Farmington handles young Hamburg squad

FARMINGTON — Farmington began defense of its 2022 state championship with a 5-2 win over Hamburg in the Class 4A boys state soccer tournament.

Senior Jorge Cervantes, an All-State forward, scored three goals and contributed two assists in the match. Sutter Thompson and Branden Brye each scored a goal while Titus Brown had an assist.

The Cardinals scored three goals in the first half while shutting out Hamburg, an opponent Farmington coach Ian Biggs is wary of in the future.

“Hamburg’s young, they played a lot of freshmen and their coach told me they’ve got a lot of eighth graders coming in next year. You could tell that sometimes they’d make a really good move, then at others they played like freshmen. In a couple of years, they’re going to be really dangerous once they get that experience,” Biggs said.

Once Hamburg scored a goal, the Cardinals responded by scoring two goals in quick succession.

“We did a really good job. We were ready and we played our game. We did a good job of making connecting passes and making the most of our opportunities when they were there,” Biggs said.

Landon Ryan made six saves in goal for the Cardinals.

Biggs praised the defense, a unit that was shored up when Drew White moved from mid-fielder.

“Drew White did a good job of hitting the ball out of the air and never letting them getting anything going.

He makes our defense a lot better,” Biggs said.

Farmington controlled time of possession and was able to cut away angles when Hamburg tried to pass.

First round matches on Thursday were played at Joe T. Robinson, Bauxite and Mills.

Clarksville opened the tourney by pounding Crossett, 8-1, the highest scoring output by any team in the first two rounds. Other 4A West scores showed Dardanelle beating Warren, 3-1, Berryville shutting out Biggs’ old team, Star City, 4-0, and the Cardinals ousting Hamburg, 5-2.

Also in the first round, Joe T. Robinson blanked Morrilton, 2-0; Harding Academy edged Hope, 3-2; Brookland got by Nashville, 3-2; and De Queen won 4-0 over LISA Academy West.

Mark Humphrey/Enterprise-Leader Farmington executes an attack deep at the opponent’s end of the field. The Cardinals, defending state champions, began defense of their 2022 state title with a 5-2 win over Hamburg on Thursday, May 11, 2023, but were eliminated in a 2-0 loss to De Queen Friday.