The Atoms defeated the Jaguars in an intense 28-27 game that went down to the wire on Oct. 21. The victory improved the Atom’s record to 3-6, with just one game left in the season.
The players felt they were able to execute extremely well and improve on mistakes that they were unable to fix for the bulk of the season, especially on the defensive side.
“Our tackling has been an issue the entire year and against Falls Church we had our most physical game and responded well,” Senior wide receiver Piero Vernazza-Cortez said.
AHS has faced a lot of adversity this season and wanted to prove a point against Fall Church. There is a lot of bad blood between both schools and the Atoms wanted to show up in the newly founded Battle of the Beltway rivalry game.
“For sure everybody wanted to destroy Falls church because they were making so much noise,” Senior right tackle Noah Williams said. “We also wanted to keep our trophy so I think we definitely played a little harder.”
An example of adversity this season was a constant battle with injuries. Many of the Atoms starters were not available for the game, but plenty of other players filled in the holes to get the job done.
“Our guys played hard, we had a few starters out and people stepped up,”Head coach Michael Scott said.
This marks the second straight year the Atoms have defeated their cross-town rivals, as they defeated the Jaguars 21-18 last year in a game that was halted on a friday evening due to a shooting threat and was finished the next morning last year.
Although the 3-6 record may look bad at first glance, the team has shown constant improvement throughout the season and is looking to end off with a win against the Justice Wolves, who currently sit with a record of 0-8.
“Despite what our record says, we have improved with every week as a team and it finally paid off [on] Friday night,” Williams said.
In addition to defensive progression, the Atoms have found new ways to move the ball on the offensive side and have been able to capitalize on opportunities which result in points. “Overall, I think that our ability to create big breakout plays on offense by running the ball was the main source of our success,” senior wide receiver Hamza Hussen said. ““Our secondary did a great job of forcing incompletions while our defensive line helped with pressuring the quarterback and forcing him to throw the ball in sports he did not want to.”
If the Atoms defeat the currently winless Wolves on Oct. 28, they will jump to a 4-6 record, which will leave the squad positive for the future.
Winning games against such strong competition is never easy, especially with such a young roster
“Our future is very bright, lots of starters are returning and there are a bunch of younger guys that will be really good football players,” Scott said.