The Trojans had a comeback win for the ages against the Clarinda Cardinals on Friday night. The Cardinals were coming off of a tough loss against Red Oak the week before, so the Trojans knew they would be hungry to get back into the win column.

The game started with three straight punts and the Trojans had the ball intercepted at their own 38 yard-line after Clarinda had punted the ball. The turnover gave the Cardinals great field position. The interception didn’t hurt the Trojans, however, because the Cardinals were forced to punt again.

During the second quarter, the Trojans drove the ball down the field and kicked a field goal, but it was blocked and recovered by Clarinda. This mistake by the Trojans gave the Cardinals momentum, which allowed them to drive the ball down the field and score a touchdown.

But the boys didn’t flinch. At halftime, they made their adjustments and to start the third quarter the Trojans responded by driving the ball down the field. They capped the drive off with a 1- yard touchdown run by quarterback Chase Mullenix. The extra point was then missed.

After the touchdown, they forced a fumble, which was recovered by senior Connor Pellett. The Trojans seemed to gain some confidence from the turnover and on the very next play, Chase Mullenix dropped back and threw a 47-yard dime to his brother, Collin Mullenix. The Trojans led 14-7 at this point.

The Cardinals got the ball back but had to punt and during the play, Chase Mullenix called for a fair catch but he fumbled the ball and the Cardinals recovered it. They had excellent field position at the Trojan 26 yard-line and capitalized on Trojans’ mistake. They threw for a touchdown and the game was tied.

The fourth quarter started with four straight punts but on the fourth, Zade Niklasen fumbled the ball and gave the Cardinals good field position. However, the Cardinals couldn’t capitalize with a touchdown so they had to try for a field goal but missed. That was the end of regulation, which meant overtime was needed.

The Trojans got the ball to start overtime and Chase Mullenix rushed for a 1-yard touchdown. The Trojans were up 21-14, but they had to stop the Cardinals from scoring.

The Cardinals got the ball and scored a touchdown. They were on the road in a tough environment, so they decided to go for the win with a two-point conversion. The Trojans stopped the conversion at the 1-yard line to win the game. A hard-fought game ended with a 21-20 Trojan victory.

The Trojans finished the game with 367 yards on offense but had four turnovers, while Clarinda had 279 yards with two turnovers. Chase Mullenix finished with 198 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions passing. He also rushed for 90 yards with two touchdowns. Junior Tyler Moen led the Trojans with 90 receiving yards.

The Trojans look to build off their win against the Cardinals at Harlan this upcoming Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.