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Plainville (2-8, 1-7 Nutmeg) led at halftime by a 6-3 score thanks to an 88-yard interception return by Dustin Chasse with 18 seconds left in the second quarter. The conversion run was barely stopped at the 1-yard line. The Devils limited Farmington to just 46 yards offense in the first half.
Farmington (7-3, 6-2 Nutmeg) held a slight lead of 10-6 before turnovers finally caught up with Plainville in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils turned the ball over six times, twice on interceptions and four times on fumbles.
The turnover that broke Plainville’s back came with 5:46 left in the game. Down by four, the Devils forced Farmington to punt and Sean Garvey lofted a line drive kick that took a bounce in front of Shawn Thibault, who tried to pick up the ball which promptly slid off his hand.
Farmington’s Shaun Murray was right there and gobbled up the ball on the Plainville 29-yard line. On the next play, FHS QB Steve Harrington’s pass attempt was batted into the air and Harrington caught it for a 10-yard loss. Then, Farmington was penalized five yards for illegal motion.
But Harrington (7-18-1, 85 yards) completed three straight passes with the final one being a 22-yard pass over the middle to Martin Jones (3-43) for a touchdown with 3:03 left in the contest and a 17-6 lead.
Plainville turned the ball over on downs thanks to a pair of incompletions and a 10-yard sack by FHS’s Jermaine Baskerville.
Two plays later, Farmington’s Carl Morrissey iced the contest with an 18-yard TD run with 1:03 left in the game.
"This was a poor performance by us," Farmington coach Jeff Bemis said. "I don’t know if we were looking ahead (to Avon on Nov. 22). Plainville did a good job defensively. The boxed us up and had our blockers thinking about where they were supposed to be going."
Farmington took advantage of Plainville miscues to get itself in scoring position. Plainville fumbled on the third play of the game on its own 29-yard line. The Indians drove to the Devil 3-yard line before settling for a 20-yard field goal from Sean Garvey.
Farmington took a 10-6 lead when Bliss (22-98) ran 11 yards for the score on Farmington’s second possession of the third quarter. Harrington made two sharp completions to Anthony Aniello (22 yards) and Jermaine Baskerville (19 yards) on the drive.
Down 10-6, Plainville made its deepest penetration into Farmington territory near the end of the third quarter after Hungerford’s 35-yard run put the ball at the Indian 39-yard line. But Lessard fumbled the ball away on the next play.
Farmington was ready to add to its lead with 32 seconds left in the second quarter after recovering the ball at the Plainville 12-yard line due to a snap over the punter’s head.
But Plainville’s Chris Boland deflected a Harrington pass into the air backwards to Chasse, who raced for the end zone. Plainville had some success moving the ball behind Will Hungerford (14-83) and Brian Roper (12-50).
"We’ve played pretty well defensively all season," Plainville coach Mack Scott said. "Offensively, we just haven’t got it together and our mistakes hurt us."
The Devils used three quarterbacks-- Mike Synder, Rob Lessard and Hungerford for a few snaps.
The game ended prematurely (41.5 seconds left) and on a sour note when four players were ejected for fighting.
Tempers flared after Hungerford was tackled and the benches cleared. Game officials viewed a video tape on the field and threw out Plainville’s Steven Ellis and Justin Fangiullo along with Farmington’s Orlando Ortiz and Sean Gerhart. All four will be ineligible to play in their team’s next game.
Baskerville had two sacks for 19 yards for FHS while Jones and Brandon Parenteau each had interceptions. For Plainville, Roper and Chasse each recovered a Farmington fumble.
