Turnovers give Farmington edge

Gravette turns over ball six times in play against Farmington on Friday night

Photo by Heather Brody
Gravette senior Dallas Kerley, assisted by junior Brenton Ogle, attempts to pick up yards for Gravette in play against Farmington on Friday.
Photo by Heather Brody Gravette senior Dallas Kerley, assisted by junior Brenton Ogle, attempts to pick up yards for Gravette in play against Farmington on Friday.

— Gravette had all sorts of problems snapping the football, holding onto it and making sure not to turn it over Friday night.

By the time Farmington began celebrating a 20-13 win in Lions Stadium, Gravette coach Bill Harrelson appeared stunned by the number of turnovers his team had committed and the different ways it went about doing it.

It was hard to blame him.

Farmington took advantage of Gravette’s six turnovers - including three in the first quarter - and held on for the win in a showdown between two of the 4A-1 Conference’s top teams.

“I felt like we were lucky to be in the game because our kids were playing so hard. It gave us a chance, but it wasn’t to be tonight,” Harrelson said. “With six turnovers, you can’t do that against a good football team, and Farmington definitely has a good football team.”

Heading into Friday, the Cardinals (6-1, 3-1 4A-1)

were a bit short-handed

after losing star runningback and leading tackler Jared Martin to a knee injury. As a result, Farmington coach Mike Adams decided to move senior Billy Gray from middle linebacker to nose tackle in the hopes of causing some problems.

The adjustment worked as Gray repeatedly disrupted Gravette’s quarterback-center exchange, leading to several of the Lions' three fumbles.

At the same time, Gravette quarterback Clayton Alexander was forced to throw under pressure at times, resulting in three interceptions. He finished 13-of-34 for 159 yards with one touchdown and three picks.

“He really put a lot of pressure on their center. I think he caused a lot of those turnovers,” Adams said of Gray. “He caused a couple of bad snaps, I know, and that was a key for us.”

Despite its turnovers, Gravette (6-1, 3-1) cut Farmington’s lead to 12-6 when running back Darrick Strzelecki bulldozed his way in for a 1-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the third quarter. He finished witha game-high 151 yards on 25 carries.

However, just as the momentum appeared to be shifting, the Cardinals countered with their own elusive tailback and got a 49-yard touchdown run from junior Spencer Boudrey to extend their lead to 20-6 with 1:03 left in the third quarter.

“That was huge for us. They had just scored and all of the momentum was their way. And Spencer made a play,” Adams said. “He made a big play for us, and that was the key point of the ball game for us.”

Boudrey finished with 106 yards on 20 carries, and he got plenty of help from quarterback Deon Clay, who rushed for a pair of early touchdowns and intercepted a pass on defense.

Gravette committed three of its four first-half turnovers in the first quarter, negating any momentum its offense gained during a sloppy start for both teams.

On back-to-back plays toward the end of the first quarter, Farmington fumbled a pitch to the running back and then Alexander threw an interception for the Lions.

“I’ve just got to take my hat off to Farmington,” Harrelson said. “They caused those turnovers and did a good job. They played well.”

Sports, Pages 9 on 10/18/2011