Strong and Steady Tosa West Trojans Win Battle of Wauwatosa

The Wauwatosa West Trojans aced their first test of the season. On a warm, calm night at Hart Park, their running, blocking and stout defense carried the Trojans easily over their cross-town rival, the Wauwatosa East Red Raiders by a score of 42-7.

The game was true-to-prediction for those attuned to preseason coverage of the Trojans: high expectations for their marque running back, optimism about a sophomore quarterback, and solid senior leadership in the O/D line and on defense.

In the first quarter, scoring came on the heels of a fumble recovery by Tosa West’s senior Matt Lundell. Junior Truman Tyson carried to the 1, senior Demaris Purifoy ran in for the score, and the Trojans were up 7-0.

The fans witnessed a strong dose of stout Tosa West defense throughout the game. Making their mark in the first half were seniors Devin Tucker, Blake Braxton, Christian Morzinski and Ben Makhlouf. They didn’t let the Red Raiders get anything going at all in the first half except punting practice. Senior linebacker Joe Harrington showed great leadership by his non-stop motor and sure tackling.

The Trojans scored next when sophomore Paris Howell ran in from the 12 yard line, set up beautifully by blocks from senior Isaiah Randolph and junior Norberto Pliego.

The Trojans got away with lackluster kick coverage, but the first of two excellent open-field Trojan tackles came next, on a text-book form tackle by senior kicker Zach Veit. Another nicely delivered one-on-one tackle was delivered by senior Andre Carroll in the third quarter.

The final Trojan score of the half came on a 40-yard run by Purifoy, and the score was 21-0. As expected, Demaris used savvy, speed and power to gain 152 yards on just 13 carries. His night was even more remarkable as he scored 5 running touchdowns in just three quarters of work.

After halftime, the Tosa West Trojans’ stout defense continued, and the offense kept running the ball with attitude. Trojan blocking on inside traps and outside sweeps was sweet – and the entire O-line deserves high-fives for their night’s work. In addition to Purifoy’s sparkle – Truman Tyson had a stellar night out of the Trojan backfield, finishing with 77 yards on 8 carries.

A positive for Tosa East’s was the composure of senior quarterback Jackson Telderer. He withstood an aggressive Trojan rush all night by Christian Cagle, Morzinski, Braxton and Tucker – and finished 14 of 20 for 110 yards passing and one 3rd quarter touchdown. Tosa West’s sophomore quarterback Trayvon Bartelt Jr was solid as a game manager in is first varsity start.

The Trojans finished their scoring near the end of the third quarter to go up 42-7. Zach Veit finished 7-7 on extra-point kicks, and reserves did a good job finishing the game.

There was a great ceremony at the end of the game as the symbolic “Tosa Sword” was retained by Tosa West. Television’s Fox 6 “Game of the Week” captured the celebration for the evening news.

Join the Trojans next week August 29, 7 PM as they take on Grafton at their Tosa West home field.