The Atlantic Trojans football team got off to a rousing start against Creston on Friday night with two early big plays to lead 13-0. That lead wouldn’t hold up as the Panthers scored 35 unanswered the rest of the way to win 35-13. Creston senior quarterback Eli Loudon threw for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns and also ran for another score, leading the Panthers to a 2-0 start to the season.

Atlantic started the game hot on two big plays by senior running back Tyler Moen. Moen intercepted a Loudon pass on the Panthers first offensive possession and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown. The Trojan defense then forced a turnover on downs to give Atlantic the ball back on their own 22. Moen then ripped off a 78 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play after the turnover and gave Atlantic the early 13-0 lead. It didn’t take long for Creston to answer. Two plays later Creston tailback Rylan Luther went 80 yards for a score. The Panthers then intercepted Trojans quarterback Garrett McLaren and then took a shot down field at the end of the first quarter. That shot paid off, with a 76 yard scoring strike from Loudon to Cael Kralik. That tied the game and the Panthers kept the momentum up until half. Loudon hooked up with Derek Paup for a 23-yard score on a 7 play drive. Then the Panthers got a great catch from Luke Latham near the goal-line at the end of the half to set up a Loudon 1 yard scoring plunge. The Panthers tacked on one more score on the first drive of the second half to provide the final margin.

Atlantic had three drives in the second half to the Creston 20 or closer,  but couldn’t come away with points. Trojan Head Coach Mike McDermott said the red zone execution is something they will have to work on.

Atlantic showed flashes of good play on both sides of the ball, but just couldn’t do anything with consistency throughout the game.Coach McDermott said that will be a focus in practice this week.

Creston improves to 2-0 on the young season and will face another strong test with a road trip to Carlisle next week. Atlantic falls to 1-1 and they will travel to face Clarinda next Friday night. We’ll have that game for the Trojans next week on KJAN.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — St. Louis’ bullpen is a big reason why it leads the NL Central.

It just didn’t work so well Friday night.

Adam Frazier capped Pittsburgh’s six-run seventh inning with a two-run triple, and the Pirates rallied for a 9-4 victory over the Cardinals.

St. Louis relievers were tagged for eight runs in three innings. Their 3.64 ERA coming into the game was the second-best mark in the major leagues.

“We couldn’t bring this one home,” manager Mike Shildt said.

Last-place Pittsburgh scored each of its runs in the seventh with two outs. Josh Bell hit a two-run single off Andrew Miller. After run-scoring hits by pinch hitter Melky Cabrera and José Osuna, Frazier made it 7-4 when he tripled high off the 21-foot wall in right field.

“One at a time, guys put together good at-bats,” Frazier said. “It was pretty impressive by everybody.”

The Cardinals had won six of eight. They maintained a 2½-game advantage in the division over the Chicago Cubs, who lost 7-1 at Milwaukee.

Miller (4-5) got just one out and was charged with three runs and three hits.

“It stinks losing any game, but especially these ones late in the season because they are so important,” Miller said. “You like to find a way to get it done. It was a pretty bad inning for us. Some balls fall. You don’t get a call here. You don’t get a call there. It’s baseball. It happens sometimes. We’ll all to go to sleep and come back and try to do a better job tomorrow.”

Tommy Edman went deep twice for St. Louis in the rookie’s first career multihomer game. Miles Mikolas struck out seven while pitching five innings of one-run ball.

Pittsburgh won for the sixth time in eight games.

Felipe Vazquez got four outs for his 25th save in 28 opportunities. He struck out Edman with runners on second and third to end the eighth inning.

Starling Marte tacked on a two-run single in the bottom half, breaking it open for the Pirates.

“Just love the finish,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “Love the battle the whole game. And then five straight hits. A lot of fun to watch our guys.”

Wei-Chung Wang (3-0) got the last two outs of the seventh for his second win in three days.

Fill-in starter Alex McRae allowed two runs and three hits in five innings for Pittsburgh. He replaced Joe Musgrove, who was scratched because of right foot discomfort.

It was the second major league start for McRae, and both have come on short notice. He was called up to pitch July 29 at Cincinnati hours after Jordan Lyles was traded to Milwaukee.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (10-9, 4.30 ERA) will start Saturday night. He is 3-1 with a 3.49 ERA in his last five starts.

Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (4-3, 3.88 ERA) won his previous start last Sunday at Colorado, allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings and hitting his first career home run.