After losing what it felt was a winnable game against Russellville, Van-Far picked up a conference and district victory.

The Indians won 46-20 at Louisiana on Friday for their third straight win over the Bulldogs. Van-Far finished with a season-high 46 points and 385 rushing yards after leading 30-6 at halftime.

Head coach Lucas Gibson said he felt a lot better than last week’s game, and he didn’t have to wait long. Gaven Gaston scored in the first 30 seconds of the game and ran for 118 yards on four carries while playing out of the backfield for the first time this season.

“He scored that first touchdown pretty quick,” Gibson said. “Then he went out (with injury) in the first quarter.”

Gibson said Van-Far (2-1, 1-0 EMO) was still able to thrive on the ground with its bigger guys as Ty Evans had a touchdown and Evan Utterback, who was added to the backfield during last season, had a good game. Utterback had 146 yards on 21 carries, and Evans finished with 103 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns.

“We got under center and went to the I-formation and the shotgun,” Gibson said. “We got our big backs going.”

Van-Far shut out Louisiana (1-2, 0-1 EMO) the past two years and still posted a solid performance this year. Pacey Reading returned a fumble for a 70-yard touchdown, and Gibson Condie and Landon Flowers each recovered fumbles. Utterback finished with three sacks, Reading had two sacks and Gibson Condie led with eight tackles.

Gibson said he wants improvement out of the linebacking corps and mainly through more playing time. Van-Far hopes to make it three Farmers Cup victories in a row at 7 p.m. Friday against Eastern Missouri Conference rival Mark Twain (1-2) for Van-Far’s Homecoming game.

“That would be where I would like to improve the most on defense with linebackers and coverage guys,” Gibson said. “They’re just inexperienced, but we’re getting there.”