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Trojans survive late scare from Glenwood, improve district record to 3-2
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| Atlantic's Jordan Mullen rounds the corner en route to a 70-yard touchdown run early in the second half of the Trojans 24-14 win over Glenwood Friday night in Atlantic. Photo by Jeff Lundquist |
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Senior Jordan Mullen racks up 172 rushing yards, 2 TDs and adds an INT
By Drew Herron
NT Sports Editor
ATLANTIC— The Trojans evaded a potentially crippling momentum swing in the fourth quarter, regrouped, and fought back disaster Friday night at the Trojan Bowl, defeating Glenwood 24-14 in a struggle that proved considerably more disputed than the final result would tell.
But the end result is what matters and with two weeks of season left; the Trojans have cracked a winning district record at 3-2 (3-4 overall) and sit in sound position to reach the sub-state playoff berth they’ve been chasing.
Led by senior Jordan Mullen’s 172 yards on 21 carries (8.5 YPC), 2 touchdowns and a very critical interception in the final minutes that he returned 60 yards, not to mention another valiant effort from the ever-stingy Trojans defense, Atlantic won their third game in the last four weeks and in doing so, may have pushed the wolves to the door as far as Glenwood’s playoff hopes are concerned.
Three turnovers (two from Atlantic) in the final five minutes threatened to tear the game wide open and the Trojans’ lead, once apparently safe at 17-0 was disintegrating by the minute.
Glenwood pulled within three points at 17-14 and appeared to be threatening to take the lead for good when they recovered the final Trojans turnover on the Atlantic 13-yard line with 4:15 to play, but another defensive stand kept Glenwood out of the end zone and Zach Knuth’s sack of Glenwood quarterback Bo Darrow pushed the Rams back 17 more yards.
On fourth and very long, Darrow heaved a pass towards the center of the field and into the arms of the leaping Mullen. Moments later, Philip Iekel would pound in the games final score on dive inside the five yard line, and the Trojans would escape the pending disaster.
“Definitely a character builder, we hung in there,” Schelling said. “It looked kind of bleak but we made the plays when we needed to and our defense stepped up when we needed them to.”
This is a Trojans team that appears to be a distant cousin of the group that meandered through the first three weeks of the season in a stretch where they were outscored 74-10.
“We are a completely different team now,” Mullen said. “Every was overlooking us, but now we’re clicking and showing everyone who we really are.”
An offense that had appeared fundamentally broken has emerged with Mullen breaking off for large gains on the outside and in, and other backs Iekel and Keenan Benn are giving the team viable options to establish the run they’ve been working so hard to launch.
Mullen, who has now rushed for more than 170 yards in consecutive weeks, says the retooled offensive line seems to be what is making the difference.
“Our line has improved a lot,” Mullen said. “Everyone is getting to where they need to be and they are opening up giant holes for me. I’m pretty sure I could drive my truck through these lanes if I needed to.”
The Trojans went into the half with a narrow 3-0 lead before Mullen’s pair of long touchdown runs in the third quarter appeared to have turned the tide for Atlantic.
On the Trojans’ first play of the second half, Mullen broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown run that put the team up 10-0 and he would add another score about five minutes later, this time on a 17-yard run to almost the exact same patch of end zone, pushing Atlantic to the pinnacle of their lead at 17-0 with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter.
“Jordan had a great night, he’s a fantastic athlete,” Schelling said. “But we did a lot of good things as a team, and it takes a team effort to beat a team like Glenwood.”
But following Mullen’s second TD run, the Trojans temporarily fell apart, unhinged by penalties and confusion that helped push Glenwood up the field, the Rams capitalizing on a pair of long completions and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty from the Trojans’ sideline.
With 1:03 to play in the third quarter, Dylan Blankenship scored from three yards out to wipe away the goose egg for Glenwood.
A few minutes later, Blankenship would score again, this time on a 17-yard run with 7:59 to play and Glenwood was threatening.
That set the stage for the wild five minutes in which three turnovers would swing the momentum like a pendulum, the Trojans’ surviving the major scare to push on.
Blankenship, who tallied 130 yards on 20 carries last week against No. 5 ranked Harlan, was contained by the Trojans defense, limited to 100 yards on 29 carries.
In keeping the Rams’ main offensive weapon from doing too much harm, Atlantic was able to dictate what Glenwood might try to do, especially once dropping them into a 17-0 hole.
“He earned his 100 yards,” Schelling said of Blankenship. “We wanted to keep him under 170 (yards) and he finished right at 100, so a tremendous effort by Coach (Lee) Saathoff’s defense.”
