Farmington got off to a poor start Friday when Clarksville converted two fourth-down attempts and scored in 11 plays to take the lead midway through the first quarter.
That's when Caden Elsik and his Farmington teammates began to counter.
Elsik rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 67-yard scoring pass to lead Farmington to a 29-21 victory on homecoming at Cardinal Stadium. The win was the first in 5A-West Conference play for Farmington (3-3, 1-2), which had lost the previous two weeks at Vilonia and Morrilton.
"It was a game we had to win, and we knew going in it was going to be tough," Farmington coach Mike Adams said.
Farmington began its comeback against Clarksville when Elsik caught a pass from Tate Sutton about 15 yards downfield, avoided a tackle, and sprinted 67 yards to tie the game. He then added scoring runs of 1, 5, and 8 yards, and caught a 2-point conversion pass while compiling 212 yards from scrimmage.
For his effort, Elsik is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Player of the Week.
"After the Morrilton loss, coach Adams preached we really need to win this game," said Elsik, a junior tailback who has rushed for 668 yards on the year. "We had a good week of practice and changed some things up front that really helped."
Elsik credits much of his success to an offensive line where the starters played together Friday for the first time this season. But he was mostly on his own during a fourth-down play in the fourth quarter when he appeared trapped behind the line of scrimmage, reversed field, and ran 10 yards for a first down. Elsik then finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run.
"When Caden stays patient and reads those blocks well, he's hard to stop," Adams said of Elsik, who had runs of 29 and 16 yards on another scoring drive. "He's such an explosive, strong kid with some speed, so that's good to have."
Like many football teams, Farmington has been adversely affected by covid-19 and a conference home game with Harrison Sept. 25 was canceled because of positive tests and contact tracing. But Friday's win provides the Cardinals with some momentum heading into this week's home game with Greenbrier, which had its game at Pea Ridge canceled last week because of covid-19 concerns.
"This win was huge," Elsik said. "It brought us together and we connected as a team. We played with a lot more energy."
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Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARick.