Farmington @ Malvern, Semis

[marsh8727]

I think this will be a pretty balanced game, taking a shot in the dark and going with my home conference foe.

Malvern 28
Farmington 24

What do you guys think?

[Bigbossman]

+1

Malvern may go up by one more touchdown, but they come out on top.

Their reward for doing so, an absolute thrashing in front of the smallest crowd of any of the state chaminoship games in WM.

[abc]

I guess you will be at a basketball game bossman !

[DerekOxford]

I know conventional wisdom says to pick Malvern in this game, but there isn't a hotter team right now in the playoffs than the Farmington Cardinals.

Everyone pretty much wrote them off when they lost to Prairie Grove and Ozark, but they've responded by winning five in a row, three of those on the road (including beating two conference champions).

I saw Malvern play last night, and there's no question they're a good ballclub. For some reason, teams make a ton of mistakes when they play Malvern and basically give the Leopards points.

Farmington, however, is pretty good about taking care of the football. I see this being a fantastic football game. I pick Farmington by a point.

[billiesfan91]

doesnt matter pa is the best 4a team mabe best 7a team

[Bigbossman]

Doubtful. Not till we get the arena built. Until then bossman doesnt do good at uncontrolable crowds. And our gym is jam packed so nope not for me.

[Bigbossman]

but a basketball game would be a wiser choice of money spent instead of the 4-a championship game. I mean is there any doubt by anyone around here as to the outcome. There shouldnt be.

[abc]

So if nashville were there I guess you would not be there because it would be a waste of your money !

[Bigbossman]

I would go watch nashville get thrashed yes. But i doubt anybody other than nashville and PA fans would be there.

On the other hand if it were say a warren malvern game or a farmington dway game i prob would go.

[abc]

I understand PA is at another level .

[THE D.O.C]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

[GridironGeneral]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Donations are being accepted at the Administration office for however much you choose to give, "for the new shoes of course" and anything else they might need to win.

[THE D.O.C]

Farmington only have 3 weapons, the 2 QB's that rotate and the 1 receiver. Our defensive line forces you into mistakes. D linemen are 6-2, 6-3 run 4.5 forty and can run down QB's forcing them into mistakes. Our DB's are fast and cover well. Our receivers catch and block well.  Our QB is a Jr with a strong arm. I just can't see how this game can be close. Farmington has a lot of frequent flyer miles. 3.5hrs to Heber Spgs, 5hrs to McGehee, and now 3.5hrs to Malvern. In the playoffs starters played in only 1 complete game which was vs Nashville. The other 2 games our b team played most of the second half and all our games played at home.

Malvern-42
Farmington 14

[Maynard G Krebs]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Don't remember Malvern having traction problems in that game. 

[True Player]

It doesnt matter if Malvern came to play or not against PA. They would still be killed. PA won't commit the turnovers mandatory for Malvern to win. The way Malvern wins is by playing with a short field and giving the other team a lot of ground to cover. So if Malvern gets to the championship game, they will be thrashed once again. But the only way they get there is if Farmington turns the ball over.

[CardsQB12]

Farmington only have 3 weapons, the 2 QB's that rotate and the 1 receiver. Our defensive line forces you into mistakes. D linemen are 6-2, 6-3 run 4.5 forty and can run down QB's forcing them into mistakes. Our DB's are fast and cover well. Our receivers catch and block well.  Our QB is a Jr with a strong arm. I just can't see how this game can be close. Farmington has a lot of frequent flyer miles. 3.5hrs to Heber Spgs, 5hrs to McGehee, and now 3.5hrs to Malvern. In the playoffs starters played in only 1 complete game which was vs Nashville. The other 2 games our b team played most of the second half and all our games played at home.

Malvern-42
Farmington 14

I'm curious as to where you got your info on Farmington?

[Hoghead]

Malvern will handle Farmington at Claude Mann Stadium. Wait until the Farmington folks get a load of that place !

