DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

Following a two-point win over the Liberty-Eylau Leopards by the undefeated Van Vandals Oct. 1 in Texarkana, it was expected that the rematch Nov. 12 between the two teams would be close and competitive as well.

The Vandals made sure that would not be the case as a dominating performance by their defense and a solid running game offensively were too much for the Leopards to overcome as Van cruised to a 28-0 victory in the bi-district round of the Class 4A, Division II, playoffs at Pine Tree Stadium in Longview.

It was the fourth victory by the Vandals over Liberty-Eylau in the past two seasons as the two teams met during the regular season and in the bi-district round of the state playoffs for two consecutive seasons, 2020 and 2021.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, the District 7-4A, Division II, champions are now 11-0 for the season as they move into the Area round of the state playoffs to take on the District 6-4A, Division II runner-up, the Sunnyvale Raiders, 6-5, in a 7 p.m. kickoff in Rockwall Friday, Nov. 19.

Van is currently ranked number 10 in the state in Class 4-A, Division II, by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine.

Sunnyvale advanced to the Area round of the Class 4-A, Division II, playoffs with a 41-27 win over the Ferris Yellowjackets Nov. 12 in Mesquite.

Against Liberty-Eylau, the Vandal defense held the Leopards to eight first downs and 147 yards of total offense (59 rushing and 88 passing) while forcing two turnovers (one fumble and one pass interception). Van’s defense has not allowed a point in its last six quarters of action.

Van’s offense finished the game with 22 first downs and 395 yards of total offense including 250 yards rushing and 145 yards passing.

The Vandals executed 65 offensive plays from scrimmage including 52 running plays against the Leopards.

Senior quarterback Jackson Rainey completed seven out of 13 passes for 145 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while senior running back Alex Zifer led an impressive running game with 137 yards rushing on 26 carries and one TD.

“It is always great to win in the playoffs,” summarized Moffatt. “At this point in the season, you either win and keep playing or your season comes to an end. That is the finality of the playoffs. I was real happy with the win, especially with the fact that we have played L-E four times in two seasons and won all four games against them. L-E has a talented group of kids. I was really proud of our guys. Our defense played really well. We did not give up a whole lot against them. Coach Rainey and his defensive staff did a great job.”

Following an exchange of punts to begin the bi-district contest, the Vandals opened the scoring by advancing 77 yards in 11 plays (10 running).

Reserve RB Garrett Florey (11 carries, 46 yards) ended the march with a 2-yard TD run. Eli Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 7-0 lead with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter. Key plays in the first scoring drive for Van included a 16-yard pass completion from Rainey to receiver Brayden Bradshaw and a 14-yard run by Zifer.

On the ensuing kickoff, a muffed return by the Leopards resulted with Van’s Logan Fattig recovering the loose football at the Leopard 28.

Three plays later, Zifer raced 12 yards for a TD. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a sudden 14-0 advantage with 1:37 to play in the first quarter.

After a Liberty-Eylau punt, the Vandals moved from their own 34 to the Leopard 40 in six plays including running gains of 12 yards by Florey and 10 yards by Rainey but on fourth down and five, the scoring threat for Van ended when Rainey’s pass to receiver Luca Kozhev was incomplete giving the Leopards possession.

Liberty-Eylau threatened to get on the scoreboard as they moved the ball as deep as the Vandal 2-yard line in eight plays including a 21-yard run by Jayce Banks, a 15-yard pass completion to fullback W. T. Jones and a defensive pass interference penalty against the Vandals.

On first down and goal, the Vandal defense kept the Leopards out of the end zone as the Liberty-Eylau QB attempted to stretch the ball across the goal-line on a running play, but the ball was fumbled with Van safety Florey recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchback.

“Braydon Hullum, our linebacker, hit their quarterback to force that fumble,” recalled Moffatt. “It was a huge play in the game at that point.”

Van then took full advantage of the turnover by advancing 80 yards in 12 plays to basically put the game out of reach for the Leopards before halftime.

The long time-consuming drive ended with what arguably could have been one of the greatest end zone catches ever witnessed by those in attendance as Kozhev, racing through the end zone, caught Rainey’s pass with his outstretched right hand for a spectacular one-handed TD reception from 27 yards away on third down and 16. Hartman added the extra point to give the Vandals a comfortable 21-0 advantage with 30.7 seconds remaining before halftime.

