Football team takes down Big Foot, 41-7
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School football team continues to hang gaudy offensive numbers on the scoreboard.
And for the third straight week, it led to a rather comfortable Rock Valley Conference victory.
Visiting Big Foot was the victim last Friday night, as East Troy scored five straight touchdowns en route to a dominating 41-7 victory.
East Troy, which improved to 3-0, has outscored its opponents, 106-20.
“Our kids played real (well),” East Troy coach Jeff Crandall said. “They prepared hard all week, and it showed on Friday. Our offensive line and wide receivers did an excellent job of blocking all game, (and) our defensive line got pressure all night on Big Foot’s quarterback.”
Speaking of big numbers, East Troy’s Jake Dessart continued on his early-season roll Friday.
Dessart scored four touchdowns on runs of 4, 48 and 68 in the first half, followed by a 6-yard run in the third quarter to close out the scoring.
Through three games, Dessart, who rushed 14 times for 211 yards, has 744 yards, good for second in the state, according to wissports.net. Greendale Martin Luther senior Darios Crawley-Reid currently holds the top spot with 746 yards.
“Jake is able to continue to have big nights because he runs hard and breaks a lot of tackles,” Crandall said. “(And), the other 10 guys on the field with Jake are doing an outstanding job of blocking and creating lanes for him to run in.”
East Troy, which rushed 48 times for 401 yards, also had a big night from Dylan Jakscht.
Jakscht, who rushed 20 times for 158 yards, scored on a 1-yard run just before halftime, followed by a 54-yard touchdown 30 seconds into the second half.
The game plan Friday was to grind it out against the Chiefs, Crandall said.
“Last week, we prepared to be physical and wear on them,” he said. “We talk about being physical and playing hard. In order to do that, our players have to work hard each and every day in practice, which they have been doing, and the results have been positive on Friday nights.”
East Troy held the Chiefs scoreless until early in the third quarter when Big Foot’s Cole Vance scored on a 9-yard run.
Big Foot gained 295 total yards (123 rushing, 172 passing), which didn’t come as a surprise to Crandall, as he knew before the game the Chiefs had plenty of weapons that his team would have to deal with.
Keeping the Chiefs to just a touchdown was a credit to the defense, he said.
“Our defense has been playing great so far,” Crandall said. “Big Foot has some excellent receivers. Our defensive backs and linebackers did a great job of covering them all night.
“Our defensive line was able to get pressure on the quarterback, which makes a huge difference. Overall, all 11 guys on the field on defense have been playing as one unit, which makes it hard to score on them.”
Early-season showdown
Next up for the Trojans is a trip to McFarland tonight to face the RVC’s only other 3-0 team in a 7 p.m. showdown.
McFarland edged another conference title favorite, Beloit Turner, 9-7, last week.
Crandall knows this game is a big one, even if it’s only Week 4.
“McFarland is always a well-coached team, and they show it on film,” he said. “They have some speed on both sides of the ball. Their front seven is very good on defense, and they have lots of weapons on offense.
“We need to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we need to limit their big plays, and offensively, we have to play mistake-free football and be physical all game long.”
