Van-Far snaps losing streak, defeats Montgomery County 14-12 on new field

Tears were running. DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” was blaring in the Van-Far locker room. The Indians’ crowd was cheering.

An environment like this hasn’t been present after a Van-Far football game since a 40-20 victory in 2020 against now-defunct program Clopton. The Indians snapped a 15-game losing streak by defeating Eastern Missouri Conference foe Montgomery County 14-12 on Friday in the first game on their new field in Vandalia.

Van-Far’s defense forced four turnovers, winning the takeaway battle 4-1. Quarterback Nikos Connaway ran for two touchdowns, including the winning one that went for 50 yards, as part of his 71 rushing yards on five carries to go with his 68 yards on 5-for-7 passing. Gage Gibson ran for 70 yards on 14 carries.

Head coach Lucas Gibson took over as the third head coach in as many seasons and his first win as a high school head coach is also what he hopes will be the first step in rebuilding the program. Gibson said Van-Far can be viewed as an underdog as the Wildcats’ roster was more than two times bigger than the Indians’ on Friday. Still, he didn’t let an overall losing streak, a five-game losing streak to Montgomery County and the two losses to begin this season discourage him, and he said all that seemed to not discourage his players either.  

“This win means everything,” Gibson said. “I believe in these kids, and I was trying to get them to believe in themselves like I said two or three weeks ago. They stepped up, made plays when they needed to, got some big turnovers. I’m just overwhelmed. The team we just beat has 50 kids over there. These kids have got so much fight in them, and I’m so proud of them.”

Making fewer mistakes this week made a big difference, Gibson said, as the Indians did commit their turnover early when Connaway was picked off in the second quarter but controlled the game the rest of the way.

Wildcats quarterback Adam Czerniewski showed his dual-threat prowess early after running the ball 33 yards to the Van-Far 10-yard line in the first quarter only to be picked off by Reece Culwell on the next play after the pass tipped off the receivers’ hands. Czerniewski dropped back again in the second quarter but hit a darting Cody Smith in the hands before he returned it for 45 yards. Before Montgomery’s backup quarterback, Jace Ellis, was unable to connect with Travis Hill on fourth down for a score, Connaway eventually forced it in for a 6-0 Van-Far lead that carried into halftime.

“They just have a lot of fight I guess,” Gibson said. “The D-line has been working their tails off, squeezing down and getting good penetration. That’s what we’ve got to do – get in the mesh and mess their stuff up.”

Gibson said his players should enjoy the win but should be ready to take the next step when Van-Far (1-2, 1-1 EMO) hosts Bowling Green (2-0, 1-0 EMO), who has outscored its first two opponents 139-18. 

Mexico’s new piece gives edge in 51-47 shootout at Odessa

Mexico has prided itself on running the football. Odessa has prided itself on running the football too.

This turned out to be the recipe for a shootout Friday night that the Bulldogs won 51-47 in Odessa thanks to their new ingredient. After completing two passes for a combined 26 yards in the first two weeks, Mexico quarterback Ty Sims had five completions – three of them for 40 yards – and receiver Jordan Shelton finished with 140 yards and two touchdowns.

“Both were good running teams,” head coach Steve Haag said. “Both defenses just took one on the chin (tonight).”

Haag said Odessa is a tough team to stop when it runs the football as it employs a pull-and-center type offense that involves the runners using the pulling guard as a blocker. Mexico had its usual option-style of attack, running for a little less than 160 yards, but Haag said he is glad the all-conference and all-district basketball player came out for football his senior year.

The Bulldogs led 30-21 at halftime and kept scoring until Shelton caught the winning touchdown, coming down with the jump ball and putting his basketball skills to work. Haag said having players like Shelton in the offense gives Mexico the speed and athleticism it needs.

“We added a piece – a quick striker – in the passing game,” Haag said. “After not passing for much in previous weeks, that helped tremendously tonight.”

On Friday, Mexico (1-2) hosts North Central Missouri Conference foe Marshall (0-3), who lost 48-22 at Richmond in Week 3, in its conference opener.

Centralia plays clean game in 35-0 win vs Palmyra

From the look of the score Friday, it appeared Centralia defeated conference foe Palmyra decisively.

