Cardinals fly past Lions at Gravette, 49-19
GRAVETTE — Drew Sturgeon played the role of a one-man wrecking crew Friday night unmasking his football talents as Farmington handed Gravette a 49-19 defeat.
The senior, whom Farmington head coach Mike Adams calls the best receiver in the State of Arkansas, showcased his all-around skills while running the Lions ragged as they tried in vain to keep up with the “Scarlet Speedster.”
Sturgeon hauled in two touchdown receptions of 27 yards apiece from quarterback Marqwaveon Watson, returned the second-half kickoff 74 yards to the house and, for good measure, took the handoff on a jet sweep and ran the ball through 60 yards of mangled Lion defenders for another touchdown in addition to kicking off and booting the first five extrapoints for the Cardinals.
Farmington coach Mike Adams liked the offensive production, praising the play of Sturgeon and Watson, whom he noted was 10 of 17 passing for 191 yards and ran the ball well.
“Drew had an outstanding game — 7 receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns; a 74-yard kickoff return for a touchdown; and a 60-yard run for a touchdown,” Adams said.
Watson got things started by hooking up with Sturgeon when the receiver read his quarterback’s eyes as Watson bought time running to his right. Sturgeon and another receiver both originally ran short routes about five yards off the line of scrimmage from the Lion 45-yard line. When he saw Watson nod, Sturgeon went downfield. Watson threw the ball before reaching the sideline and Sturgeon kept his feet inbounds to reel in the reception just beyond double coverage and was brought down at the 14. The 31-yard gain set up Caden Elsik’s 1-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead.
Farmington’s next possession concluded with Watson airing out a 27-yard scoring pass to Sturgeon and set him on course for a night to remember. The Cardinals solved third-andnine operating with a twoback set and an offensive line giving Watson good protection. Watson threw while moving to his left to Sturgeon matched up 1-on-1 against Gravette’s Caleb Brown. Sturgeon beat Brown to the pass which came down in the left corner of the end zone and the Cardinals assumed a 14-0 lead with his PAT kick.
In the second quarter, Gravette scored on Cy Hilger’s 41-yard pass to Chace Austin and kicked the point-after to cut the lead in half at 14-7, but the Cardinals soon forayed into Lion territory. With triplets left, Watson took a straight drop-back and hit Sturgeon on a slant across the middle at the 10. He was too fast for the Lion defenders in a footrace and easily dashed across the goal line, pushing the lead back to 14 points at 21-7 with his PAT kick.
For the second straight week, Josh Stettmeier broke a fullback dive, this time for a 48-yard touchdown which, with Sturgeon’s kick, stretched Farmington’s advantage on the scoreboard to 28-7.
Watson’s highlight reel included a 44-yard hookup with Devonte Donovan on a daring, deep throw from the Cardinal 13 just before the half.
Any hopes Gravette held of making a comeback got smashed on the rocks when Sturgeon fielded the second-half kickoff at the left hash. He exploded forward, cutting against the grain of pursuit to the right hash clearing the entire coverage team by the time he crossed the 50. Sturgeon continued his diagonal course running down the right sideline to complete the runback for a touchdown. The score and PAT swelled Farmington’s point cushion to 35-7.
Gravette threw for 286 passing yards in the contest and managed to put two touchdowns on the board in the third quarter. Hilger threw touchdowns of 18 yards to Mason Dagley and 35 to Austin, but Farmington blocked both extra-point kicks. Adams wants the defense to tackle better and halt drives.
“Defensively we had a poor game in terms of open-field tackling,” Adams said. “We had people in position to make plays, but we didn’t get them on the ground. Gravette has an outstanding quarterback and a group of receivers that exposed some of our youth and inexperience in the secondary. We had them in third down and long situations several times, but they came up with big pass plays that kept their drives alive.”
Meanwhile, Elsik, who rushed for 98 yards on 13 carries, scored for the Cardinals on another 1-yard carry. Watson completed 10 of 17 passing attempts while throwing for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was intercepted once. In the third quarter, Watson tossed a short screen pass to Elsik, who set up with two blockers out front on the left side. Twentyfour yards later, Elsik was ridden out of bounds at the Lions’ 36.
If Gravette hadn’t seen enough of Sturgeon already, Farmington sprang him for a fourth-quarter 60-yard rushing touchdown. Running from right to left, Sturgeon took a handoff on a jet sweep and turned the corner behind solid blocking. He streaked past the defense to account for his fourth touchdown of the game and a 49-19 Farmington victory as Luis Zavala kicked the extra-point.
While the game ball goes to Sturgeon, much credit for his exceptional success in week two goes to the man who delivered the ball to him on 7 passes and a handoff that led to the long touchdown run. Watson was part of the receiving corps a year ago, so he understands running routes.
Watson’s 8-of-10 passing success in week one built his confidence coming into week two.
“We have great wide receivers in Drew Sturgeon and Devonte Donovan. All those guys, I give them the ball, they do what they can with it, and that’s why they got me high completions,” Watson said.
Watson is getting more comfortable playing quarterback with each snap, although he thinks opponents may not realize his potential.
“It’s just ability that I have since they think that I’m a quarterback now, they don’t expect me to throw. They expect me to run instead and I showed them that I can run and I can throw. I showed them that also. I think that teams are going to have trouble flushing me out or either just let me sit in the pocket. Either way, I feel like I give them trouble,” Watson said.
Winning the first game of the season at the new Stadium and Farmington Sports Complex against Prairie Grove bore a sweetness for the senior.
“Oh yeah, it feels good. Both teams were talking back and forth and for us to come out with the win and actually settle everything out and leave it alone and get the win at the new place, first game, it feels good. I will always remember that,” Watson said.
Farmington takes on Pea Ridge this week as the team returns to Cardinal Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Gravette will host Jay, Okla., with kickoff time set at 7 p.m., as well.