It took an extra period, but Kenosha Indian Trail continues their dominance with their crosstown rival Tremper. The Hawks and Trojans pounded the rock with their rushing attacks as Indian Trail extended their win streak to 10 games over Tremper with a 27-20 win Friday night at Ameche Field.
Tremper used four plays to get the scoring going as junior running back Tyler Hansen capped off the drive with a five yard touchdown run to grab the early lead. On the next possession, Indian Trail senior running back Jamar Thompson ran one in from four yards out to tie the game.
After a big pass connection from Tremper quarterback Cash Raethke to Dezmund White, Hansen broke the tie with another rushing touchdown from seven yards out to grab a 13-7 lead. After Indian Trail forced the turnover on downs on the next possession, the Hawks took one play to add to their lead as quarterback LJ Dagen took an 80-yard scamper for a touchdown to grab a 20-13 lead at the half.
“LJ is a special kid, and he just took it,” Indian Trail coach Paul Hoffman said of Dagen’s big run. “He’s great at setting up blocks, with his top end speed he proved he was the fastest player on the field on that play.”
On their first drive of the second half, White kept the Trojans’ scoring chances alive as White converted a fake punt run to bring the ball down to the 30-yard line. Tremper capped off the scoring drive as Raethke connected with White on a 19-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
“He is one of our most dangerous weapons,” Tremper head coach Colin Zalokar said of White’s play in the game. “He is the silent assassin as he is definitely a dude that goes about things the right way all the time, and that is what we preach.”
Both teams tried to make scoring pushes in the fourth quarter, as both defenses came up with stops including an interception of Raethke by sophomore Joe Casey on Tremper’s last drive of regulation.
“I give credit to our defensive staff as they were in the locker room for ten straight minutes making sure our kids knew where we got gashed and here is where we are going to adjust,” Zalokar said. “It worked as our defense played great in the second half.”
On the first drive of overtime, Indian Trail’s Justice Lovelace capped off a four play drive with a three yard touchdown to get the game’s final score. Tremper was unable to respond in overtime as Raethke’s final three passes of the game went incomplete.
“We just got back to what we do,” Hoffman said of the last drive. “We found a couple of things where we could just go forward and go after them with Justice Lovelace going downhill because that is what he does best.”
Raethke led the Tremper passing attack with 103 yards with one touchdown and one interception on 7-for-19 passing. Dagen led all rushers in the game with 219 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.
Indian Trail goes to 3-3 on the season, while Tremper falls to 2-3. Both teams have road games next week as Tremper takes on Racine Case and Indian Trail takes on Oak Creek.