Atoms fall to Wolverines in Senior Night football game

Football team’s record drops to 3-4 following 46-21 defeat.

Junior Jack McCrossin lines up at the line of scrimmage for a play.

Junior Jack McCrossin lines up at the line of scrimmage for a play.

The Atoms football team took on the West Potomac Wolverines in the team’s senior night game following a nail-biting victory against the Mount Vernon Majors.

The Atoms started out the game strong with a rushing touchdown from senior running back Jalen Jackson from nearly 70 yards out on the first play of the game.

West Potomac answered on the following possession with their own touchdown on a 40 yard pass, however the Wolverines went for the two-point conversion and could not convert.

The Wolverines scored with another touchdown pass on their next possession. This time the Wolverines missed the extra point attempt, which gave them a 12-7 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

After a reception at the fifty-yard line, junior Jack McCrossin fumbled and the Wolverines recovered.

“We played hard but couldn’t capitalize on mistakes and gave up big plays,” McCrossin said.

The Wolverines marched down the field following the Atoms turnover and scored on a 1 yard rushing touchdown, expanding their lead to 19-7 as the opening quarter came to a close.

The Atoms continued to struggle to move the football downfield and pick up first downs as they were forced to punt on their first possession of the second quarter. Instead, as the team lined up to punt they indirectly snapped the football to Jalen Jackson who was able to run for a first down and move the chains.

As the Atoms kept the drive alive, senior quarterback Liam Conroy launched a deep pass down field which was caught by Jack McCrossin caught to move the team into scoring position. Three plays later, Conroy found McCrossin again who weaved his way into the endzone for a touchdown.

West Potomac regained possession with time running out in the first half. They were able to score on a rushing touchdown to bring the score to 26-14 at the end of the half.

The second half started off with West Potomac receiving the kick which they turned into points with a seven yard touchdown. The Wolverines would again miss the extra point but held an 18 point lead over the Atoms.

Jack McCrossin pulled in another pass for a 9 yard passing touchdown on the Atoms’ following drive, to cut the Wolverines lead down to 32-21.

The Wolverines moved the football down the field again,until senior Khalid Reaves made a one-handed interception halfway into the third quarter.

Again the Atoms converted on fourth down on their possession following the Wolverines turnover, with only 4:11 left in the third quarter, still down 32-21.

Senior Liam Conroy threw an interception as time in third quarter was winding down. The interception led to a Wolverine 1 yard rushing touchdown with only 50 seconds left in the third, to make the score 39-21.

West Potomac scored again to take a  46-21 lead in the fourth quarter. They held on to keep the score 46-21 for the rest of the game.

“Our defensive unit as a whole played well but gave up a lot of big plays that led to touchdowns,” McCrossin said.

The Atoms will be playing the South County Stallions on Friday Oct. 21 at South County.

“We have to go back and really work on our defensive core so that we are well prepared for the South County game” McCrossin said. The Atoms will be looking to end the Stallion’s 5 game winning streak.