The Atlantic Trojans had a thrilling 35-34 victory in overtime against Glenwood on Friday. The game got off to an exciting start quickly with the opening kickoff returned 95-yards for a touchdown by sophomore Ethan McNeal to put the Trojans up 7-0. Glenwood decided to commit to their pass game on the following drive which resulted in a field goal midway through the quarter, making it 7-3. After a turnover on downs, Glenwood drove the ball down inside Atlantic territory that created a 7-yard touchdown scramble by senior quarterback Cole Staudt to give the Rams their first lead of the game at 9-7 with a mixed extra point.
Atlantic had a scoring response of their own moving the ball downfield that ended with a 3-yard touchdown plunge by Gavin McLaren making it a 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. The drama subsided for the majority of the second quarter until the last minute. While the Trojans were marching towards the red zone senior Tristan Hayes fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Glenwood. Then with less than 10 seconds to go Joaquin Wailes had an interception returned to the goal line as time expired.
In the third quarter Glenwood focused on their pass game and it saw a quick touchdown with a score in under 90 seconds to put the Rams back up at 15-14. The game stayed at a deadlock until a mistimed snap on a botched punt gave Glenwood phenomenal field position at the Trojans 3-yard line. It was there that Tristan Ludwig took the handoff and sprinted his way in for a score for a 21-14 lead. Atlantic continued to trust their run game in the 4th quarter and it payed as the Trojans used a 1-yard pitch on the goal line to Tyson O’Brien to score and tie it up at 21 a piece.
When the Rams received the ball back they quickly wasted no time driving the ball down the field that concluded an impressive interception by Jarrett Hansen at the Atlantic 15-yard line. With that turnover Atlantic started their most strategic drive of the night chewing up over six minutes of clock and scoring on a 4-yard O’Brien run, putting the Trojans up 28-21. Glenwood then received the ball on their own 9-yard line and managed to tie the game up with 18 seconds left with an 18-yard Stoudt to Jack Johnson touchdown throw making it 28-28.
It was then time for overtime and Atlantic chose to be on defense first. On second and goal Stoudt kept the ball on a designed quarterback run and pushed his way into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. The Rams would miss a crucial extra point to only have a six point lead at 34-28. When it was Atlantic’s turn on offense the Trojans saw their first two rushing plays result in a loss of one yard. On third and goal Hayes took the snap and started to scramble, he ended up connecting with Hansen in the left side of the end zone for the tying score. Hadin Thompson then lined up for the game winning extra point and knocked it through giving Atlantic the 35-34 win.
Atlantic head coach Joe Brummer was impressed by the hustle of the Trojans in overtime.
The win for Atlantic on Friday was one they can use for positive momentum.
Coach Bummer does not want his team to use this win as a defining moment, but to carry on and continue to improve each week.
The Trojans improve to 3-0 as they head home to Atlantic to face Greene County next week and the Rams drop to 0-2 and stay at home taking on Harlan on the 13th.
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