[THE D.O.C]

Our defense is mainly what's gotten us here but we do have a decent offense. We can put up points. By the second half Farmington will be out of gas. Too much mileage

[noonerricky]

Farmington has come a long ways this year and I want to comment on region 1, they have hung in there this year. However Malvern too powerful for Farmington, Malvern by 20

[Freight Train]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Maybe you were not at the game but PA had Malvern 42-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter so the only thing losing traction is your memory of that game.

[THE D.O.C]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Maybe you were not at the game but PA had Malvern 42-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter so the only thing losing traction is your memory of that game.

Yeah I was there, I saw Malvern kids looking around at the media and all that pink. They played as if they were running in mud, they were back-tracking the whole game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

[THE D.O.C]

It doesn't matter if Malvern came to play or not against PA. They would still be killed. PA won't commit the turnovers mandatory for Malvern to win. The way Malvern wins is by playing with a short field and giving the other team a lot of ground to cover. So if Malvern gets to the championship game, they will be thrashed once again. But the only way they get there is if Farmington turns the ball over.

Farmington will be handled like Prairie Grove was. We mercy ruled them and Farmington lost to them.

[toobad4u993]

Malvern wins by nothing less than 14

[Flanders]

Malvern by 17. At LEAST

[dukes424]

Nope  wont happen Farmtown is on fire!!! They have different personell in different positions and have all thier players healthy .. I called them making it to the finals 4 weeks ago, right now they are the second best team in the state in 4a ... The cards win 28 to 21....

[Overdahill]

Malvern will represent the 7-4a well

[GLion Alum]

Farmington will be handled like Prairie Grove was. We mercy ruled them and Farmington lost to them.

When Farmington played Prairie Grove in week 5, Prairie Grove, with their talented junior class, was considered by most in Northwest Arkansas to be a player in the 1-4A title chase.  Farmington, on the other hand, was questioned by many who wondered if the Cardinals would end up in a battle for the title or a battle for the fifth playoff spot.  PG jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead; Farmington tied the game 21-21 in the third quarter; and PG fought back to win, 28-21, in the fourth quarter.

The next week, Prairie Grove played Shiloh Christian and won handily, thanks in part to turnovers by Shiloh, but it was the first time a 1-4A public school had beaten the Saints since they moved up to 4A in 2008.  The week after that Farmington took advantage of six turnovers to beat Gravette, which was undefeated at the time, 28-20. 

A good argument can be made that Prairie Grove never came back to earth after beating Shiloh and Farmington took off after upsetting Gravette.  Injuries, position changes, etc., certainly played roles in what happened, but I think anyone who uses their Sept. 30 game to compare Farmington and Prairie Grove is making a mistake.  One thing is sure--both teams are very different now.

Thanks to the quirks of the playoff brackets, the 1-4A and 8-4A have met enough times in the playoffs (5 times--advantage 1-4A, 3-2), and the games have been competitive enough that it's difficult to argue that one of them is much better than the other this year.   

The playoff results support an argument that the 2-4A, 3-4A and 4-4A this year were not as strong overall as the 7-4A, 8-4A and 1-4A.  Again, thanks to the quirks of the brackets, a 7-4A team has only played one team from 1-4A and 8-4A so far, and that was Malvern, which dominated Prairie Grove.

When I've read posts from 7-4A posters complaining that their 7-4A teams were having to play one another this year, the thought crossed my mind that maybe they should be thankful for that rather than be complaining about it.  First, I'll concede that Pulaski Academy is in a world of their own this season and is not likely to be seriously challenged by any 4A team in the state.

Look at what the other 7-4A teams have done...Maumelle lost to Clinton decisively in the first round; De Queen beat Booneville by three or four points; Nashville beat Highland by two touchdowns.  That's it except for Malvern's decisive win over Prairie Grove.  I'm inclined to be impressed by that, but over the years as a 1-4A fan I've noticed several times when Prairie Grove wound up getting beat worse than I thought they should have, including this year, when Cassville, MO, which ended up being eliminated in the Missouri Class 3 quarterfinals, beat the Tigers worse than Malvern did. 

