Mayo drops heartbreaker as Farmington scores winning touchdown in final minute

FARMINGTON — The Mayo High School football team appeared to be well on its way to victory No. 2 of the season Friday night.

But Farmington was able to conjure up some magic on homecoming, scoring 13 unanswered points with the help of an onside kick to stun Mayo 40-36 in a Metro District game Friday night.

"It was a tough loss, but we still got better," coach Donny Holcomb said. "We did a lot of good things, we just gave up a lot of big plays. That's what's been hurting us these last two games. But credit to Farmington for making plays and coming away with it on homecoming. It was two evenly matched teams."

Behind a great offensive attack, the Spartans led throughout.

Mayo scored on its first three possessions with Isaiah Beale setting the tone early with scoring runs of 19- and 45-yards. Beale was once again terrific, running through tacklers and dodging others throughout the game. At one point the Farmington play-by-play commentator on the live stream asked 'How do you stop this guy?'

Beale finished with 203 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 22 carries. He now has nine touchdowns through three games.

His final TD run — a 20-yard run — put the Spartans up 36-27 with just over 7 minutes left. Yet, Farmington (2-1) would answer with quarterback Jonah Ask tossing his fourth touchdown pass with under 4 minutes left.

With the way Beale and the offense was going, the Tigers decided to go for the onside kick, which they would end up recovering.

"We had our hands team out there, we just didn't get the ball," Holcomb said. "They made a great play."

The Mayo defense had a chance, forcing a fourth-and-12 in the red zone, but a great play from Farmington on a jump ball kept the drive alive. Ask would punch it in from 2-yards out with under 30 seconds left.

That was the third time Farmington converted a fourth down. All three led to touchdowns.

With little time left, Mayo reached midfield, before the clock hit zero.

Still, there were a lot of positives to take away from this game. In addition to Beale, junior quarterback Isaac Peterson looked extremely comfortable in his first start, helping the offense finish with 429 total yards.

Peterson completed 17 of 24 passes for 201 yards that included a 70-yard touchdown pass to Joe Boguslawski.

"I was really proud of him tonight," Holcomb said. "He showed a lot of maturity and made a lot smart plays. He used his legs, threw the ball away when needed. Really proud of him."

It doesn't get any easier for Mayo as it hosts perennial power Rosemount 7 p.m. Thursday.

"We want to win them all, but we are focused on improvement," Holcomb said.

Mayo 40, Farmington 36

First quarter

Mayo — Isaiah Beale 19 run (Ethan Post kick)

Farmington — Jonah Ask 29 run (Ethan Fueling kick)

Mayo — Beale 45 run (Post kick)

Second quarter

Farmington — Cody Rezny 24 pass from Ask (PAT missed)

Mayo — Joe Boguslawski 70 pass from Isaac Peterson (Noah Hagen pass from Peterson)

Farmington — Brock Wyandt 75 pass from Ask (Fueling kick)

Third quarter