It was the 20th TD reception of the season for Kozhev, a school record, breaking the mark of former Vandal receiver Ethan Robinson.

“It was an unbelievable catch by Luca Kozhev,” recalled Moffatt. “He had a one-handed catch against Canton but on that play, he cradled the football. On the play against L-E, he just stuck that ball into his hand. That was a big time catch in a big-time situation because it gave us a 21-0 lead at halftime. It was a third and long play. Great players make great plays in big games.

Key plays in the Vandal TD drive included a 10-yard run by Zifer and a 25-yard pass completion from Rainey to receiver Ryder Shoquist.

Following a Leopard punt early in the third quarter, the Vandals had the ball at midfield but four plays later at the Liberty-Eylau 29, Zifer fumbled with Leopard free safety Cal Jones recovering the ball at the Liberty-Eylau 32 ending the Vandal scoring threat.

The Leopards then advanced the ball from their own 32 to the Vandal 22 in six plays including pass completions of 34 yards to wide receiver Chris Lewis and 12 yards to Jones but on fourth down and five, the pass attempt to Jones was incomplete giving the ball back to Van at the Vandal 22.

It only took one play for the Vandals offensively to complete the scoring in the game as Rainey connected with Bradshaw on a 78-yard TD pass play. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 28-0 lead with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter.

“That was a great throw and catch,” pointed out Moffatt. “That was a really good call by Coach Reynolds. We had great execution on that play.”

The next Liberty-Eylau possession resulted in a turnover as Florey intercepted a Leopard pass at the Vandal 25.

After an exchange of punts, the Vandals appeared to be ready to extend their lead as they moved from their own 19 to the Leopard 35 in 17 plays (15 running) including running gains of 16 yards by Bradshaw and 10 by Zifer, but due primarily to penalties by Van, the Vandals were backed up to the Liberty-Eylau 35 facing fourth down and 26.

Rainey scrambled for 13 yards before giving the ball back to Liberty-Eylau for its final offensive possession.

Liberty-Eylau eventually punted the ball back to the Vandals allowing Van to run out the clock.

“Offensively, I thought we did what we had to do to win but we left some potential points out there as well,” pointed out Moffatt. “We fumbled on the first drive of the second half. We had a good, long drive that lasted into the fourth quarter, but a face mask penalty hurt us on that drive. I felt like we should have scored at least two more times so not being able to do that is frustrating. We only scored seven points in the second half which was also frustrating. It was not a great night offensively.

“Having said that, I thought our offensive line played really well against L-E,” continued Moffatt. “Alex Zifer had a good night and he had quite a workload. L-E dared us to run the ball with the way they were setting up their defense. We did not have a great night throwing and catching. Garrett Florey had 11 carries in our running game, and he did a really good job. It was a great team win for us.”

The Vandal head coach also recognized some other individual performances against the Leopards.

“Garrett Florey, as our punt returner, did a great job of fielding punts instead of allowing the ball to bounce and costing us field position,” said Moffatt. “Beau Barton, our linebacker, had a really good game for us. I don’t feel like that he gets the credit that he deserves. He has 32 tackles for losses this season. When we play well on defense, he is usually a big reason why. He is a dynamic defensive player. Our sophomore defensive end, Colton Miller, and our freshman, Wyatt Dale, did a good job. Cayden Mitchell and Ryan Johnson played well in our secondary.”

Defensive statistics for the Liberty-Eylau game were recently released by the Vandal coaching staff and the numbers were as follows:

Beau Barton, nine tackles, four tackles for losses and four batted passes/pass breakups; Garrett Florey, eight tackles, one fumble recovery, one interception and three batted passes/pass breakups; Braydon Hullum, eight tackles, one tackle for a loss, and one fumble caused; Cayden Mitchell, six tackles and two batted passes/pass breakups; Mason Moffatt, five tackles and one batted pass/pass breakup; Colton Miller, five tackles; Reed Parish, four tackles; Wyatt Dale, four tackles; K. D. Erskine, four tackles and two batted passes/pass breakups; Ryan Johnson, three tackles and one batted pass/pass breakup; Kaison Stanford, three tackles and one batted pass/pass breakup; Reed Johnson, two tackles; Logan Fattig, two tackles and one fumble recovery; Jon Richardson, one tackle; and Smith, one tackle.