Ashton gained 108 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown
(photo by Just for Kids Photography)
CJ Wynings hauls in a pass from Beenken
(photo by Just for Kids Photography)
The feisty Tigers played Holy Angels, the state's eighth-ranked Class 4A team, on even terms for three quarters before the talented Stars scored three late touchdowns in a 35-7 Missota Conference contest Friday, Sept. 30, at the StarDome in Richfield.
It's not always easy to find positives in a four-touchdown loss but Tiger coach Mark Froehling said his team didn't let him down in the Tigers' fourth loss in five games this fall.
"I thought we played hard and stuck right with a very good team with a lot of good athletes," he said. "We had some missed passes, some dropped passes and a couple of other things go against us, but we hung in there until the end."
The visitors shocked the Holy Angels homecoming crowd when after holding the Stars on three plays on the game's first possession, Athen Ashton bolted 42 yards for the game's first points.
The high-powered Stars offense responded immediately with a tying drive but at halftime the teams were still locked in a 7-7 tie due largely to the aggressive play of the Farmington defense.
"They moved the ball on us a little but we came up with the big play when we had to," assistant coach Gary Burr said.
The Stars moved ahead 14-7 on their opening drive of the second half but late in the third period the Tigers defense stopped the Stars inside their own five-yard line to set up a play that would decide the game for good.
The ensuing short punt hit a Tiger player and was recovered by Holy Angels to set up the third Stars score early in the final period.
After a three-and-out by the Farmington offense, the Stars scored again and then in the game's final minutes they chose to leave their first team on the field to run up another seven points.
The final period was interrupted at the 7:49 mark when Johnny Dittman suffered an undetermined injury after suffering a big hit on a catch over the middle. An ambulance had to be called and the sophomore wide receiver was taken to a nearby hospital for examination.
"We think he will be all right," Froehling said, "but he may have suffered a concussion. You don't like to see those things happen in football."
The high-octane Holy Angels rung up 464 total yards of offense against an over-worked Farmington defense, 366 of that total on the ground. Farmington gained just 135 rushing and 62 passing for a game total of 198 yards.
Quarterback Darren Beeneken, who had been deadly accurate all season, labored on a seven for 30 night with several passes dropped by his usually sure-handed receivers. Nathan Graham hauled in three passes for 23 yards.
Ashton had his touchdown run and a 46-ayrd gallop in the second period on the way to 108 yards on 19 carries.
Drew Hegseth topped the Tiger tackling charts for the second straight week with 11. Andrew Peterson also hit double digits with ten. Blake Weinand, who killed one Stars threat with an interception, had nine, Alex Chadwick eight and Mason Auge six.
The Tigers (1-4) return home next week for their homecoming game with Northfield (1-4).
