Friday night’s Lincoln-Land Large School Division battle between Farmington and Macomb was the type of game many people dream about.
For 43-plus minutes, the two unbeatens battled at MHS Stadium. But a pair of late scores by the visiting Farmers allowed them to leave McDonougb County with a hard-fought 30-16 victory.
Farmington, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A by the Associated Press, clinched a playoff spot in moving to 6-0 overall, 5-0 in division play.
Macomb, playing its homecoming contest, suffered its first loss in slipping to 5-1 overall, 3-1 in division play.
“The last three years, they’ve been great battles, one score games going into the fourth quarter,” said MHS coach Tanner Horrell.
In front of a huge crowd, Friday’s game was no different.
Trailing 15-9 with 6:26 remaining, the Bombers drove 48 yards in four plays in taking the lead.
Three rushes by Drake May netted 13 yards before Macomb quarterback Kaden Knupp connected with receiver Carter Havens on a 35-yard scoring strike.
Havens reached over Farmington defender Noah Fleming catching the ball in the endzone with 4:49 left.
Hayden Katz added the point-after-touchdown kick and the Bombers had a 16-15 lead.
Farmington had a 32-yard kickoff return wiped out by penalty, pushing the ball back to its own 13.
However, on the next offensive play, Farmer QB Carson Noy connected with Jack Gronewold on a scree pass to the left. Gronewod received a pair of blocks and then broke three tackles on his way to the 87-yard score.
Noy then connected with Trevor Frye for the twopoint conversion that gave Farmington a 23-16 lead with 4:24 to go.
“We were hoping for a stop and Gronewold sprung a big one on us,” said Horrell.
“We tried to limit them as much as we could,” Horrell added. “The Gronewold kid is special. There’s a reason why he’s going to North Dakota. It was a great answer by them.”
The Bombers still had a chance.
Both teams went fourand- out pn their next possessions, giving Macomb the ball as its own 35.
After picking up one first down however, Landon Crawford stepped in front of a Knupp pass and returned it 49 yards for the clinching score with 56.1 seconds remaining.
“I thought our biggest, best players stepped up in the brightest times,” said Farmington coach Toby Vallas. “That’s what studs do.”
The Bombers scored on their first possession, driving 80 yards in nine plays.
A 58-yard run by May set upKnupp’s one-yard run four plays later.
Lining up for the PAT kick, the Farmers were flagged for being off-sides for the third time in the early going.
The Bombers opted to go for the two-point conversion, but were stopped short, leaving the score 6-0 with 4:55 left in the opening quarter.
The Farmers got on the board early in the second quarter, driving 46 yards in eight plays.
Moving from receiver to quarterback, Gronewold carried the ball all eight plays, scoring on a six-yard run on a fourth-and one.
Then on the PAT, the Bombers were flagged for being off-sides and the Farmers went for two, scoring on a Gronewold run in taking an 8-6 lead.
Special teams led to the next Framington score.
A blocked punt deep in Macomb territory gave Farmington the ball at the Bomber 10. Fleming scored on the next play and Jonny Gibbs added the PAT kick that made it 15-6 with 4:25 left before halftime.
A 44-yard run by May pushed the Bombers down to the Farmington nine.
Three plays netted two yards before the Bombers went for it on fourth-andgoal.
An attepted pass by Knupp was incomplete however, turning the ball over to the Farmers.
“We’re aggressive,” said Horrell. “I feel like you can’t change that just because it’s a big game.”
“You go back and you wish you could change things, but you can’t,” he added. “You learn from it and move on. You play in these situations so that hopefully moving forward if we get in that situation again in a playoff game that maybe we make the correct decision.”
“You have to live with your decisions.”
The only points in the third quarter came on a 20-yard field goal by Katz after the Bombers were stopped at the Farmer three.
“I was really proud of our kids’ effort,” said Horrell.
Offensively, May rushed for 152 yards on 19 carries.
He also finished with 11 total tackles on defense.
“Drake May is that good. He is a damn fine player,” said Vallas. “He really impressed me.”
Knupp finished 10-of-21 passing for 81 yards with one TD and two INTs. Kyler Norton had four catches for 25 yards, while Havens added two grabs for 44 yards.
Drew Watson has two catches for seven yards before leaving the game late in the first half with an injured shoulder.
He did not return in the second half.
Jeshua McPheeters also recorded 11 total tackles for the Bombers, while Will Thomas added eight assists.
Drake Taber, Norton, Havens and Blaze Howeel added five total tackles apiece.
Norton, Nolan Hoge and Cassidy Harrison all recorded interceptions with May adding a fumble recovery for the defense.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” said Horrell. “I don’t know if I’ve been to a louder stadium in the fourth quarter.”
“Usually I don’t hear the crowd noise,” he added. “But it was loud on the big plays.”
“I wish we could’ve got a win in front of the home crowd,” said Horrell. “But the support was amazing.”
“That’s what makes it fun,” said Vallas. “That makes it fun for the kids. It’s not fun to go in there and blow people out. It’s fun to play in big games like this.”
“People need to recognize that he’s done a damn fine job here,” Vallas added of Horrell.
“These are the games you want to play in,” said Horrell. “These are the games you really find out about your team and what you need to improve on so when you do make the playoffs you’re a lot better than you were in week one or week two.”
Gronewold finished with 21 carries for 70 yards. He also completed 3-of-5 passes for 61 yards with Crawford recording all three catches.
Meanwhile, Moy, a freshmen was 7-of-16 for 172 yards with one TD and two INTs.
Gronewold had five catches for 149 yards and a score.
Crawford had two interceptions.
The Bombers return to the road for the final time in regular season next week, heading to Knoxville to face the Blue Bullets (4-2, 4-2 LincolnLand Large).
“We know this is a little bump in the road,” said Horrell. “But we have big goals still. We can still go 8-1 and we’re still trying to go 1-0 every week.”
“I think they’ going to learn from (this game),” he added of the players. “They’re going to watch a ton of film and they’re going to learn from their mistakes.”
