As the hype squad shouted “Let’s Go Atoms!” senior quarterback Liam Conroy took the first snap in the Atoms’ 2016 Homecoming football game and handed off to junior running back Tyler Rush who busted up the middle for a 55 yard gain down to Mount Vernon’s 25 yard line.

Four plays later, the Atoms would strike with an eight yard Shemahr Brown touchdown run just over two minutes into the opening quarter.

Following a missed extra point, the Atoms went up 6-0 on the Majors as the opening quarter ended.

Opening the second quarter, the Atoms kept their momentum going with a 70 yard Jalen Jackson touchdown run. The Atoms converted on a two point conversion play to go up  14-0.

Just over a minute later the Atoms would keep their offensive assault going, this time through the air with Liam Conroy connecting with junior Jack McCrossin for a touchdown from nearly 60 yards out.

Up 21-0, the Atoms forced the game’s first turnover after Shemahr recovered a Majors fumble with 4:20 left on the clock in the first half.

The Atoms would score once more in the second quarter with a 40 yard catch and run by senior Eduardo Rivera. The team went into the halftime break with a massive 28-0 lead over the Majors.

“Our defense was amazing in the first half, they [the Majors] couldn’t even score on us,” junior Jack McCrossin said.

Coming out of the break, the Majors would show signs of life and score their first points of the game with a 35 yard touchdown pass less than a minute into the third quarter.

The Atoms marched back down the field into the redzone, but would come up empty following a missed field goal attempt.

The Majors regained possession midway into the third quarter and scored with a rushing touchdown to cut the Atoms’ lead to 28-14.

The Majors would really pull themselves back into the game with their third touchdown of the quarter to make the game 28-21 going into the final quarter.

Neither team was able to get into the redzone in the fourth quarter up until the halfway mark where the Majors were down to the Atoms one yard line. However, just one yard away from tying the game, the Majors were denied a touchdown as the Atoms came up a huge goal line stand on fourth and goal.

This would be the closest the Majors would get to scoring again as the Atoms took possession of the football from there and ran the clock down to pick up their third victory of the season by a final score of 28-21.

“Overall I think the game was a tough one but we all did our jobs and we had lots of people step up and play well,” junior Jack McCrossin said.

Going into the third quarter the Atoms gave up three touchdowns which made the game rather close.

“We really need to focus on closing the game and not letting a comeback be a possibility,” McCrossin said.

The Atoms improved their record to 3-3 and prepare for their next home game against the West Potomac Wolverines.