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So close!
That's what the Arcanum Trojans football team has had to deal with over the past few years when it comes to the ever elusive Cross County Conference Championship.
But, thanks to the coaching of Jason Schondelmyer and his staff, the Trojans have overcome injuries and adversity to defeat perviously unbeaten Anna and put Arcanum in position to earn their share of the title.
Just two weeks ago the Trojans left the field with a 30-28 loss at the hands of Covington. To make matters worse, Arcanum lost three key players in the contest and was already without their starting quarterback and safety, Mike Eilerman, who's status for the rest of the season was much in doubt.
Because of the loss to Covington and the injuries, Arcanum was considered a significant underdog in virtually every publication in the area against Anna.
The Rockets entered the game with a dominating and opportunistic defense. Anna had only surrendered 27 points on eight games and survived stiff challenges from Covington and Bethel earlier in the year.
While virtually everyone outside of Arcanum felt the banged up Trojans would get worn down by the numbers and speed of Anna, coach Schondelmyer somehow kept his players focused and believing.
The status of Eilerman turned into a positive as the senior leader was under center during warm-ups.
With Eilerman providing the emotional spark and the hard, quick running of the Ty Duo (Ty Cates and Ty Smith), Arcanum jumped on Anna early for a 13-0 half time lead.
All the while the Trojan defense was the story of the contest as they kept Anna out of the end zone until 5:05 left in the game. The defense then shut the door on the Rockets with their backs against the wall on a fourth-and-two play at the Arcanum 25. Again, it was the Ty Duo who made the play by stuffing a Rocket runner in the backfield.
As the clock ticked to 0:00, everyone who had a cell phone was passing the news of Arcanum's big win around to other Cross County Conference games where virtually everyone was pulling for the Trojans to gain a big win for the entire CCC.
For their memorable victory through adversity and injuries, CrossCountyConference.com congratulates coach Jason Schondelmyer and the Arcanum Trojans as our "Athlete of the Week".
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