Adams JV vs. Farmington H.S.
Oct. 3, 2007
Defense shuts out Farmington in 2nd half, JV win 35-16
The Adams JV team overcame seven turnovers to beat the Farmington
Falcons 35-16.
Seven turnovers? Not what you expect for the seventh game of the
season. And to be fair, Farmington had their share of miscues, too.
The cause? I say blame it on the weather.
No, it wasn’t raining or snowing on bitterly cold – it was 75
degrees at kickoff. I think both teams thought it was mid-August and
played like the first game of the season, not a game in the first
week of October. But good teams find a way to overcome mistakes, and
the Highlanders are certainly a good team.
Farmington got on the board first with a 27-yard field goal at
7:54 of the first quarter, cashing on the first Adams fumble of the
game.
On the ensuing kickoff, #22 TJ Trouba caught the kick running
with a full head of steam and returned the ball to the Adams 44. On
the first play, #9 Tyler Martin took advantage of some great blocks
on the left side of the line and ran 56 yards untouched to put Adams
ahead. The PAT kick was made by Marcus Dubois. It took all of 18
seconds for the Highlanders to score.
The Falcons punted the ball right back to Adams, but were the
recipients of a muffed fair catch and recovered the fumble on the
AHS 46-yard line. But on 1st down the Falcons put the ball on the
ground this time, and Chad Gierak picked it up and ran to the
Farmington 14-yard line. On 3rd and 5 from the 10, Martin dropped
back and lofted a pass into the back corner of the end zone. Andy
Morrissey timed his jump perfectly and use his height to catch the
ball over the defender for a TD. Dubois’ PAT put the Highlander up
14-3 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Falcons displayed that they could move the ball on their next
possession, with a nice mix of short passes and effective runs that
resulted in a 4-yard TD run by #24 Leonard Welch. The PAT failed,
but the lead was cut to 14-9 with 10 minutes left in the half.
After two more Adams fumbles, sandwiched around a Falcon
interception, Farmington embarked on a 90-yard scoring drive. It was
capped-off when a Falcon receiver got behind the secondary for a
56-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion put Farmington back in the
lead 16-14 with 2:38 left in the half.
Adams got the ball on their own 31, but thanks to procedure and
holding penalties found themselves facing 3rd and 19 on their own 34
with just under a minute remaining. That’s when #9 Martin found his
favorite target Morrissey who again took the ball away from the
Falcon defender at the 25 and raced into the end zone. Marc
Benacquisto powered his way over for the two-point conversion and
the Highlanders regained the lead 22-16 right before halftime.
The story line in the 3rd quarter was the Adams defense would
force Farmington to punt, and the Adams offense would turn the ball
back over to the Falcons. The Highlanders did take advantage of a
recovered fumble and had the ball in the red zone as the 4th quarter
began.
On 3rd and 2 from the 9, #25 Benacquisto refused to be brought
down, and used great blocking from Trevor Sheldon and Mark
Sicheneder to get a first down on the 3 yard line. He it pay dirt on
the next play thanks to a great block by #75 Kris Hermann. The PAT
failed, but Adams stretched their lead to 28-26 with 10:35 left in
the game.
Once again the defense stepped up big, and on 4th and 10 from the
Adams 40, #22 TJ Trouba knocked down a pass and the Highlanders took
over with just over 8 minutes remaining.
After QB Martin ran for 12 yards, Benacquisto took the handoff up
the middle, broke at least three tackles and refused to be brought
down. It was a 43-yard touchdown run of determination and will.
Marcus Dubois kick was good and the Highlanders closed out the
scoring with a 35-16 lead that would not change in the remaining 5 ½
minutes.
The win improved Adams record to 6-1, while Farmington fell to
4-3. The team takes to the road next week against Groves on
Thursday, Oct. 11
Rob Minton
