FARMINGTON — In a sloppy 1-4A Conference opener Friday, Farmington played a little cleaner than Gentry.
The Cardinals and Pioneers lost a combined 4 of 8 fumbles, threw 2 interceptions, had 15 penalties and sent 2 center snaps over punters' heads, but Farmington still scored 4 times in a 27-6 homecoming victory at Allen Holland Field.
"We made tons and tons of mistakes," Farmington Coach Mike Adams said. "I started out in the first half making a list and ran out of paper.
"It was ugly, but it's a good win for us."
Jared Martin ran 18 times for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns and Deon Clay added 67 yards on 10 carries as Farmington ( 2-1-1, 1-0 1-4A Conference) had 314 yards on the ground.
But the Pioneers (1-3, 0-1) failed to capitalize on opportunities.
Gentry got within 15-6 on Caleb Ramsey's 19-yard touchdown pass to Justin Stewart with 7:25 left in the third quarter but couldn't hold the Cardinals.
"We wanted to stop them three-and-out to start the second half and we did and went down and scored," Gentry Coach Brian Little said. "We're still in it at that point. [Gentry] just [had] too many mistakes to overcome."
The Cardinals recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, but quarterback Chance Hyslip fumbled into the end zone on a fourth-down run inside the Gentry 10.
An exchange of punts backed the Pioneers' deep in their territory, and a high center snap on fourth down sailed through the end zone for a safety to give Farmington a 2-0 lead with 11:53 left in the first half.
Hyslip passed 23 yards to Martin for an 8-0 lead with 7:22 left in the first half.
Logan Boudrey then ran 43 yards on an end-around with 4:30 left for a 15-0 halftime lead.
After Gentry's touchdown, Martin zigzagged through the Pioneers' defense 39 yards for a touchdown with 3:11 left in the third quarter to push the lead to 21-6, then added a 2-yard run with 1:16 remaining to set the final score.
"It wasn't a very clean game," Little said. "They turned the ball over a couple of times and we couldn't take advantage of it."
The Cardinals outgained the Pioneers 370-200, led by a ground attack that gained 7 yards a carry.
"We've got to correct the fumble mistakes," Adams said. "Other than that we did a good job."
Sports, Pages 27 on 09/26/2009