Farmington Junior Cards Will Go After Conference Crown Again

FARMINGTON — The 2011 junior Cardinals went undefeated and won the conference championship, but the majority of starters have moved up to senior high football.

Last season, the Farmington junior high team went undefeated with 10 wins against no losses to win the conference championship in Tracy Sutton’s first year after taking over the program.

The majority of 2011 starters were freshmen who have moved up to the high school ranks, and Coach Sutton will have to rely on a bunch of new faces in the lineup this year. The goal is the same. The Cardinals want to win a second consecutive conference championship.

In the final preseason scrimmage against Greenland on Aug. 20, Sutton said the offensive line hadn’t yet jelled due to the players learning how to work with another as a unit.

“Offensively, we had some holes at times, but we didn’t block like I thought we would,” Sutton said. “We have all new guys except one. We just got to get in sync, then I think we’ll do okay.”

Offensively, the junior Cardinals will one again employ a balanced offense with the passing game mixed in. During the preseason, receivers have shown a willingness to make the extra effort after a catch leading to broken tackles and positive yardage.

Running back Justice Hobbs will once again be a focal point of the offense. Sutton said last season the Junior Cardinals had a lot of skill players and that took the pressure off of Hobbs, who shared duties running the ball with Josh Blew. Sutton credited Hobbs with making a lot of plays last year and noted the offense didn’t have to rely exclusively on him.

“We’re hoping to do the same thing this year between him and Caleb Reagan,” Sutton said.

Sutton has seen some things he liked from the junior Cardinal defense.

“The defense got to the ball real well,” Sutton said. “We had good pursuit, tackled well and made some open-field tackles.”

Sutton doesn’t want the defense to give up any cheap touchdowns and Sutton said among the toughest competitors on the team are Coy Sigmon, Justice Hobbs and Walter Davis.

“We have 10 or 11 who don’t like losing,” Sutton said. “I don’t think they’re afraid of anything.”

“We have got some good players,” Sutton said. “I think we’ll be all right.”