FARMINGTON — Farmington sent its seniors out in winning fashion Friday night, defeating the Pea Ridge Blackhawks 41-21 to keep themselves alive in the 1-4A playoff race.
The Cardinals (4-5, 3-3 1-4A) wasted no time in jumping out to a 13-0 lead, with a scoring drive of 80 yards on nine plays to start the game and then forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to setup another touchdown.
“We played well offensively,” Farmington Coach Mike Adams said. “We asked our skill guys like Spencer Boudrey, Jared Martin and Colby Elkins to make some plays and they did.”
Pea Ridge (1-8, 0-6 1-4A) finally got on the board early in the second quarter when Dayton Winn ran up the middle for a 30-yard touchdown to cut it to 13-7.
Still trailing by six early in the third quarter, Winn struck again in four plays with another 30-yard scoring run for the Blackhawks and gave Pea Ridge a 14-13 lead.
Farmington answered the touchdown with one of its own, this one a 20-yard screen pass from Trey Spencer to Jared Martin, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving it at 19-14.
Pea Ridge f ired right back, with Winn notching his third touchdown of thenight on a 4-yard run to give the Blackhawks a 21-19 lead with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.
It was all Farmington from that point though, with Spencer Boudrey running it in from 45 yards out to give the Cardinals a 26-21 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Brandon Merrick picked off a Pea Ridge pass on the following possession, setting up a 67-yard touchdown run from Jared Martin on the next play for a 34-21 Farmington lead after a two-point conversion.
Another special teams error haunted Pea Ridge on the next drive, as the Blackhawks muffed the kick and were pinned back on their own 9-yard line, and then fumbled it on third-and-9 and Clinton Ledbetter recovered for the Cardinals.
Farmington fumbled it into the end zone, setting up Pea Ridge at its own 20-yard line, but the Blackhawks threw an interception on the next play thatColby Elkins secured at midfield.
From there, Elkins ran in from 16 yards out to set the final scoring margin.
“Defensively, we made some adjustments in the second half, we slowed them down, and the real key was we made some big plays in the secondary, getting some picks and it got us the football,” Adams said.
Farmington will travel to Shiloh Christian next week, while Pea Ridge goes to Berryville.
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/30/2010