FARMINGTON -- For the second straight week Drew Sturgeon kicked a field goal to put an opponent on ice, this time giving Farmington a one-point edge with 1:27 to play.
The previous week Sturgeon's 32-yard field goal with 3:09 left put the Cardinals ahead by two scores, 17-7, over Pea Ridge in a game Farmington eventually won 24-7 on Sept. 20.
Friday, Sturgeon again got his kicks not on Historic Route 66, which runs north and to the west of Farmington, but where it counts splitting the uprights from 42 yards out on the football field at Cardinal Stadium lifting the home team to an important 5A West victory in Friday's 22-21 Homecoming game against Clarksville to begin conference play.
Sturgeon's field goal put Clarksville on ice. The Panthers burned all of their time-outs earlier and had to start from the 20 -- thanks to a touchback when Sturgeon sent a kickoff into the end zone.
Kyle Welkley administered the coup de grace by intercepting a desperation pass by Clarksville quarterback Miles Castleman. Welkley broke on the ball getting his feet down and securing the pigskin near the sideline allowing Farmington to run out the clock.
Farmington head coach Mike Adams attributed successful execution throughout all phases of the kicking game as a major factor in the win. Clarksville blocked Sturgeon's PAT kick in the first quarter following Josh Stettmeier's 11-yard touchdown run then took a 7-6 lead in the second quarter on Jace Donaldson's 74-yard catch from Bryce Buckner and Sergio Fernandez's extra-point kick.
Clarksville extended its lead to 14-7 on Bryce Buckner's 1-yard run and another PAT kick with 38 seconds left in the first half.
"We work really hard on the kicking game. That's kind of been my focus since training camp. It won the game for us tonight," Adams said. "We put them in bad field position all night. Drew kicks off. We did a good job when we punted and we just had a little technique issue on the first one and they blocked it. We got that coached up on the sideline. We fixed it and Que did a great job of handling the snap and getting it down and we executed the kick. We knew we could. He's capable of doing that. He's got great range and he had a big wind behind his back so we had a lot of confidence in that kick."
Jaden Schrader capped an impressive 15-play, 96-yard drive to start the second half with a 3-yard touchdown run, but a run failed on a 2-point conversion attempt. Clarksville answered with Bryce Buckner's 41-yard run adding a PAT to increase its lead to 21-12 at the 1:29 mark of the third quarter.
Farmington sprang Sturgeon for a 51-yard touchdown off a medium range pass that he took the distance making several tacklers miss with 6:55 to go. He kicked the point-after closing Farmington to within 21-19.
"I'm just really thankful for my quarterback (Marqwaveon Watson) and all the receivers who went to block for me and the linemen. I couldn't have done it without them," Sturgeon said. "We knew coming in that it was going to be a really big game and we pulled together and came out with a win and I'm so glad for our team."
A short punt set up Farmington at the Clarksville 44 with 3:41 left. A personal foul against the Panthers added 15 yards to the 25, but Farmington's drive stalled and the field goal unit came on.
"Field goals was something that I had struggles with for awhile and to do that was really gutsy and I'm glad that we got out with the win," Sturgeon said. "I love that. They believed in me and I'm so thankful for it."
Farmington plays at Alma Friday.
FARMINGTON 22, CLARKSVILLE 21
Clarksville 0 14 7 0 -- 21
Farmington 6 0 6 10 -- 22
First Quarter
Farmington -- Josh Stettmeier 11-yard run (kick blocked), 2:13.
Second Quarter
Clarksville -- Jace Donaldson 74-yard pass from Bryce Buckner (Sergio Fernandez kick), 5:55.
Clarksville -- Bryce Buckner 1-yard run (Sergio Fernandez kick), 0:38.
Third Quarter
Farmington -- Jaden Schrader 3-yard run, (run failed) 4:54.
Clarksville -- Bryce Buckner 41-yard run (Sergio Fernandez kick), 1:29.
Fourth Quarter
Farmington -- Drew Sturgeon 51-yard pass from Marqwaveon Watson (Drew Sturgeon kick), 6:55.
Farmington -- Drew Sturgeon 42-yard field goal, 1:27.
TEAM STATISTICS
Farmington Clarksville
Total plays 66 52
First downs 16 10
Total offense 236 325
Rushes-yards 41-157 39-235
Passing yards 79 90
Rush average 3.8 6.0
Comp-Att-Yds TD Int 4-12-79-1-1 2-6-90-1-1
Punts-Avg. 2-30.0 4-22.0
Penalties-Yds 13-148 6-29
Third-down conversion 4-11 6-14
Fourth-down conversion 1-3 1-2
Missed Field Goals: None.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Clarksville, Nicholas Buckner 18-97, Bryce Buckner 11-65, Shane Edgmon 6-61, Jamie White 3-8, Colby Burkett 1-4. Totals 39-235. Farmington, Caden Elsik 14-88, Jayden Schrader 8-28, Drew Sturgeon 3-27, Josh Stettmeier 3-15, Ian Cartwright 2-6, Marqwaveon Watson 11-(-7.) Totals 41-157.
PASSING -- Clarksville, Miles Castleman 2-6-90-1-1. Totals 2-6-90-1-1. Farmington, Marqwaveon Watson 4-11-79-1-1, Myles Harvey 0-1-0-0-1. Totals 4-12-79-1-1.
RECEIVING -- Clarksville, Jace Donaldson 2-90. Totals 2-90. Farmington, Drew Sturgeon 3-67, Caden Elsik 1-12. Totals 4-79.
Sports on 10/02/2019