Forman leads Van-Far runners at Elsberry on Monday

Van-Far cross country posted solid times on Monday at Elsberry.

Brooke-lyn Forman finished eighth out of 40 girl runners with a time of 24:39 at the Elsberry Invitational. Garrett Hopke had the top Van-Far boys time in 21st at 20:52.

For the girls, Khloe Wallace had the next best finish in 16th with a time of 27:27, and Erin Childs was in 20th with a time of 28:46.

Richard Hayden was 49th for the boys with a time of 26:53.

In the middle school boys 3,200 meters, Harrison Wright finished 15th out of 54 runners with a time of 15:19. Tyler Carlyle was 52nd with a time of 23:24, and Cooper Hainline was 54th with a 24:57.

Van-Far unable to wrap up Wright City backfield in 40-20 loss

Van-Far knew what it had to do against Wright City’s running backs on Friday.

It was easier said than done, though, as Eastern Missouri Conference foe Wright City outscored the Indians 20-6 in the second half to hand Van-Far a 40-20 loss at home. Duan McRoberts and Denzel Dowdy proved to be slippery for the Van-Far defense as they each ran for touchdowns in the second half.

Head coach Lucas Gibson said Van-Far (1-4, 0-4 EMO) was keeping up with the bigger Class 3 Wildcats, only trailing 20-14 at halftime, but was unable to stop the run hence stopping Wright City (4-1, 3-0 EMO) from eating clock.

“We had a turnover in the third quarter, they got the ball back and scored again and we were down two touchdowns,” Gibson said. “They did a good job running the ball in the second half, keeping it out of our hands.”

Trailing by two possessions seems like a bigger margin whenever a team doesn’t touch the football for any significant amount of time, Gibson said. McRoberts and Dowdy made sure the Indians struggled until time ticked away.

“They’re hard to get down,” Gibson said. “We told them all week about gang tackling, hit them low and get them wrapped up. They have pretty good athletes on that side.”

Van-Far did have an 8-0 lead after the first quarter when Gaven Gaston, who caught three passes for 72 yards, ran the ball in on a jet sweep prior to Gage Gibson — who finished with 76 yards on 15 carries, 50 yards on five catches and 8.5 tackles on defense  — adding two points. In the second quarter, Ty Evans rushed for a touchdown for the second straight week, but then Van-Far was shut out until the fourth quarter. Quarterback Nikos Connaway had two touchdowns and fice tackles and an interception on defense, and Reece Culwell had a touchdown.

Senior Blake Foster stood out to Gibson on offense, recording his first reception this season.

Van-Far begins its final four weeks of the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday at home against conference foe North Callaway (2-3, 1-2 EMO). Gibson hopes the Indians will be better down the stretch with the toughest part of the schedule behind them.

“I’m looking forward to these last four games,” Gibson said. “I think we’re going to be pretty competitive.”