Trojans blank Blue Devils in home opener

By By Kelly Terpstra, sports@nhtrib.com

Thursday, September 19, 2024 9:54 am

It didn’t take Turkey Valley’s engine long to get revved up on Friday night in Jackson Junction.
The Trojans blasted West Central in TV’s home opener by a score of 60-0 in an 8-Man, District 3 contest that got away early from the underdog Blue Devils.
Turkey Valley (1-2, 1-1) rolled up over more than yards of rushing and led 36-0 at the break.
“This was a good win for our young team,” said TV head coach Mark Scott, in his 22nd season guiding his Trojans. “We are still improving as the season moves on.”
The win was especially sweet as the Trojans had surrendered over 55 points per contest in their two previous games against Fremont-Mills and ninth-ranked Kee High.
All that matters now is moving forward after TV is finally on the board with win No. 1 of the season.
“We took advantage of two turnovers by WC on defense,” said Scott.
Those turnovers forced by TV came courtesy of Kaden Schmidt’s pick-six for a touchdown in the game’s final score and J.D. Kruse’s recovery of a muffed kickoff.
Turkey Valley junior quarterback Logan Busta started the game’s scoring as he hooked up with fellow junior J.D. Kruse for a 40-yard scoring strike.
Busta also found the end zone on a 13-yard plunge to make it 18-0 in the early stages of the game.
Unfortunately, Busta was hurt in the first half and did not return. His status for Friday’s game versus Central Elkader is uncertain.
“The players overcame some adversity when we lost our quarterback to an injury,” said Scott.
In Busta’s absence, sophomores Hugo Busta and Schmidt took over.
Schmidt scored TV’s third touchdown of the night on a 19-yard scamper and Hugo Busta made it rain with another long aerial strike to Kruse – this one from 60 yards out.
Schmidt would end the first-half scoring with a three-yard blast to paydirt.
TV maximized its scoring potential in the passing department as it threw just four times, but scored on two of them.
Schmidt had the game of his life with 183 yards on 16 carries. He continued the end zone party for the Trojans with a 51-yard race to the end zone on the ground to make it 44-0. Hugo Busta also ripped off an 11-yard rushing touchdown, followed by Schmidt’s six-yard interception return for six points.
“Kaden and Hugo took another big step in improving on offense,” said Scott.
Busta rushed for 46 yards on seven carries.
Schmidt and junior Parker Reicks led the TV defense with seven tackles apiece.
West Central fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the district. The Blue Devils managed 162 yards of total offense and were led by Milton Cushion’s 54 rushing yards. WC quarterback Brody Wolff was 7-13 for 67 yards passing.
Plagued by some turnovers in its first two games, TV did not commit a turnover versus West Central and pitched a shutout for the first time since a 14-0 win over Edgewood-Colesburg in the 2021 season opener. That was a contest that lasted just one quarter of play after inclement weather forced the cancellation of the remainder of the game.
Kruse is the fifth-best receiver in his class in terms of receiving yards (317). His five receiving touchdowns also rank him in the top 10 in that category as well in 8-man supremacy.

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