was involved in four of his team’s five scores, recorded a 7-yard touchdown run with 1:44 left before halftime. Ryan Olsen scored four minutes into the second half on an 8-yard run.
Olsen added 63 yards rushing on 10 carries for the Trojans, while Iloncaie caught four passes for 96 yards. Zachary Zewiske had five receptions for 91 yards.
On the road this week
East Troy heads to Edgerton this week to face the Tide Friday night at 7 p.m. Edgerton fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the RVC with a 27-14 loss last week to Evansville-Albany.
Edgerton is led by senior standout running back Ricky Williams, who enters play this week ranked third in the state in rushing yards with 1,246. He has 15 touchdowns and just one fumble in 148 attempts.
It’s not difficult to identify what East Troy needs to do this week.
“We need to contain Ricky Williams, reduce or eliminate turnover and play physical,” Sulik said. “If we can do that, I like our chances.”