Common sense tells me PA and Malvern will win easily Friday night, and PA will torch Malvern again in the championship game.  But, because none of the 7-4A teams have played any of the 1-4A and 8-4A teams yet in the playoffs (other than Malvern vs. Prairie Grove), I think there are still some questions to be answered this Friday night.     

[Complete Biased PoV]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Maybe you were not at the game but PA had Malvern 42-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter so the only thing losing traction is your memory of that game.

Yeah I was there, I saw Malvern kids looking around at the media and all that pink. They played as if they were running in mud, they were back-tracking the whole game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

No mud on a turf field....hahaha.  I think Malvern is just too undisciplined to hang with PA.  it was 47-0 at halftime with Malvern having -7 yards of offense.  As much as I would like for Farmington to beat Malvern because I have some friends from Farmington I don't know if they have enough offense to do it.  As long as PA gets past Dollarway, I will be ok with them pounding Malvern's backside once again.  If Malvern was bothered by the media at PA what do you think they will be like at WM with all the media and pictures and everything else which goes on during a state championship game.

[Spotty]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Maybe you were not at the game but PA had Malvern 42-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter so the only thing losing traction is your memory of that game.

Yeah I was there, I saw Malvern kids looking around at the media and all that pink. They played as if they were running in mud, they were back-tracking the whole game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

No mud on a turf field....hahaha.  I think Malvern is just too undisciplined to hang with PA.  it was 47-0 at halftime with Malvern having -7 yards of offense.  As much as I would like for Farmington to beat Malvern because I have some friends from Farmington I don't know if they have enough offense to do it.  As long as PA gets past Dollarway, I will be ok with them pounding Malvern's backside once again.  If Malvern was bothered by the media at PA what do you think they will be like at WM with all the media and pictures and everything else which goes on during a state championship game.

It's got nothing to do with discipline. It has to do with talent. Malvern is as disciplined a team as I have seen in the 4A.

[Spotty]

If someone could give me a fan's scouting report on Farmington, that would be great. I haven't seen them play this year. All we can really do is compare scores and I believe there is only one common opponent in Prairie Grove. Here's a brief synopsis of Malvern.

Malvern primarily runs the spread out of the shotgun, but they run the football a lot out of it. They run a ton of motion and have a ton of different formations. They run it and run it and run it and go with different motions until they figure out how you defend each formation and each motion. Then they look for mismatches in alignment. They do a pretty good job of mixing up the passing game with short passes to the WR's and backs as well as throwing the ball deep down the sideline and the intermediate passing game in the middle.

The quarterback is very elusive. He manages to get out trouble and has, in recent weeks, made quite a few plays throwing the ball out of scrambles. He's been better at throwing on the run in the playoffs at this than he was in the regular season. Not sure what clicked, but it's added a different dimension to the office.

The offense will run as many four backs with some regularity. They stay fresh, though a few are better at running wide and some are better at running up the middle. Defenses that can catch personnel units and get the calls into the defense quickly have given us some trouble by defending inside/outside according to who we have in the game.  Then of course the quarterback will have several called run plays as well. We run the radar option quite a bit. We've run out of the I formation a bit more recent weeks on short yardage, though it hasn't been real effective for us.

The wide receivers are fast and have pretty good ball skills. They are pretty tough to handle in man to man coverage and someone is usually good for at least one long reception a game.

Defense is the Leopards' strength. Their defensive line is big and disciplined. They get good penetration and can run for their size. The linebackers are the strongest unit of the team. They love, love, love to hit. They do so with discipline though, and break down. They don't miss tackles. They track very well. The defensive line does a great job of making it difficult for teams to run up the middle and the linebackers make it even more difficult to run to the outside.

The safeties are a very good unit too. Throwing down the middle of the field is tough. They have very good ball skills and make great decisions on whether they should go for the pick or the hit. They love to hit too. They will punish wide receivers going over the middle. The weakest link is probably the corners. Teams have made some plays throwing the ball deep down the sidelines against our man coverage. If you have tall wide receivers, you have a shot to get some big plays on us. They don't usually give up long touchdowns after the catch, but we seem vulnerable in that area.

