The 1-4 Creston Panthers are coming off a hard fought 43-42 victory over the Harlan Cyclones last week and gave little time to celebrate. It has not been an easy road for the Panthers so far into the 2024 season with losses to Winterset, Lewis Central, Ballard, and Carroll. One-year prior Creston made it all the way to the UNI-Dome with a record of 11-1 before falling to Bishop Heelan. Panthers head coach Brian Morrison knows with the number of seniors he graduated last year, that his younger squad would have some growing pains. Still, coach Morrsion credits the way his team has been learning to improve and the heart they’ve shown so far.

One athlete that has stood out for Creston with the way he carries the ball and motivates the offense is senior running back Weston Trapp. Through five games Trapp has 118 carries, 915 yards on the ground, and eight touchdowns. Trapp truly shone against Harlan last week with his 447 rushing yards and six touchdown performance. Coach Morrison acknowledged that Trapp’s tenacity has been crucial for the Panthers offense.

This Panther defense is a younger squad that has seen multiple underclassmen step up. Players like Tom Mikkelsen who has gathered four tackles for a loss and one and a half sacks on the year so far. Creston’s leading tackler is senior Lucas Travis with 41.5 tackles and six and a half tackles for a loss. This duo has created a spark for the Creston defense.

Up next for the Panthers is a tested 5-1 Atlantic squad who have been a run focused squad behind Tyson O’Brien’s 1049 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns from Gavin McLaren. Atlantic is coming off a 56-21 homecoming win against the Knoxville Panthers and coach Morrison knows Atlantic wants to control the line of scrimmage.

Creston’s focus for Friday is to limit turnovers and stay ahead of the sticks. Coach Morrison’s expectations for his team are to play clean football and eliminate unnecessary penalties. Coach Morrison knows this will give his team a better opportunity to keep the offense out on the field longer and control the time of possession.

KJAN and KJANTV will have the coverage for Friday’s contest with the pregame show starting at 6:30pm and kickoff is at 7:00pm.