Cardinal Football Fans Hold Onto Dreams

MARK HUMPHREY GAME JOURNAL
MARK HUMPHREY GAME JOURNAL

Cardinal football fans entertaining visions of Farmington reaching the 5A playoffs for the first time and hoping coach Mike Adams would get his 200th career win must wait.

Farmington football fans will have to hold on tight to those dreams, neither will happen this year. Friday's 42-24 defeat at Harrison ended Farmington's 2017 football season with the Cardinals (4-6, 3-4 5A West) one win short of qualifying for the playoffs and three wins shy of Adams (197-138) achieving the 200-win plateau.

Twenty seniors played their last game in a Cardinal uniform. Adams found spots to get them playing time. Senior Mark Marinoni (6-0, 160) kicked off once driving the ball 41 yards. Senior Jayden Goff (5-10, 201), who starts at linebacker but hasn't played a lot on offense, got a carry at fullback and ran for 12 yards.

Deja Vu

The numbers in Farmington's 42-24 loss to Harrison in week 10 are virtually deja vu in many categories compared to the Cardinals' 40-18 loss to the Goblins in 2016. For the second straight year, Farmington failed to convert a single point-after touchdown attempt against the Goblins. In 2016 the Cardinals were 0-3. Just like last year, Farmington fell behind 21-6 in the second quarter. In 2016 Harrison's Daniel McCormick returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown. On Friday, Caleb Huskey ran a "pick-six" back 20 yards for a Harrison defensive touchdown. In both games, Harrison did not score in the fourth quarter.

Major Difference

One major difference was Harrison sophomore runningback Gabe Huskey (5-10, 170), who carried the football 35 times for 341 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 44, 43, 36 and 6 yards. In 2016, Harrison ran 47 times for 275 yards, averaging 5.9-yards-per-carry against the Cardinal defense with a long run of 25 yards and 3 touchdowns. On Friday the Goblins averaged better than 8 yards-per-carry gaining 441 yards on the ground on 55 rushes.

Contributors

Farmington remained in contention for a playoff spot until Friday's loss. Among the most improved players were senior tailback Caleb Williams and senior quarterback Trey Waggle.

Despite playing on a sore ankle the last two games, Williams rushed for 1,010 yards on 195 carries as the workhorse in the run game. He averaged 5.2-yards-per-carry and 101 yards a game with 14 touchdowns. Williams had five 100-yard rushing games with a long run of 53 yards. He also caught 9 passes for 172 yards. Williams' 1,182 yards led the team in all-purpose yards. He was second to Waggle (1,717 yards passing) in total offense.

Waggle improved upon his junior year, upping his touchdown-to-interception ratio from 12:9 as a junior to 14:6 as a senior. His passing yardage also increased from 1,250 yards on 100 completions in 197 attempts for 2016 to 1,717 yards on 106 completions out of 220 attempts as a senior. In his two-year career as a starting quarterback, Waggle completed 206 of 417 passes (.494 percentage) for 2,967 yards and 26 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.

Defensive Efforts

Defensively, senior cornerback Javan Jowers led the team in total tackles with 73. His 54 solo stops were tops on the team. He tied with classmate, strong safety Skylar Montez (43 tackles, 3 passes defensed), for the team lead in interceptions with 3. Senior defensive end Michael Sellers (39 tackles) led the Cardinals in sacks with 3.0 and tackles for loss with 8.0. Junior Jacob Freeman had the most assisted tackles with 25. He was second on the team in total tackles with 49. Sophomore Colton Kilgore recorded 38 total tackles. Senior defensive end Jae Woods (35 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss) led the Cardinals in passes defensed with 5. He had a key blocked extra-point kick in the Cardinals' 31-30 overtime victory over Maumelle and was credited with a blocked punt.

Exciting Future

Players showing promise for next season include junior tailback Reid Turner (52 carries, 347 yards, 6.7 average, 2 touchdowns) and sophomore wide receiver Drew Sturgeon (44 receptions, 660 yards, 15.0 average, 6 touchdowns). Adams will retool the offense around them as he continues his quest for 200 career wins. A new football stadium, fieldhouse and indoor practice facility are in the works. How much gets completed depends upon budgeting issues, yet the future of Farmington football teems with excitement even as fans say goodbye to the 2017 season.

MARK HUMPHREY IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER.

Sports on 11/08/2017