Washington County Enterprise-Leader
PG Mistakes, Cards Special Teams Swing Momentum
FARMINGTON STORMS BACK TO WIN JUNIOR HIGH GAME 24-22
PRAIRIE GROVE — Farmington dodged a bullet in the first half then rallied over the final two quarters to complete a 24-22 nonconference win over Prairie Grove in junior high football Thursday.
Jace Edwards went around left end racing 29 yards to the end zone that would have given Prairie Grove the lead with the clock down to 38 seconds left in the first half. A penalty took the score off the board and the teams went into halftime deadlocked at 8-8.
“The kids played hard, but just a lot of mental mistakes tonight that cost us. Things we got to clean up,” said Prairie Grove head junior high coach John Elder.
The win marked some unfinished business left over from last season, Austin Lewis’ debut as head junior high coach at Farmington, when the junior Cardinals lost by the same margin, two points, as the result of a failed 2-point conversion.
“It was a game that we knew was going to be hard fought. This year we wanted to make a statement. Last year it was in my mind that it was a game that we could have won last year and I didn’t want to let this slip away. These guys took it to heart and these guys never quit. We started off shaky at the beginning, but we kicked it in gear and we kept it full throttle the rest of the game and we came out with a win,” Lewis said.
Prairie Grove took an 8-0 lead scoring on its first possession with Tate Cox sprinting better than 60 yards for a touchdown, a feat he would replicate in the second half.
“When they load everybody up in the box like that if you can get past four yards you’re probably going to go for a long way so that’s happened a couple of times. They crowd the line and we bust a couple up the middle and it’s part of the game plan,” Elder said.
Special Teams Impact
Farmington’s execution on special teams helped tip the game in the Cardinals’ favor.
Kicker Klayton Clark factored prominently into Farmington’s second half surge. Clark got his foot into it and kicked the ball deep. Prairie Grove had trouble tracking down the bouncing football and had to start from its own 10-yard-line.
“Klayton Clark, he’s been working on his kicking skills all summer, all preseason and he’s done a real good job. He puts us in great position,” Lewis said.
Prairie Grove wound up punting from the 12. Brycin Beaver returned the punt nicely setting up a short field with first-and-10 from the Tiger 25.
Hodge scored from a yard out then tacked on a 2-point run to put Farmington in front for the first time, 16-8, with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.
“Offensively our quarterback Luke Elsik and our runningback Russell Hodge, [were] getting it done, power running up the middle, outside, whatever we needed. The offensive line did a great job blocking all night. We got movement all night offensively,” Lewis said.
Prairie Grove answered with Cox bursting through a big hole off left tackle and breaking a 65-yard touchdown run. Edwards’ 2-point run evened the score at 16-16 at the 3:13 mark of the third.
Farmington matched that with an 11-play, 67-yard touchdown march with Elsik taking the ball to the house on first-and-goal from the junior Tiger 10. Hodge rammed in the 2-point run putting Farmington back on top, 24-16.
Edwards, who had a long touchdown run in the second quarter called back by penalty, continued to show his explosiveness by returning the kickoff to the junior Cardinal 49. On first down a Prairie Grove ball carrier ran into a wall of Farmington defenders, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty penalty against Farmington advanced the ball to the junior Cardinal 34.
Three plays later Braxton Breshears ran 10 yards for a Prairie Grove touchdown with 5:15 showing in the fourth quarter. However, Beaver came up from the secondary to stop a 2-point run and Farmington maintained a 24-22 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Clark recovered an onside kick for the junior Cardinals.
“He’s also on the front line on our kickoff return and did a great job being ready for the onside kick. He’s got great hands, great awareness,” Lewis said. “That was pretty much our hands team right there and they kicked it right to him so that was nice.”
Farmington ran 3: 37 off the clock then Elsik’s punt wasn’t fielded and Farmington downed it at the Prairie Grove nine. The junior Tigers couldn’t make a first down and Farmington ran out the clock.
“We talk about it all the time. That’s the tip of the spear, special teams. We get our offense and defense in position with special teams,” said Lewis, who also praised his defenders.
“We had some dudes on defense, our middle linebacker, Morgan Schader, making plays in the middle. We had Lincoln Walker on the edge doing his job on the side.”
Prairie Grove has a bye this week while Farmington resumed its 7A West schedule at the junior high level. The ninth graders played at Rogers on Tuesday.