The Atlantic Trojans (1-1) will play host to the Clarinda Cardinals tonight in a football battle of Hawkeye Ten foes. The Trojans will be looking to bounce back from a week 2 loss to the Creston Panthers 43-20. Atlantic had a tough time keeping up at the line of scrimmage against the Panthers and Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott knows they will need to do a better job there this week against a Cardinals team that wants to run the ball in the middle.

The Trojans also turned the ball over three times last week and Coach McDermott said protecting the ball is number one on the team’s list of goals this week.

Clarinda has had a tough start to the season losing two running backs for the season in as many weeks. Kam Fulk was injured in the week one win over Shenandoah and Connor Brown was injured in the week two loss to Red Oak. Despite losing those two backs the Cardinals still have a powerful one to deal with in William Shull. He has racked up 215 yards on 32 carries and scored 3 touchdowns to lead the Cardinals this season.

On the other side of the ball the Trojans will try to spread the Cardinals out and keep them off balance. Quarterback Chase Mullenix has been a great dual threat for the Trojans racking up 216 rushing yards and two scores while throwing for 234 yards and 2 more touchdowns.

The Trojans and Cardinals will meet tonight at the Trojan Bowl with a 7:00pm kickoff. The freshman contest is going to be played at the High School field at 4:15pm due to the wet conditions. Attendees to the freshman game will be able to get into the varsity game at the Trojan Bowl without paying admission again.

Catch the full interview with Coach McDermott this afternoon at 4:45pm on Trojan Preview on KJAN.