FARMINGTON at MAYO
Friday, 7 p.m., at Mayo Stadium
Records: This is the season opener for both teams.
Head coaches: Farmington, Mark Froehling; Mayo, Kevin Landherr (fourth season, 16-12 overall).
Last season: Farmington was 1-8, losing to Lakeville North in the Section One, Class AAAAA quarterfinals; Mayo was 6-4, falling to Rochester Century in the Section 1AAAAA semifinals.
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About Farmington: The Tigers return nine starters from last season's team. … Defensively, Farmington is led by returning starting senior linebackers Drew Hegseth (6-1, 201) and Ryan Schoening (5-9, 179). … On offense, the Tigers are starting four new linemen, who will try to protect junior QB Darren Beenken (6-3, 182) and pave the way for junior RB Athen Ashton (5-11, 175).
About Mayo: The Spartans are dealing with some injury issues heading into their opener, and they're missing three seniors due to a rules violation, but that will give the coaching staff a chance to see how much depth they have at some positions. … There's a chance that three or more players could carry the football for Mayo, as it attempts to find a rhythm in its running game. … The Spartans are looking for their first season-opening victory under Landherr. They lost at Minnetonka in 2008, his first season as head coach, and fell to Hopkins in the season openers in 2009 and 2010.
Coach Landherr says: "For this week, it's about going out and playing the way we want to, executing what we put in at camp and playing at a high level. Farmington has a quick tailback and a quarterback who is accurate and confident, but we just have to go out and execute our game plan."
— Jason Feldman
