FARMINGTON -- Farmington righted its ship, battered and tossed in previous weeks amid a sea of covid-19 and off-the-field issues, raising a triumphant Homecoming banner victorious 29-21 over Clarksville.
Friday's win broke the ice for the Cardinals since beginning 5A West play. Farmington hadn't played a home game in a month, which was their last win on Sept. 11 and what started out as a promising season became a rough voyage beginning with the covid cancellation of a Sept. 25 home game against Harrison.
That coupled with a Sept. 18 bye and consecutive 5A West losses to Vilonia (20-14) and Morrilton (35-21) left Farmington fans hungering for a win. Farmington coach Mike Adams knew the Cardinal offense needed to make the most of its opportunities and he wasn't disappointed.
"Our offense was very efficient Friday night. We knew going in that we would get limited possessions because of the way Clarksville plays -- they use every bit of the play clock and are happy with 3 and 4 yard plays. They will go for it on almost every fourth down and they extend a lot of their possessions that way. We only made them punt once, but we stopped them on fourth down three times and recovered three fumbles," Adams said.
Back-to-back plays by Farmington, one on defense and the other an offensive explosion put the Cardinals in the driver's seat dictating the course of the game to Clarksville throughout the second half.
Terrion Swift's fumble recovery set up the Cardinal offense at midfield and they delivered. Sutton hooked up with tight end Chase Brown for a 45-yard gain to the Panthers' five. Elsik scored on the next play and starting defensive lineman Josiah Ingraham (6-0, 295) lined up in the backfield following a half-the-distance-to-the-goal penalty on Clarksville to carry the ball in for a 2-point conversion.
Farmington led 22-14 at the 7:06 mark of the third, but Clarksville threatened early in the fourth. Devonte Donovan recovered a Panther fumble in the end zone for a touchback leading to a time-consuming 80-yard drive capped by Elsik's 7-yard touchdown run with Sutton selling a play fake. Toni Cervantes booted the P.A.T. putting Farmington up by two scores at 29-14 with 7:52 remaining.
Clarksville answered with a 78-yard march, but lacking a quick scoring punch, used 5:09. The Panthers again fumbled near the goal line, but this time wide receiver Easton Case recovered in the end zone for a Panther touchdown. Lwe Soe's kick pulled the Panthers within 29-21 with 2:25 left.
Farmington recovered an onside kick and ran the clock out to secure its first league win this season.
Clarksville didn't make things easy. The Panthers dominated time of possession in the first quarter holding the ball for 11:26 to a mere 14 seconds for Farmington and racking up 96 yards of total offense. Still for all of their best efforts the Panthers could only show a 7-6 lead on the scoreboard at the end of the first period.
Much of that came on their first drive aided by numerous offsides penalties with the Cardinals flagged for encroachment venturing into the neutral zone while shifting in adjustment to Clarksville's perpetual alignment shifts operating out of a single-wing offense. Arthur Alvarez' 21-yard carry put Clarksville on the scoreboard first with a 7-0 lead.
Farmington Defensive Coordinator Jay Harper got in the ear of his unit emphasizing avoiding silly penalties while Farmington ran only one play from scrimmage in the first quarter, a 67-yard touchdown pass from Tate Sutton to tailback Caden Elsik coming out of the backfield.
The Cardinals performed better after that halting Clarksville's second series and forcing a turnover on downs which enabled Farmington to flip the field and drive 62 yards in four plays to take a 14-7 lead on a fullback dive by Josiah Ingraham and a 2-point conversion pass from Sutton to Elsik.
Jaylin Wright's 4-yard touchdown run for Clarksville tied the game at 14-all in the second period.
Both Farmington quarterbacks, Sutton and Ian Cartwright, threw interceptions in the second quarter. Clarksville couldn't convert either turnover with the defense bailing Farmington out. A 34-yard field goal attempt by Clarksville junior Lwe Soe sailed wide to the left in the final moments of the first half.
"On offense we only snapped the ball 29 times in the entire game, but we had just over three hundred yards of total offense so we averaged a little over 10 yards per play," Mike Adams said. "[Offensive Coordinator] Spencer [Adams] added a couple of new pass routes to attack the way they played their coverage and they paid off big time -- on our first play we hit tailback Caden Elsik for 67 yards and a touchdown. A couple of series later we hit tight end Chase Brown for a 50-yard gain to set up first-and-goal at the five ,which we converted on the next play. Tate Sutton was 6 out of 7 passing for 135 yards, and Caden Elsik rushed for 136 yards on just 18 carries."
FARMINGTON 29, CLARKSVILLE 21
Clarksville^7^7^0^7^--^21
Farmington^6^8^8^7^--^29
First Quarter
Clarksville – Arthur Alvarez 21-yard run (Lwe Soe kick) 6:00
Farmington – Caden Elsik 67-yard pass from Tate Sutton (kick blocked) 5:39
Second Quarter
Farmington – Caden Elsik 1-yard run (Caden Elsik pass from Tate Sutton) 8:14
Clarksville – Jaylin Wright 4-yard run (Lwe Soe kick) 5:27
Third Quarter
Farmington – Caden Elsik 5-yard run (Ingraham run) 7:06
Fourth Quarter
Farmington – Caden Elsik 8-yard run (Toni Cervantes kick) 7:52
Clarksville – Easton Case recovers fumble in end zone (Lwe Soe kick) 2:25
TEAM STATISTICS
Farmington^Clarksville
Total plays^34^76
First downs^11^21
Total offense^297^318
Rushes-yards^26-162^55-234
Passing yards^135^84
Rush average^6.3^4.3
Comp-Att-Yds^TD^Int^6-7-135-1-2^5-8-84-0-0
Punts-Avg.^1-30.0^2-20.0
Fumbles lost^0^2
Turnovers^2^2
Penalties-Yds^7-23^15-89
Third-down conversion^1-5^2-11
Fourth-down conversion^1-1^4-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Farmington, Caden Elsik 18-136, Tate Sutton 6-26. Totals 26-162. Clarksville, Totals 55-234.
PASSING -- Farmington, Tate Sutton 6-7-135-1-1. Clarksville, 5-8-84-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Farmington, Caden Elsik 2-69, Chase Brown 3-52, Devonte Donovan 1-14. Totals 5-133. Clarksville, 5-84.