Photo by: Ben Loewnau, Special to the Post-Dispatch Article by: Joe Harris | Special to the Post-Dispatch FESTUS — St. Pius X’s grand game of keepaway worked almost perfectly for a half Friday night. Unfortunately for the Lancers, it ended in the second half. Farmington found its big play offense in the final two quarters and pulled away for a 41-20 win in a nonconference football game in the first meeting between the programs. But St. Pius coach Frank Ray wasn’t as focused on the final score as he was the purpose for taking a game against a tough, much larger, Class 5 program. “We play hard,” Ray said. “We've got to clean little things up, and we are on the track to be a state championship team. We were last year and we just weren't quite there. We're a little closer this year. I don't know if we're there yet, but we have to play teams like this. They got to come in. They got to show us what we do wrong and expose us a little bit.” St. Pius found itself tied 13-all at halftime after dominating most offensive categories in a nearly flawless first half. But penalties, turnovers and an explosive passing attack allowed Farmington (6-1) to control the final two quarters. Farmington quarterback AJ Robbins, who threw for just 51 yards in the first half, finished with 274 yards and five touchdown passes, including second half strikes of 62, 11, 6 and 51 yards. “We have eight guys out of 11 going both ways,” Ray said. “We're a small school. Big schools, they don't typically have that problem, right? Those guys can get breathers. They can get breaks. Our guys are beat up. But I told them, it's what do we do now? Are we willing to do extra conditioning? Are we willing to practice at a higher pace? Are we willing to do things so that you know we don't peter out?” Brody Ervin ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Cody Shaver ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns for St. Pius (5-2). “We've got a bunch of dogs, I'm not going to lie,” Ervin said. “Our defense is full of people that can play hard and at a high level for the whole game, and you know our offense, our line is insane, and they were playing amazing tonight.” Ground and pound St. Pius controlled the first 13-plus minutes with a dominant run game. After having its first drive — a 14-play, 8-minute march — stopped on fourth down at the Black Knights’ 1, the Lancers took advantage of a strong defensive stand that set up their second drive on the Farmington 38. Eight plays later, Ervin plowed in on a 2-yard touchdown run to give St. Pius a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. “That defense was very hard to go against, and our line did an amazing job,” Ervin said. “We were running different inside gaps, outside gaps, trying to work them in and out, and it was working pretty good. I was seeing down the field, seeing the gaps that I needed to run in, and we were just flowing.” Quick strike It took Farmington just 65 seconds to answer as Robbins found Josh McCarthy for a 44-yard touchdown pass to even the game at 7-all. Looks familiar “The O-Line dominated today, regardless what the score was,” Shaver said. But the Lancers’ lead was short-lived as McCarthy broke free for an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown to even the game at 13-all heading into halftime. Statistically speaking St. Pius held the ball for a whopping 19 minutes and 59 seconds in the first half. The Lancers ran 41 plays for 194 yards from scrimmage compared to 11 plays for 55 yards for the Black Knights, respectively. St. Pius answered once again with its rushing attack. Shaver capped a 14-play, 65-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal with 2:28 left in the second quarter. “Our season, we're not playing for a nine- or 10- or 11- or 12-game season, right?” Ray said. “We want to play when the snow's on the ground. We want to practice on Thanksgiving again. And the only way you're going to do that is grab the best teams you can find and 48 minutes us versus them and make adjustments afterwards.” The big plays from Farmington, stopping St. Pius on its first drive at the 1, the long touchdown pass and the kickoff return evened the most important stat — the scoreboard — in the first half. “I love football,” Shaver said. “I live for this, and our team's super good, and I can't wait to see what playoffs and these next two games are going to do for us.” Up next Farmington: Hosts Hillsboro at 7 p.m. Oct. 16. St. Pius X: At Vianney at 7 p.m. Oct. 16. Full Article & Link to Photos: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/football/article_cd864e90-b996-4f28-8394-130c04f45606.html