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"These kids want to score," said Farmington coach Jeff Bemis, after his Indians beat Middletown for the first time since 1999. "They’ll do whatever it takes to get in there."
"We don’t give up," said Gerhart, who caught four passes for 77 yards and two TDs. "We keep fighting and we don’t go down."
A week ago, Harrington threw a 29-yard TD pass to Anthony Aniello with 33 seconds left in the game to beat Vinal Tech/Coginchaug, 19-14.
"This is a no-quit team," Bemis said. "They have a lot of talent and they can pull off things like this because they have talent."
Middletown (1-2-1) handcuffed the Indians in the second half, limiting them to just a pair of first downs before the final drive. Overall, the Dragons sacked Harrington three times for 27 yards and Jason Murphy intercepted two passes for 29 yards.
"We played extremely hard and fought on every down," Middletown coach Eric Marszalek said. "We were a bit overmatched on the line."
Trailing 10-6 at the half, Middletown marched to the Farmington 14 on its first possession of the second half but saw the drive sputter. Middletown marched to the Indian 28 and 32-yard line, respectively on other drives but stalled.
But they finally cashed in. Jaron Murphy’s 17-yard punt return gave the Dragons the ball at the Farmington 35-yard line with 4:00 left in the game. Jashone Cunningham took a sharp option pitch from QB Shamar Carr and sprinted down the sideline for a 35-yard TD run with 3:50 left.
The kick was blocked but Middletown led, 12-10. Two plays later, Murphy intercepted his second pass of the game but Middletown’s offense couldn’t get a first down to ice the game, hurt by a personal foul penalty.
It was the opening Farmington needed.
Farmington (3-2) took over on its own 20 with 1:20 left. Harrington completed a crucial 14-yard pass to Jermaine Baskerville on third and 10 to keep the FHS hopes alive with 48.5 seconds remaining.
Three plays later, the Indians were only five yards closer to the end zone with 19.2 seconds left. But Harrington lofted a pass down the middle to Gerhart, who scored on his fourth TD pass from Harrington in two weeks.
Sean Garvey gave Farmington a 3-0 lead after a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter.
The Indians ate up nearly eight minutes in the second quarter on a 76-yard march kept alive with hard-running backs who shook off plenty of tackles but the drive fizzled on the Dragon 3-yard line.
Middletown marched 90 yards, highlighted by a 37-yard completion from Carr to Martavis Issac and a 32-yard TD run by Jashone Cunningham to take a 6-3 lead.
But Farmington responded immediately. Orlando Ortiz took the kickoff and raced 77 yards up the middle of the field to the Middletown 5-yard line. Two plays later, Harrington completed a 5-yard TD pass to Gerhart with 47 seconds left in the half for a 10-6 lead.
Adam Golab led all rushers with 84 yards on 10 carries while Harrington completed 8-of-18 passes for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns and two interceptions. Golab had a 39-yard run in the first quarter, breaking two tackles on the run.
OF NOTE: Garvey had an interception and a 7-yard return for FHS. ... It was Farmington’s 11th win over Middletown since the Dragons joined the NWC in 1972. Middletown owns a 20-11-1 edge over FHS since they joined the league.
