Van-Far believes it has much left in the tank this season.

Van-Far vs Chaffee District Photo Gallery

After having to forfeit districts last year due to a player shortage, the No. 4 seed Indians weren’t short on offense on Saturday when they ran for 379 yards and defeated No. 5 seed Chaffee 46-9 in a Class 1 District 2 tournament game in Vandalia. The victory is Van-Far’s first in districts since 2014 when it won 26-24 against Clopton.

“The kids are excited,” head coach Lucas Gibson said. “That’s a lot of it. They’re playing their hearts out right now. They don’t want it to end.”

The output is a season-high for Van-Far (6-4) and its most since scoring 48 points in 2016 because the offense executed when it had possessions, like when the Indians recovered an onside kick to open the game. Gage Gibson gained chunks of yardage to move the chains in the first half as part of his 193 yards on 31 carries, Ty Evans shouldered more of the carries in the second half to some success for 58 yards on 14 carries, and quarterback Nikos Connaway scored thrice on two-yard keepers before breaking free for 61 yards on his fourth rushing touchdown to go with 114 yards on nine carries.

The Indians’ 20-6 victory against Eastern Missouri Conference rival Mark Twain to end the regular season was one-sided, but Lucas Gibson thought Van-Far was capable of executing even better.

“We still have a lot left in the tank on offense,” Gibson said. “I think we proved that today, and we just got to keep doing it.”

Van-Far’s rushing attack up the middle kept its offense running throughout the game, putting the Indians in a good mood while ahead 30-6 at halftime. Gibson said Chaffee (5-5) covered the Indians’ passing game well after weeks where Connaway scrambled to extend plays before finding receivers downfield. 

Players like Easton Sharp, Jackson Fischer and Evan Utterback kept defenders off the ball carrier on the offensive line while terrorizing them on the defensive line to limit Van-Far’s fourth straight opponent to single digits. 

“We just kept doing it because stick to what’s working,” Gibson said. “That’s man-on-man and our guys were better. It’s just iso (offense).”

Connaway said the focus was more on fundamentals instead of specific plays during the two weeks of preparation Van-Far had due to its bye week. He said the Indians spent some of that time working on fake handoffs and option steps, which paid off.

On the first touchdown of the game, Connaway faked a handoff to Evans before running it in himself. His other rushing touchdowns were similar to that one until Chaffee allowed bigger runs by Connaway on his touchdown and Gibson’s 18-yard trek up the middle in the fourth quarter.

“On film, we saw they leave a lot of gaps so we just had audibles and called to the gap where nobody is there,” Connaway said. “We had three on one, and me, Ty and Gage will be able to beat anybody through there.”

Gibson said having several players contribute on offense like on Saturday prevents opponents from focusing too much on one kid and believes Gaven Gaston can be another valuable weapon in the backfield that “can score anytime.”

Chaffee wasn’t scoring much of the time against Van-Far’s defense, with exception to a 32-yard run up the middle by Shelton Simmons to start the second quarter and a long catch and run executed in the waning seconds of the game. Those simply happen because of players being in the wrong spots or missed assignments, Gibson said, but there wasn’t much to complain about on most of Van-Far’s defensive possessions.

“They try to run outside off tackle so we felt we had to stop that,” Gibson said. “They counter off of it too so it helps to be disciplined on the back side ready to stop it when they come the other way.”

Chaffee tried to use that offensive style when it had the ball on Van-Far’s 38-yard line in the second quarter after an Indian fumble and needed one more yard for a first down so it could potentially cut into Van-Far’s 22-6 lead. The Indians held firm to stop Chaffee on fourth down, which is a “turning point” type of moment, Gibson said. 

The stands were full of fans to cheer moments like that key defensive stop, which wasn’t possible before Friday night. Not all of the stands were installed during the regular season so Gibson said having those ready for a rare home district game in Vandalia made the day even more special.

“I want to thank the community for getting all the stands done so we are able to host a district game,” Gibson said. “They were out here since 8:30 (Friday night) to put finishing touches on them. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

Van-Far hopes to have enough fuel to extend its season even further when it plays at No. 1 seed St. Vincent (7-3) at 7 p.m. Friday in Perryville. St. Vincent defeated Russellville 56-6 on Friday night.

“I feel we match up well against them,” Gibson said. “They are a lot like us and run the same type of offense.”