By Adam Hammer, staff writer

HOLLANDALE &045; Four cars, one combine tire and two goal lines set the playing field in Hollandale Saturday for a game that is a lot like a demolition derby and a little like a sport &045; car football.

&8220;It’s all for trophies and a lot of laughs,&8221; Shane Drenth, an official at the event, said.

Sending dirt clumps flying and wrecking cars are elements of the game driver Mike Iverson said he liked best. When the dirt settled, one team came out victorious; however, winning was not the top priority for most of the competitors.

&8220;Everybody’s from around here,&8221; Iverson said. &8220;There are about five cars out here that are all family.&8221;

Here’s how the game was played: The cars lined up two on two &045; one team on each end of the 50-by-150-foot playing field &045; with a large combine tire, or &8220;ball,&8221; between them. When the green flag dropped, the teams put the pedal to the metal and drove for the &8220;ball&8221; and tried to push it through the goal which was marked by orange cones on the other end of the field.

&8220;I’ve never seen it before, it’s something new,&8221; Lisa Morin said. &8220;It’s kind of like a demolition derby and a sport, like a race kind of.&8221;

Many crowd members, including Morin, were not from Hollandale. People from Albert Lea, Ellendale, Hayward, Clarks Grove and others turned out to see just what car football was all about.

&8220;I really like it when they lift the wheel up,&8221; 3-year-old Sydney McCarthy said while watching the game from her uncle Shannon Steensma’s shoulders.

The venue was a cleared out dirt area behind Mr. Machinery with a corn field for a backdrop.

Violations that would cause a game to be momentarily stopped are if a car or the &8220;ball&8221; went out of bounds and unnecessary roughness.

&8220;Other than that, one point wins the game,&8221; Pete Devries, event organizer and referee, said.

The competition was arranged like a tournament with trophies given out to the top three teams for men and women. First place winners also received $100 and second place got their entry fees back.

Car football was introduced to Hollandale Days last year under the direction of DeVries. DeVries said he saw a similar event that aired on ESPN and thought it would be fun to try to put together Hollandale’s own car football.

&8220;I thought, ‘Why can’t we try this here?’ and the first year we had about four cars,&8221; he said.

The first Hollandale Days car football was played with a junked out car for the &8220;ball,&8221; but DeVries said it did not work very well. This year, DeVries changed the ball and welcomed about a dozen cars to the competition.

&8220;This year, compared to last year, was 100 percent better,&8221; DeVries said. &8220;We just have to continue to iron out the problems. Nothing major though. All in all I was pleased with the turnout.&8221;