Class 3A Atlantic had a late defensive stand, then drew the Rams offside with 38 seconds left to create a first down, allowing the Trojans to run out the clock and defeat Greene County 21-17 on Friday night. The non-district high school football game was heard on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com from Trojan Bowl. Atlantic is one of Iowa’s few 4-0 football teams while Coach Caden Duncan’s Rams fell to 1-2 as they wrapped up the non-district portion of the schedule.

Greene County and Paton-Churdan have an athletic sharing agreement for football and P-C sophomore Trevon Keely scored both Greene County touchdowns and set up an early field goal with a pass interception. On the night, he picked off a pass on the first drive of the game and returned the ball from the Rams’ 20 yard line to Atlantic’s 20. That led to a 3-0 Greene County lead on a 32 yard Teagan Chisholm field goal. Keely returned the second half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to draw the Rams within 14-9 after the Trojans had scored 14 unanswered points. The extra point kick was wide left. He then caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from senior Crew Conner that put the Rams up 15-14 and a two-point conversion run by Nicholas Stream had the Rams leading 17-14 with 9:56 left on the fourth quarter clock.

Atlantic quickly responded with a 71 yard scoring drive on just two plays. A 45 yard TD run by senior Tyson O’Brien saw Atlantic lead 21-17 after the PAT. O’Brien had a monster night with 279 rushing yards on 34 carries. All other Atlantic ball carriers accounted for 40 yards on 16 carries. Through the air the Trojans were 1-6-1 for four yards.

Greene County wasn’t finished, however, getting as far as Atlantic’s 10 yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 2:24 left. The Trojans faced fourth down and nearly three yards  to go with 38 seconds on the clock and the Rams out of timeouts. A hard count drew the Rams offside and the penalty yardage gave the Trojans a first down and they ran out the clock.

Keely had 46 receiving yards on two catches and Conner went 4-11-0 for 50 yards through the air. Conner led the Rams in rushing with 54 yards on 11 carries. Nicholas Stream had 15 carries for 42 yards. Next on the schedule is the Greene County Homecoming game on Sept. 20 vs. Saydel (Des Moines). The Eagles are 1-2 on the season after defeating Colfax-Mingo 30-18. All the action can be heard on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com with kickoff at 7 p.m. The Rams played Friday’s game without three starters due to injury and illness and it’s hoped the team will be at full strength for Homecoming.