Wauwatosa West snaps playoff drought

Dave Haberkorn
Wauwatosa West’s Demaris Purifoy leaves a trail of New Berlin Eisenhower defenders behind on a third-quarter touchdown run during the host Trojans’ Woodland Conference football victory Friday, September 28, 2012.
Published on: 9/28/2012

No one from Wauwatosa West seemed to remember the last time the Trojans beat New Berlin Eisenhower. If Friday night’s 42-0 win was indeed the first time it’s happened, the Trojans made it a memorable affair.

Tosa West led 14-0 after one quarter, 28-0 at intermission and 42-0 after three quarters. The running clock (35-point lead) went into effect with 5:09 left to play in the third quarter.

Junior running back/cornerback Jameson Brock scored three touchdowns, one coming on a 27-yard interception return. He rushed 13 times for 91 yards and made three interceptions on defense.

With everyone talking about the Trojans big-play offense this year, the defense occasionally gets overlooked. On Friday night, the defense held the Lions to four passing yards and 39 yards rushing.

"Our defense has been great," Trojans coach Matt Good said. "We started working on it this year in practice. They continue to impress us and our defense is the reason we are where we are right now."

Where the Trojans are is on the way to the playoffs, with a 5-1 overall Woodland Conference record, 3-1 in the West Division.

After dropping a disappointing 27-6 decision to first-place Pewaukee last week, the Trojans had something to prove Friday night.

"They were pretty disappointed with the way they played last week," Good said. "They felt they were the better team. They played with a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to prove something tonight and they did."

The Trojans opened with an 8-play, 65-yard drive, scoring when quarterback Jared Morzinski tossed a pass down the left sideline to wide receiver Develyn Feguson who caught it in stride and raced 34-yards for the score. When Mickey Morgan booted the first of his six extra points, the Trojans were on their way to a big victory.

Three plays later, Brock intercepted his first pass on the Eisenhower 40-yard line. West scored in three plays, the second a 32-yard pass from Morzinski to Ferguson, setting up a Greg Lewis 1-yard score.

Elijah Banyard-Johnson then recovered a Lions fumble on the 45-yard line. Morgan then raced 34 yards around left end and Brock scored from 10-yards out for a 21-0 lead with 10:58 left in the quarter.

Then with 1:55 left in the half, Brock picked off a Vince Gabrielson pass and raced 27-yards down the right side line for a 28-0 lead at intermission.

"Coach Gabe (Jeff Gabrielson) just put me in position to make plays," Brock said afterward. "So I stepped up and did it. That felt good. Our team is coming back together after that Pewaukee loss. We’re going to the playoffs everything is coming off right now."

Morzinski then led on a 12-play, 69-yard drive early in the third period, with Brock’s 27-yard run and a pass interference penalty on Eisenhower keeping the drive alive. Brock’s 1-yard TD run made it 35-0 and turned on the running clock with 5:09 left in the third quarter.

With 1:46 to play, the Trojans got the ball back and sophomore running back Demaris Purifoy raced 59-yards up the middle of the Eisenhower defense, cut to the left and was off and running for a touchdown. Purifoy finished with 111 of the Trojans’ 340 yards rushing on the night.

Afterward Brock went back to the defense.

"We take pride in our defense," he said. "The three picks; we held them to no running play over 10 yards. We take pride in that. We take pride in our ‘D.’"

And now the Trojans face a dangerous Greendale team on the road on Friday.

"Greendale is another huge challenge," Good said. "Our kids will be up for it and they’ll be ready to go."