PRAIRIE GROVE -- The stands were still packed, the fans were still rabid and loud. If anyone thought that the fierce rivalry between the Farmington Cardinals and the Prairie Grove Tigers would somehow be diminished because the two teams are not in the same conference, then they were severely mistaken. No, the fire was still there, the intensity was still there, and when the dust settled at Prairie Grove's Tiger Den field Friday the Cardinals were still elated and the Tigers were still crestfallen after Farmington held on for a 34-27 victory.
Both teams' offenses looked in mid-season form with the Cardinals racking up 388 yards, while the Tigers chewed up 423 yards. The Cardinals took a 7-point lead with 2:58 left in the game when Justice Hobbs broke the plane for his fourth touchdown of the night. The Tigers moved down to the Cardinals' 29 with less then a minute to play, but a Prairie Grove fumble ended the threat and allowed Farmington to hang on for the victory.
"We talked about it with them that we had to have one stop. One stop to win the ballgame," said Cardinal coach Mike Adams. "We had guys in position to make plays all game, but they [Prairie Grove] have athletes that went up and made plays over us. You have to hand it to them, they are a great football team."
Hobbs, who led all rushers with 139 yards crossed the goal line from 5 yards out on Farmington's first possession, then found pay dirt from 1 yard out on their next series. Hobbs also booted both P.A.T's which put the Cards up 14-0 with 11:20 left in the second quarter. With 7:47 left in the frame Tiger quarterback Ryan Marrell capped off a 55-yard drive with 1-yard touchdown run. Matthew Gauldin added the extra point which cut the lead to 14-7.
Hobbs punched it in from 1-yard out on Farmington's next possession, however he missed the mark on the P.A.T. leaving the score at 20-7. The Tigers countered with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Marrell to Elliot Chamberlain, who out-jumped the Cardinal defender for the touchdown reception. Gauldin's extra point closed the gap to 20-14, which was the score going into intermission.
On Prairie Grove's first series of the second half Eli Lopez peeled off a 16-yard touchdown run and Gauldin tacked on the extra point which gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, at 21-20.
Midway through the third stanza, Farmington's Josh Williams picked off Marrell which gave the Cards the ball at their own 42. Two plays later Cardinal quarterback Brice Waggle hit Michael Ingram in stride streaking down the sideline for a 61-yard pitch and catch. The 2-point attempt was incomplete leaving the score at 26-21 in Farmington's favor. Waggle finished the game with 220 yards passing with the one touchdown, while Ingram led all receivers with 179 yards on 9 receptions.
The Tigers countered by utilizing their air attack, and with 3:06 left in the third, Marrell connected with Chamberlain on a slant route which turned into a 45-yard touchdown. The Tigers' 2-point try fell incomplete, keeping the contest at 27-26, in favor of Prairie Grove. Marrell finished the game with 238 yards passing, 2-touchdowns and 1-interception. Chamberlain hauled in 5-catches for 118 yards.
On Farmington's next possession they chewed up six minutes and fifteen seconds and also converted a big fourth-and-3 play when Waggle hooked up with Blake Putnam for a 14-yard gain which kept the Cards' drive alive. Farmington finally capped off their 68-yard drive when Hobbs bulled his way into the end zone from 1-yard out. Waggle found Josh Blew in the end zone for the 2-point conversion which put Farmington on top 34-27 with 2:58 left to play.
Prairie Grove made it interesting by moving down to the Farmington 29, however Levi Green pounced on a Marrell fumble which sealed the victory for the Cardinals.
"I think Farmington made fewer mistakes tonight then we did," said Tiger coach Danny Abshier. "I think both teams played extremely hard, they just made fewer mistakes and that was the difference in the game."
The Cardinals travel to Huntsville on Friday for a non-conference showdown with the kickoff slated for 7 p.m., while the Tigers have an open date. Prairie Groves' next contest will be Sept. 19 when they welcome the West Fork Tigers for another non-conference home game.
Sports on 09/10/2014