10 football players named to All-RVC teams
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School football team landed 10 players on this year’s All-Rock Valley Conference teams, according to voting results released this week.
Leading the way was senior Owen Goedland, who was a first-team pick as a running back and a defensive lineman. Goedland also was named the conference’s lineman of the year.
Joining Goedland on the first team are junior offensive lineman Chris Storandt and senior linebacker Mason Malzahn.
Second-team picks were senior Noah Nyffeler (wide receiver), sophomore John Marschke (offensive lineman), junior Jake Pieper (defensive lineman) and senior Sean Cox (defensive lineman).
Named honorable mention were junior Jacob Mast, senior Sam Goral and junior Chase Coleman.
The defensive honor for Goedland was his third first-team selection, East Troy coach Jeff Crandall said.
“Owen had a great season for us,” he said. “he has been a dominant defensive lineman for three years.
“Having a player be named lineman of the year is a big accomplishment for Owen and for us as a program.”
In nine games, Goedland had 58 total tackles, including 18 for a loss and five sacks.
As a running back, Goedland led the Trojans with 1,434 yards rushing on 212 carries (6.8 average) and 16 touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 58 yards and a score.
Nothing that Goedland did came by accident either, Crandall said.
“Owen is a great example of an athlete who dedicated himself in the off-season,” Crandall said. “Owen prepared his body for the physicality of a season by dedicating himself to the weight room.”
Storandt anchored the Trojans’ offensive line that rushed 412 times for 2,358 yards in 2016 (5.7 per carry).
“Chris was the leader of our offensive line,” Crandall said. “He was able to communicate with the rest of the line and decide how they were blocking the play.
“Chris was able to communicate what was happening on the field, then he and (offensive line coach Jeremiah) Vangan were then able to made adjustments between drives.”
Malzahn had 33 total tackles, including four for a loss, and two fumble recoveries, including one he returned for a touchdown.
“Mason was a player who worked hard every day in practice to perfect his craft,” Crandall said. “Mason was a player we knew would do his job on every play. He is a very fundamentally sound and disciplined football player.”
East Troy was 5-5 in 2016, including a trip to the Division 3 playoffs – and now the work begins for next season, Crandall said.
“I believe in always learning, adjusting what you do to be the best you can,” he said. “I will continue to reflect on the season and look at all the areas that I can improve on as a coach and ways we can improve as a football program.
“We can always work on our fundamentals, we need to continue to get stronger and be willing to out work our opponents.”
Big Foot’s Jackson Enz and Evansville-Albany’s Brennen Banks shared offensive player of the year honors in the RVC, while Clinton’s Jordan Jones and Evansville’s Chase Katzenmeyer were co-backs of the year.
Clinton’s Jeff Spiwak and Evansville’s Ron Grovensteen were named co-coaches of the year.
