Football Game Preview: Farmington Scorpions vs. Cleveland Storm

Farmington is preparing for their first district matchup of the season on Friday. After each having a week off, they and the Cleveland Storm will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 7:00 p.m.

Farmington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: La Cueva, who was ranked fifth at the time (Farmington was ranked 15th). The Scorpions took a 27-21 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bears last Friday. The Scorpions haven't had much luck with the Bears recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.

Despite the loss, Farmington had strong showings from Rock Kalcich, who rushed for 89 yards and one TD, and Talon Stowell, who rushed for 119 yards.

Meanwhile, Cleveland made easy work of Pebble Hills last Friday and carried off a 42-17 victory. The Storm might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by 25 points or more this season.

Farmington better keep an eye on Jordan Hatch. He was instrumental in Cleveland's win, throwing for 288 yards and four touchdowns while completing 76% of his passes. Jacob Maldonado was another key player, picking up 45 receiving yards and a pair of scores.

One reason for the win was Cleveland's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Troy Logan was especially locked on to Pebble Hills' QB and sacked him twice.

Farmington's defeat dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Cleveland, their win bumped their record up to 4-1.

Farmington was dealt a bruising 55-0 loss at the hands of Cleveland when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hatch, who threw for 284 yards and five TDs while completing 83.3% of his passes. Now that the Scorpions know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.