With two minutes left and the ball on the 34-yard line, the Atoms varsity football team clung to a four-point lead over Patriot District rival South County. On fourth and eight, the Stallions had one last chance to overcome the deficit. Quarterback Jacob Josephs dropped back to pass and threw a jump ball to the left sideline, where senior cornerback Jake Barnes was able to come down with the ball and clinch the AHS victory.

“[The defense] played great all game,” said head coach Mike Scott. “It was an old school AHS football game. We knew we had to play great “D” and we knew had to stop them. If there was a defensive MVP for the game it would be Jake Barnes. He played great.”

Barnes finished the game with two interceptions and also added a catch for six yards on offense.

The lone touchdown of the game came with four minutes left in the third quarter. After playing a scoreless first half, the Atoms finally had the opportunity they needed. After an AHS fumble in South County territory, the Atoms defense came out and made a play. They forced a fumble, which was recovered by senior Yari Mizouri. On the ensuing drive, the Atoms pounded the ball on the ground with junior Tyrek Worrell and senior Stephen Cook. Eventually, Cook was able to cap the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

“South County’s D-line couldn’t stop our offensive line [on that drive] because of [senior] Bob Stevens, [senior] Paul Phongsavan, [junior] Ali Ali-Musa, [senior] Abenezer Anteneh, [senior], Joel Hoisington, [senior] Henry Cooper, and [senior] Moe Bah,” said Cook.

“We needed to make a play [on that drive],” said Scott. “We had opportunities in the first half and we got nothing, so we had to punch it in there. It was anybody’s game at that point and it makes you feel real good to know that we had to get it in the end zone there and we did.”

That was the only offense the Atoms would need, as the defense played lights out the rest of the game.

“The defense played with their whole hearts from the first whistle to the last whistle,” said Bah.

“The way we looked [against South County], our defense could be the best in the region,” said senior cornerback JP Jenkins. “We created turnovers and had a lot of crucial stops.”

The team relied on the defense and the ground game throughout the game. AHS had a 50:11 run to pass ratio and made the game a true trench fight. Worrell led the Atoms with 76 yards on 22 carries, and junior quarterback Adam Wattenbarger had 11 carries for 40 yards. Fellow junior quarterback Tony Hysjulien ran for 32 yards, while Cook added 29 yards and the lone touchdown.

“The defensive line did work- Henry, [senior] Ian [Griffin], Joel, myself, Yari, Bob, and everyone; the whole nine yards,” said Musa.

Despite the victory, there Atoms still have room for improvement. The team was called for several delay of game penalties, in addition to multiple false start penalties.

“We need to cut down on the stupid penalties,” said senior Andy Craig, who had a catch for a short gain in the game.

“[Throughout the season] we have gotten better,” said Scott. “The biggest disappointment of the first week was the penalties and giving up 3rd and longs. We still made a couple mistakes but we got better. We have to stop the stupid penalties…we’ve been working on that and will continue to work on it in practice.”

With the win, the Atoms improved to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the district. They will travel to Oakton on Sept. 24 to take on the 3-0 Cougars and hopefully continue their winning ways.