Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cardinals Bring Out School Colors
DAVIS RUNS HIGHLIGHT RED AND WHITE SCRIMMAGE
FARMINGTON — Converted wide receiver Walker Davis showed Cardinal fans why Farmington coaches moved him to runningback ripping off several long runs including a breakaway touchdown during a scrimmage Aug. 20.
The annual Red and White game showcased first the junior Cardinal football squad coached by Tracy Sutton followed by the senior Cardinal varsity under head coach Mike Adams.
“This Red and White kickoff is great,” Sutton said. “Ever since I’ve been here the Red and White game has been great. This community rallies around students and players. You couldn’t ask for a better community.”
Farmington introduced every player and coach from both squads including the peewee and seventh grade teams plus band members, cheerleaders, dance teams, mascots and advisers.
While the junior high offense struggled to move the ball during the scrimmage, Davis got the senior Cardinals off to a good start. In the varsity scrimmage the offense scored in four plays on one series which saw Davis make a big run around the right end, then dart up the sideline on the next play. Switching things up, Brice Waggle threw a touchdown pass on the next play
As the offense turned around and ran a play from the shadow of their goalline they again moved the ball and Davis ran up the middle then showed his breakaway speed by taking the ball all the way for another touchdown.
“Walker Davis was the guy who looked the best in our scrimmage,” Adams said.
Farmington also used three other runningbacks, Josh Blew, Ian Crawford and Justice Hobbs, all of which Adams said will see action this season.
The Cardinals did not pit their starting offense against the first team defense instead using a blend of players on both sides of the ball.
“It was kind of a mix n’ match of personnel tonight,” Adams said. “It was very competitive. One side didn’t dominate the other and that was good to see. On both sides there was a lot of give and take.”
Junior Keaton Austin and Waggle took snaps under center at quarterback.
“We saw good things from both quarterbacks,” Adams said. “They both threw the ball real well and I thought we caught the ball real well.”
Offensive lineman Hayden Sutton sat out with an MCL sprain yet Adams said the team has depth with a lot of guys experienced up front.
“I’ll be back in time for Huntsville,” Hayden said, referring to the season-opener at home on Sept. 6.
On the defensive side, Adams was pleased with the secondary coming up to make stops, noting the Cardinals made several plays with cornerbacks Matt Wilson, Evan Odell and Michael Lusher.
“All of these guys made good open-field tackles, that’s encouraging for us,” Adams said. “Last year
we were not a good openfield tackling team.”
Mark Jones, former defensive coordinator at Fairview Camden, has relocated to Northwest Arkansas and is a volunteer assistant. Adams said Jones’ experience is helping improve the defensive line noting senior Thomas Clay has really come on and Clay and fellow senior Jeremy Alexander make it hard to run against the Cardinal defense in practice. The Cardinals lost Terrin Pettigrew to a torn ACL before fall practice.
“He is a great kid, who worked hard and he still has a great attitude,” Adams said. “He was a guy we were counting on at linebacker.”
Still, Farmington has quality athletes at the position with Cory Henry, Flint Oxford, Justice Hobbs and John Larabee. Overall, Adams liked what he saw during the scrimmage. After scrimmaging at Greenland on Monday the Cardinals have one more week to prepare for a nonconference game against Huntsville Sept. 6.