Atlantic rolls up 317 yards of offense to Denison’s 194, but first quarter turnovers
prove costly
By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / September 28, 2013
ATLANTIC – The Trojans rallied back to contention from a two-touchdown-deficit and battled against Denison with a backbone not before seen this season at the Trojan Bowl.
Still, it was not enough to cap the evening with a victory for the Homecoming crowd, as Denison held off Atlantic’s two-minute drill with a fourth down stand in the final seconds to preserve a 21-14 victory over the Trojans.
It proved to be another heart breaker for Atlantic, who drops its fourth straight and falls to 1-4 on the season.
“We need to stick together…that’s a tough loss,” Atlantic head coach Nick Ross said afterwards. “After fighting back to have high hopes on a final drive, you can see it on our kids’ faces, they are hurting right now. So we will stick together and go back to work.”
It didn’t take long for Atlantic to fall into a 14-0 deficit as a fumble and a bad snap on a Trojans’ punt attempt helped spot Denison a two-touchdown lead.
With 3:30 left in the opening quarter, Monarchs’ junior QB Mitch Kinsey connected with receiver Blake Beymer on a slant route that Beymer took 20 yards to the end zone and a 7-0 Denison lead.
About three minutes later, an Atlantic special teams breakdown set up Denison on the Trojans’ 13-yard line, which quickly yielded another score at the close of the first quarter.
This stretch threatened to follow the script the Trojans have seen too much of during this recent losing streak, as mistakes compound, and things quickly snowball and get out of hand.
Instead, the Trojans remained calm, cut the lead to one touchdown midway through the second quarter on a one-yard keeper from senior QB Joe Walker, and made a game of it.
“The bottom line is that we need to find a way to get things done without falling into a hole,” coach Ross says. “But I do like the way they responded, and their ability to fight back.”
In the third quarter, Denison reclaimed its 14-point lead when Kinsey connected again with Beymer for a 16-yard touchdown pass that converted a gutsy fourth-and-10 for the Monarchs.
It was on Atlantic to respond, and the Trojans methodically went about their work as the offense began to take steps forward, particularly in the second half.
The Trojans staked out 30 first downs to Denison’s 17, and ran 79 plays to the Monarchs 59.
Walker completed a season-high 14-of-26 pass attempts for 120 yards and no INTs, and the Trojans’ gained 229 yards on the ground, 134 of them from Walker, who carried the ball 20 times.
In all, Atlantic’s offense outperformed Denison 317 yards to 194, but those two early turnovers proved too costly in the end.
“Joe played well for us, and he has been,” coach Ross says.
“When we’ve had breakdowns in the passing game…sometimes it’s the O-line, some times it’s the quarterback, and sometimes it is the receivers. We need to be able to get 11 guys going, and that falls on us as coaches to make sure everyone is coached up and on the same page.”
Trailing 21-7 late in the fourth quarter, the Trojans punched through a second touchdown on another Walker keeper with 3:55 remaining.
Atlantic’s defense forced Denison to punt, which set the Trojans’ up at their own 17-yard-line with 1:57 left. The Trojans were able to advance the drive to the Denison 18 with 1:02 remaining, but the mojo soon stalled and the offense moved backwards with the aid of penalties. With two seconds remaining, Walker’s final pass attempt missed its target, and a turnover on downs handed the win to Denison.
Close, but no victory for this Homecoming.
“These are tough kids, and they continue to work hard,” coach Ross says. “We will just have to go back to work and fix the little things that we have to do better as coaches, and they have to do better as players. And we will stick together and continue to grind it out.”
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