(Atlantic) Atlantic finishes out the regular season with six straight wins with a 42-0 win over Red Oak in a Class 2A District 9 football game at Atlantic on Friday night.
The Trojans totaled 321 yards of offense, with 226 yards rushing and another 95 yards passing. Junior quarterback Garrett McLaren completed 8-10 passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns. Korey Parrott led the rushing attack with 15 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown.
“We showed up tonight and played hard,” said Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott afterward.
Atlantic marched 66 yards to pay dirt on their opening drive. Bodie Johnson shot into the end zone from one yard out to put the Trojans up 6-0. The home team scored twice more in the first quarter. McLaren connected with Colin Mullenix on a 15-yard touchdown pass and fired another eight-yard strike to Joe Weaver to give the Trojans a 21-0 lead. Lane Nelson kicked one extra point, and Grant Sturm tossed a pass to Garrett Reynolds for another two points.
The Trojans kept their foot on the gas in the second stanza. McLaren thread the needle to senior tide end Garrett Reynolds, from a 16-yards out, and Ayden Brown ran it from seven-yard line to give Atlantic a 35-0 lead at the break and a running clock the second half.
The Trojans stopped the Tigers on their opening drive, and Korey Parrott punched it in from one yard out late in the third quarter to push the score to 42-0.
“I thought we came out in the second half and took care of business,” said McDermott. “We wanted to get a three and out on defense and score on offense, and both of those things happened.”
The Trojans held the Tigers to -22 yards total yards of offense and came away with their fourth straight shutout of the season.
“Everything is going to ratchet up now as we move forward, and we’re going to rely on our defense even more,” said Coach McDermott.
Atlantic celebrated its homecoming in every sense of the word. It was officially homecoming week along with the first home game of the season in the brand new stadium at Trojan Bowl.
There was plenty to celebrate. Atlantic captured the Class 2A District 9 title with a perfect 5-0 record, and end the regular season with a 6-1 overall record heading into the postseason. Red Oak falls to 0-7.
The playoff schedule is expected to be released at around noon on Saturday.
Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott would like those people interested in purchasing a Play-off T-Shirt or Sweatshirt to Click here for the link.
