On a perfect night for football at North Farmington High School, two unbeaten teams would clash. The ironic result would be a school in Brown and Gold would keep its perfect record in tact.

            The Highlanders’ Chad Gierak kicked off deep to the Raiders 6 yard line to start the game. With both teams keeping the ball on the ground, the 1st quarter ended scoreless with outstanding defensive plays by Tim Wood, who sacked the quarterback for a 10 yard loss, and an interception by Marc Benaquisto.

            At the start of the 2^nd quarter, the Raiders would strike first with a 93 yard drive that ate up almost 5 minutes off the clock. Their possession ended with a 45 yard screen pass for a touchdown. The PAT failed.

            Adams quickly evened the score when QB Tyler Martin threw a pass down the middle to TJ Trouba who outran the opposition 55 yards for a touchdown. Adams PAT was blocked, leaving the score tied at 6-6.

            North Farmington returned the kickoff to Adams 38 yard line but after 2 sacks by Benaquisto and Gierak it looked like the Highlanders would stop the drive, but a pass interference penalty put the ball on the 15 yard line. The Raiders completed a 15 yard pass for a touchdown but the PAT failed, leaving both teams heading into the locker room with North Farmington leading 12-6.

            After a brief rain shower at half time, Adams received the ball for the start of the second half. On the second play, injured QB Martin ran for 35 yards down to N. Farmington’s 30 yard line. 5 plays later their drive ended deep into Raider territory. North Farmington then controlled the ball with a long 85 yard drive, resulting in another Raiders touchdown and another failed PAT, leaving the score at 18-6 in favor of N. Farmington at the end of the 3^rd quarter.

            In the 4^th quarter, the Adams’ players turned it up a notch with some hard-nose runs by Martin, ending in a successful Martin 20 yard pass to Austin McClelland for a touchdown. The PAT failed again, but the gap was closed to 18-12 with 2 ½ minutes left in the game. Thanks to strong line play by Kris Hermann, Tyler Kilpatrick, Tim Wood and Devin Needs, North Farmington fumbled on their next possession and Tom Roncelli was there for the recovery on the Raider’s 40 yard line. After some tough runs by Martin and Benaquisto, Adams called a time out. McClelland and Martin convinced the coaches to call the “Hook and Ladder” (or for some old-timers the “Flea Flicker”). When play resumed Martin threw a 15 yard pass to McClelland who then pitched it to a trailing Marc Benaquisto.  Marc successfully ran it in for the most exciting touchdown of the season. The important PAT was completed by Marcus Dubois, giving Adams the lead, 19-18, for the first time in the game. N. Farmington took over on its own 38 yd line with 1 minute and 23 seconds remaining. The first 2 successful passes of 15 and 25 yards put the ball on the 22 yard line when the Raiders, after 2 more running plays, took the ball in for the winning touchdown and a good PAT.       Final score N.Farmington 25       Adams 19.

Adams running game was led by Martin with 165 yards on 21 carries, Benaquisto  21 yards 8 carries, Daniel Park 16 yards 2 carries, Roncelli 12 yards 2 carries, McClelland 4 yards 2 carries, David Addy and Trouba both with 2 yards and 1 carry.

The Highlanders next opponent is Farmington High School at home 6:30pm on October 4^th.