Heading into the fourth quarter, a win wasn’t certain for Van-Far.

Van-Far vs Scotland County Photo Gallery

The Class 1 No. 7 Indians survived a first half with six combined interceptions, leading Scotland County 6-0 at halftime, and held a 12-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Three straight fourth-down stops in defense preceded points and a 28-10 victory by Van-Far in the regular season finale in Vandalia.

Head coach Lucas Gibson said Scotland County (4-5) “was doing just enough” for first downs, using running back Beau Triplett. However, that didn’t persist beginning from a defensive stop and punt recovery by Tyson Douglas at the one-yard line from a punt off the side of the foot. Evan Utterback punched in the first of back-to-back Van-Far touchdowns with short fields, finishing with 77 yards on 12 carries.

“They were running power at us,” Gibson said. “They were overloading that side so it makes it tough.”

Dalton Hays led the defense with seven tackles, Jackson Fischer followed with six tackles, Utterback and Carson Huff each had 5.5 tackles, and Douglas and Easton Sharp finished with four tackles. Douglas had a big tackle for loss on the second defensive stop by the Indians (7-2).

Van-Far started 31 yards away from the end zone, and quarterback Reece Culwell ran for a seven-yard touchdown three plays later. It was Culwell’s second rushing touchdown of the game and part of his 46 yards on seven carries.

“They really got to run the ball outside,” Utterback said. “Their tackles are big, and they’re able to get a good push. We had heart, and we were able to fight through them and get in the backfield to stop them.”

Scotland County’s receivers were well-covered, Gibson agreed, and the Indians proved that with four of the six interceptions in the first half. Huff and Isaac Wardlow – three in two games – each had two picks. Huff’s first interception fell into his clutches after a deflection by Hays, which gave Van-Far the ball only 28 yards from the end zone and preceded a short drive that was capped by a Culwell touchdown.

Gibson said the wind played a factor for both teams. The wind didn’t die down all night and emphasized the need to run the ball.

“We ran man all night,” Gibson said. “They did a good job of keeping up with them.”

Success needed to be found on the ground, and Tyson Douglas gave the Indians some instant success in the third quarter. Douglas finished with 225 rushing yards on 16 carries and picked up a huge share of them on the first play from scrimmage. Douglas earned the first down, broke a tackle and broke free for an 80-yard touchdown for a 12-3 Van-Far led about halfway through the third quarter.

After half where the ball was literally passed back and forth, Gibson said the offense had trouble finding a flow. The play gave the team a spark enough to even respond to a Scotland County touchdown.

“The defensive line did an amazing job,” Utterback said. “We got the pressure, and we covered them well.”

Van-Far has the No. 4 seed in Class 1 District 1, which earns the program a first-round bye and home game for the second straight season, and will face No. 5 seed Hayti (4-5) at 1 p.m. Nov. 9. October 24 was the day the Indians secured one more win than last season and was also the same day two years ago they announced they had to forfeit their district game due to a low number of kids.

The program is far removed from that fate but is still “kind of banged up” according to Gibson. He said most of the ailments are minor ones that can be remedied by the week off, but Malik Douglas will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Douglas had been averaging 8.7 yards per carry but was kept out of Van-Far’s backfield the past two weeks before appearing on crutches against Scotland County.

The defensive lineman Utterback has taken on some backfield responsibilities for three weeks. He is averaging 4-5 yards per carry and had a touchdown and two-point conversion run on Thursday.

“He was amazing, and I wish him a speedy recovery,” Utterback said. “I can’t do as good as he did, but I try my best and put my heart out there for him. I had to learn a lot of things from it like I got to get lower, but it’s been a fun ride and am excited to do it more.”