Football: Failure to finish

Mason Gaylord set up the first Tiger TD on a fake punt (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington's failure to turn long drives into points proved to be the difference in Wednesday night's 21-14 Missota Conference loss to Shakopee at Tiger Stadium.

The regular season-ending defeat was the fourth straight for the Tigers after a 4-0 start. Farmington finished 3-4 in the Missota. Shakopee was 5-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

The home team didn't lack for opportunities, especially in the second half. Three times after intermission the Tigers moved the ball deep into Sabers territory only to turn the ball over on downs. The final drive ended at the Shakopee 22-yard line with less than a minute to play.

"We played some good football tonight," Farmington coach Mark Froehling said. "I thought our defense did a pretty good job of containing an offense that is difficult to stop. Shakopee is tough team to play on a short week because of all of the different things they do.

"We were able to run a little better tonight and the offense put us in position to score. We didn't finish off our drives like we wanted to but I thought the effort and execution were much better than last week."

The teams traded touchdowns in the first half with the Sabers converting a Tiger interception on the first play of the night into a seven-play scoring drive and a quick 7-0 lead.

Derek Klotter 13-yard TD pass (photo by J. Lindquist)

The Tigers bounced right back with a score on their next possession on a grinding 15-play, 81-yard march capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Tyler VanWinkle to Derek Klotter. The key play was a 15-yard run out of punt formation by Mason Gaylord.

Not to be outdone, Shakopee took the ensuing kickoff and headed the other way on a 69-yard drive to re-take the lead.

Late in the second period, Gaylord stepped into the spotlight again, scooping up a Saber fumble and returning to the Shakopee five-yard line. Three plays later VanWinkle hit tight end CJ Wynings for the score and the teams hit the halftime break tied at 14-14.

Nick Meyer's fumble recovery gave Farmington a chance to take the lead early in the third period but the drive sputtered and stalled at the Shakopee 31.

Seven-plays later the Sabers scored the winning points on a 41-yard bootleg that caught the Tiger defense completely by surprise.

In the fourth quarter, Farmington would end up twice turning the ball over on downs in the shadow of the Shakopee goal posts, once at the 14-yard line and the other at the 22 as the clock wound down.

"We didn't make the big play when we had the chance," Froehling said. "That was the difference."

The Sabers had 281 yards of total offense to 230 for the Tigers. 257 of the Shakopee total came on the ground. Farmington rushed for 85 yards and threw for 145.

Klotter led the Farmington rushers with 49 yards on 18 carries; Noah Kary picked up 29 on 11 tries.

VanWinkle was 17 of 25 through the air for 145 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Mac Bassett had five receptions for 55 yards and Wynings five for 25. Jordan DeCroock made three catches for 20 yards. Klotter and Tyler Johnson had two catches apiece.

Kevin Clifton was in on 12 tackles (photo by Jim Lindquist)

On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Clifton was in on a dozen tackles, Mason Auge and Kade Kearney six apiece, and Michael Thompson five.

The Tigers drew the short straw for the Section 3AAAAAA tournament. They were seeded No. 8 in the section dominated by South Suburban Conference schools and will play at top-seeded Rosemount next Friday night.

Kickoff is 7:00 p.m. at Rosemount Stadium.

Tiger Scoreboard: October 17, 2013

Football
Shakopee 21 Farmington 14

Boys X-County: Hyytinen King of the Conference

Missota Conference champion Justin Hyytinen (photo by Jim Lindquist)

As a sophomore last fall Justin Hyytinen finished a distant second at the Missota Conference Championships, some 27 seconds behind winner Joey Deurr of Chaska.

Tuesday afternoon at Cedar Lake Farm in New Prague Hyytinen hit the finish line three seconds ahead of Chaska's Spencer Urick to claim the 2013 conference individual title. Hyytinen's finishing time over the challenging, 5000-meter, course was 16:24.

The conference championship is the first for a Farmington runner since Ben Kampf led the field at the 2004 league finals and just the third Tiger ever to wear the Missota crown. Roger Thelen was conference champion in 1982.

"Justin went out strong and relaxed and made his move about a mile and half in," coach Lisa Lippold said. "That's what secured the win. Having a year of experience under him has really helped Justin excel this season."

As a team the Tigers placed fifth overall in a talented field. Shakopee edged Red Wing 56-64 to win the championship hardware. Chanhassen slipped by district rival Chanhassen 73-76 to finish third. Farmington totaled 125, followed by Northfield 168, New Prague 178 and Holy Angels 233.

Alex Hart all-Missota Conference

Hyytinen wasn't the only Tiger to have a big day. Sophomore Alex Hart clocked 17:11 to place 12th overall and earn all-conference honors.

"Alex knew where he wanted to place and he ran a strong race," Lippold said.

Sean Dougherty was the third Tiger in the chute, finishing 27th in 17:41. Hunter Sevenich ranked 39th in 18:20; Derek Cole 46th in 18:35; Devon Webb 50th in 18:57 and Matt Anderson 51st in 19:11.

