Rosemount starts slow; finishes strong in road victory
Like the season starting 0-2 for the Rosemount Irish, Friday night’s win over the Farmington Tigers started out slowly for the visiting Irish. After a scoreless first quarter, the Irish took control by scoring 35 unanswered points on their way to a 35-7 victory.
Farmington’s second possession of the game put the Tigers’ offense into the red zone but a penalty and a sack by defensive end Ezayah Oropeza forced the Tigers to punt.
The Irish offense started to get on track during their second possession, but a fumble deep in Tigers’ territory kept the Irish off the scoreboard.
Rosemount used a mix of short passes and runs on the edge of the defense to break the scoreless tie. Christian Graske‘s long run set up Garrison Green‘s first touchdown run. Green found space off left tackle for a 15-yard touchdown.
The defense got the Irish offense right back on the field with a three and out, and the Irish offense began to take control.
The visitors found balance on the offense using Graske and Green on the ground and Andrew Reuter through the air. Reuter made a great catch inside the five-yard line. The senior receiver was nailed by a Tigers’ defensive back, but Reuter made the catch anyway. The catch set up Green’s second touchdown of the quarter.
Now down two touchdowns, Farmington was driving late in the first half, but Rosemount defensive back Evan Geiwitz intercepted an overthrown ball to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard. Without much time on the clock, the Irish took advantage of the turnover with a two-minute drive that put the Irish up 21-0. With 18 seconds to play in the half and facing a fourth and one, the Irish took a shot at the end zone. Quarterback Max Carter threw a perfect pass into the corner of the end zone to Reuter to close out the first half with a 21-0 lead.
“We ran the ball well and made them one dimensional by stopping their running game and getting a lead,” Rosemount head coach Jeff Erdman said.
Rosemount’s offense came out of the locker room and continued to roll. They would widen the lead to 28-0 on the first possession of the second half. Set up with great field position because of a kick return the Irish went to the air again. Carter floated a perfect pass down the sidelines to wide receiver Zach Barnick for a 46-yard touchdown.
The special teams and defense would set up the Irish’s final touchdown. The punt return team would pin the Tigers back inside their own three-yard line. The Tigers’ second play from deep in their own end zone, resulted in a fumble that the Irish recovered at the one-yard line. One play later the Irish were ahead 35-0.
Farmington would get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, but after the first quarter, it was all Rosemount Irish who evened their record at 2-2 with a 35-7 victory. Farmington’s loss drops their record to 0-4.