Maumelle's unforgiving defense and a stiff wind got the best of the visiting Farmington Cardinals on Friday night.
Jacob Acklin rushed for 95 yards and Braylon Waits scored two touchdowns as the unbeaten Hornets secured a 24-7 victory and locked up the 5A-West Conference title on a chilly night at Hornets Stadium.
Maumelle held Farmington (4-5, 1-5) to 5 first downs, 2 yards rushing and 68 total yards. The Cardinals turned the ball over twice and suffered three major breakdowns in the punting game, all of which came with the Cardinals working against the wind.
"That wind was tough," Maumelle Coach Mike Buchan said. "Going against the wind, it was tough for either of us to get anything going."
If Farmington had any chance of an upset, it ended at the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Maumelle (8-0-1, 6-0) held a 21-7 lead with 6:10 remaining when the Hornets were forced to punt. Maumelle senior punter Jacob Kennard failed to handle a low snap. Kennard chased the ball down, dodged a potential tackle and then booted a 34-yard kick that was dropped by Farmington senior Cody Larrow and recovered by Maumelle junior Gabe Jones at the Farmington 38.
"That was the turning point in the game," Maumelle quarterback J.B. Minix said. "The defense and special teams played great all night. They made it easier for the offense."
Maumelle scored twice in the game's first seven minutes, taking advantage of an interception and a bad snap on a punt attempt.
Senior Blake Conner set up the Hornets' first touchdown with an 18-yard interception return to the Farmington 22. Minix scored three plays later from the 2 with 9:37 left in the opening quarter.
Farmington punter Michael Ingram could not handle a wild snap later in the quarter and the Hornets took over on the Cardinals' 5. Two plays later, Waits, a 6-0 senior, scored from the 7 with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Maumelle had two more drives into Farmington territory during the first half, but the Hornets turned the ball over on downs on both occasions.
"We should have been ahead by at least 21 or maybe even 28 at the half," Buchan said. "We didn't take advantage of every opportunity they gave us."
Farmington was held to a negative-3 yards in the first half and the Cardinals' two first downs in the first half came via penalties on the Hornets.
Farmington drove 63 yards on seven plays on its second possession of the second half for its lone score. The touchdown came on a 7-yard bootleg pass from Brice Waggle to Blake Putnum with 4:50 in the third quarter and it cut Maumelle's lead to 14-7.
"They ran out in an unusual formation," Buchan said. "It's nothing that we haven't run ourselves, but we haven't seen it in a long time. Farmington did a good job of mixing things up."
Farmington managed only 10 total yards the remainder of the contest as the Cardinals fell back into a 14-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.
Ingram, who had hit a 51-yard punt with the wind during the second quarter, managed a 7-yard punt a minute into the fourth quarter that allowed the Hornets to start their third scoring drive at the Farmington 21.
Waits ran in from the 8 with 8:41 to play to increase Maumelle's lead to 21-7.
Taking advantage of a fumbled punt, Kennard capped the scoring with a 28-yard field goal with 1:57 to play.
Maumelle had 234 total yards, 189 of which came on the ground. Minix was 5 of 8 passing for 45 yards, while Waggle completed 6 of 18 passes for 66 yards. Farmington's Evan O'Dell led all receivers with 61 yards on four receptions.
LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 35, MORRILTON 34
Senior cornerback Tanner Gentry made a game-saving tackle in overtime that prevented a two-point conversion and allowed Little Rock Christian (6-3, 4-2) to escape with a 5A-West victory against visiting Morrilton (3-6, 2-4).
Senior quarterback Brooks Broshears kept the Warriors in the game with three touchdown passes, including two to Joe Hampton.
Broshears tossed another one to Demarca Crockett, who also scored on an 8-yard touchdown run.
Grahm Heidenreich provided some spark for the Devil Dogs when he returned a third-quarter kick off 66 yards for a touchdown.
Sports on 11/01/2014