Des Moines Christian made some key plays in the second half and limited the Atlantic offense to grab a 17-9 win on Friday night at the Trojan Bowl. Davis Tokheim’s 43-yard touchdown run with 9:32 left proved to be the clincher for the Lions.

Des Moines Christian came in the 5th ranked team in Class 3A and opened the game with a 12-play touchdown drive. Quarterback Max Town capped it off with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Lions up 7-0. Atlantic thought they went three and out on their first possession but a Lions mistake on special teams kept the possession alive. The punt hit the Lions return man and Atlantic recovered. 13-plays later the Trojans got a 3-yard touchdown run from Gavin McLaren. The point after was just wide keeping it 7-6.

Later in the second quarter Atlantic failed to cash in on an 8-play drive when a 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The Lions then executed a nice end of the half drive to get a 33-yard field goal from Andrew Clement to make it 10-6 at half.

Tokheim’s long run and a Zander Killion 42-yard field goal for Atlantic were the only points scored in the second half. Killion’s field goal with 5:07 left gave Atlantic a chance. The defense got the ball back for the Trojans with 2:56 left but the Lions got some pressure on the second play of the drive and grabbed an interception to seal the win.

Atlantic Head Coach Joe Brummer said the Trojans just couldn’t find the consistency they need on offense.

The Trojans drop to 1-2 and will have a long road trip to Storm Lake next week. Des Moines Christian improved to 3-0 and will return home to face Creston next week.

Catch the full postgame interview with Coach Brummer below.