The Atlantic Trojans (1-1) football team hits the road on Friday night to Jefferson to face the Greene County Rams (1-1) to open up Class 2A District 9 play. The Trojans bounced back from an opening loss to Underwood with a big win over Kuemper Catholic last week. Greene County won a tight game over Bondurant-Farrar in their opener and dropped a game to South Central Calhoun in week 2. Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott said his team took some steps forward last week.

Greene County will play a similar offensive style to the Knights, spreading the field with multiple wide receivers and they have a quarterback that is willing to take off and run. Bryce Stalder has thrown for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for 71 yards and another score. Jaxon Warnke leads the Rams with 8 catches for 141 yards and a score. Coach McDermott said the defense is going to get tested at all levels this week.

Atlantic got a boost in the backfield last week with Bodie Johnson and Korey Parrott both rushing for close to 75 yards each. With a night that is expected to be a little soggy that ground game may become an important factor.  Kickoff for the game in Jefferson is set for 7:00 p.m. Visiting fan seating is limited and fans will be asked to wear face coverings entering the stadium and when moving about in common areas.

You can hear the full interview with Coach McDermott on Trojan Preview at 4:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon on KJAN.