Win over Beaverton a first for Farwell since 2011

By BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

It’s safe to say that Farwell’s win on the football field over Beaverton on Friday was a long time coming. The Eagles, who were hosting the Beavers, mostly controlled things on the field, picking up a 40-8 Jack Pine Conference victory; their first win over Beaverton since 2011.

“It is a great win,” head coach Travis Waddell said. “(Beaverton head coach) Aaron Seiser does a great job at Beaverton. His players are always well prepared and well coached. It has been a long time since Farwell has beat them so it definitely gives our team some confidence.”

Beaverton was coming off a 36-20 win over St. Louis the week before, the Farwell was able to slow the Beavers down, giving up just one touchdown in the first quarter.

“We had a couple of different defensive schemes that we ran on Friday,” Waddell said. “Once we had a feel for what they were trying to do, I think our players settled in. We also forced a turnover and had a blocked punt that gave us short fields on offense.”

As for the Eagle offense, they got things going on their first drive. They went 53 yards on nine plays, capped by a Hunter Edlin fun from seven yards away. Edlin also rushed in the two-pointer to make it 8-0.

The Beavers struck back with their lone scoring drive, knotting things up at 8-8.

Beaverton stalled out on its next possession, and attempted to punt the ball away. Farwell had other ideas though, as they blocked the punt, setting the Eagles up in good field position. They scored six plays later, with Mason Esterline getting in from one yard out. An Edlin extra point made it 16-8.

Treyton Lassen forced a fumble on Beaverton’s next offensive series, and Farwell cashed in again, this time getting a drive to end in a 15-yard scoring jaunt by Edlin, and it was 22-8.

The Eagles got the ball back on their own 30-yard line with about two minutes to play in the half. They put together an impressive drive in the final moments, going the length of the field in eight plays, ending with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Esterline to Hect, and it was 28-8 at the half.

“That touchdown pass from Esterline to Hect just before halftime was a huge momentum swing for us,” Waddell said.

A lengthy scoring drive for Farwell ate up much of the third quarter; which ended on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Esterline to Hayden Roberts and it was 34-8 after three.

Farwell’s fourth quarter score was a six yar run from Edlin.

The Eagles had over 400 yards of total offense in the game, with 342 of that coming on the ground.

Roberts led the ground game with 121 yards and he also had 26 receiving yards and one touchdown. Edline finished with 102 yards rushing and three touchdowns, Aiden Barkley ran for 81 yards and Esterline had 83 yards of total offense and three touchdowns; including going two-of-two passing for 56 yards and two scores, both completions going to Hect.

“This game was about our offensive and defensive lines, led by Hunter Miller and Cooper Stover,” Waddell said. “They were bigger than us up front, but I thought we played more physical.”

Hayden Roberts led the defense with nine tackles, while Barkley, Edlin and Memphis Peever had seven tackles each. Esterline had six tackles and one interception.

“Big win for our team and our program,” Waddell said. “They are well coached and always disciplined. We feel like this was a quality win for our team.”

Farwell (3-2 overall, 2-1 Jack Pine) hosts St. Louis (0-5, 0-3) on Friday. The Sharks have had a few close games this year, but did fall to Harrison last week, 46-14.

“St. Louis is a good football team and they will have a huge size advantage against us,” Waddell said. “We will need to match their physicality if we want to be competitive. (Their head) coach Ben Brock will have them ready to go.”