The Atlantic Trojans came close to coming back in a tightly contested 30-28 Creston victory on Friday night, but came up short. It was a game filled with phenomenal rushing performances by both sides combing for 8 rushing touchdowns, but in the end it came down to costly penalties and turnovers for Atlantic. The start of the ball game saw the Trojans electing to receive when they won the coin toss and had Jarrett Hansen return the kickoff 50+ yards to set Atlantic up in Creston territory on their opening drive. A few plays later, Tyson O’Brien ran it in from six yards away to put Atlantic up 7-0. The Panthers were quick to respond as in the next two plays elusive running back Weston Trapp took a sweep 78 yards to the end zone and with a missed extra point it was a 7-6 ball game.

On the ensuing drive Atlantic fumbled the football at the line of scrimmage and it was recovered by Creston inside Atlantic territory. Around a minute later the Panthers put together a solid drive landing them at the Trojan one yard line, where they lined up in the wildcat formation with Trapp taking the snap and running straight ahead for the score. Creston was also successful on their two point conversation attempt and they led 14-7. In the second quarter Atlantic found themselves in a groove again and O’Brien took a toss from quarterback Tristan Hayes 32 yards for a touchdown. The game was once again tied at 14-14.

Two plays later Creston fumbled the ball giving the Trojans a short field to work with. When Atlantic moved themselves near the goal line, O’Brien came up big again with a 10-yard touchdown sprint giving the Trojans a 21-14 lead. The seesaw of a 2nd quarter continued as Creston had a 65-touchdown run by Weston Trapp in under a minute after the Atlantic score. The Panthers decided to go for a two-point conversation but were stopped at the goal line keeping a lead for Atlantic at 21-20. Creston managed to get the ball with under a minute to go in the second quarter and with a facemark penalty as timed expired, the Panthers had a chance at an untimed down and a filed goal to give them the lead. Creston kicker Joaquin Flores nailed the kick and Creston was up 23-21  going into the half.

In the third quarter the scoring was dialed down as both teams made sharp adjustments to their defenses. The lone score in the third quarter was from Trapp in the wildcat once again from two-yards out adding to the Creston lead at 30-21. When the Trojans had the ball to start the fourth quarter they took their time slowly driving the field and chewing up clock. Then with a little over seven minutes to go in the fourth, Tyson O’Brien took a handoff seven yards through multiple Panthers defenders inside for another score. The ball game was now 30-28 and the atmosphere shifted inside Panther stadium.

The Trojan defense held true forcing a three and out and had the ball back with over five minutes to go. Atlantic gained a few crucial first downs to extend the drive but with 90 seconds left and multiple false start penalties Atlantic found themselves in fourth down and forever. Hayes dropped back on the snap and moved around the pocket, when he saw no receivers available he tucked the ball and ran towards the first down marker. He had an elusive sprint but fell a few yards shy of the sticks and the game would then end on a turnover of downs in the victory formation for Creston.

When looking back on the loss Atlantic Head Coach Joe Brummer liked the way his defense adjusted throughout the night to keep it close.

Tyson O’Brien had another great night on the ground for Atlantic with four rushing touchdowns. Coach Brummer was pleased with the way O’Brien continually found the end zone.

One of Coach Brummer’s focuses heading into next week is playing sharper football and minimizing penalties.

With the win Creston improves to 2-4 behind the skill of Trapp’s four touchdowns on Friday night. The Panthers will stay at home next Friday to face Knoxville. The Trojans drop to 5-2 and travel to Perry for next Friday’s game.