Panthers stay unbeaten in district

During its resurgence in the past two weeks, the Creston football team has developed a flair for the dramatic.

Following the 43-42 win at Harlan to open district play, the Panthers celebrated homecoming Friday with a 30-28 triumph over Atlantic that wasn’t decided until a fourth-down stop in the final seconds.

The individual stars were the starting running backs of both teams, as Creston’s Weston Trapp followed his record-breaking 447-yard outburst at Harlan with 277 rushing yards and three touchdowns, plus a 78-yard scoring reception. Atlantic’s Tyson O’Brien, slowed by an injury in the fourth quarter, finished with 213 yards rushing and four TDs.

But, it was the Creston defense that held up on a late Atlantic push to take over the lead in the final minutes. The Panthers’ 30-21 lead in the second half had been shaved to 30-28 in the fourth quarter, and the Trojan defense forced a Creston punt after three plays.

Defensive stand

Atlantic got possession at its own 33-yard line and proceeded to march into Panther territory. On second-and-14 at the Panther 39, O’Brien re-entered after sitting out some plays with the injury and appeared to take a toss from quarterback Tristan Hayes for a sweep.

O’Brien then quickly retreated and attempted a long halfback pass to an open Trojan receiver who had slipped past the Panther secondary. The ball was dropped, prompting a collective sigh of relief among the Panther homecoming crowd.

After an incompletion on third down and false start penalty, Hayes scrambled on fourth-and-19 in in a desperate attempt to gain the first down. He was tackled by the Panther defense 6 yards short, and Panther quarterback Tanner Ray took a knee to run out the remaining seconds before a fireworks display by Top Notch Fireworks behind the east bleachers.

Creston, 2-4 overall, stays unbeaten in district play in a quest to snare one of the two automatic postseason bids from Class 3A District 6. Atlantic fell to 5-2 and 1-1.

“It was one of those deals where one side had to win the game for us,” Creston head coach Brian Morrison said. “We were fortunate on the drop, and we got a stop. This is a big-time win for us. They were 5-1 coming in. O’Brien is a good running back and their fullback (Gavin McLaren) is a hammer. To get this win and go to 2-0 in the district is big. We’ll take it.”

Creston’s temporary 30-21 lead early in the third quarter was the only time either team had more than a one-score advantage.

Early flurry

In fact, it was Atlantic that held the early advantage after Jarrett Hansen returned the opening kickoff to the Panther 37-yard line, setting up a short scoring drive ending in O’Brien’s 6-yard touchdown run.

The Panthers wasted no time in responding. Trapp took a short toss from Ray and sped around the left side of the Trojan defense for a 78-yard scoring jaunt on the first play from scrimmage. The kick missed, leaving the Panthers behind 7-6.

Tyson Looney recovered an Atlantic fumble on Atlantic’s next possession and the Panthers quickly marched 57 yards in taking the lead, 14-7.

“I was just kind of standing there, and I noticed when they snapped it, it came right out of the quarterback’s hands,” Looney said. “It was right in front of me, so I just jumped on it.”

Ray picked up 12 yards on a keeper and teammate Ethan Holliday grabbed a fumble on the hit and advanced it to the Trojan 1-yard line. Trapp ran it in from there and also converted the two-point run for the seven-point lead.

Atlantic tied it at 14 early in the second quarter on O’Brien’s 33-yard sweep. A fumble resulted in Creston’s only turnover at their own 22-yard line, setting up O’Brien’s 10-yard TD run for a 21-14 Trojan advantage.

Breaking two tackles near the point of attack, Trapp burst through the Atlantic defense for a 65-yard scoring run. Atlantic held a 21-20 lead at that point after a Panther run for two points was stopped.

However, Creston was able to take a 23-21 lead into the break on a 27-yard field goal by Joaquin Flores as the half ended. A personal foul penalty on Atlantic on a gain to the Trojan 22 moved the ball ahead for the field goal try on an untimed down with no time left in the quarter.

Key drive

A key factor in the final outcome was Creston’s nine-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half to take the 30-21 lead, with Trapp carrying the ball on eight of those plays.

