Panthers drop OT heartbreaker to Atlantic

ATLANTIC — A bad snap and fumble in overtime cost the Creston/Orient-Macksburg Panthers a shot at their first district win Friday evening as they fell to Atlantic 19-13.

The Trojans put together a three-play scoring drive to start the extra period. Jaxson Eden punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Trojans the edge after getting the first possession of OT.

The Panthers left the huddle for their first play from the 10-yard line with Smallwood and Swank in the backfield. An errant snap hit Smallwood in the leg and bounced around before being recovered by the Trojans to seal Atlantic’s first district victory.

Creston/O-M had opportunities throughout the night to avoid playing extra football, but miscues proved too costly.

The Trojans had a chance to put points on the board after driving most of the way down the field to open the game, but a tipped pass by Evan Jacobson allowed Eli Loudon to come down with an interception on the goal line.

Atlantic did open the scoring, as it pieced together a 12-play drive right before the end of the first half. Chase Mullenix capped off the series with a 2-yard touchdown run, putting the Trojans out in front 6-0 before both teams went to the locker room.

The Panthers answered the bell, opening the second half with a 12-play drive of their own spanning 77 yards. Creston/O-M converted twice on fourth-and-4, the second conversion a 13-yard touchdown pass to Camden Peterson, who broke wide open across the middle of the red zone. Atlantic was able to block Creston/O-M’s extra point, keeping the game knotted at 6-6.

Jacobson, who reeled in a 25-yard reception on the Panthers’ first scoring drive, couldn’t hold onto a punt after Atlantic’s following possession, leading to the Trojans quickly getting the ball in the Panther red zone. Jacobson finished with two catches for 70 yards after sneaking behind the secondary on two occasions.

On fourth-and-15, the Trojans telegraphed a jump ball to Mullenix. The junior wide out reached up and pulled the ball down at the 3-yard line giving Atlantic a new set of downs. The very next play, the Trojans went right back to their 5-11 wide receiver who ran it in putting the Trojans back on top, 13-6 with just over two minutes left to go in the third quarter.

“We’ve been kind of waiting for (Mullenix) to breakout all year,” said Atlantic head coach Mike McDermott. “He kind of started out early on and then last couple of games he hasn’t really done what we’ve asked and boy he was on top of it tonight.”

The Panthers fought through the miscue once again, answering the Trojans with a scoring drive of their own.

Panther head coach Brian Morrison was impressed with his teams ability to quickly swing the momentum back in their favor.

“That takes a group of seniors and a group of leaders on your football team that believe in each other,” said an emotional Morrison post game. “They believe in the underclassmen that are playing next to them to get the job done.”

Mitchel Swank started the second scoring drive with five consecutive carries on the ground, netting 32 yards. Smallwood added an 11-yard run of his own before firing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kolby Tomas in the end zone, effectively tying the game at 13.

Smallwood finished the performance 9 of 15 through the air with two passing touchdowns. He also contributed 26 yards on the ground on 12 carries.

Swank put together an impressive showing, netting a 6.4 yards per carry average with 164 yards on 25 attempts.

The rest of the fourth quarter consisted of stalled drives and defenses not willing to budge, featuring four three-and-outs over the next five drives.

The Panthers had a shot to win in regulation, getting the ball back with just under a minute to play in the fourth quarter. Creston/O-M was able to get the ball around midfield before Smallwood was sacked on second down. Atlantic stopped a short run on third down and used a timeout, forcing the Panthers to punt the ball back to the Trojans.

Atlantic completed a pass as time expired, but was stopped well short of the end zone, sending the game to overtime.

Special teams was a big emphasis for Morrison heading into Friday’s contest. Despite a blocked field goal on Creston/O-M’s opening drive and a blocked PAT, Morrison still praised his players for their performance.

“I think special teams-wise we did well,” said Morrison. “Obviously the PAT and field goal block was not done well. That being said, you know (the Trojans) were doing things that we can’t control, you know. The refs got to call what needs to be called. It’s unfortunate that our kids were put in that situation.”

With the loss, Creston falls to 1-4 (0-3 in Class 3A District 7) on the year. The Panthers will return home this Friday looking for their first district win at home against Winterset for homecoming.

Atlantic 19, Creston/O-M 13 OT

Points by quarter

C/O-M 0 0 6 7 0— 13

Atl 0 6 7 0 6— 19

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

None

Second Quarter

Atl – Mullinex 2 run (2-pt failed), 1:19.

Third Quarter

C/O-M — Peterson 13 pass from Smallwood (PAT blocked), 5:59.

Atl – Mullenix 3 run (PAT good), 2:13.

Fourth Quarter

C/O-M — Tomas 14 pass from Smallwood (Jacobson kick), 11:07.

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TEAM STATISTICS

Cr Atl

First downs 13 15

Rushes-yards 42-184 35-156

Passing yards 151 151

Total yards 335 301

Punts-avg. 3-21.6 4-51.5

Return yards 64 0

Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0

Penalties-yards 8-56 5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — C/O-M: Mitchel Swank 25-160, Kylan Smallwood 12-26, Kolby Tomas 3-1, Michael Gonzales 1-(-3) Atl: N/A

PASSING — C/O-M: Smallwood 9-15-0 for 151 yards, 2 TD. Atl: N/A

RECEIVING — C/O-M: Evan Jacobson 2-70, Tomas 2-32 1 TD, Cody Wagner 2-22, Camden Peterson 2-18 1 TD, Cole Higgins 1-6. Atl: N/A

PUNTS-AVG. — C/O-M: Jacobson 3-21.6. Atl: N/A

TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — C/O-M: Rylan Luther (3-12), Dustin Merritt (1-9), Garrett Dahl (2-6), Eli Hartman (0-8), Eli Loudon (2-4), Evan Jacobson (2-4), Kolby Tomas (1-5), Nathan Pudenz (0-5), Kylan Smallwood (0-4), Trevor Downing (0-3), Hank Looney (0-3), Stephen Buckman (0-2), Mitchel Swank (0-2).

INTERCEPTIONS — Eli Loudon.

PASS BREAKUPS — C/O-M: Jacobson 1, Smallwood 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — C/O-M: None.

TACKLES FOR LOSS (YARDS) — C/O-M: McDonald 2-(-6), Luther 1-(-2)

SACKS — Tomas 1-(-6).

*Atlantic stats were not made available by the time of press.

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