ARCANUM – The Arcanum Trojans rallied late in front of their home crowd on senior night to defeat Mississinawa Valley Friday evening.
The Blackhawks’ offense got started early in the first quarter when senior Nate Gladdish dashed into the end zone for a rushing touchdown.
Arcanum would strike right back to take the lead after senior running back Daniel Coats made his way in for a touchdown. With the extra point the Trojans took a 7-6 lead over Mississinawa, and that would be the score at the end of one quarter of play.
Late in the second quarter Coats scored a clutch touchdown on a fourth down with 2 yards to go. This extended Arcanum’s lead to 14-7 with 1:23 remaining before halftime.
The Blackhawks would not settle going into the half trailing. They converted a 54-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14 moments before the end of the second quarter.
After multiple touchdowns by both teams in the first half, the defensive side of the ball took over in the third quarter. Neither team could put together a solid drive, and no points were scored in the quarter.
The fourth quarter would make up for the lack of action in the previous 12 minutes of play. Trojans’ quarterback Evan Atachley maneuvered his way in for six points on a QB sneak. The extra point kick was blocked, holding the Trojans’ lead at 20-14.
The Blackhawks were quick to answer with a long pass down the sideline to Trent Collins for a touchdown. Mississinawa converted the two-point try to take a 22-20 lead over Arcanum. This lead would not stand for long.
Devin Keckler of the Trojans made the play of the game when he returned the Mississinawa Valley kickoff all the way to the house for what would be the game-winning touchdown. Arcanum did not convert its two-point conversion attempt, and the Trojans held a lead of 26-22 over the Blackhawks. That would hold to be the final score in this Cross County Conference battle.
Arcanum will make the short trip to New Madison to take on Tri-Village and Mississinawa Valley will be at home against Bethel next Friday in week 10 of the high school football season.
