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"It had to be done." Gerhart said. "We couldn’t lose. It would have ruined our playoff chances."
Farmington (6-1, 6-1 Nutmeg) goes into the regular season’s last two weeks with the fourth and final playoff slot in its grasp. Games remain against Plainville and Avon. Northwest (6-2, 5-2) still holds down the fourth spot in Class S.
The Farmington defense, strafed by Sarnese and friends for nearly 500 yards, pulled together when the chips were down. Northwest had four cracks from the 9 in the final minute and each fell short.
Gerhart, who scored a crucial touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a 96-yard kickoff return after Northwest had pulled ahead by nine points, saved the day.
"We knew they were going to pass," Gerhart said. "I was looking at (Sarnese) the whole way then just stepped up and took it. They had three wide on the side and I was playing over the top."
The sudden defeat stunned Northwest coach Mike Tyler. The third-down play had touchdown written all over it but the pass was dropped in the end zone.
"We thought there was interference (on fourth down) but he made a great play and had a great game," Tyler said. "We dropped a touchdown but it was a tough catch. Those aren’t easy. We had it set up. It was perfect. We were close but we didn’t get the one play we needed."
The game pitted Farmington’s pounding ground game against Northwest’s wide-open spread offense. But midway through the third quarter, Farmington was searching its third and fourth string for running backs.
Leading rusher Nick Bliss missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. Jim Fox had two touchdowns and ran for 123 yards, but he went down with a deep bruise. Fullback Adam Golab, who is the leader on defense, also hurt an ankle and was forced to watch. But Gerhart, Mike Peltier, sophomore Greg LeBlanc and Carl Morrissey filled in capably.
"We’ve got weapons and we’ve got plenty of guys up front to cover for (the runners)," Farmington coach Jeff Bemis said. "Offensively, we’re pretty good and we know that. We’ve got guys who can play."
Farmington dominated the line of scrimmage in the first quarter to build a 21-0 lead but Sarnese (344 yards passing, 123 rushing) thrust Northwest into high gear.
He guided his high-powered attack to five touchdowns in as many possessions from the middle of the second quarter to midway through the third to give Northwest its biggest lead at 36-27.
Gerhart reversed the momentum with his electrifying kickoff return.
"It was strictly blocking," said Gerhart, who also scored twice on two-point conversions. "All I did was run straight down the field." Mitch Alves had one of the key blocks that erased the last would-be tackler.
Martin Jones scored twice for Farmington in the first half, once on a perfectly thrown 24-yard pass from quarterback Steve Harrington and another on a well-executed 73-yard reverse.
Northwest split end Justin Jarvis had seven receptions, two for scores.
Farmington had to look for the athletic 6-foot-4 Jarvis on that crucial fourth-down play but Sarnese tried to stick it in to possession receiver Devon Walsh (5 catches, 86 yards) at the goal line.
"We thought about (Jarvis) but we had (Walsh)," Tyler said. "We just threw it a half-second too late."
Farmington is used to high-scoring, heart-pounding games. Wins over Middletown and RHAM were last-second decisions and the loss to Berlin also went down to the wire.
"Deep down I know that’s how these games are going to go," Bemis said. "We’ve had four or five in the last couple years. Hey, Northwest Catholic is a great team and there is no doubt about that they’re of playoff caliber. They had some good weapons and fooled us quite a bit but we’re pretty good, too."
Ken Lipshez can be reached at klipshez@newbritainherald.com
