By Dan Truttschel
Sports correspondent
The Big Foot and Brodhead football teams have played some classic Rock Valley Conference and postseason contests through the years.
And through a half of the Aug. 18 season opener, it looked like the two were on a collision course for another classic finish.
The Chiefs took away all the suspense, however.
Big Foot led by a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter, but pulled away with two unanswered scores in the final 12 minutes en route to an impressive 47-27 Rock Valley Conference victory.
And it wasn’t like the Chiefs completely clicked all night, either, coach Greg Enz said, as he pointed to three turnovers, a blocked punt, eight penalties and missed tackles as areas that need to be cleaned up moving forward.
“A lot of those things are typical of this time of year,” Enz said. “None of what happened (Friday) was due to a lack of effort. The first games of a season have a lot to do with understanding fatigue, effort that it takes for an entire play and playing under control.
“I always believe that you make (the) greatest progress as a team from the first to second game of the season. So we will focus on these areas and expect growth for our team and program.”
Big Foot put the game out of reach with two big scoring plays in the fourth quarter.
Senior quarterback Jackson Enz, who threw for 272 yards and rushed for 137 more, scored on an 89-yard run, followed by a 26-yard touchdown by sophomore Bryce Peterson.
“Our staff felt our kids were stronger and mentally sharper for the 48 minutes,” Enz said. “Brodhead has a tradition-rich program, and they also run a sound program, but I did feel we were able to limit execution mistakes down the stretch, resulting in extending the lead.”
Back and forth
The teams exchanged touchdowns early on. Big Foot scored first on a 20-yard pass from Enz to senior Pedro Sierra, and added its second touchdown of the opening quarter on a 3-yard run by junior Jack Hereley.
When Brodhead scored on a run by Seth Allen in the second quarter, the game was back to even at 14-14.
But again, the see-saw affair continued.
Big Foot jumped back out in front on a 75-yard scoring pass from Enz to junior Aiden Greco, who had four receptions for 114 yards, but again, the Cardinals refused to go away.
Brodhead added two unanswered touchdowns to take a 27-20 lead before the Chiefs scored four straight times to take control.
Enz started the run with a 6-yard jaunt to the end zone, followed by a 43-yard touchdown – and the two fourth-quarter scores that punctuated the victory.
There was a lot of credit to go around, Greg Enz said.
“I felt that we had incredible play by our receiving corps,” he said. “For eight players to catch at least one pass (including Jackson), this says so much. There were also no dropped passes, again impressive for a first game.
“The other was our (offensive) line play. They were, as a group, able to be consistent enough to create running opportunities for our backfield, including Jackson.”
Big Foot’s offensive line includes one sophomore, two juniors and two seniors – and that group will continue to be a key moving forward, Enz said.
“They made adjustments, as we as a staff did, to allow them to limit thinking and play fast,” he said. “With a lot of two-way players, we have to really focus on these guys because, as they get tired, their mistakes are magnified. I believe they will continue their growth week to week.”
See the Sept. 1 issue of the Times/Reporter for full coverage of the team’s Aug. 25 nail-biter against East Troy.