The victory sets the stage for next week’s long road trip to winless Clarke of Osceola. The Trojans will no doubt enter the game heavily favored, but Schelling warns that if his team doesn’t take care of business there, the season’s finale against ADM might not be that important.
“Next week becomes a big game because we need to get past that game before the next one means anything to us,” Schelling said. “But right now, we’ll enjoy this. This was a great win against a very good team.”
But the end result is what matters and with two weeks of season left; the Trojans have cracked a winning district record at 3-2 (3-4 overall) and sit in sound position to reach the sub-state playoff berth they’ve been chasing.
Led by senior Jordan Mullen’s 172 yards on 21 carries (8.5 YPC), 2 touchdowns and a very critical interception in the final minutes that he returned 60 yards, not to mention another valiant effort from the ever-stingy Trojans defense, Atlantic won their third game in the last four weeks and in doing so, may have pushed the wolves to the door as far as Glenwood’s playoff hopes are concerned.
Three turnovers (two from Atlantic) in the final five minutes threatened to tear the game wide open and the Trojans’ lead, once apparently safe at 17-0 was disintegrating by the minute.
Glenwood pulled within three points at 17-14 and appeared to be threatening to take the lead for good when they recovered the final Trojans turnover on the Atlantic 13-yard line with 4:15 to play, but another defensive stand kept Glenwood out of the end zone and Zach Knuth’s sack of Glenwood quarterback Bo Darrow pushed the Rams back 17 more yards.
On fourth and very long, Darrow heaved a pass towards the center of the field and into the arms of the leaping Mullen. Moments later, Philip Iekel would pound in the games final score on dive inside the five yard line, and the Trojans would escape the pending disaster.
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This is a Trojans team that appears to be a distant cousin of the group that meandered through the first three weeks of the season in a stretch where they were outscored 74-10.
“We are a completely different team now,” Mullen said. “Every was overlooking us, but now we’re clicking and showing everyone who we really are.”
An offense that had appeared fundamentally broken has emerged with Mullen breaking off for large gains on the outside and in, and other backs Iekel and Keenan Benn are giving the team viable options to establish the run they’ve been working so hard to launch.
Mullen, who has now rushed for more than 170 yards in consecutive weeks, says the retooled offensive line seems to be what is making the difference.
“Our line has improved a lot,” Mullen said. “Everyone is getting to where they need to be and they are opening up giant holes for me. I’m pretty sure I could drive my truck through these lanes if I needed to.”
The Trojans went into the half with a narrow 3-0 lead before Mullen’s pair of long touchdown runs in the third quarter appeared to have turned the tide for Atlantic.
On the Trojans’ first play of the second half, Mullen broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown run that put the team up 10-0 and he would add another score about five minutes later, this time on a 17-yard run to almost the exact same patch of end zone, pushing Atlantic to the pinnacle of their lead at 17-0 with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter.
“Jordan had a great night, he’s a fantastic athlete,” Schelling said. “But we did a lot of good things as a team, and it takes a team effort to beat a team like Glenwood.”
But following Mullen’s second TD run, the Trojans temporarily fell apart, unhinged by penalties and confusion that helped push Glenwood up the field, the Rams capitalizing on a pair of long completions and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty from the Trojans’ sideline.
With 1:03 to play in the third quarter, Dylan Blankenship scored from three yards out to wipe away the goose egg for Glenwood.
A few minutes later, Blankenship would score again, this time on a 17-yard run with 7:59 to play and Glenwood was threatening.
That set the stage for the wild five minutes in which three turnovers would swing the momentum like a pendulum, the Trojans’ surviving the major scare to push on.
Blankenship, who tallied 130 yards on 20 carries last week against No. 5 ranked Harlan, was contained by the Trojans defense, limited to 100 yards on 29 carries.
In keeping the Rams’ main offensive weapon from doing too much harm, Atlantic was able to dictate what Glenwood might try to do, especially once dropping them into a 17-0 hole.
“He earned his 100 yards,” Schelling said of Blankenship. “We wanted to keep him under 170 (yards) and he finished right at 100, so a tremendous effort by Coach (Lee) Saathoff’s defense.”
The victory sets the stage for next week’s long road trip to winless Clarke of Osceola. The Trojans will no doubt enter the game heavily favored, but Schelling warns that if his team doesn’t take care of business there, the season’s finale against ADM might not be that important.
“Next week becomes a big game because we need to get past that game before the next one means anything to us,” Schelling said. “But right now, we’ll enjoy this. This was a great win against a very good team.”
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