"Overall the boys ran a good race," Lippold said. "Devon (Webb) has been having troubles with a foot injury and that showed today."

Farmington took sixth in the junior varsity race with Ryan Newton the first Tiger in the finishing chute in 21st place. Jackson Schneider ranked 26th; Richard Halverson 31st; Peyton Woller 33rd; Trent Kortenbusch 40th; Josh Grimm 41st and Zach Teiken 47th.

Out of 20 Tigers running the junior varsity race, 11 achieved personal-best times.

Next up for the Tigers is the Section 1AA meet scheduled for next Thursday at Brooktree Golf Course in Owatonna. Hyytinen finished fourth there last year to earn a spot in the state meet where he ranked 29th overall..

Girls Soccer: Repeat performance in finals

Rachael Welzin heads a shot toward the Panther goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Same teams, same site, same stakes, same exact result.

One day short of the first anniversary of Farmington's 2-0 loss to Lakeville North in the 2012 Section 1AA championship game, the Tigers fell to the Panthers by the identical score.

North scored on a penalty kick midway through the first half to take an early lead and then added an insurance goal with six minutes left in regulation to claim a state tournament berth.

Farmington coach Tracie Randall said she didn't see the loss coming.

"We had been playing very well in the tournament and had spent a lot of time getting mentally and physically prepared for this game," she said. "To be honest, I don't think we came ready to play tonight.

"I could see it in our warm-ups and the way we started the game. The mental aspect of this game is so important and tonight for some reason we just didn't have it."

North had a couple of prime scoring chances early but one shot hit the cross bar and another was corralled on a sprawling save by Tiger keeper Ashley Becker.

Ashley Becker 13 saves (photo by J. Lindquist)

The penalty kick was called for a tripping infraction by the Tigers in the front half of the box with North's Lauren Brownrigg booting the ensuing shot by Becker into the lower left corner.

"We don't score a lot of goals and that was devastating for us," Randall said. "You could see it on our play the rest of the half."

The best Tiger scoring opportunity of the half occurred with 6:35 to play when Rachael Welzin's header off Hannah Miller's corner kick was saved by Panther keeper Alexi Joyce.

Becker (13 saves) kept the Tigers within a goal with some acrobatic stops in the second half before the Panthers scored late on a rebound shot by Alyssa Ettl to put the game away.

"Becker was brilliant tonight," Randall said," But we could never do much up top."

The Tigers, who managed just three shots on goal in the contest, finished the 2013 season with a 10-5-4 record.

Free downloadable, high resolution image files from this game compliments of photographers Jim and Ruth Lindquist are available at http://sidekick.smugmug.com

Girls X-Country: Tigers 5th at Missota Championships

Maricia Pacheco All-Missota Conference (file photo by Jim Lindquist)

Senior Maricia Pacheco and seventh-grader Lauren Peterson paced the Tigers to a fifth place finish at the 2013 Missota Conference Championships run Tuesday at Cedar Lake Farm in New Prague.

Farmington took sixth at the 2012 league race held last October at the New Prague Golf Course.

"We moved up a spot from last year but I wouldn't say it was our best race," Tiger coach Heidi Revels said. "It was a tough, hilly course but I think there may have been some anxiety on running in the 'big race' for the younger girls."

A strong Chanhassen team placed three runners among the top 10 to win the meet with a low team total of 46 points. Chaska took the runner-up spot with 77, followed by Shakopee 88, Red Wing 91, Farmington 124, Northfield 125, New Prague 157 and Holy Angels 175.

Pacheco, an all-conference honorable mention performer the past two seasons, led the Tigers with an 11th place finish to earn a spot on the all-conference squad. Pacheco toured the 4000-meter course in 16:00.

Lauren Peterson all-conference honorable mention

Peterson hit the finish line in 16:11 to place 14th overall and earn all-league honorable mention. The speedy seventh-grader was the second middle schooler to finish the varsity race.

Another seventh-grader, Anna Palodichuk, was the third Farmington finisher, taking 27th place in 16:35. Junior Sofia Chadwick ranked 34th in 16:54; freshman Sami Hyytinen 39th in 17:09; sophomore Maricella Pacheco 41st in17:26 and seventh-grader Emily Schaffer 49th in 17:45.

The Tiger junior varsity finished fifth among seven teams with Sarah Cummings leading the way with a 21st place finish. Abby Bollig placed 24th; Mariana Montbriand 26th; Alex Johnson 41st; Hannah Morgan 45th and Kara Revis 48th.

Sarah Cummings led the JV runners

Next Thursday the Tigers head to Owatonna for the Section 1AA Championships to be held at Brooktree Golf Course.

Farmington finished sixth as a team there last fall and Pacheco ranked 12th overall to earn a spot in the 2012 Class AA state meet.