Friday Night Lights: Rosemount vs. Farmington

A 3-0 Farmington Tiger squad versus a hungry 1-2 Rosemount Irish team led by the #5 ranked player in the state according to 24/7Sports and Minnesota Golden Gopher commit Jonathan Mann (6'4, 200) was guaranteed to result in some exciting moments, and the 6A matchup sure delivered this evening in the beautiful Farmington sports complex Friday night. Despite the final score of 48-21 in favor of the Irish possibly seeming lopsided, Farmington showed why they were 3-0 and were a few unfortunate plays away from having the game much closer in reach. There were still lots of good on each side, and both teams should be feeling sore and proud of their performances tonight. Also have to thank MNFootballHub for the great photos used in the article today. Rosemount (2-2) and Mann got off to a hot start, as the explosive WR took the opening kickoff to the crib, and gave the Irish a quick 7-0 lead. After Farmington's (3-1) offense stalled out and gave the ball back to Rosemount, junior RB Christian Graske (5'10, 160) took a handoff 82-yards down to the Tiger one, and finished what should have been a TD on the next play by punching it in from the 1. Another untimely error by the Tigers on the next drive really put Farmington in the hole, as stud 2021 QB Alex Berreth (6'2, 175) who otherwise had a fabulous night, threw a pick to Irish defensive lineman Kyle Larson (5'10, 230) who took the ball back for six and putting Rosemount up 21-0 with 2:54 left in the first quarter. It was a hot start for the Irish, and Farmington ended up not being able to make up for that rough 1st quarter (sound familiar Vikings fans?). [caption id="attachment_12706" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine[/caption] They did however, fight like hell to try and come back. Berreth began warming up late in the first, and dropped a dime for 25-yards to Carter Hendrickson (5'11, 170) the first of some really impressive plays by the junior on the night. The beginning of the 2nd quarter continued to be all Irish, as Mann began to assert his dominance and began picking apart the Farmington secondary with some big passing plays that were getting there quick from senior Trevor Armborst (6'1, 200). Minnesota Gopher hockey commit Jake Ratzlaff (6'2, 205) joined the receiving party and caught a 35-yard catch up the seam for a score with 7:42 left in the half. Berreth continued to make plays out of seemingly nothing, and finally found a receiver open in the end zone to get Farmington on the board with 3:44 left in the half, and the quick legged QB converted a 4th and 4 on the next drive almost giving the Tigers another scoring opportunity, but the score remained 35-7 at half. Receiving the 2nd half kickoff, Farmington used some nifty runs by Barreth and some hard running by Zac Janz (5'8, 180) led the Tigers to Rosemount's 9-yard line, where Barreth threw a dart of a slant to the impressive 2021 WR Isaac Ask (6'3, 190) for what was one of their three eventual touchdowns on the night, and gave the Tigers some hope with the score being 35-14 with 8:55 left in the 3rd. Despite the duo of Barreth and Ask impressive performances on the night, none could be out shadowed by Mann. The 3-star recruit took a slant on the next drive 60+ yards untouched to make the score 41-14, yet Barreth followed that up with an extremely impressive series wherein the junior took a monster hit running up the sideline by Charlie Barnick (6'0, 202) yet followed up on the next play with a laser of a TD pass to Ask to make it 41-21. The Irish began running counters on counters after that, and Rosemount's O-line got their facemasks dirty the rest of the third quarter. [caption id="attachment_12709" align="alignright" width="300"] Rosemount running back Christian Graske. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine[/caption] Mann had one more big play in them that evening, and caught a fade in the corner of the end zone in which he "mossed" two or three Tiger defensive backs in one of the coolest catches I've seen live. Mann made the score 48-21, and despite some resolve from Farmington to keep the fight going, the big plays and costly turnovers proved too much to overcome and the score finished 48-21 in what was a fine Fright night in Minnesota. Mann finished with four total TD's and 219-yards on the night.