The game appeared never to be in question as the Fayette Falcon offense scored seemingly at will Friday against the Salisbury Panthers. With the 44-12 victory, Fayette moves to 7-1 on the season and is now ranked No. 9 in the state for Class 1. 

Not to be outdone, the defense had quite a night as well, recording six sacks and two interceptions to go along with 13 tackles for loss.

The big question Friday night concerned just how many touchdowns would senior Garren Vroman score. While, of course, that was not the focus of the team at the onset, the Vroman touchdown watch would not take long to develop.

Vroman began his quest in the first quarter with a 25-yard touchdown run, soon to be followed by a 2-yard run for six to give Fayette a 16-0 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, it was more of the same. First was a 14-yard run to make the score 24-0, followed by a three-yarder to put the Falcons up 32-0 at the half.

Intermission did not seem to slow down Vroman as his next score came on a 50-yard run. Then, just to show there were other tricks in the bag, junior quarterback Ben Wells and Vroman hooked up on a 53-yard catch-and-run combo for another touchdown to make the score 44-0 before the start of the fourth quarter. Neither player would see much action in the fourth as coach Mike Thompson opted to rest the two in preparation for Friday’s game and the upcoming playoffs. Fayette would not find the end zone in the fourth quarter, although Salisbury would score two late touchdowns to make the final score 44-12.

For the record, the most touchdowns scored by one player in a Missouri State High School Activities Association game was nine by Jared Rennick of Washington High School in an 85-57 romp against Holt on October 9, 2015.

“We really didn’t play as well as we wanted to play as far as our emotions and our discipline,” said Thompson. “We wanted to work more on our passing game, but sometimes you just fall back on the old trustworthy and just give Garren the football and he does what he does.”

Senior Dalton Collins came up big on the defensive side, grabbing two interceptions in the game. “Dalton’s just a good football player,” Thompson said. “We played a little more man coverage tonight and he’s learning more and more about how to play the position. We told the guys to be aggressive and take some chances. Dalton got some really good breaks a couple of times. He’s got really good instincts and gets better every time he gets on the field.”

Wells finished the night 9-for-17 in the air for 163 yards and a touchdown.

In addition to Vroman, several other players were involved in the running game Friday night. Wells carried three times for 18-yards, while freshman Micah Estes ran seven times for 14-yards.

Senior Cale Hudson carried twice for 13-yards and junior DJ Moore carried twice for 13, as well. Senior Avery Powell got the call twice for 10-yards while sophomore Brandon Moore ran twice for three yards. Freshman quarterback Kaleb Friebe carried one time for one yard.

Collins led the Falcons in receiving with three catches for 79 yards followed by Vroman who also had three catches for 63-yards and a touchdown.

Junior Chase Allen-Jackman had two receptions for 15-yards and classmate DJ Moore had one for six yards. 

Defensively, Moore had six solo tackles and five assists and recorded a sack. Senior Tyler Bartholomew also recorded six solo tackles while classmate Chris Brown had five tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Brandon Moore, junior Sidney West, and Micah Estes each posted three tackles while Estes had a forced fumble.

Senior Avery Powell notched two tackles and .5 sacks as did Allen-Jackman. Senior Logan Wiswall recorded two tackles and a forced fumble. Friebe also had two tackles.

Hudson, and Collins each logged a tackle as did freshman Jacob Wood who also got his first varsity sack.

Fayette returns home for the final game of the regular season on Friday. Columbia’s Father Tolton will put its 5-2 record on the line against the Falcons on Senior Night. 

With the win, Fayette has climbed into the top 10 of the Missouri Media football rankings, landing at No. 9. (For the complete Class 1 rankings, see page 8).