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| Chanhassen held the high-powered Tiger offense to 193 total yards (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The defeat was the first of the season for Farmington (5-1; 4-1 in the conference). Chanhassen improved to 4-2 overall and is now tied with the Tigers and Holy Angels atop the league standings.
If an autopsy were performed on Farmington's five-game win streak, it would reveal it died of self-inflicted wounds. The Tigers turned the ball over six times and committed major penalties at critical moments.
The turnover nightmare began when the Storm picked off Darren Beenken's second pass of the night. The defense held but on the ensuing punt, the usually sure-handed Athen Ashton fumbled to set up Chanhassen's first score.
"The turnovers reduced our time of possession and it did the opposite for our opponent plus giving them a short field, so turnovers had a big impact... There is no good explanation for what happened tonight; we just need to continue stressing ball security."
Failure to convert on a fourth-and-inches from the Tiger 25 set up the second Storm score midway through the second period.
While Chanhasssen was putting 14 points on the board the big-play Farmington offense was stuck in neutral.
The Tigers didn't register a first down until their final drive of the half that ended with Reid Taubenheim's 22-yard field.. Prior to the three-pointer, a holding penalty negated an eight-yard touchdown run by Ashton.
"The message at halftime was the defense was keeping us in the game and we could make up the 11 points," Froehling said. "We needed to execute our plays to the end, and that included taking care of the football."
The Tigers moved the ball on their first series of the second half before back-to-back sacks and an incompletion forced a Taubenheim punt that pinned the Storm at their own five-yard line.
But the good field position didn't pay any dividends as Chanhassen, aided by an ill-timed Farmington face mask penalty, drove 95 yards on seven plays to go up 21-3.
"We had them where we wanted, but give them credit for moving the ball out of there and scoring," Froehling said.
Another fumble set the stage for the final Storm score of the night, a 30-yard pass play that capped of an eight-play 66-yard drive with 7:45 remaining.
Even when the Tigers looked like they were about ready to score a too-little, too-late touchdown, one final turnover wiped away the points.
Linebacker Mason Auge stripped the ball from a Storm runner and was on his way to pay dirt before he lost the ball and it dribbled through the end zone for a touchback. It was that kind of night.
When Farmington wasn't stopping itself, the Storm was. The Tigers finished with a season-low 193 yards of total offense.
Ashton, who came in averaging 145 yards rushing a game, was held to 74 on 15 carries before leaving with a knee injury in the fourth quarter.
Beenken finished with 14 completions in 24 throws for 113 yards but was picked off twice. Mac Bassett had his second straight five-reception game for 59 yards. Tyler VanWinkle grabbed three throws and Johnny Dittmann and CJ Wynings had two apiece.
Auge led the over-worked Tiger defense with eight tackles. Alex Chadwick added seven and Nick Ruark five.
To add injury to insult, four Tigers--Ashton, Jack Erickson, Nick Retterath and John LeBlond--left the game with injuries.
Froehling said LeBlond's hip injury may keep him out for awhile but he was hopeful Ashton will be back in the lineup next week. Erickson and Retteratch both suffered ankle sprained but returned to the contest.
Friday night the Tigers host Holy Angels at Tiger Stadium in game that will play a big role in deciding the conference race.
"That game (Chanhassen) is over and we can't change it," Froehling said, "but we will see how we respond to it.
"We need to play the game well and execute in each aspect of it to compete with good teams. We have done that for most of the season, but we will have to prove we can do it again next week."