“That was our message at halftime,” offensive coordinator Garrison Carter said. “We said this is the drive of your season. If you can drive and get up by nine and make it a two-score game, that’s going to be the difference. The O-line has really started to click and play well the last two games, and Weston is phoenominal. Right now he’s just in a zone. He’s running patient and he’s hard to bring down. If he gets through, he has breakaway speed.”

Offensive line starters have been center Chasse Downing, guards Gunner Martwick and Garrick Clausen, tackles Eli Schaffer and Brayden Schoon, and tight ends Josh Schaefer and Holliday.

“We’ve just been really physical and working hard at practice with the scout guys,” Martwick said. “We’re just letting Weston eat and get after it.”

Schaefer had a 14-yard reception from Ray on fourth-and-10 during a Panther drive that consumed the last five minutes of the first quarter, ending in a missed 38-yard field goal.

“That was a beautiful ball,” Carter said. “Tanner’s stats won’t show it, but he’s playing well for us right now. All we need from a sophomore quarterback is just don’t lose us the game. Get out there and manage the game. We’ve had no interceptions in the last two games, and we’re staying ahead of the sticks without the penalties. We’ve cleaned a lot of that up.”

Morrison had maintained during the early four-game losing streak against quality Class 4A teams that the Panthers were making strides in preparation for district play.

“I thought our kids really stepped up to a big challenge here tonight,” Morrison said. “They stepped up in the second and third quarters and played some of our best defense all year. We started playing with confidence. That’s a good running football team and we pretty much shut them down after we struggled on the edge early. Atlantic is a physical football team up front and we were able to match that.”

Linebacker Luke Travis led the Panther defense with 10.5 tackles, including six solo stops. Jake Hoyt, Tyler Riley, Davin Wallace and Looney each had six or more tackles.

“It was really intense,” Travis said. “I was trying to help keep everyone accountable, making small adjustments. If everyone is doing their job then it works out, and it did.”

The Panthers are at home again this week against Knoxville (3-3 overall, 0-2 district), which was shut out by Nevada (5-1, 2-0) on Friday, 49-0.

Cheyenne Roche contributed to this article.

STATS

Creston 30, Atalntic 28

Points by quarter

Atl 7 14 0 7— 28

Cr 14 9 7 0— 30

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Atl — Tyson O’Brien 6 run (Hadin Thompson) kick), 10:06

Cr — Weston Trapp 78 pass from Tanner Ray (kick failed), 9:48

Cr — Trapp 1 run (Trapp run), 6:52

Second Quarter

Atl — Tyson O’Brien 33 run (Thompson kick), 9:30

Cr — Trapp 65 run (run failed), 5:56

Cr — Joaquin Flores 27 FG, 0:00

Third Quarter

Cr — Trapp 2 run (Flores kick), 8:39

Fourth Quarter

Atl — O’Brien 2 run (Thompson kick), 7:06

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TEAM STATISTICS

ATL CR

First downs 17 8

Rushes-yards 52-277 31-302

Passing 5-8-0 5-6-0

Passing yards 31 105

Total yards 308 407

Punts-avg. 3-29.3 2-34.5

Return yards 20 85

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CR: Weston Trapp 26-277, 3 TD; Tanner Ray 5-25. ATL: Tyson O’Brien 38-213, 4 TD; Gavin McLaren 4-20.

PASSING — CR: Ray 5-6-0 for 105 yards, 1 TD. ATL: Tristan Hayes 5-8-0 for 31 yards.

RECEIVING — CR: Trapp 2-82, 1 TD; Josh Schaefer 1-14; Xander Drake 1-0. ATL: Brock Goodrich 2-12, McLaren 2-14, Jarrett Hansen 1-5.

TACKLE LEADERS (total-solo) — CR: Lucas Travis 10.5 (6), Jake Hoyt 6.5 (5), Davin Wallace 6.5 (5), Tyson Looney 6.5 (4), Tyler Riley 6.0 (3), Aiden Snodgrass 4.5 (1), Jackson Pettegrew 4.0 (2), Lane Travis 3.5 (2), Brayden Schoon 2.5 (1), Camden Smith 2.5 (1), Tom Mikkelsen 2.0 (1).

INTERCEPTIONS — None.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — CR: Looney 1. ATL: Juaquin Wailes 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS — CR: Pettegrew 1.0, Lucas Travis 1.0, Camden Smith 1.0.

SACKS — CR: Pettegrew 1.