The Panthers were ahead 7-0 at halftime and 14-0 after three quarters in their Clarence Cannon Conference opener at Miller Field in Centralia before pulling away with a 35-0 victory, maintaining their undefeated season and notching its second straight shutout win against Palmyra.

Kyden Wilkerson led the Centralia 236-yard rushing effort with his 121 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries followed by 73 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries from Breylen Whisler.

Head coach Tyler Forsee said Centralia didn’t see immediate success in the running game because of Palmyra’s preparedness on defense. The Panthers didn’t have its first 20-yard run until the fourth quarter when Wilkerson took it in from 72 yards for a 21-0 lead. Quarterback Cullen Bennett ran for 39 yards to go with his 125 passing yards and two touchdowns.

“We had to figure out what to do with how they were lining up,” Forsee said. “They loaded the box on us and caused a little problem for us so we has to find solutions. We had to figure out blocking schemes with the different techniques which they were giving and what plays were working.”

Forsee said Centralia playing a clean game helped prevent Palmyra coming back despite its 234 yards of offense and 104 yards on 11 carries from Ashton Hankins. The Panthers didn’t turn the ball over and had only one five-yard penalty.

Forsee said Centralia (3-0, 1-0 CCC) can expect the same at Brookfield (1-2, 1-2 CCC) – who lost 46-30 at South Shelby in Week 3 – on Friday. 

North Callaway inconsistent in 34-28 loss at South Callaway

North Callaway wasn’t as inconsistent with its play as South Callaway was at sustaining drives.

Head coach Kevin O’Neal had those thoughts Friday after the Thunderbirds’ 34-28 loss at South Callaway, giving back the Callaway Cup after defeating the Bulldogs 26-6 in Kingdom City last year. This year, South Callaway ran for 386 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries, with Jacob Martin running all three in.

North Callaway quarterback Braydn O’Neal threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-19 passing and ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. The Thunderbirds ran for 155 yards on 26 carries.

South Callaway’s Dalton Belcher recovered one of two lost North Callaway fumbles and returned it 15 yards for a 14-0 South Callaway fourth quarter lead. The Thunderbirds were able to tie the score at halftime after O’Neal found AJ Siegel on a 15-yard pass and then O’Neal ran it in from 24 yards, but Kevin O’Neal said the slow first quarter shows North Callaway’s problems it must overcome.

“We did not play very well to start the game,” O’Neal said. “Offensively on our first possession, we were inconsistent and couldn’t get the ball moving.

“I thought we responded well in the second quarter. We faced a little adversity in the first quarter and they did a good job of responding.”

On Friday, North Callaway (1-2, 0-1 EMO) hosts Louisiana (0-3, 0-1 EMO), who lost 34-31 at home to Father Tolton in Week 3.

Paris loses to aggressive, aerial Salisbury 42-8

Salisbury isn’t afraid to take chances.

Paris knew this going in but were hurt by 248 yards passing and four total touchdowns from quarterback Ryan Binder as part of 428 yards of total offense to lose 42-8 at home.

Conversely, the Coyotes couldn’t get much going offensively as they tallied 111 yards of total offense, led by 90 yards and four interceptions on 12-of-27 passing from quarterback Leo Bounds, 33 yards on three catches by Colton Kendrick and a nine-yard touchdown run by Drew Williams.

Head coach Joseph Utterback said he takes blame for not adequately preparing his team for “air raid” style of offense by Salisbury as the Coyotes allowed three touchdown passes of at least 20 yards from Binder. The Panthers play aggressively in every aspect of the game – including using onside kicks on every kickoff, refusing to punt and going for two points after every touchdown – so that can be too much.

“They brought a lot of pressure up front on defense,” Utterback said. “They’ve got some really good defensive linemen that we’ve known for a couple years coming up. We were trying to get to the outside, but they had answers for just about everything we did.”

Utterback said it isn’t time to hit the “panic button” after a Week 3 loss but believes Paris (1-2, 0-1 L&C) has to focus for the sake of the supportive school and community and also for Friday’s game at Harrisburg, who won 34-8 at Marceline in Week 3, (2-1, 1-0 L&C).

Check the September 14, 2022, edition of The Mexico Ledger and online the same day for the full stories.