Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Guiding Light
In the face of adversity, a never say die attitude coupled with sound clock management and outstanding offensive execution, turned Friday’s football contest at Gravette in Farmington’s favor.
“It was very important for our team to come from behind late and get the job done against a very good football team,” said Farmington coach Mike Adams. “With less than two minutes left we drove the ball 70 yards and scored on a fourth and two play with 24 seconds left. Our kids showed great composure and executed our two-minute offense in very bad conditions.”
For certain there were plenty of heroes to go around in Farmington’s 27-22 rain-soaked comeback 4A-1 Conference victory. Sophomore running back Justice Hobbs rushed 22 times for 144 yards and ripped off a 48-yard first quarter touchdown; Evan O’Dell transformed a short fourth-down catch into a 14-yard touchdown; junior Josh Blew maintained his footing on a 31-yard scoring gallop; and Chas Turner reeled in the game-winning touchdown reception also on fourth down. Yet. the guiding light in this Arkansas high school football drama was a burning will to win in the heart of Cardinal quarterback Keaton Austin, whose favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.”
“That’s how I feel about this team. I know he’s given me ability to lead this team and it isn’t always an easy task,” Austin said. “I have full confidence in my team when it comes to making big plays and getting the job [done] when it’s necessary.”
“Chas Turner made a phenomenal catch on a trick play we put in for situations just like that one,” Adams said, while noting the Cardinal defense struggled at times with Gravette’s power running game, but came up with two stops late in the fourth quarter to give the offense a chance. Farmington’s defense set up the game’s first points when they forced Gravette into a punting situation from the Lions’ 35 and recorded a safety when the deep snap went awry.
After the free kick from the 20, Farmington was in business at the Lions’ 48 and Hobbs busted a touchdown run.
Gravette’s Cedric Duarte, who picked up 146 yards on 35 carries, had nearly a third of his rushing attempts (10) during an 80-yard, 14 play drive, scoring a one-yard touchdown and a 2- point conversion at the 4:52 mark of the second period. Finding themselves in an 8-8 tie, Farmington could not move the ball and punted. Duarte, a 5-foot-11, 182 pound junior, was again the workhorse as the Lions went 72 yards with Duarte capping the drive with a 3-yard score just 4:01 after his first.
The Lions owned a 14-8 advantage at intermission but the Cardinals erased the deficit and took a 15-14 lead late in the third quarter on Austin’s completion to O’Dell and Juan Flores’ extra- point kick. On the ensuing kickoff, Farmington recovered a Gravette fumble but couldn’t convert the turnover into points. Gravette went back in front, 22-15, with 10:25 left in the game on Duarte’s third touchdown, a 2- yarder, followed by a successful 2-point conversion pass play from Wyatt Banta to Cody Heaton.
After the teams traded possessions, Farmington got the ball back with 7:30 showing and appeared to have been stopped but on fourth-and-four, instead of punting rugby-style, Austin threw for 5 yards to keep the drive alive moving the ball into Lion territory at the 49. Blew ran 31 yards to daylight but a bad snap on the point-after led to a missed kick leaving Farmington one-point behind, at 22-21, with 6:45 to go.
Like a case of deja vu, the teams once more exchanged possessions with Farmington taking over with the clock down to 1: 54. The outcome came down to a classic hurry-up offensive execution by the Cardinals. With no timeouts left, Farmington went to the air and Austin coolly stepped up and delivered throwing 7 times with 5 completions to multiple receivers. To heighten the tension, Farmington got into another fourth- down from the Gravette 10-yard line with the clock ticking down.
Down to the last opportunity to make a play, Austin threw to the far side and Chas Turner came up with a diving catch in the back of the end zone for the go- ahead touchdown. A passing attempt for a 2-point conversion failed but Farmington was in front, 27-22.
Gravette endeavored to mount one last charge in the see-saw contest, yet the Cardinal defense rose to the occasion and secured the victory by coming away with a turnover to end the game.
“We feel like we are in a good position for the playoffs right now, but we have three games left against quality opponents who are also fighting for their playoff lives,” Adams said stressing the team must remain focused on the task at hand which is finding a way to beat the defending state 4A runner-up Ozark team, Farmington’s opponent at home on Friday.