(Des Moines) Atlantic junior quarterback Garrett McLaren connected on three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Trojans on the road past Des Moines, Christian 38-0 in a Class 2A District 9 football game on Friday night.
Atlantic executed a balanced offense with 342 total yards. McLaren completed 11-14 passes for 184 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The Trojans ground game complemented the passing attack nicely with 154 yards, led by Korey Parrott’s 23-carries for 81 yards.
“Teams have been loading the box with eight or nine guys upfront, and eventually we’re going to have to throw the football,” said Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott. “I thought our sprint-out game went well. It’s something we put in the last couple of weeks. I thought we made some good decisions, broke the pocket with some run-pass options. Overall I thought we were productive on offense.”
Atlantic’s defense held their opponent scoreless for the second consecutive week. The Trojans stingy defense held the Lions to a mere 101 total yards and a just 15-yards on the ground.
“We’ve talked about our defense all year,” said McDermott. “They came out and forced three and outs and put our offense to work. The defense limited their field position in the first half and gave us great field position which allowed us to jump out to that 21-0 lead.”
Atlantic’s offense cranked up in the second quarter with three touchdowns. McLaren connected with Grant Sturm on an 8-yard pass with 8:54 left to play, threaded the needle to Colin Mullenix on a 5-yard touchdown pass at the 4:52 mark, and McLaren scampered in from 3-yards out with 2:04 left in the half.
The Trojans didn’t waste any time out of the break. McLaren heaved a 34-yard touchdown pass to Mullenix two minutes into the third quarter. Bodie Johnson snagged an interception at the Lions 10-yard line and turned it into a pick-six which sent the clock into motion for the rest of the second half. Lane Nelson capped off the Trojan scoring with a 26-yard field goal with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter to cap off the 38-0 win.
“We told our guys to keep the gas pedal down and keep the pressure on, and I thought we did that for most of the game,” said McDermott. “We had a couple of penalties we weren’t happy about, but I thought we kept the pressure on offensively, defensively, and special teams.”
Atlantic travels to Shenandoah in Week 6. Des Moines, Christian is at Red Oak.
