The Trojan football team will travel one final time this season to round out their season on the road in Harlan this Friday night. The Trojans’ record currently stands at 1-7, their last win coming in the season opener versus Clarinda in the Trojan Bowl.

This season is the first year the team has been coached under Mike McDermott. Most people like to call this season the beginning of a new era for Trojan football. This Friday night the first year of this new era will come to a close, and the Trojans are looking for a win.

The Harlan Cyclones currently hold a record of 3-5, fresh off of a road win in Denison last week. Harlan opened their season in a blowout loss to Lewis Central, losing 45-13. The Cyclones then bounced back a week later and defeated Greene County at home 42-19.

Both Harlan’s passing game and ground game have proven tough to stop this season; as they have passed for 2,072 yards on 111 completions for 20 touchdowns. The Cyclones’ run game is even better as they have 1,319 yards and 18 touchdowns. Harlan averages 5.1 yards per carry on offense.

Harlan junior Nick Foss has rushed for 830 of Harlan’s 1,319 total yards and 12 of their touchdowns. Whereas junior Deren Schmitz has passed for 1,789 yards of Harlan’s total meanwhile his brother, senior Jonathan Schmitz has passed for 66 yards and has secured a QB rating of 94.9.

Atlantic junior Noah Bruckner leads the team in rushing attempts and rushing yards. Bruckner has ran for 334 yards on 123 carries while senior Drake Roller has ran the ball 65 times for 137 yards.
Junior Jaxson Eden has thrown for 467 yards on just 35 completions averaging 13.3 yards per pass. Eden has thrown for two touchdowns while throwing five interceptions.