Evansville-Albany outscores East Troy, 42-15
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
With just two regular-season games remaining, the leaders in the Rock Valley Conference are beginning to separate from the pack.
And after a tight first quarter Friday night, one of those teams made it clear they’re not going away quietly – at the expense of the East Troy football team.
Visiting Evansville-Albany exploded for 35 points in the middle two quarters to break a 7-7 tie en route to a dominating 42-15 victory.
The loss dropped East Troy to 4-3, while Evansville improved to 6-1, good for a first-place tie with Clinton.
“Evansville was able to sustain drives offensively and stop our drives, which led to them taking control of the game,” East Troy coach Jeff Crandall said.
“(They have) the most size that we have seen this year. Both of their lines were filled with big people.”
After Evansville took an early lead four minutes into the contest, the Trojans responded to quickly tie things up.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Dessart, who rushed 13 times for 48 yards, scored on a 9-yard touchdown run at the 4:55 mark. Noah Nyffeler added the extra point to tie things up at 7-7.
East Troy running back Owen Goedland, who racked up 209 yards on 27 carries, drew plenty of attention from Evansville’s defense, which helped Dessart find room to run, Crandall said.
“Owen was running the ball very well, and when that is the case, teams focus on stopping him, which opens up other aspects of our offense,” he said.
“The offensive line blocked well on the play, and Jake made sure he made the most of it by scoring on the play.”
From there, however, Evansville took control.
The visitors piled up 35 unanswered points, including touchdown runs of 3, 42 and 12 yards by Chase Katzenmeyer, his last with just one second left in the third quarter that gave the Blue Devils a commanding 42-7 lead.
East Troy put its final points on the board late in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard run by Dessart.
For the game, East Troy finished with 13 passing yards, but outgained Evansville 305-206 on the ground. The Blue Devils passed for 126 yards.
The loss was disappointing, but Crandall said the focus never changes regardless of the outcome.
“We always look to improve each week, to correct our mistakes and get better,” he said. “We talked that, in football land life, things do not always go your way, but how you respond is what defines you as a person.
“We will be looking to have a great week of practice, get better each day and be prepared to play Beloit Turner on Friday.”
East Troy travels to Turner tonight to face the 3-4 Trojans, who dropped their third straight game last week, a 49-7 decision to Jefferson.
Turner’s recent downward slide doesn’t change how East Troy will go about its business, however.
“Turner is a good team with good speed and players who will play hard,” Crandall said. “We will need to execute well in all three phases of the game.”
