Farmers, E-B set for football clash
Farmington rolls in second half of opener; Trojans grind out win
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
FARMINGTON – Farmington appears to have found its quarterback of the future after one week of prep football action.
After being inserted for the third series of a season-opening 51-28 win over West Hancock last Friday, freshman Carson Noy rotated with senior Treyven Haroldson. This Friday, Noy will get the start in a home clash against Elmwood-Brimfield, according to Coach Toby Vallas.
Viewed as more of a pure passer, Noy finished with a 7-for-12 passing line, one touchdown and one 60-yard interception that West Hancock returned for a touchdown. Haroldson was 4-for-4 passing for 59 yards and one score and also ran for 100 yards and a TD on 10 carries.
While Noy will start, don’t be surprised to see Haroldson back under center at some point. As Vallas said, “Everybody is all in the mix for me.”
Ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, the Farmers (1-0, 1-0) trailed LincolnLand large-division foe West Hancock 16-15 midway through the second quarter before settling into their game. Farmington led 30-22 at halftime and scored 21 straight in the third quarter to take control.
Vallas said numerous penalties disrupted the rhythm for Farmington, as did frequent substitutions designed to allow inexperienced players to gain varsity minutes.
“Overall, I was pretty pleased with everybody when we were fresh,” Vallas said. “It’s when we got fatigued … oh boy … it’s my fault for not conditioning them better.”
Farmington looked very good in the run game, as hard-running sophomore Bradyn Brewer (5-foot-10, 165 pounds) pounded West Hancock for 175 yards and three TDs on 19 carries. Overall, Farmington ran for 315 yards and averaged 9.3 per carry.
“Brewer did very well. He’s a hard runner and likes to pound up the middle,” Vallas said. “I think in our offense, without a guy like that you can become too finesse real fast. I don’t want to be one thing. I want to be multiple things.”
Wideouts Jack Gronewold and Landon Crawford combined for six catches, 200 yards receiving and two scores. One was a screen pass that Gronewold took 69 yards to paydirt.
“I thought Crawford was good on both sides of the ball,” Vallas said. “Wyatt Perkins really stood out at linebacker and (Noah) Fleming was solid at corner, too.”
Vallas said the key defensively in the second half was making stops.
“In the first half we gave up, I bet, four third downs on one drive and seven or eight third- and fourth-down conversions,” Vallas said. “In the second half, they didn’t get any. You either get off the field or you don’t.”
Farmington was able to get off the field plenty last year in a 40-0 win at E-B. The Farmers have now won nine straight against the Trojans.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty good game,” Vallas said. “We’ll find out a lot more about ourselves.”
Elmwood-Brimfield 36
Knoxville 22
ELMWOOD – One year ago, Trojans football fans feasted on explosive runs on a regular basis. Friday’s LincolnLand large-division opener featured more of a steady diet of slogs up the middle for 5, 7 and 10 yards.
Though different in appearance, the end result was eerily similar to last year’s 41-28 opening win over Knoxville. E-B piled up 315 rushing yards and a healthy 9.3 yards per carry.
Senior Layne Johnson carried 25 times for 173 yards and two TDs, Estes added 128 yards and one score on 19 carries and fullback Myles Alger tallied two TDs.
But Coach Todd Hollis expected his offense to perform at a high level. The question for E-B was how its inexperienced defense would respond.
“The first quarter and a half we looked really good defensively,” Hollis said. “Then (Knoxville) started figuring some things out. They are going to win some games if they can stay healthy.”
Ahead 21-0 early in the second quarter, E-B yielded two straight scores to Knoxville, which finished with 261 rushing yards. But as the second half wore on, E-B made back-to-back fourth-down stops and got scores from Alger and Johnson.
The Blue Bullets also had a scare when an injury to Daniel Huddleston delayed the game for 25 minutes. Knoxville Coach Marty Turner said Huddleston has “no broken bones or major damage.”
As For E-B, there is work to do to prepare for a Farmington team it has not beaten since an epic 77-64 shootout in 2015.
“We were talking on the headphones during the game on things we need to work on,” Hollis said. “We haven’t even watched the film and we’ve got a list of things to work on already.”
