Farmersville senior running back Ra’Jun Wilkes (4) runs for yardage after taking the handoff from senior quarterback Levi McAbee (5) on Nov. 12 at Farmers Stadium. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Farmersville head football coach Zac Quinlan heard a lot of predictions about last Thursday evening’s Class 4A Division II bi-district playoff game against Pleasant Grove, but he felt many were in the belief that the Hawks were going to win in blowout fashion.
Quinlan thought otherwise.
“There were some people saying they were going to score 70 or 80 on us,” he said. “We had a better football team than what a lot of people thought.”
Just like during a four-game win streak to conclude the regular season after a 2-4 start, the Fightin’ Farmers rode a much-improved defense, a physical rushing attack, the booming leg of junior place kicker Felix Maldonado and timely passes from senior quarterback Levi McAbee to senior wide receiver Amare Warren to keep within striking distance of Pleasant Grove.
Ultimately, Farmersville wasn’t able to finish enough drives with points in a season-ending 31-13 loss.
Quinlan, though, praised the efforts of his team postgame.
“Our kids played really hard,” he said. “We told them all week long to believe and to believe in what we’re doing, and they did. They did a great job. I’m proud of that. That’s a really good football team over there. We were going to have to play perfect, and we weren’t able to do that this evening, but I’m really proud of them.”
Pleasant Grove had the early momentum. Quarterback Colt Yancey lined up under center in the I formation and barreled his way in from the Farmersville 2-yard line for a 7-0 Hawks lead with 5:58 left in the first quarter.
Pleasant Grove nearly doubled its lead in the final minute of the opening quarter, but Farmersville’s defense authored a huge stand. Running back Marcus Floyd was stopped short of the line to gain on a fourth-and-3 play at the Farmers 10-yard line after being tackled by two defenders.
Farmersville junior place kicker Felix Maldonado made field goals of 41 and 36 yards, respectively, with the latter reducing the deficit to 13-6 with 5:26 left in the second quarter.
Pleasant Grove took a 19-6 lead into halftime. Yancey rolled to his left and found Adam Orr on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left. However, that was the last play of the night for Yancey. He was forced to exit the game after he was assessed his second unsportsmanlike penalty. Harrison Hoover took over at quarterback for the Hawks.
Farmersville appeared that it was going to make it a one-possession game in the third quarter.
After the Farmers recovered a Hawk fumble at the 15-yard line, McAbee connected with Warren on a 33-yard touchdown pass. However, a penalty for an illegal man downfield negated the score. One play later, Jaivion Butler ran a jet sweep 65 yards for a touchdown and a 25-6 Pleasant Grove lead.
Warren and McAbee hooked up on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter, but that only reduced the deficit to 18 points, and Farmersville was unable to get any closer.
Farmersville finished the season with a 6-5 record, while Pleasant Grove improved to 9-2.
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