29 carries for 157 yards
4 catches for 57 yards
Farmington shook off a lethargic first half to grind out a 14-3 Missota Conference win Friday night in Chaska.
The victory was the second straight for the Tigers who upped their season record to 3-4; 3-3 in the Missota. Chaska dropped to 1-6 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
The win didn't come easily for the visitors. Both teams slogged through a slow-moving first half played mostly between the 30-yard lines before the Hawks took advantage of one of its two pass interceptions to score the only points.
The scoring drive that eventually produced a short field goal covered 59 yards, took an exhausting 16 plays and ate up most of the second period clock. Farmington ran just eight plays in the second quarter.
Tiger coach Mark Froehling said that the biggest difference in the second half was his team's intensity and focus.
"We knew we didn't play good football in the first half," he said. "We told them they have to come with the same passion that they showed in their homecoming game last week. There's nothing certain in football, nothing guaranteed. You have to go out and earn it."
The Tigers stared earning it immediately. The defense held the Hawks to minus-yardage on the first series of the second half and then the offense took over.
After a holding penalty on first down pushed the ball back to the Farmington 10-yard line, Darren Beenken engineered a crisp 90-yard scoring drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown run by Athen Ashton with 7:17 to play in the third.
Ashton accounted for a remarkable 77 of those yards, including a 37-yard pass from Beenken.
"Athen has a great ability to wait and see a hole develop," Froehling said."Then he can cut and cut again on the same play. He's hard to bring down. He's just a good, tough running back."
The Ashton Show returned for an encore performance in the fourth quarter.
This time the junior speedster accounted for 58 of the 60 yards in a scoring march capped by senior lineman/blocking back Bret Hoffman's two-yard scoring plunge.
"That was a play we just put in this week," Froehling said. "We knew everyone would be keying on Ashton and it was good to get Bret a chance."
Ashton filled up the Farmington stat sheet with 157 yards rushing on 29 carries and four pass receptions for 57 yards. His 214 total yards represented all but 32 yards of the Farmington output for the night. Ashton has gained 714 yards in seven games this season.
The young Tiger offensive line played a big role in the running game's success with Tom Sell, Charlie Weierke, Ryan Gowan, Alex Witowksi, Josh Boatwright, David Silber and CJ Wynings all earning kudos from line coach Pat Hudak.
"They are getting better every week," he said, "and only one of them (Weierke) is a senior. That's good to see."
Beenken, who missed three days of practice due to illness this week, went over the 1000-yard (1,051) mark in passing yards for the season with seven completions in 13 tries for 84 yards.
The defense was equally effective, holding Chaska to three second half first downs and just 113 total yards for the night.
"We didn't do anything differently in the second half as far as schemes went," assistant coach Glenn Mogensen said. "It was more a matter of deciding that we were going to go out there and play better."
Senior linebacker Drew Hegseth again led the charge with a dozen tackles while Blake Weinand added 10 and a pass interception. Ryan Schoening and Tyler had six stops apiece and Mason Auge and Alex Chadwick each had five. Engels had a pair of quarterback sacks and Jake Erickson and Kevin Clifton each came up with interceptions.
The Tigers close regular season play Wednesday night, Oct. 19, with a home game against New Prague. The Section 1 playoffs begin Tuesday, Oct. 25.
