By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Farmington Press | Published September 16, 2024
FARMINGTON—A sold out stadium and a Farmington High School student section banner that read “THIS TOWN ISN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US” reiterated the importance of the hometown rivalry between Farmington and North Farmington, whose schools are separated by roughly four miles.
Since 2000, Farmington has led the overall series 10-9 with the last meeting coming in 2022 in a thrilling 33-27 overtime win in favor of Farmington, who celebrated on its own turf.
This year, it was the Raiders (1-2, 1-0 OAA Blue) turn to have its fans storm the field as it picked up the 20-7 win over the visiting Falcons (2-1, 1-1 OAA Blue) on Sept. 13 at North Farmington High School.
“It was tough last year (not having the game),” North Farmington head coach Jonathan Herstein said. “I think it’s great for the community, obviously. It’s something everyone gets excited about. We had a sold out stadium and so on. It’s a great rivalry.”
Farmington, who competed in the OAA White last year, had already started its OAA Blue campaign off right with a 17-6 win over Oak Park in week one, but North Farmington had all the answers defensively.
With junior quarterback Julian Johnson sidelined due to injury, Farmington turned to senior running back Trenton Darden, who took the majority of the snaps from the wildcat formation, while junior Anthony Bailey, who had two interceptions on defense, came in on third down passing plays.
Farmington’s flash in the pan came when junior Herschel McCormack-Reamer gashed the Raiders defense for a 46-yard touchdown run with 9:27 left in the third quarter to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead, but the offense struggled outside of it.
“First possession, we had some first downs but then we had some three-and-outs,” Farmington head coach Jason Albrecht said. “We’re a team that needs to get a couple first downs, and our defense didn’t help by not getting off that side of the ball. I haven’t looked at the stats, but I think they had 35 offensive plays in the first half. That’s crazy.”
North Farmington’s offensive unit was stagnant at times throughout the matchup, but junior quarterback Terrance James and senior Duke Blanch wore down the defense with their rushing attack.
When the time was right and Herstein saw what he liked, James would take a shot down the right sideline to senior wideout Lorence Woodley, who hauled in the Raiders’ first score of the night late in the second quarter on a 33-yard connection as Woodley elevated over a Farmington defender to make the grab.
Woodley also drew a critical pass interference late in the fourth quarter as North Farmington clinged to a 12-6 lead, putting the ball at the Farmington 46-yard line.
“We scouted them and thought we could set them up with the run and be able to hit some passes down the field,” Herstein said. “Lorence Woodley made a nice grab down the field on the fade route, and we were able to get the PI (pass interference) the other time.”
Woodley’s pass interference call was capitalized by the Raiders offense as James took a 28-yard quarterback keeper down to the 1-yard line before finishing it off himself with a touchdown run to put the game out of reach with 1:25 left in the fourth quarter.
Senior running back Duke Blanch gave North Farmington the 12-6 lead late in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown.
James was improvising all night with his athletic ability and making the throws when needed, displaying how talented this Raiders offense can look with the first-year quarterback under center.
It’s been an adjustment and there’s still some nerves from time-to-time, as James will admit, but the wide receiver/defensive back who currently holds a Division 1 offer from Miami (OH) University looked comfortable in the pocket.
“In the beginning, I was a little nervous, but as we say a team is a team,” James said. “It all depends on everyone from 1-to-11. I came out and had fun. I’m just really proud of my team and how we did.”
James and company have put the season back on track after starting out 0-2 with a pair of losses to Livonia Stevenson and Ferndale, who are both 2-1 on the year. The Raiders will head into the bulk of its league schedule as it travels to Bloomfield Hills on Sept. 20.
Farmington will look to rebound next week when it hosts Troy Athens on Sept. 20 in a OAA Blue matchup.
“This is the beginning,” James said. “We still got a whole other season. We are still about to ball out.”