Football team takes down Jefferson for first win of season
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
There’s no doubt the East Troy High School football team needed to get into the victory column Friday night when it hosted Jefferson.
That’s just what the Trojans did – and in dominating fashion to boot.
East Troy scored 23 points in the second quarter and never looked back from there in a dominating 44-14 Rock Valley Conference win.
The victory improved the Trojans to 1-1 in the RVC and 1-3 overall.
Everything came together at just the right time, East Troy coach Eric Sulik said.
“I’m extremely proud of our players, coaching staff and support staff,” he said. “They put in a ton of time, effort and energy into our program.
“We had a great crowd that was vocal and brought energy to the game. Our student body was amazing.”
As oftentimes is the case when things go well, all three phases had a hand in the win, Sulik said.
It truly was a complete team effort.
“Our offense was physical and established our running attack early,” Sulik said. “Our defense, outside of one series, was physical and forced Jefferson to pass. Our special teams probably made the playoff the game with (an) onside kick recovery.”
The Trojans’ offense ran 44 plays Friday night and came away with six touchdowns – an extremely efficient effort, Sulik said.
Ryan Olsen led the rushing corps with 189 yards on 20 carries. Other individual statistics and scoring plays were unavailable this week.
“I thought we played very well,” he said. “Our offensive line came to play. Our senior offensive linemen are leading the way, and our sophomore side (left tackle, left guard) are stepping up to the challenge.
“Ryan Olsen is as physical a runner as you will find in our conference.”
Defense takes step
Not to be outdone, the Trojans’ defense also began to show some positive signs in the win, Sulik said.
The key Friday was that unit put together four solid quarters, he added.
“Our defense is heading in the right direction,” Sulik said. “We have been solid at times this season, but our guys were able to put together a complete game on Friday night.
“Our defensive line gave Jefferson a lot of trouble, and our linebacker play was the best we have played. (There’s) a lot of room for improvement, but I like where we are heading.”
Next up for the Trojans is a trip to Whitewater Friday night for a 7 p.m. RVC matchup with the Whippets.
Whitewater fell to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play last week with a hard-fought 21-20 loss at Edgerton.
Sulik knows, however, that Whitewater will be yet another challenge his team must overcome.
“Whitewater is much improved with a new coaching staff,” he said. “Bryan Parker is an outstanding receiver, and their defense held Edgerton and McFarland in check.
“They will be ready to play us on Friday night. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
Sulik said he wants to see his team come out of the gates a little better than it did against Jefferson.
“We would like to get off to a better start than we did on Friday night,” he said. “Whitewater has made some big play early, and that confidence has carried them to a victory over McFarland.
“Whitewater (also) was a last-minute kickoff return away from beating Edgerton. We must contain their best player, Bryan Parker.”
Through four games, Parker has 18 receptions for 428 yards and two touchdowns, along with 17 carries for 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
