Cardinals Cinch Playoff Spot

FARMINGTON ZOOMS PAST PEA RIDGE 49-22

FARMINGTON — Farmington cemented a much anticipated appearance in the Class 5A State football playoffs with a solid, 49-22, win over Pea Ridge in 5A West action Friday at Cardinal Stadium.

“We had a great week of practice and our players responded really, really well, just so thankful we’ve got a bunch of guys who have a lot of heart and showed a lot of character tonight,” said Farmington coach J. R. Eldridge.

Pea Ridge sophomore quarterback Gavin Dixon came out sharp, running for a touchdown and passing to Trevor Blair for another as Pea Ridge led 8-0 and 14-7 early before injuries short circuited their offensive output.

Without Blair and senior tailback Joe Adams the Blackhawks could not keep pace offensively and the Cardinals scored the last 20 points of the first half to break away from a 14-14 deadlock at the end of the first quarter with sophomore quarterback Cameron Vanzant tossing a trio of touchdown passes and tailback Caden Elsik busting a 65-yard touchdown run to fuel the Cardinal offense.

“Farmington’s a well-coached team. They’ve got good kids and they’ve got good coaches and for us to be able to compete against them, against anybody in this league, we can’t beat ourselves,” said Pea Ridge coach Brey Cook. “We had a little flurry of injuries there in the second quarter and it became a thing where we’re looking around where some of our big names get hurt. Who’s going to be the next man up? And the next man didn’t stand up tonight.”

Pea Ridge came in looking for its second consecutive win after outlasting Clarksville 54-49 on Oct. 22. The Blackhawks (1-8, 1-5) scored on their first two possessions, getting strong play from Dixon who darted 24 yards through the Cardinal defense for the first touchdown of the game, then passed to Jonathon Lyons for a 2-point conversion and 8-0 Blackhawk lead at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter.

Farmington answered with senior Kanye Taylor capping a 7-play, 53-yard Cardinal march with a 12-yard run pulling Farmington within 8-7.

Pea Ridge expanded its lead to 14-7 on Dixon’s 58-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Blair, who left the game in the second quarter with an injury along with starting Blackhawk tailback Joe Adams.

On the next play from scrimmage Farmington unleashed tailback Caden Elsik who veered off right tackle before cutting back as he crossed the 50 going to the left hash. The Blackhawks couldn’t catch him and 65 yards later Elsik reached the end zone. Ettore Bocchi’s extra-point kick evened the score at 14-all and Pea Ridge would not lead again.

“We really got to take a look at some of those guys that we’re asking to do big things and they can and they can step up to the challenge. They have to do it. We can believe in them as coaches all we want and we can encourage them and hype them up and coach them, but they got to make the plays and they got to stop looking around at somebody else to make the play,” Cook said.

In the second quarter Vanzant burned the Blackhawk secondary by hitting a wide- open Peyton Funk on a 42-yard touchdown play with someone missing an assignment for Pea Ridge on defense.

The Blackhawks tried to answer but Dixon was intercepted by Sam Wells who returned the pick 35 yards for a score on defense.

“Sam’s been a leader for us all season on defense. He makes tackles, flies around, and gets after it every day in practice and every time we come out here and that’s why he makes plays, just a great football player, great leader for us,” Eldridge said.

Vanzant found wide receiver Justin Logue for a 20-yard touchdown as the half wore down to push Farmington out to a 34-14 halftime advantage.

Farmington opened the second half by grinding out a 75-yard scoring drive that took 17 plays and nearly five minutes capped by

Tray Moser 2- yard run stretching its lead to 41-14.

An extended delay occurred with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter while the officials conferred after an altercation broke out. Three players from Pea Ridge and two from Farmington got ejected and will have to sit out this Friday according to Arkansas Activities Association rules.

Following the fracas, Farmington continued a 6-play, 38-yard drive punctuated by Vanzant’s touchdown pass to Lawson Devault. The sophomore quarterback then added a spectacular but violent 2-point conversion run when he went airborne to hurl himself across the goal line and took a hit from Pea Ridge sophomore Greer Marier who went underneath the leaping quarterback.

With the two points tacked on Farmington opened up a 35-point lead with 3:39 to go in the third quarter and the remainder of the contest was played with a running clock.

“Cameron has competed every week that we play football. I’m so proud of the way he played tonight and just look forward to more good things from him,” Eldridge said.

Dixon threw a 7- yard touchdown pass to a wideopen Jonathan Lyons who slipped uncovered into the end zone converting fourthand-goal with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, then passed to Kayden Rains for a 2-point conversion to make the final 49-22.