Farmington stands between Macomb football team and 5-0 record; Game is 7 p.m. Friday
MACOMB — The Macomb High School Bombers have opened the season steamrolling all opponents on their way en route to a commanding 4-0 record, but standing between them and a 5-0 start is the Farmington Farmers, who have been a buzzsaw in recent weeks.
After a disappointing loss where they only managed to put up 8 points against the Mercer County Golden Eagles in a non-conference game to open their season, the Farmer offense has sprung into action scoring 58 points against Havana, 57 points against Hamilton/Warsaw and 49 points against Illini West.
Macomb, sitting atop the Prarieland conference, has managed to continue to improve each week and Bomber head coach gave credit to his team’s attention to detail as the reason for the hot start.
“Focus,” Tanner Horrell said. “This team is really focused everyday in practice. We’re working to get better and there really isn’t any goofing around there. They’re there to put in the work and it is a fun group to be around.”
Similarly to the Bombers, the Farmer defense has also suffocated opposing offenses during their three game win streak. The Bombers and Farmers have held three of their first four opponents to only one score and shut out their most recent opponents, winning their games 46-0 and 49-0 respectively.
In the matchup between these two teams last season, the Farmers walloped the Bombers 53-6 at home. The Farmington defense held the Bombers to 114 total yards and held then junior quarterback Jack Duncan to a 38.5 passer rating on 5-19 passing with an interception.
Horrell is stressing ball security this time around for his offense and for his defense, containing junior quarterback Gage Renken is a top priority.
“Farmington is coming to town, and they’re a really good football team,” Horrell said. “They have a good quarterback who is mobile and we have to do the best at containing that as best we can.”
The Bombers and Farmers kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday in Macomb for a matchup that will have big implications in the Prarieland conference going forward this season.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: IHSA football: Macomb goes for 5-0 against Farmington Farmers
