By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The 2015 season didn’t get off on the right foot for the East Troy football squad, as the Trojans dropped their first three games.
From there, however, East Troy picked up the pace – to the tune of a six-game winning streak and a berth in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 playoffs.
Now that the 2016 campaign has arrived, East Troy looks to pick up right where it left off.
East Troy, 5-1 in the Rock Valley Conference North Division a year ago, opens the season Friday night against visiting McFarland at 7 p.m.
This year marks a change in the RVC, as the two-division look has been replaced by one 10-team conference. That also means teams will not have a nonconference schedule, but instead will face nine RVC opponents in the regular season.
The Trojans have a new head coach in Jeff Crandall, who replaces Eric Sulik, but the optimism and expectations remain in place.
“We will be led by our offensive and defensive lines,” Crandall said. “We also are expecting a handful of sophomores to step up and play big roles.”
Crandall and his coaching staff had their first look at the Trojans in a competitive setting last weekend at a preseason scrimmage in Lodi.
East Troy faced Lodi and Whitefish Bay Dominican, and the new Crandall left with a similar feeling as many coaches after a scrimmage.
“Overall, we felt we had strong play from our defense, and our offensive line is starting to communicate better,” he said. “We need to improve our execution on both sides of the ball.”
Leaders emerge
East Troy returns its top running back in senior Owen Goedland, who rushed for 963 yards on 118 attempts and 11 touchdowns last season.
Crandall said both Goedland and junior Jacob Mast (offensive line-linebacker) have established themselves as team leaders.
“(They) both lead by example with hard work, both on the field and in the weight room,” Crandall said. “We expect big things from both of them this year.”
Joining Goedland from the senior class ae Sam Goral (running back-linebacker), Noah Nyffler (receiver-defensive back), Nick Pallnich (receiver-defensive back), Jake Balciunas (receiver-defensive back), Truman Kent (linebacker-receiver), Alex Schahczinski (linebacker-running back), Sean Cox (offensive-defensive lineman), A.J. Kulick (offensive line-linebacker), Dawson Kruse (receiver-defensive back), Jordan Roby (receiver-defensive line) and Mason Malzahn (receiver-linebacker).
Other juniors on the varsity squad are Mike Burke (quarterback-defensive back), Chase Coleman (running back-linebacker), Tyler Zindars (receiver-defensive back), Austin Garcia (receiver-linebacker), Jake Pieper (defensive lineman-running back) and Chris Storandt (offensive-defensive lineman).
The Trojans’ roster also includes 21 sophomores, including five who saw varsity time as freshmen.
Those five are Jake Dessart (quarterback-defensive back), Dylan Jakscht (running back-linebacker), Logan Roberts (linebacker-offensive lineman), Noah Bearce (offensive-defensive lineman) and Max Hanson (offensive-defensive lineman).
Conference outlook
Looking at the RVC, Crandall sees Evansville-Albany, which won the North last year at 6-0, Brodhead-Juda and Jefferson as the top contenders this time around.
Brodhead finished in a four-way tie atop of the RVC South last year at 4-2, while Jefferson was 3-3 in the North.
Crandall didn’t shy away from what he expects in 2016.
“We plan to compete for a conference title,” he said.
