FARMINGTON -- Key mistakes during critical junctures of the game cost Farmington in Friday's 36-28 loss giving the Cardinals an 0-2 start in 5A West play.
The teams battled to a 22-22 tie at halftime, then neither scored in the third quarter. Farmington went ahead, 28-22, early in the fourth on Nick Huff's 22-yard touchdown pass from Brice Waggle but had an extra-point kick blocked, then gave up a pair of Greenbrier touchdowns in a three minute span.
"They're a really good football team but we did some things to help them," said Farmington coach Mike Adams. "We had two late-hit penalties that gave them 30 yards in field position and they scored both times. You can't do that."
Waggle threw 38 yards to Huff as Farmington opened the scoring with just over five minutes remaining in the first period. Justice Hobbs ran in a 2-point conversion but the Cardinal 8-0 lead was short-lived. Shawn Howard's 5-yard run coupled with Harold Ross' 2-point conversion pass to Turner Coats tied the game 2:18 later.
The second quarter started slowly but ended with a wild finish. The teams combined to score four touchdowns in the last 7:33 beginning with Hobbs' 4-yard carry for Farmington. John Stevens booted the P.A.T. Greenbrier came back with Ross' quarterback sneak from the 1 and Ethan Hall's kick to tie the game at 15-all. Powered by the running of Hobbs (30 rushes, 209 yards, 2 touchdowns), Farmington once more put points on the board. Hobbs polished off a drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge and Stevens booted the point-after with 2:05 to go in the second quarter. Greenbrier needed only 1:33 to score with Howard going over from the one with 32 seconds still on the clock. Hall's kick tied the game for a third time, at 22-all.
"Two times we turned the ball over on their end of the field. We've got to stop hurting ourselves. We had them in third and 10-plus yards and we let people get behind us," Adams said. "It's a learning experience. Hopefully, we'll get better."
A crucial turnover came after a completed pass with 7:29 left in the third. Greenbrier took over at their 37 and was forced to punt after a penalty. Farmington missed a golden opportunity when Ross fielded a bad snap and was able to avoid being tackled getting off a short punt shifting field position to near mid-field at the Panther 48. Greenbrier intercepted a deep throw halting another Farmington opportunity and the score remained, 22-22, at the end of three quarters of play.
Farmington then sustained a 53-yard touchdown march capped by Huff's 22-yard reception when he was isolated against 1-on-1 coverage on the right side. Greenbrier got penetration on the extra-point attempt and blocked the kick holding Farmington to a 6-point lead, at 28-22. Five plays later Greenbrier captured their first lead on Cody Hopper's 14-yard run. A 72-yard pass play to Alex Massey set up Carter Burcham's touchdown pass with 6:17 left and Farmington couldn't recover.
The Cardinals will celebrate Homecoming on Friday with cornation set to begin at 5:30 p.m. with kickoff against Clarksville scheduled for 7 p.m.
Sports on 10/07/2015