Anyway, this is game is for the Public School 4A state championship. Good luck. And like I said, if someone could give a scouting report on Farmington, that would be great.

[Complete Biased PoV]

Dude Malvern didn't get off the bus at PA. They played in cheap cleats, school should have provided better shoes. They may as well had on house shoes on.

Maybe you were not at the game but PA had Malvern 42-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter so the only thing losing traction is your memory of that game.

Yeah I was there, I saw Malvern kids looking around at the media and all that pink. They played as if they were running in mud, they were back-tracking the whole game. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

No mud on a turf field....hahaha.  I think Malvern is just too undisciplined to hang with PA.  it was 47-0 at halftime with Malvern having -7 yards of offense.  As much as I would like for Farmington to beat Malvern because I have some friends from Farmington I don't know if they have enough offense to do it.  As long as PA gets past Dollarway, I will be ok with them pounding Malvern's backside once again.  If Malvern was bothered by the media at PA what do you think they will be like at WM with all the media and pictures and everything else which goes on during a state championship game.

It's got nothing to do with discipline. It has to do with talent. Malvern is as disciplined a team as I have seen in the 4A.

You don't watch much football then.....when your kids are out there yelling at one another over which one of them blew their assignment, it's not too disciplined.  I think PA's defense showed you what a disciplined defense looks like.  I hope Farmington can do the same, but if not I hope PA gets to show Malvern what's up again (we got Dollarway to worry about this week).

[Spotty]

They were down 40+ in the first half. I imagine they were yelling at each other over missed assignments. I've seen the Razorbacks, OU, and other teams that are accustomed to having success do the same thing when things aren't going right for them. If PA was getting trounced by 40 in the first half, I suspect their would be some heart to heart talks on your sideline too.

[Complete Biased PoV]

They were down 40+ in the first half. I imagine they were yelling at each other over missed assignments. I've seen the Razorbacks, OU, and other teams that are accustomed to having success do the same thing when things aren't going right for them. If PA was getting trounced by 40 in the first half, I suspect their would be some heart to heart talks on your sideline too.

Yea, by the coaching staff.  If the kids were blaming each other they would probably be sent to the locker room, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure Coach Wood would not have that from his defense.  I wasn't talking about on the sideline anyway, I was talking about yelling at each other on the field, but I'm done with this point.

[Spotty]

They were down 40+ in the first half. I imagine they were yelling at each other over missed assignments. I've seen the Razorbacks, OU, and other teams that are accustomed to having success do the same thing when things aren't going right for them. If PA was getting trounced by 40 in the first half, I suspect their would be some heart to heart talks on your sideline too.

Yea, by the coaching staff.  If the kids were blaming each other they would probably be sent to the locker room, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure Coach Wood would not have that from his defense.  I wasn't talking about on the sideline anyway, I was talking about yelling at each other on the field, but I'm done with this point.

Then you're doing everyone a favor.

[abc]

Were you on the field POV ?

[THE D.O.C]

I'd bet POV isn't from PA. His team probably lost out early

[OGHSSupporter]

IT WILL BE AN ALL 7-4A FINAL!

Three cheers for Malvern, everyone since day one knew that PA would be in the finals!
Last year, 3 out the 4 semi-finalists were from the 7-4A.
There is no doubt where the best 4-A conference is.  I will miss you next year.

[indian owl]

Farmington does not rotate qbs, they play a 6' 230 lb one all game, he has a nice touch on his passes which suprised me a little. They did not turn the ball over one time vs McGehee. I say Malvern by 14, but it may be closer.

[Maynard G Krebs]

Not sure who to pick here. Only have seen Malvern play and their only loses were to 5-A Lakeside and PA.  Farmington has performed strongly in the playoffs by beating two  teams that I think were favored. 

