The People’s Tribune

Van-Far Homecoming 2018

Van-Far announced their homecoming royalty during halftime of the Indians football game against Mark Twain on Friday, Sept. 28. Treyson Culwell and Avery Rost were crowned this year’s king and queen. The Indians also won the Farmer’s Cup for the first time since the two teams introduced the trophy five years ago with a 43-13 victory on homecoming night.

Van-Far Wins Farmer’s Cup In Triumphant Homecoming Battle Over Mark Twain

The Van-Far Indians trailed Mark Twain by a touchdown at halftime, but came out blazing in the second half to down the Tigers and win the Farmer’s Cup for the first time.

In front of a big homecoming crowd, the Indians captured an on-side kick to start the game but couldn’t gain traction offensively in the first two quarters.

Van-Far punted away five possessions, fumbled away two others and were shut out at the half.

With just under four minutes left in the first quarter Jace Barton put Mark Twain ahead on a 24-yard run.

“We talked about it all week,” said Coach Kevin Baldwin. “They were a team that needed a win and we were a team that needed a win and both teams were capable of beating the other. There was no real underdog out there.”

Down just a touchdown, the Indians started the third quarter with a bang.

Quarterback Eric Hombs fled the backfield on the first play from scrimmage and torched the Tigers for a 65-yard touchdown. Hombs added the two point conversion for an 8-7 lead.

After forcing a Mark Twain punt, Hombs would break another long run to extend the lead with 5:53 to play in the quarter.

The second run went for 53 yards and Hombs added another two point play for a 16-7 advantage.

The Tigers missed a field goal to start the fourth quarter, giving the Indians the ball back on their own 20-yard line.

After a penalty and a short gain, Hombs was back to his old tricks, bursting free for an 82-yard score and a 22-7 lead for the Indians.

Less than a minute later the Tigers responded with a Barton 55 yard touchdown to make the game interesting at 22-14.

Needing to slow the pace, Van-Far turned into clock killers with an eleven play, seven minute drive that culminated with a fourth Eric Hombs touchdown from two yards out.

Down two scores with under forty seconds left, the Tigers needed to score a touchdown, convert an on-side kick and score another touchdown just to tie (if they hit both extra point tries).

The Tigers were able to check the first task off the list when Barton crossed the goal-line for the third time with 18.1 seconds left in regulation. The Tigers extra point was good to cut the Van-Far lead to just seven points.

The Tigers lined up for the on-side kick, but the Indians recovered to end the Mark Twain upset bid.

The victorious Indians collected the annual Farmer’s Cup, beating the Tigers for the first time in five meetings.

Hombs was named the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game after dominating the Tiger defense for all 28 points.

The win improved the Van-Far record to 3-3 with a trip to Mokane on the docket this week to face the South Callaway Bulldogs (5-1) in week seven action.

Comments are closed

Text Description

Text Description

Text Description

Log in | 2017 The People's Tribune