Offenses take time to get going in Greenland-Farmington scrimmage
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008
FARMINGTON - Defense dominated the first half of Greenland and Farmington's scrimmage Monday night at Allen Holland Field.
The offenses didn't make an appearance until the third and final quarter of the dress rehearsal, but neither team was able to generate points. Greenland's 7-6 halftime lead held up as the final tally.
Farmington head coach Mike Adams said he was to blame for his team's slow start offensively. His liberal substitutions made it difficult for the Cardinal offense to find its timing and rhythm. The Cardinals were 2-of-9 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down. Their receivers combined to drop five passes.
"It was my fault," Adams said. "We were trying to really mix and match a bunch of different people. We substituted way more than we ever would in a regular game, but we wanted to get bodies in there in different situations. That made it pretty ragged looking, particularly offensively."
The Cardinals put together two 10-play possessions that netted a total of 111 yards after halftime, but neither drive culminated in points. Senior quarterback Curtis Dickerson's 4-yard sneak at the 7: 46 mark of the first quarter was the lone Cardinal score. Cole Meadows'interception set up the touchdown, giving Farmington's offense a short field.
Dickerson completed 5-of-8 passes during the two third-quarter drives. Senior Shane Wilson caught Dickerson's longest completion of the game, turning a slant route up field for 24 yards. Senior Landon Parsley ran for 29 of his 56 yards on the opening series of the second half. The other half of Farmington's backfield tandem, fullback Marvin Beaufort, rumbled for 26 yards.
Greenland head coach Tracy Sutton attributed the Pirates' slow start offensively to overconfidence. He said the team was too enamored with its press clippings. The Pirates were limited to 10 rushing yards and a 2-of-9 rate of conversion on third down. Their receivers also dropped five passes.
"I told them all week, ' I think we've been reading in the paper about how good we're supposed to be, '"Sutton said. "That's living off last year, and we're not last year. We've got some guys who need to lead that aren't leading. They're actually taking us backwards. We're either going to go on without them or they're going to get with us, one of the two."
The Cardinals' turnover on downs in their own territory led to Greenland's touchdown, an 8-yard completion of a fade route from senior quarterback Craig Thornton to Tyler Simpson. Adrian Rojas' successful extra-point attempt proved to be the difference, giving the Pirates a 7-6 lead with 3: 47 to play in the second quarter.
Thornton and Simpson connected three more times in the third quarter to propel Greenland's longest drive of the night, a 12 play, 67-yard march, but a Ben Adkins interception kept the possession from netting points. Adkins also had three tackles for loss.
Simpson, a big target at 6-1 and 200 pounds, led all receivers with five catches for 69 yards. Thornton finished the night 10 of 21 for 102 yards. His surgically repaired knee, injured in Week 5 last year, wasn't an issue.
"That's the first time since he had knee surgery that he's been able to get hit," Sutton said. "I thought he handled it very well."
Greenland opens its season in ear nest Tuesday against West Fork. The two teams square off in Bentonville at the Simmons First Bank / Hootens. com Classic. Farmington's first regularseason game is Friday, Sept. 5, at Siloam Springs.
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