In dramatic fashion, the Atlantic Trojans defeated the Creston Panthers 29-27 to open district play Friday night. Although the Trojans seemed to be on the front foot all night, the Panthers drove the field twice in the final five minutes to take the lead. However, the Trojans used the final 24 seconds to move into position for one final heave towards the endzone.  On the last play of the game, Zayden Parker put one into the end zone, and Shelton Mualia came down with it, giving Atlantic a win to open district play. 

From Start to finish, the game was full of ebbs and flows. After Creston opened the scoring with a field goal, the Trojans responded with a sustained 80-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard Gavin McLaren Touchdown run. Although Atlantic didn’t get the same kind of pressure they did last week, for a good portion of the first half, they were able to keep Tanner Ray and the Panthers at bay. Sawyer Terrell was excellent in the secondary with multiple pass breakups throughout the night.

Early in the second quarter, the Trojans added to their lead with a 34-yard Killion Field goal. After forcing a Panther punt, the Trojans had the ball with a chance to grab complete control, but Creston started to turn the tide. After stopping the Trojans for the first time, they went on a sustained drive of their own to tie the game on a 17-yard Ray touchdown run. Although the Trojans moved into scoring position on the ensuing drive, Killion’s 45-yard field goal attempt was blocked to end the half. 

Much like the first quarter, the third quarter saw Atlantic start to tip the balance. Although they failed to capitalize on their opening drive (turned over on downs), the Atlantic defense grabbed a fourth-down stop of their own. As he did throughout the night, Ethan McNeal pulled off a long run, which set up another long drive capped off by McLaren’s second touchdown of the night to give the Trojans a 17-10 lead. 

Late in the fourth quarter and up by four, Atlantic needed a stop and got it in a big way. Hunter Nelson picked off Ray to set the Trojans up in the red zone, an opportunity they would capitalize on as Gavin McLaren cashed in once again. Although the extra point was blocked, up by 10 with 5:01 to go, Atlantic was in a good position to win the game.

Determined to flip the game on its head, it took less than three minutes for the Panthers to drive the field. Aided by the strong play from Ray (and a pass interference call), Jackson Pettigrew ran in an eight-yard touchdown to make it a three-point game. Regardless, Atlantic was still in a good position to close out the game. However, a fumble nearly derailed the night as Creston took full advantage. Leaving just 35 seconds on the clock, Ray connected with Jace Perdurm to give the Panthers their first lead since the first quarter.

Following the kickoff (and a great return from Killian), the game-winning drive was nearly perfectly executed. Outside of a false start penalty, everything that needed to happen happened. McNeal got a big chunk on the ground, the timeouts were used perfectly, and most importantly, the play to set up the hail mary was flawless.

That was Zayden Parker, who just seconds later delivered the game-winning throw to Mualia. Head coach Joe Brummer’s message heading into the final drive was a simple one.

Although there are some things to clean up, Brummer was pleased with how his team played, especially on offense.

This was a big win for the Trojans. In addition to moving to 3-2 on the season, they started district play 1-0, which goes a long way towards Atlantic’s goal.

Kickoff for Atlantic’s homecoming game against Perry next Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.