Nathan Graham (21) makes the call on one of Athen Aston's three TD's
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Much to the delight of what surely was the largest crowd ever to witness a sporting event in Farmington, the Tigers pumped some new life into their season with a convincing 27-0 shutout of Northfield in Friday night's homecoming game at Tiger Stadium.
Junior tailback Athen Ashton ran around, over and through the Raider defense for 216 total yards and the big play Farmington defense limited Northfield to just 181 as the Tigers raised their Missota Conference record to 2-3.
"This was an important win for us on many levels," coach Mark Froehling said. "We still can finish with a winning record in the conference and get some momentum built for the section. It all started here tonight."
The victory also returned the Tractor Trophy, the symbol of control of the long-time rivalry, to the FHS trophy case for the next 12 months.
The Tigers made a statement early, using an Alex Chadwick pass interception to set up a scoring drive capped by quarterback Darren Beenken's five-yard run. Ashton's 48-yard run set up the score.
Ashton ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run with 3:49 left in the second period to make it a two-touchdown lead at intermission.
The Raiders threatened twice in the opening half, but missed a long field goal try on the first and Andrew Peterson's acrobatic pass interception snuffed out the second.
Andrew Peterson's interception stopped a Raider threat
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
"Our defense has given up some points this year because of short fields," Froehling said, "but tonight we were all over making plays. We forced turnovers, batted away passes and brought a lot of guys to the ball. I thought our defense played a great game."
The Tigers used a balanced attack to score a pair of third quarter touchdowns, runs of 25 and three yards by Ashton, while the defense continued to control the line of scrimmage.
For the night, the winners ran 32 running plays and threw 21 passes, a slight variance from what had been more of a pass-oriented attack in earlier games. The gusty winds played a part in the strategy but according to assistant coach Lew Miskowicz, the architect of the spread system, that was part of the plan.
"It was windy, but it was a lot windier in some of last year's games," he said. "After looking at the tape, we thought we could run the ball against them and that's what we did. We'll always take what the defense will give us."
Ashton finished with a career-high 167 yards on 21 carries and also caught three passes for 49 yards.
Beenken had his best rushing night of the season with 57 yards on six tries and also completed 10 of 19 passes for 127 yards for 184 yards of total offense.
Nathan Graham led the receivers with five catches for 43 yards. Johnny Dittman showed no effects of the injury suffered in last week's game, grabbing two for 57 yards.
Drew Hegseth (15) and Ryan Schoening had 12 tackles apiece
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tiger defense that allowed 141 yards running and just 40 passing was led by linebackers Drew Hegseth and Ryan Schoening with a dozen tackles apiece. Godfrey MPetey, Mason Auge and Blake Weinand added six apiece. In addition to the interceptions by Chadwick and Peterson, Weinand came up with a fumble recovery.
The Tigers play their final two games of the regular season over the next 11 days. Friday, Oct. 14, they travel to Chaska and the following Wednesday close out their home season against New Prague. Section 1 post-season play begins Tuesday, Oct. 25.
The cheerleaders led...
The crowd roared...
and the band played on.
(photos by Jim Lindquist)
