FARMINGTON — Putting the ball on the ground four times and committing seven penalties in the first half should spell doom for the offending squad, but the Farmington overcame all of that Friday night to beatGentry 27-6 at Allen Holland Field.
"It was a mess," Farmington coach Mike Adams said. "We made tons and tons of mistakes. I started out in the first half making a list and I ran out of paper.We couldn't get out of our own way at times."
The Pioneers (1-3, 0-1) tried to take advantage of Farmington's gifts, but they were often too busy returning the favor instead of cashing in.
"It wasn't a very clean game to begin with. I know (Farmington) turned the ball over acouple of times and we couldn't take advantage of it and you've got to be able to take advantage of turnovers whenever you get them," Gentry head coach Brian Little said.
Despite the miscues, Jared Martin and Deon Clay kept the chains moving as the Cardinals' ground game churned out 317 yards. Martin earned 142 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and Clay had 66 yards on 10 totes.
The Pioneers fumbled the opening kickoff, but Farmington (2-1-1, 1-0) gave it back after driving deep into Gentry territory. The Cardinals put the first points on the scoreboard early in the second thanks to a high snap that sailed over the punter's head and out of the end zone for a safety.
An ill-advised underhand throw by Gentry quarterback Caleb Ramsey was picked off by Ryan Brown and theCardinals responded with a 70-yard drive to take an 8-0 lead. Nineteen and 20-yard runs by Martin got Farmington within striking range and quarterback Chance Hyslip found Martin on a 23-yard scoring toss.
Logan Boudrey added another touchdown for the Cardinals on a 43-yard run with 4:30 left in the first half and Farmington took a 15-0 lead into the locker room.
The Cardinals defense kept the Pioneers' ground game stalled, but Ramsey tried to make up for it through the air. The senior signal-caller was 14-of-32 for 167 yards. Ramsey heated up early in the third by hitting Nick Weeks for 30yards and finding paydirt with a 20-yard strike to Justin Stewart to pull the Pioneers to within 15-6.
"We wanted to stop (Farmington) three-andout to start the second half and we did that," Little said.
Sports, Pages 9 on 09/26/2009