Football team travels to Big Foot tonight for next challenge
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Heading into the second half of Friday night’s season opener against visiting McFarland, the East Troy football team found itself in a tight battle with the Spartans.
The changed drastically in the next 24 minutes, however.
East Troy outscored McFarland 19-0 in the second half to give first-year head coach Jeff Crandall his first varsity win in a 33-7 Rock Valley Conference decision.
Everything seemed to come together for East Troy, which improved to 1-0, Crandall said.
“Our defense played well,” he said. “Our coaches did a great job of preparing our players, and our players executed the defensive game plan very well.
“The defense created multiple turnovers that gave our offense some good field position, (and) our special teams came up with some big plays, including a blocked punt, which was key for us.”
Sophomore quarterback Jacob Dessart scored two second-half touchdowns on runs of 2 and 8 yards, followed by a 27-yard touchdown by Owen Goedland late in the fourth quarter that put the finishing touches on the victory.
Goedland’s score came after the second of two lightning delays that stalled action during the night. Play resumed for the second time after 11 p.m.
Several factors came into play in the second half that helped the Trojans pull away, Crandall said.
“Our athletes work hard in practice and in the weight room,” he said. “This allows us to continue to push the pace of the game, which is what we want to do.’
East Troy struck first on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dessart to Truman Kent with 2:16 left in the first quarter.
Dessart and Noah Nyffler then connected on an 11-yard scoring play just 56 seconds into the second quarter to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead.
For the game, Dessart completed five of 17 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions for 83 yards. He also rushed 13 times for 56 yards and the two second-half touchdowns.
Not a bad way for a young quarterback to kick off the season, his coach said.
“Playing quarterback in our offense is not an easy job,” Crandall said. “We expect our quarterbacks to make numerous different reads on each play.
“We felt Dessart played well. There are areas we will work with him to improve, but we feel he has a bright future ahead of him.”
McFarland scored its only touchdown of the game with 4:38 left before halftime to cut the deficit to 14-7.
Goedland leads way
East Troy finished the night with 224 yards on the ground, including a team-high 115 on 20 carries by Goedland. Dylan Jakscht added 53 yards on 14 carries to go with Dessart’s 56 that gave the Trojans the balanced attack Crandall was looking for.
“As a program, we want to get as many players contributing as possible,” he said. “This makes us better as a team and as a program.
“The more players we can get involved, the better we become as an offensive unit and (that) makes us harder to defend.”
Nyffler had three receptions for 35 yards, while Kent had one for 30 and Tyler Zindars one for 18 yards.
Defensively, Sam Goral led the way with 13 tackles, followed by Sean Cox with 12, Chase Coleman with 10, A.J. Kulick with eight and Goedland with seven.
Earning his first varsity win was a great way to finish the night, Crandall said, but he deflected the credit elsewhere.
“Winning is an exciting thing,” he said. “I am glad that I am surrounded by an excellent coaching staff. They are a big part of our success as a team.”
Another test this week
East Troy travels to Big Foot Friday night to face the Chiefs, who opened the season with a 28-27 victory last week over Brodhead-Juda.
Crandall knows his team needs to keep working, and he’s also well aware of the success Big Foot has had.
The teams split a pair of games last year, but Big Foot knocked the Trojans from the playoffs with a 7-6 victory in the first round.
“Big Foot has been a very good program for numerous years,” Crandall said. “They have a quarterback (Jackson Enz) who is a great player, and they have an aggressive defense.
“We will work to improve in all three phases of our game, and (we) are excited to play Big Foot this week.”
