The Atlantic Trojans fought hard to the bitter end but a slow offensive start was too much to overcome in a 42-7 loss to the Nevada Cubs on Friday night. The game started with a nice spark as Nolan Waters brought the opening kickoff out to the 44 yard line but the Trojans couldn’t move the ball and ended that first possession with an interception. The two teams then traded punts before Nevada opened up the scoring. Connor King hit capped off an 11 play drive for the cubs with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Kingsbury.

The King to Kingsbury connection became the story of the night. The duo hooked up for four scoring connections on the night. Kingsbury came into the contest with 7 touchdown catches on the season and he made some terrific catches to pile four more scores onto that number. The Cubs star running back Cason Stevenson also had a nice night with scoring runs of 8 and 12 yards.

Atlantic couldn’t hit any big plays early and didn’t pick up a first down until their final drive of the first half. The Trojans fought hard in the second half though. They recovered an onside kick to start the half and drove the ball downfield with hard running to get a score. Dante Hedrington capped off that possession with a one-yard plunge. The Trojans ran the ball pretty effectively in the second half but it was too little, too late.

After the Trojans score to open up the second half the Cubs swung back quickly. Stevenson had a 42-yard touchdown two plays after the Atlantic score to thwart any Trojan momentum.

Nevada improved to 7-2 on the season and will wait for their playoff pairing. Atlantic finishes the 2023 season with a mark of 3-6.