Farmers back atop LincolnLand large

By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post

ALEDO – Carter Lambin blocked two punts in the last 1:30 of the first half to fuel Farmington’s 42-13 win over Mercer County last Friday.
With the score tied 7-7, Lambin blocked his first punt and Farmington scored a few plays later on a 6-yard run by Jack Wheelwright.

After that the Farmers defense made another stand and Lambin blocked his second punt. Two plays later, Farmington ran a hook-and-lateral pass to Sam Gronewold, who pitched to Wheelwright for a 23-yard scoring run.

Farmington (4-0, 3-0) never looked back in taking over first place in the LincolLand large division and avenging last year’s loss to Mercer County, the preseason league favorite.

“That blew the game wide open,” Farmington Coach Toby Vallas said. “In the second half we really got running the ball well.

“We’ve had three road games and spent 13 hours on there-and-backs. To come out of that stretch 4-0, you feel pretty good.”

Quarterback Lane Wheelwright ran for 132 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and completed 9 of 17 passing attempts for 81 yards.
“We threw enough to open everything else back up,” Vallas said. “And we just missed a couple real big ones.”

On defense, Farmington gave up 103 rushing yards to Logan Schreurs, but allowed just 7 completions on 18 pass attempts for 31 yards.

El Paso-Gridley 45
Elmwood-Brimfield 6
EL PASO – Things started well for visiting Elmwood-Brimfield (1-3), which on the opening drive of the game advanced to the EP-G 1. But the Trojans didn’t score.

Then the Titans (3-1) drove 99 yards in five plays to take a lead they never relinquished against a foe they never had played, according to EP-G statistician Merlin Haas.

E-B didn’t score until CJ Ramirez passed 30 yards to Bo Windish with 11:30 remaining.

“It kind of snowballed a bit,” E-B Coach Todd Hollis said.

Some E-B starters were new to their roles, Hollis said. Injury and the apparent dismissal of sophomore fullback Landon Kline were among the reasons.

Matthew Glenn took over at fullback and gained 33 yards on nine carries.

“We might have found his position,” Hollis said of Glenn, a junior. “He ran the ball pretty well, for as much as we give the fullback the ball. And his blocking was really solid.”

Things don’t get easier for E-B, which travels Friday night to undefeated Farmington. Hollis is trying to keep the faith.

“I said after the game, ‘You will not see us change our approach.’ Our standard is our standard,” Hollis said.