Even with my uncertainty, I think Malvern will win in a close game. Maybe 21-14.

[TIGER101]

I have seen both teams play this year and will give Farmington credit on getting hot at the end of the year.  Farmington will have the same trouble as PG did.  Malvern on defense will not allow Farmington to do what they want.  They do a good job of determining what you do best and taking it away.  I know all the Farmington fans will enter thinking they will win, and they should think this but it's not going to happen.   Malvern to big strong and fast.  I have seen people say Farmington has not played a defense like they are fixing to see and they are so correct.  Malvern wins big, but Farmington should be proud of how far they have made it.

[Wahls]

Just like with every other Malvern game this year, first one to 20 wins.

Hint - It probably won't be Farmington.

[BigMoose22]

farmingtons got a better run stop defense than Prairie Grove tho.
Farmington has bigger stronger players that PG.
so Malverns runningback #7 i believe will have a tougher time getting through the d-line and linebackers.
also farmingtons d-backs are more physical than pg's.
so throwing 50 yard fade routes wont be as easy as it was against pg.

[Wahls]

farmingtons got a better run stop defense than Prairie Grove tho.
Farmington has bigger stronger players that PG.
so Malverns runningback #7 i believe will have a tougher time getting through the d-line and linebackers.
also farmingtons d-backs are more physical than pg's.
so throwing 50 yard fade routes wont be as easy as it was against pg.

Prairie Grove lost by 30 to Malvern. Farmington lost to Prairie Grove by a TD.

I tried to explain to the Prairie Grove folks who thought they were going to curbstomp Malvern what was coming at them, but they refused to listen. I'm not even going to try this time. You just don't get it. But you will.

[playmaker04]

malvern 21
farmington 7

[Jimbo Morphis]

farmington has had a great run but i think malvern is the 2nd best team in the state. malvern by 2  touchdowns.

[Complete Biased PoV]

Were you on the field POV ?

Not on the field, but at the PA football field if you are in the first few rows you are plenty close enough to hear what is said on the field. 

[Complete Biased PoV]

I'd bet POV isn't from PA. His team probably lost out early

Check my posts.

[GLion Alum]

And to think that the state's largest pre-season football mag had Malvern ranked 23rd of 47 teams in the state and Farmington ranked 28th of 47. 

[TIGER101]

farmingtons got a better run stop defense than Prairie Grove tho.
Farmington has bigger stronger players that PG.
so Malverns runningback #7 i believe will have a tougher time getting through the d-line and linebackers.
also farmingtons d-backs are more physical than pg's.
so throwing 50 yard fade routes wont be as easy as it was against pg.

Prairie Grove lost by 30 to Malvern. Farmington lost to Prairie Grove by a TD.

I tried to explain to the Prairie Grove folks who thought they were going to curbstomp Malvern what was
coming at them, but they refused to listen. I'm not even going to try this time. You just don't get it. But you will.

I don't remember anyone from PG saying they were going to "CURBSTOMP" Malvern.  PG knew what they were getting into.  If they did say that, they were probably not a PG fan....

[gametime]

farmingtons got a better run stop defense than Prairie Grove tho.
Farmington has bigger stronger players that PG.
so Malverns runningback #7 i believe will have a tougher time getting through the d-line and linebackers.
also farmingtons d-backs are more physical than pg's.
so throwing 50 yard fade routes wont be as easy as it was against pg.

Bigmoose22, Have you completely lost your mind. Other than 6 minutes in the third quarter prairie grove dominated that football game from start to finish. Have you even watched a football game this year or you on here just rambling on. I have seen both teams play several times this year neither 1 of them are good enough to beat malvern. Farmington is not bigger faster stronger and all the stuff that you say that they are at every position. farmington is a very good football team right now and that is just it, a good football team. they are playing better than prairie grove because prairie grove is not playing. unless malvern makes a lot of mistakes the results are going be the same, malvern will win. I along with most people in our conference do want farmington to win but the reality is it's probably not going to happen though.