Failed Conversion Nips Cards' Comeback

Special teams miscues short-circuited Farmington's comeback bid, none bigger than a failed 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game in Friday's 22-20 loss at Maumelle.

Freshman runningback JaDarrien Burns (6 carries, 42 yards) scored on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter, but a 2-point conversion run failed allowing Maumelle (2-6, 2-3 5A-West) to edge Farmington (3-5, 2-3). A breakdown on special teams led to Maumelle's first and final touchdowns. Farmington took the opening kickoff and drove across midfield into Hornet territory before stalling at the 49. The Cardinals lined up in punt formation on fourth-and-four but a snap to the upback was fumbled. Punter Kelton Price was able to get a handle on the football after the pigskin bounced away from the upback, but Price was tackled at the Cardinal 35 with 2:56 gone in the first quarter.

Maumelle needed only six plays to find the end zone. Xavion Morgan scored on a 9-yard run in the first quarter. Senior Josh Ball's kick return would have given the Cardinals prime-time field position at the Hornet 30, but a face-mask tackle by Maumelle was ignored while Farmington was flagged for a 15-yard infraction and set up their offense at the Hornet 45. Sophomore tailback Reid Turner, who led Farmington with 72 yards rushing, banged out a first down to the Maumelle 33 and Farmington appeared poised to make a scoring threat. Those hopes faded on the next play with an intentional-grounding penalty moving the ball back to midfield.

Farmington punted and Maumelle engineered a 10-play, 77-yard drive capped by Morgan's 10-yard pass to Byron Wade to make the score 14-0 after Daniel Wheeler kicked the second of his two extra-points with 1:30 to go in the first quarter. Trenton McChristian returned the kickoff to Farmington's 37, but 10 yards were marked off because of a block-in-the-back penalty. Burns took a handoff on a jet sweep and cruised around left end for 20 yards. This drive, too, was ill-fated with a third-and-10 pass falling incomplete. The Cardinals punted from Maumelle's 40 but the football rolled into the end zone for a touchback.

Farmington's defense then turned momentum in the Cardinals' favor. Jayden Goff stopped Morgan aided by Justin Clark. The Hornets fumbled on the next play with Morgan falling on the ball. After an incomplete pass on third down, the Hornets tried to punt, but the kick was blocked by Farmington. Waggle lined up under center at the Maumelle one and scored on a quarterback sneak. A well-executed 2-point conversion play illustrated the value of teamwork. Waggle made a deep-snap from the swinging-gate formation to sophomore quarterback Seth Swain, who turned right and when confronted by the Hornet defenders, pitched to Javan Jowers. Jowers was hemmed in, but passed to Staten in the end zone and Farmington had cut Maumelle's lead to 14-8 at the 8:42 mark of the second quarter.

Optimism that Farmington would get back in the game took another hit when Maumelle's Mhaniq Wilkerson returned the kickoff to the Cardinal two setting up another short run by Morgan. Wade ran in a 2-point conversion to extend Maumelle's lead to 22-8. The Hornets recovered an onside kick at the Cardinal 48, but Farmington's defense didn't allow a first down. Goff and Skyler Montez combined to stop Cory Jones' run after a 3-yard gain. Montez teamed up with Dylan Gustin to drop Wilkerson after making a catch for 2 yards. Maumelle ran a sweep with sophomore Antavius Henderson, but the Cardinals strung the play out with Niles Thomas (9 tackles) and Gustin tackling him for a 2-yard loss. Sophomore Evan Robinson (6-3, 230) caught a short pass on fourth down, but was brought down behind the line of scrimmage by Price resulting in a turnover on downs at the Cardinal 48.

On first down, Burns caught a pass near the left sideline near the Maumelle 30, but the big gain was erased by an illegal procedure flag. Waggle threw to Staten for a 25-yard gain to the Hornet 18, but another flag flew on the next play marking off 15 yards and the drive bogged down. After a Maumelle punt, Farmington had one more offensive possession sparked by Staten's 15-yard punt return to the Hornet 30 with 2:26 remaining in the first half. The Cardinals lost the football and an opportunity to score when a high lateral pass was recovered by Maumelle's Andres Londono. The first half ended with Jae Woods' sack of Morgan for a 14-yard loss after the Hornets reached the Farmington 46.

Waggle completed 12-of-20 passes for 173 yards with a 30-yard touchdown to Staten in the third quarter to pull the Cardinals within, 22-14. Farmington held Maumelle held scoreless in the second half, but was hampered by two interceptions. Antavius Henderson had 87 yards rushing for Maumelle, which had 122 yards on the ground. Morgan finished 12-of-20 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown.