'Angels Extra': 2 Farmington brothers and a special play call helped save an undefeated season

FARMINGTON — Brothers Lane and Jack Wheelwright have been a godsend for the Farmington football team this season.

But it took them and a wing and a prayer called "Angels Extra" to avoid an upset Friday on its home field by Elmwood/Brimfield.

Facing fourth-and-3 on their own 16 and down by four points with 6:36 left in the game, the Farmers turned to a play they call "Angels Extra" and saved their undefeated season.

Quarterback Lane Wheelwright winged the ball into the lights, and it floated down into the hands of receiver Jack Gronewold for an 84-yard go-ahead touchdown.

Farmington went on to a 30-26 victory over Elmwood and clinched an Illinois High School Association playoff spot.

Week 5 coverage: All the scores | Recap | Top performers

The Wheelwright brothers — Lane and Jack — once again were there for Farmington to lean on, as was Gronewold (six catches for 174 yards and 3 TDs).

"Fourth-and-3 on our own 16, and I'm thinking, 'Here's our season,' " Farmington coach Toby Vallas said. "I asked our players what they wanted to do. They were adamant we go for it. So we called 'Angels Extra' and that ball came down out of the heavens."

That play gave Farmington a 23-20 lead. Three plays later Tristan Passmore picked off a pass by Elmwood quarterback CJ Ramirez at the 31. After a motion penalty, Farmington cashed in when Wheelwright connected to Boston Smith for a 36-yard touchdown pass and 30-20 lead.

Elmwood came to play

Elmwood never backed down. It ran 42 plays to Farmington's 16 in the first half.

The Trojans completed a pass on the first play of the game — something coach Todd Hollis afterward said they hadn't done since the Brady Westart-led Trojans played at Farmington in 2011.

So on Friday, backs against the wall and time running out, the Trojans answered with a 40-yard pass from Ramirez to Jimmy Babcock, then two plays later cut their deficit to 30-26 on a five-yard scoring run from Layne Durst with 3:07 left.

"Some of our guys flipped a switch tonight," Hollis said, while at the other end of the field he was being called "one helluva great coach" by Vallas. "They finally got it. This was by far our best game. Our guys just weren't going to flinch."

Neither were the Wheelwright brothers and Farmington.

Running back Jack Wheelwright ran four straight times, then his quarterback brother, Lane, added a pair of keepers and it was over, needing just the formality of a kneel-down to finish the clock.

That wrapped up a game that had been a tug-of-war. Elmwood-Brimfield slipped to 1-4 overall (1-3 in conference) but looked like the playoff-bound team for large parts of this game.

Back-and-forth chapter of big rivalry

The Trojans got a 3-yard pitch up the middle from Bailey Elwell to cap a 13-play, 4:57 game-opening drive for a 6-0 lead.

Farmington answered for an 8-6 lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lane Wheelwright to Jack Gronewold with 4:22 left in the quarter.

Farmington and Elmwood/Brimfield: The top 8 football games between these neighboring rivals

Elmwood went up 12-8 on a one-yard keeper from Ramirez with 7:58 left in the half. Again Farmington answered, getting a 17-yard touchdown pass from Wheelwright to Gronewold for a 16-12 lead with 1:02 left in the half. That scoring drive was set up when Farmington's Carter Lambin blocked an Elmwood punt at the 25.

Farmington opened the second half with a 13-play drive, but it ended when Elwell picked off Wheelwright. Four plays later Elmwood had a 20-16 lead when Ramirez threaded a 16-yard scoring pass to Bo Windish deep in the middle of the endzone with 1:11 left in the quarter.

Angels Extra happened next for a 23-20 Farmington lead.

All told, the game had five lead changes.

The brothers Wheelwright

The Wheelwright boys have been workhorses for 5-0 Farmers all season.

Quarterback Lane Wheelwright was 10 of 16 passing for 235 yards and four touchdowns Friday. Three times he threw on fourth down and completed passes of 18, 17 and 84 yards. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior quarterback is 47 of 76 for 789 yards and 11 passing touchdowns through five games. He's run 70 times for 544 yards and eight touchdowns.

Running back and older brother Jack Wheelwright ran nine times for 32 yards Friday, and on the game's final possession he was who Farmington turned to for the finish with four straight clock-eating runs. The senior has 63 carries for 453 yards and five touchdowns this season. Also a linebacker, he had 10 solo tackles, 26 assisted and seven tackles for loss headed into the Farmington game. And in the waning minutes Friday, he recovered an onsides kick.

All told, the Wheelwright brothers have generated 24 touchdowns through five games.

"Playing together is just amazing, it's something we won't take for granted," Lane Wheelwright said. "We only get to do it one time.

"I can trust him and know he's gonna do his part and have my back on the football field. Just like he's had my back as an older brother my whole life."

The humble quarterback wanted to make sure his teammates were credited with his success, specifically the offensive linemen: Caden Mowen, Collin Behrens, Aiden Shepard, Slader Warren, Jacob Cecil.

"They don't get the credit they deserve," Wheelwright said.

And he has a scouting report on his brother: "I would say my strength is finding holes, making plays. But Jack, he runs through kids, runs them over, he's hard to stop."

The brothers started playing football together in JFL, when quarterback Lane was 8. By the end of his JFL run he was actually a running back.

Jack, meanwhile, was always a running back in JFL.

"The bond we have, we've grown up together and we just have that closeness," Lane Wheelwright said. "Don't even have to speak it. We each know what the other is thinking."

What they were thinking Friday night was to put the game out of reach in the final three minutes. So Lane Wheelwright handed the ball to Jack Wheelwright four straight times to grind out a first down and seal it.

"Growing up, everyone in our town played flag football," Jack Wheelwright said. "I just found a love for the game. For me, it's the rush of driving through the hole, it connects with me."

The Wheelwrights have family in Wisconsin, so they are Packers fans. They play baseball, too.

And Jack Wheelwright wants a career in the medical field someday, and says he's open to colleges who ask him to play football or baseball (he's a center fielder) next year.

The brothers know they are running out of time as teammates on a football field.

"It's a very special moment, playing with him," Jack Wheelwright said. "I cherish it."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football: Farmington brothers, special play saved undefeated season