FARMINGTON -- Farmington (6-1, 3-1 5A West) remains in contention for a conference title trailing co-conference leaders Vilonia and Greenbrier, both of which remain unbeaten at 7-0, 4-0 5A West with three weeks left.
The Cardinals dominated defensively recording two safeties and posting their second straight shutout while holding Clarksville to zero passing yards and a mere 73 yards of total offense while winning by a 39-0 score Friday night.
"I feel like our coaching staff has done a great job of getting the message across," said Farmington coach J.R. Eldridge. "Our players are embracing that. We're having good energy and focus every day in our practices. Hopefully that will translate into games."
Farmington took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter after recovering a Panther fumble at the Clarksville 16. Senior Caden Elsik ran the ball in from 4 yards out and Ettore Bocchi kicked the extra-point.
Clarksville compounded its woes by mishandling the ensuing kickoff with Farmington special teams terror Marcus Clevenger tackling the kick returner in the end zone for a 2-point safety extending the Cardinal lead to 9-0 eight seconds after Elsik's touchdown. Earlier this season Clevenger blocked a pair of punts.
"Our kicker had a great kick inside the five," Eldridge said. "Clevenger he gets after it in everything he does. I consider him one of our leaders on special teams."
Clarksville got a free kick from its 20 following the safety and Farmington's offense got a boost from Peyton Funk returning the kickoff 24 yards out to the Cardinal 41.
Sophomore quarterback Cameron Vanzant went 16-of-28 for 261 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns. He found Justin Logue who caught 6 passes for 168 yards for 31 yards and a first down at the Panther 28.
"Logue does a great job of tracking the ball while it's in the air to make those catches," Eldridge said. "He's having a great season for us."
Vanzant next hit Gabe Burfitt for 25 yards setting up Elsik's second rushing touchdown from 3 yards out and a 16-0 lead.
All the scores occurred in less than a minute and Clarksville never overcame that flurry of points from both offense and defense by the Cardinals.
Early in the second period Clarksville had a snap go out of the back of the end zone and suffered another safety surrendering two more points. The safety stretched Farmington's lead to 18-0 essentially putting the Panthers three touchdowns behind.
Midway through the second quarter Farmington drove 55 yards after a false start. The big play on the drive featured Vanzant's 36-yard completion to Logue. He then capped the march with a 10-yard touchdown toss to tight end Chase Brown. Bocchi split the uprights on the P.A.T. kick pushing Farmington's advantage to 25-0 at the 7:46 mark of the second.
A tackle for loss by Carter Moad helped Farmington's defense force a three-and-out and Clarksville punted.
Sam Wells fielded the kick at his own 45 and returned it for a touchdown effectively using several timely blocks on his way to the end zone. He later replicated the feat in the second half but that was called off by a penalty.
An interception at the Panther two prevented Farmington from increasing its lead and the Cardinals took a 32-0 lead into halftime.
As the third quarter wore down Farmington mounted an eight-play, 74-yard scoring drive featuring the running of Kanye Taylor. His four carries didn't net big yardage but kept the Clarksville defense from concentrating on pass defense.
Vanzant completed 4-of-4 passes on the drive for 64 yards highlighted by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Funk. Bocchi's kick made the margin 39-0 and the remainder of the contest was played with a running clock.
Linebacker Zach Ralston made an all-around impact with 9 tackles, a sack, two tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery. Moad and Braden Bullington chipped in 7 tackles apiece.
"We've just played so much better team defense in recent weeks," Eldridge said. "Zach does a great job of getting to the ball. He has a lot of speed."
Next up the Cardinals travel to Greenbrier, a tough opponent Eldridge says is well-coached on both sides of the ball with quality skill players and a "really, really big offensive line."
"We're looking forward to the challenge," Eldridge said.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday at Greenbrier.
Farmington 39, Clarksville 0
Farmington^--^16^14^7^0^--^39
Clarksville^--^0^0^0^0^--^0
First Quarter
Farmington -- Caden Elsik 5-yard run, (Ettore Bocchi kick), 1:27.
Farmington -- Safety, Marcus Clevenger tackled kick returner in end zone, 1:19.
Farmington -- Caden Elsik 3-yard run, (Ettore Bocchi kick), 0:32.
Second Quarter
Farmington -- Safety, snap out of end zone, 10:41.
Farmington -- Chase Brown 10-yard pass from Cameron Vanzant (Ettore Bocchi kick), 7:46.
Farmington -- Sam Wells 55-yard punt return (Ettore Bocchi kick), 5;57.
Third Quarter
Farmington -- Peyton Funk 10-yard pass from Cameron Vanzant (Ettore Bocchi kick), 2:40.
TEAM STATISTICS
Farmington^Clarksville
Total plays^59^47
First downs^17^8
Total offense^346^73
Rushes-yards^26-85^38-73
Passing yards^261^0
Rush average^3.3^1.9
Comp-Att-Yds^TD^Int^16-28-261-2-2^0-6-0-0-0
Punts-Avg.^2-25.0^7-37.0
Penalties-Yds^7-30^5-25
Turnovers^3^6
Fumbles lost^1^6
Third-down conversion^6-10^1-10
Fourth-down conversion^0-1^0-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Farmington, Caden Elsik 11-38, Kanye Taylor 11-28, Cameron Vanzant 1-7. Peyton Funk 1-6, Michael DeRonda 1-3. Totals 26-85. Clarksville, 38-73.
PASSING -- Farmington, Cameron Vanzant 16-28-261-2-2. Clarksville, 0-0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Farmington, Justin Logue 6-168, Peyton Funk 5-37, Hunter Reaves 2-26, Gabe Burfitt 1-17, Chase Brown 1-10, Kanye Taylor 1-3. Total 16-261. Clarksville, 0-0.