ROCHESTER HILLS — Two years ago, Farmington walked out of the football stadium at Rochester Adams with a 63-0 defeat. The Falcons finally turned the tables on the Highlanders Friday night.
Farmington built a 21-10 lead at the half, then held on for a 21-16 OAA White Division triumph over defending league champion Adams.
The win solidifies the Falcons (2-0, 1-0) as a team that could very well contend for the league championship this season. It also hands Adams its first division loss since a season-opening defeat to Southfield in 2007, a streak of 21 straight league wins that is now only a memory.
Farmington had a kickoff return and the combination of Matthew Craven to Jason Wilson hooked up for a pair of touchdown passes to aid Farmington’s first-ever win over Adams.
“It’s a big win and we came out here expecting to win,” said Wilson. “Our team this year, we work hard and everybody plays their heart out. We just got to keep it going.”
Adams had a late gasp of hope, with a four-play drive ending with Andrew Hammett finding Edward Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 49 seconds left. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed, as did the on-side kick attempt.
Farmington ran out the clock at that point.
“To beat Adams is huge for us,” said Farmington coach John Bechtel said. “We’ve won some big games since I’ve been at Farmington. We beat (Farmington) Harrison a couple of times and had a couple of long playoff runs. I’m (not) sure we’ve had a bigger win than this. That’s the premier program in our league.”
Adams (1-1, 0-1) scored on its first drive of the contest, as a 13-yard drive ended when Hammett plunged over the goal line from 1-yard out.
Farmington (2-0, 1-0) did not let the Highlanders celebrate very long, as Wilson returned the kickoff 96 yards to tie the score.
Adams regained the lead one last time with 26 seconds left in the first quarter when Cameron Casey booted a 27-yard field goal.
Farmington scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to take the lead for good.
Wilson hauled in an 18-yard strike from Craven with 7:45 left in the second quarter. The same duo hooked up again with 2:07 left in the frame, this time on a 15-yard scoring toss. Farmington also gained the ball back on an on-side kick, which prevented the Highlanders from trying to put together an scoring drive in the quarter.
Craven passed for 66 yards on a 7-for-22 evening and Wilson had four catches for 44 yards. Dae’von Scarber had 43 yards on seven carries for Farmington.
Hammett had 77 rushing yards on 20 carries and was also 8-for-21 passing for 97 yards for Adams.
Tony Patritto, which has led Adams to the state playoffs in each of his seven years at Adams, couldn’t not stop Farmington’s speed and athleticism at the skilled positions
“They made some big plays. That’s their style of offense,” said Patritto. “John (Bechtel) is a great coach. We’ve been able to beat them in the past. Our offense was kind of all over the map. We made so many mental mistakes. We weren’t blocking. Normally we can keep them off the field by keeping the ball. (Wilson is) a very good player. That’s all there is too it. We didn’t keep them off the field.”
By Dan Stickradt
