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FARMINGTON — On a night where missed opportunities were frequent and touchdowns were nearly impossible to come by, Farmington edged out West 10-7 in a slow tempo game during the second round of the 6A state playoffs.
West started the night with the ball, and immediately the tempo of the game was decided. The Panthers used almost all 40 seconds of the play clock on each snap, waited for everyone to be set and watched the game clock dwindle down.
After gaining 65 yards and eating up over seven and a half minutes on a single drive, the Panthers ended their possession with a missed field goal.
The lone possession showed opportunities to score were going to be limited for both teams, and each would need to take advantage of their time with the football.
"It's one of those things that you've just got to adjust, knowing that you're probably only gonna get one," Farmington head coach Daniel Coats said about the slower-paced game. "It makes you choose if you're going to take a lot of chances or if you're gonna wait and see how the quarter kinda goes.
"It's a lot nicer being up when that's happening; so with us being down, it puts a little bit more panic in you — are we gonna get the ball back or things like that gonna happen?"
Neither team scored since West controlled a 7-3 lead in the second quarter. But Farmington got the ball back with just over seven minutes left in the game after the Phoenix forced West to turn the ball over on downs.
The possession initially started with a passing play, but when Easton Wight could not find a open receiver down field, he elected to keep the ball. As he ran to his right, he cut back into the middle to escape down the left sideline for a 29-yard gain.
Several plays later, the Phoenix found themselves in a fourth-and-5 situation just outside of the red zone and knew a field goal would still put them behind by a point. With their last opportunity to score, Coats said they put in all their playmakers and trusted they would convert — and that's exactly what they did.
Wight set up for the snap, took a couple steps back, and connected with receiver Mitch Nielsen in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown reception as he was falling out of bounds with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter.
"It was literally to get our playmakers on the field, and I just told all of them to go," Coats said about the play-call that led to his team's only, but most important, touchdown of the night. "It's all their favorite route; it's all the ones that we practice and, you know, in their sleep kind of thing. So it's one of the things, just trust your playmakers to do their thing."
West had one last opportunity for a final score on a miracle drive, but after turning the ball over to Farmington on downs, the Phoenix lined up in victory formation and watched as the clock expired to zero.
The only other points of the night were scored in the second quarter: a Farmington 18-yard field goal by Gavin Jensen and a 2-yard run by West's Bronson Saena.
Coming in as the sixth seed in 6A, Farmington had a bye in the opening round while West beat Granger. But even though the Phoenix had an extra week of rest and an extra week to prepare for the game, the bye week and not playing against actual competition caused the Phoenix to have a slow start and a countless number of dropped passes.
"We came out so slow and sluggish and things we don't normally do. We don't drop balls like that; we're usually more efficient than that, and our defense is usually way more aggressive," Coats said. "As they got through the game, it slowly started coming together, and proud they made it happen."
Farmington advances to the quarterfinals where they will face No. 3 Skyridge on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. in Lehi.
The only Region 4 team Farmington faced in non-region play was Corner Canyon — a loss — and Skyridge will prove to be another challenge coming from what Coats said is supposedly the "super region."
"It's gonna be a tough game, but my boys are ready for any and every challenge; so just on to the next one."
Other scores around 6A playoffs
- No. 1 Corner Canyon 49, No. 16 Kearns 14
- No. 8 American Fork 20, No. 9 Riverton 13
- No. 4 Weber 35, No. 13 Layton 21
- No. 12 Syracuse 35, No. 5 Mountain Ridge 23
- No. 2 Lone Peak 37, No. 18 Herriman 14
- No. 7 Bingham 37, No. West Jordan 7
- No. 3 Skyridge 58, No. 19 Westlake 14
- No. 6 Farmington 10, No. 11 West 7
6A second-round bracket
All games played at home sites on Nov. 5.
- No. 1 Corner Canyon v. No. 8 American Fork, 6 p.m.
- No. 4 Weber v. No. 12 Syracuse, 6 p.m.
- No. 2 Lone Peak v. No. 7 Bingham, 6 p.m.
- No. 3 Skyridge v. No. 6 Farmington, 6 p.m.
