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Football: Denison trumps Trojans in defensive tussle, 13-3
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Atlantic drops to 0-2 through non-district play, starts “new season” next Friday at Harlan
By Drew Herron
NT Sports Editor
DENISON— More heart, more effort, more confidence, more grit.
However, even with all the aforementioned dynamics pushing the Trojans on towards a giant step forward from last week’s embarrassing home loss to Clarinda, Atlantic comes up on the short end Friday night in Denison, falling to the Monarchs 13-3 on a soggy and fog-shrouded field in both team’s non-district finale.
The effort was almost a 180 degree change from last week’s disastrous start to the season where eight lost fumbles quickly and steadily cut short any shot to get things going the right direction. Still, this latest attempt nevertheless yields a fruitless loss, and Trojans head coach Gaylord Schelling says it’s just going to take a greater devotion from the top on down.
“We just need to continue to improve in every facet,” he said afterwards. “As a coaching staff, we need to get better and as players we need to get better. I know we will.”
Denison managed a field goal in the opening quarter and added another in the second to take a slim 6-0 lead into the half.
The third quarter appeared to belong to Atlantic when place kicker Brandon Baier poked through a 29-yard field goal less than a minute and a half into the second half to get AHS on the board.
Following a subsequent three-and-out from Denison, the Trojans seemed poised to turn the tide when a multi-faceted offense that had before been lacking moved the ball past midfield and had a tired Monarchs’ defense on their heels.
Then, disaster struck as a fumble squashed any gathering momentum and a short time later, Denison, emboldened by a successful fourth-down conversion just outside the red zone, marched on towards the game’s final score via a one-yard TD run from Ryan Clausen three seconds into the fourth quarter to push Denison ahead 13-3.
No doubt, that turnover proved a marking point in this contest.
“We had a miscommunication and somehow didn’t get the right play in,” Schelling said. “Those things happen and we know we can’t put the ball on the ground. We had a little bit of momentum but couldn’t just turn the corner.”
In the fourth quarter, Atlantic plugged in senior Zach Christianson at quarterback, replacing sophomore Parker Hoye, and the Trojans threatened, but each push provided nothing in the form of points.
As far as shoring up major problems from a week ago, Atlantic’s offensive line appeared vastly improved; particularly in pass protection, as the Trojans were able to get the two-dimensional offense going somewhat.
Schelling says he thinks most of the small improvements stem simply from confidence.
“We didn’t have that last week,” he said. “That’s what we’ll take away from this. Our kids battled until the end and we did get a little better.”
Up next is district play and the schedule won’t allow the Trojans to ease into that portion of their season as Harlan will host the Trojans in Class 3A District 8 opening play. The No. 2 ranked Cyclones saw their 46-game regular season winning streak snapped Friday night in Sioux City as No. 1 Heelan pulled away late for a 28-13 victory.
There’s no doubt about it, cogent Harlan will present a tremendous challenge to a team still trying to figure some things out.
“We have a mountain to climb, Harlan’s obviously a very good team,” Schelling said. “But our kids have never backed down and they’ll come out ready to play.”
Scoring:
Atlantic 0 0 3 0 -3
Denison 3 3 0 7 -13
Game Breakdown:
First Downs: Atlantic 9 Denison 11
Punts Atlantic 6-32 Denison 5-42
Rushing Yards: Atlantic 34 Denison 84
Passing Yards: Atlantic 146 Denison 69
Penalties Atlantic 9-70 Denison 3-20
Atlantic Offensive Stats:
Passing: P. Hoye 3/6 for 181 yards 0/0, Z. Christianson 4/14 for 65 yards 0/0
Rushing: C. Meneely 11/26, R. Nichols 6/11, J. Hoegh 4/7, Z. Christianson 2/0, J. Mullen 6/-10
Receiving: J. Mullen 3/72, Hoegh 3/61, A. Guttenfelder 1/14
Atlantic Defensive Stats: Tackles (solo tackles)
R. Fairfield 4, Z. Knuth 10 (5), K. Juhl 7 (2), K. Benn, 3 (2), J. Petersen 8 (1), J. Swanson 3, D. Holtz 8 (3), C. Meneely 12 (3), J. Mullen 6 (3), J. Hoegh 5 (1), D. Iekel 5 (1), R. Nichols 4 (2), S. Cutler 1, A. Ferguson 5 (1)
However, even with all the aforementioned dynamics pushing the Trojans on towards a giant step forward from last week’s embarrassing home loss to Clarinda, Atlantic comes up on the short end Friday night in Denison, falling to the Monarchs 13-3 on a soggy and fog-shrouded field in both team’s non-district finale.
