Farmington runs by Tremont to advance to IHSA Class 2A football quarterfinals

Adam Duvall, Journal Star
·2 min read

FARMINGTON — Riley Embry ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns as Farmington rolled into the Class 2A quarterfinals with a 35-12 win over Tremont on Saturday afternoon.

The fifth-ranked Farmers (11-0) will play at No. 4 Downs Tri-Valley (11-0) — a 42-0 winner over Deer Creek-Mackinaw — a for a berth in the semifinals. This marks the third successive playoff game Farmington will face a Heart of Illinois Conference team.

Eleven wins also matches the school record for Farmington set in 2016.

The Farmington Farmers cheer after their win against Tremont High School in the class 2A second round playoff game at Farmington High on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The Farmers beat the Turks 35-12.
The Farmington Farmers cheer after their win against Tremont High School in the class 2A second round playoff game at Farmington High on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The Farmers beat the Turks 35-12.

"I just thought we came out and executed really well," Farmington coach Toby Vallas said. "That's a tough, physical team. They shocked us a little bit at the beginning and then we were able to get our on feet a little."

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Embry's back-to-back second-quarter touchdowns broke open the game.

Those pair of scores took Farmington's lead from 13-6 to 28-6 into halftime. Both of his touchdowns came on jet sweeps, racing down the sidelines 50 and 91 yards. He added a 13-yard TD with 9:54 left in the game to complete the Farmers scoring.

"It's a whole team effort on those, especially when we go 'full', we have two running backs," Embry said of the sweeps. "They just kick out the end, and I just get to run free. I'm really not doing much on those.

"It's just my teammates just helping me."

Tremont (8-3), however, started the game strong, jumping ahead 6-0 thanks to Shemar Williams. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound fullback, who had 60 yards on the opening drive, turned the fifth play of the game into a 49-yard TD scamper.

Farmington's Ethan Evans runs the ball during the class 2A second round playoff game at Farmington High on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The Farmers beat the Turks 35-12.
Farmington's Ethan Evans runs the ball during the class 2A second round playoff game at Farmington High on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The Farmers beat the Turks 35-12.

He finished with 79 yards on 15 carries, while the Turks tallied 179 total yards (101 rushing, 78 passing).

"The defense is a crazy," Embry said of the unit that is now allowing 8.6 points a game. "We run no safeties and that's hard to do unless you have guys that are aggressive and mean, I guess.

"They get it after it."

But Farmington responded on the ensuing drive to take a 7-6 lasting lead. Gage Renken found Ethan Evans for a 45-yard score on fourth-and-4 at the 7:28 mark of the first quarter.

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Evans' score setup Embry's two TDs.

Renken threw for 74 yards on 4-for-8 passing. Kevin Shultz rushed for 151 of Farmington's 419 rushing yards on 23 carries along with a second-quarter, 7-yard TD.

David Smith set the final score for Tremont with a 4-yard TD reception.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football playoffs: Farmington runs by Tremont in second round