FARMINGTON — The Farmington defense scored two touchdowns and made two goal line stops Friday as the Cardinals beat Ozark 39-23 at Alan Holland Field.
Farmington (6-1-1, 4-1 4A-1) took an early 21-7 lead, but Ozark looked up to challenge until quarterback Jake Simpson threw an interception that was returned for a 66-yard touchdown by the Cardinals’ Cory Henry. Henry served as one of Farmington’s captains.
Simpson threw another interception that Michael Lusher returned for a touchdown in the third quarter for Farmington’s final points of the game.
“Our defense came up big and that was huge,” Farmington coach Mike Adams said. “They really took the life out of them.
“For the most part, we didn’t let them have big plays. (Gage Battles) had one big run but other than that, we made them work for it. And to score on defense, that’s always a bonus and that was a big plus in this game.”
The Farmington defense also stopped Ozark (2-6, 2-4) twice on fourth-and-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got to execute better,” Ozark coach Jeremie Burns said. “I thought our guys competed hard, we just had a few breaks go against us.
“It’s part of football. We just came out on the short end of it this week.”
EXTRA POINTS
• While Farmington’s defense created a four-score swing in the game with pick sixes and goal line stands, Josh Blew produced for the Cardinals’ offense. Blew rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns.
• Junior wide receiver Michael Ingram scored the Cardinals’ other offensive touchdown when he took a screen pass 43 yards down the left sideline for his first score of the year.
• Although the Ozark offense made some key errors, the Hillbillies had the longest play of the game when running back Gage Battles ripped off a 78-yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter.
• The chain gang got its workout Friday night. In one drive, Farmington’s offense forced the chain gang to run to the far side of the field for measurements four times.
UP NEXT
Farmington will travel to Pea Ridge next week to take on the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, Ozark will be on the road the second straight week as the Hillbillies travel to Lincoln.
HOW THEY SCORED
FARMINGTON^39
OZARK^23
Ozark^0^7^14^2^—^23
Farmington^14^19^6^0^—^39
First Quarter
Farm - Blew 2 run (Flores kick) 7:15.
Farm - Ingram 43 pass from Austin (Flores kick) 3:57.
Second quarter
Ozark - Battles 2 run (Vazquez kick) 11:57.
Farm - Blew 5 run (Flores kick) 10:25.
Farm - Henry 23 interception return (kick failed) 8:34.
Farm - Blew 21 run (run failed) 4:58.
Third Quarter
Farm - Lusher 60 interception return (kick failed) 11:31.
Ozark - Battles 78 run (Vazquez kick) 10:28.
Ozark - McClure 9 pass from Simpson (Vazquez kick) 3:59.
Fourth Quarter
Ozark - Team safety 0:12.