The effort was almost a 180 degree change from last week’s disastrous start to the season where eight lost fumbles quickly and steadily cut short any shot to get things going the right direction. Still, this latest attempt nevertheless yields a fruitless loss, and Trojans head coach Gaylord Schelling says it’s just going to take a greater devotion from the top on down.
“We just need to continue to improve in every facet,” he said afterwards. “As a coaching staff, we need to get better and as players we need to get better. I know we will.”
Denison managed a field goal in the opening quarter and added another in the second to take a slim 6-0 lead into the half.
The third quarter appeared to belong to Atlantic when place kicker Brandon Baier poked through a 29-yard field goal less than a minute and a half into the second half to get AHS on the board.
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Then, disaster struck as a fumble squashed any gathering momentum and a short time later, Denison, emboldened by a successful fourth-down conversion just outside the red zone, marched on towards the game’s final score via a one-yard TD run from Ryan Clausen three seconds into the fourth quarter to push Denison ahead 13-3.
No doubt, that turnover proved a marking point in this contest.
“We had a miscommunication and somehow didn’t get the right play in,” Schelling said. “Those things happen and we know we can’t put the ball on the ground. We had a little bit of momentum but couldn’t just turn the corner.”
In the fourth quarter, Atlantic plugged in senior Zach Christianson at quarterback, replacing sophomore Parker Hoye, and the Trojans threatened, but each push provided nothing in the form of points.
As far as shoring up major problems from a week ago, Atlantic’s offensive line appeared vastly improved; particularly in pass protection, as the Trojans were able to get the two-dimensional offense going somewhat.
Schelling says he thinks most of the small improvements stem simply from confidence.
“We didn’t have that last week,” he said. “That’s what we’ll take away from this. Our kids battled until the end and we did get a little better.”
Up next is district play and the schedule won’t allow the Trojans to ease into that portion of their season as Harlan will host the Trojans in Class 3A District 8 opening play. The No. 2 ranked Cyclones saw their 46-game regular season winning streak snapped Friday night in Sioux City as No. 1 Heelan pulled away late for a 28-13 victory.
There’s no doubt about it, cogent Harlan will present a tremendous challenge to a team still trying to figure some things out.
“We have a mountain to climb, Harlan’s obviously a very good team,” Schelling said. “But our kids have never backed down and they’ll come out ready to play.”
Scoring:
Atlantic 0 0 3 0 -3
Denison 3 3 0 7 -13
Game Breakdown:
First Downs: Atlantic 9 Denison 11
Punts Atlantic 6-32 Denison 5-42
Rushing Yards: Atlantic 34 Denison 84
Passing Yards: Atlantic 146 Denison 69
Penalties Atlantic 9-70 Denison 3-20
Atlantic Offensive Stats:
Passing: P. Hoye 3/6 for 181 yards 0/0, Z. Christianson 4/14 for 65 yards 0/0
Rushing: C. Meneely 11/26, R. Nichols 6/11, J. Hoegh 4/7, Z. Christianson 2/0, J. Mullen 6/-10
Receiving: J. Mullen 3/72, Hoegh 3/61, A. Guttenfelder 1/14
Atlantic Defensive Stats: Tackles (solo tackles)
R. Fairfield 4, Z. Knuth 10 (5), K. Juhl 7 (2), K. Benn, 3 (2), J. Petersen 8 (1), J. Swanson 3, D. Holtz 8 (3), C. Meneely 12 (3), J. Mullen 6 (3), J. Hoegh 5 (1), D. Iekel 5 (1), R. Nichols 4 (2), S. Cutler 1, A. Ferguson 5 (1)
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| Questions loom as Trojans travel to Denison | Warriors put up 50 points as they wear down Farragut |
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