Playoff action begins tonight at New Berlin West
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School football team put a resounding stamp on the regular season Friday night.
And it was certainly a familiar script that led the Trojans once again.
Behind 346 rushing yards, including 233 for senior Jake Dessart, who surpassed the 2,000-yard plateau, the Trojans took control early and never gave it back in a dominating 56-14 Rock Valley Conference victory against Beloit-Turner.
East Troy closed its regular season at 7-2, good for third behind 9-0 McFarland and 8-1 Edgerton. The Trojans drew the fifth seed in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 playoffs and travel to fourth-seeded New Berlin West (7-2) at 7 p.m. Friday night.
There was a lot to like from the finale, East Troy coach Jeff Crandall said.
“Our players had a great week of practice, and it showed,” he said. “Every phase of the game was executed at a high level.”
Dessart, who finished the regular season with 2,076 yards, good for the top spot in the state, according to wissports.net, put the Trojans on the scoreboard first with an 8-yard touchdown in the opening quarter.
The state rushing title is a source of pride for everyone, Crandall said.
“Having a player lead the state in rushing is a great accomplishment, not only for Jake but for our whole team, as it takes everyone on our team to accomplish a feat like that,” he said. “Jake runs hard, he breaks a lot of tackles and has the speed to out run players once he gets to the edge.”
That’s how the score stayed until Dessart connected on a 71-yard scoring pass to Jacob Price just two minutes into the second quarter.
“Price was able to get a step on the guy who was covering him,” Crandall said. “He then was able to break a tackle, which allowed him to score.”
From there, the Trojans turned back to the ground game and put Turner away.
Dylan Jakscht, who rushed 16 times for 89 yards, scored on a 1-yard run, followed by runs of 19 and 5 yards by Dessart to build the lead to 35-0 at halftime. Logan Roberts added a two-point conversion after Dessart’s touchdown.
Crandall was pleased with every part of his team’s rushing attack.
“Our o-line and lead blockers did an excellent job of maintaining their blocks this week,” he said. “We were able to chunk away yards, which was great.”
East Troy closed the scoring with three second-half touchdowns, first on a 5-yard run by Dessart, followed by a 1-yard run by Jakscht.
The Trojans’ Silas Heimos capped the 56-point night with an 85-yard kickoff return, followed by a two-point conversion by Quintin Schoville.
Second season begins
Next up for the Trojans is Friday’s night’s 7 p.m. playoff opener at New Berlin West.
There is no doubt that East Troy has a challenge ahead, Crandall said.
“We have been watching video on them,” he said. “They look to be a very well-coached team with a stout defense and a good offense.
“We need to control the line of scrimmage and execute our game plan at a high level.”
Crandall was pleased with his team’s steady improvement the last nine weeks and it optimistic heading into the 10th.
“We have had a good season,” he said. “Our guys have made improvements each week, and we are on the upswing heading into the playoffs.”
The winner Friday heads into a second-round contest next week against top-seeded Waukesha Catholic Memorial or eighth-seeded Jefferson.
