FARMINGTON HILLS >> The North Farmington Raiders cranked up the running game and methodically ran over the Farmington Falcons 20-7 Friday night in the latest installment of their rivalry.

“It feels amazing,” North Farmington junior quarterback Terrence James said. “This was just an amazing week for me and my team to get together and really play football. It was just a really good experience.”

“It was great to see the whole community out here. All our fans were great. Their fans were great. It’s nice to see the community get excited about it but respond in a good positive way.” Raiders head coach John Herstein said.

James led the way for the Raiders. He helped opened the scoring when he connected on a 34-yard bomb to Lorence Woodley with 3:17 remaining in the first half, launching a ball toward the endzone that Woodley simply outjumped the defender for, staking the Raiders to a 6-0 lead.

Farmington briefly took the lead in the third quarter when Herschel McCormack-Reamer got loose and cut back a fourth down play for a 46-yard touchdown. The Falcons converted the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 9:33 on the clock.

But McCormack-Reamer’s touchdown romp was the last of the offense for the Falcons. Farmington tried three different players at quarterback, however no one could get the offense moving consistently, and the Falcons managed just two first downs the rest of the game against a stingy North Farmington defensive front led by Trey Thomas and Dominic Washington.

“We had a couple different packages this week, and it was just seeing who was playing in the moment. We figured with this environment it was going to be tough,” Falcons head coach Jason Albrecht said. “We wanted to see who had the hot hand, and that’s how we played it out for a bit.”

McCormack-Reamer led the Falcons with 70 yards rushing, most of it coming on just two big runs, including the touchdown. Trenton Darden had 33 yards rushing.

Eventually, the Raiders’ offense started finishing drives. After turning the ball over three times on their first four drives (twice on interceptions, once on downs), the Raiders scored on two of their first three drives in the second half. They cranked up the running game, and the primary beneficiary was James, who finished with a game-high 140 yards and one touchdown rushing. Duke Blanch added 48 yards rushing and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, finishing off a nine-play drive with a one-yard dive to make it 12-7 and give North Farmington the lead for good.

The Raider offensive line, anchored in the middle by Brendon Rice, Leland Pettway, and Micah Redic, helped North Farmington put the game away late. The Raiders took over with 7:50 to play in the game and marched 72 yards in nine plays, all runs, ending with a 3-yard run from James.

“The offensive line did a fantastic job. They should really proud of themselves. They responded, and really they’ve improved since Week 1. We always talk about getting better each week,” Herstein said.

Defensively, the Falcons were stout much of the night. Two interceptions from Anthony Bailey helped the Falcons to bend but not break defensively. Farmington allowed just one scoring drive in the first half to stay close. But eventually, the Falcon defense just spent too much time on the field and the Raider offensive line started leaning on them and opening more holes for the runners as the game wore on.

The win over their rivals also marks the first victory of the season for the Raiders (1-2 overall, 1-0 OAA Blue). They travel to Bloomfield Hills next week for another divisional game. North Farmington will likely have revenge on its mind as well since it was a triple-overtime loss to the Black Hawks in the final game that kept the Raiders out of the playoffs last year.

Farmington (2-1, 1-1 OAA Blue) returns home to host Troy Athens in another divisional game next week.

“It’s a tough loss for us, and I think it will be a measure of how we respond next week,” Albrecht said. “We have six more opportunities that are given, and then if we take advantage of those opportunities, hopefully we’ll get more opportunities in the playoffs. But next week will be a tell of who we really are.”