DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

Any concerns that the Van Vandals might look past the winless Bullard Panthers and look ahead to future opponents were quickly put to rest Oct. 22 at Van’s Memorial Stadium as the Vandals exploded for 49 first half points on their way to a 56-7 victory over Bullard.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, ranked number seven in the state in Class 4A, Division II, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, improved their unbeaten season record to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in District 7-4A, Division II, with two regular season games remaining.

The Vandals will travel to Canton for their Van Zandt County rivalry game against the Canton Eagles (5-3, 1-1) in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 29, as Moffatt will be seeking his 100th overall head coaching victory at Van High School.

Canton suffered a surprising 48-44 loss at the hands of the Brownsboro Bears Oct. 22 in Brownsboro.

Van will close out its regular season schedule Friday, Nov. 5 at home against the surprising Bears (5-4, 3-0) in a game that could ultimately decide the District 7-4A, Division II, championship.

Against Bullard in which there was a running clock in the second half after Van held a 49-0 advantage at halftime, the Vandals finished with 28 first downs and 499 yards of total offense including 240 rushing and 259 passing. Van scored touchdowns on seven out of its first eight first half possessions.

All of the passing numbers for Van occurred in the first half as the Vandals did not attempt a pass in the second half of action.

Vandal quarterback Jackson Rainey finished with 17 completions out of 26 attempts for 259 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. The senior QB also rushed for 45 yards on four carries and one TD.

Running back Alex Zifer led the Vandal rushing attack with 139 yards on 11 carries and two TD’s.

Luca Kozhev was the top receiver for the Vandals as he caught seven passes for 87 yards and two TD’s while Brayden Bradshaw caught five passes for 87 yards and one TD.

Van’s defense dominated the Panthers as they held Bullard to seven first downs and 102 total yards of offense including 36 rushing and 66 passing.

“I thought our kids played really well against Bullard,” recalled Moffatt. “We made it a point all week that we wanted to start out fast and we accomplished that. We scored on our first possession offensively and our defense held them without a first down in their first possession. We have not had many 49-0 leads at halftime. We threw and caught the ball well. Our defense did not give them anything. There were legitimate questions before this game about our focus and I was real proud of how we stayed on focus throughout the game against Bullard. We kept our minds on our business at hand. This was one of our strongest performances overall this season.”

The Vandals received the opening kickoff and wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as starting defensive tackle K. D. Erskine, operating out of Van’s short yardage and goal-line “Bull” formation, took the handoff from Rainey and powered into the end zone on a 2-yard TD run. Eli Hartman kicked the first of his eight extra points in the game to give the Vandals a 7-0 lead with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter. Key plays in the first Vandal scoring march included running gains of 14 yards by Stinnett and 21 yards by Zifer in addition to a 12-yard pass completion from Rainey to Kozhev.

Following an exchange of punts, the Vandals moved 68 yards in three plays as Rainey outraced the Bullard defense 39 yards for a TD. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 14-0 advantage with 4:35 to play in the first quarter. The short scoring drive began with a 22-yard pass completion from Rainey to receiver Ryder Shoquist.

After a poor five-yard punt by the Panthers, Van had excellent field position at the Bullard 49. Four plays later, Rainey connected with Bradshaw on a 21-yard TD pass play. Hartman added the extra point extending the Vandal lead to 21-0 with 2:44 still remaining in the first quarter. A 28-yard run by Zifer opened the scoring march for the Vandals.

Following another Panther punt, the Vandals advanced 84 yards in 10 plays as Zifer ended the long time-consuming march with a 29-yard TD run following six consecutive pass plays by the Vandals in the drive. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 28-0 advantage with 9:18 to play in the second quarter. Key plays in the Van scoring drive included pass completions from Rainey covering 15 and 16 yards to Kozhev and 12 yards to Bradshaw.

Another bad punt by the Panthers, a 12-yard effort, gave the Vandals excellent field position at the Bullard 35.

Four plays later, Rainey connected with Kozhev on a 5-yard TD pass play. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 35-0 lead with 6:35 remaining before intermission. A 13-yard pass completion from Rainey to Kozhev set up the TD pass play.

A 15-yard punt on Bullard’s next offensive series gave the Vandals possession at the Van 33. Three passing plays later, Rainey connected with Shoquist on a 15-yard TD pass completion to complete the 67-yard scoring drive. Hartman added the extra point extending Van’s advantage to 42-0 with 3:46 to play in the second play. Pass completions from Rainey covering 17 and 35 yards to Bradshaw set up the TD pass play.

Following another Bullard punt, the Vandals moved 63 yards in six plays to close out the first half scoring as Rainey ended the drive by connecting with Kozhev on a 19-yard TD pass play. Hartman gave the Vandals a 49-0 lead with 13 seconds to play before halftime.

With a running clock continuing throughout the second half, the Vandals’ final scoring drive was 58 yards on six consecutive running plays by Zifer that included a 22-yard TD run. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 56-0 advantage with 5:15 to play in the third quarter.

Bullard responded with its only scoring drive of the contest as the Panthers moved 67 yards in six plays with QB Ayden Barrett connecting with wide receiver Hayden Medley on a 21-yard TD pass play to complete the march. Beaux Christian added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 56-7 with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter. Pass completions from Barrett covering 11 yards to RB Quasy Warren and 15 yards to Jachin Salas in addition to a roughing the passer penalty against the Vandals were key plays in the Panther scoring drive.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter as Vandal defensive back Ryan Johnson intercepted a Barrett pass at the Vandal 42 to give Van possession and an opportunity to run out the clock.

Defensive statistics from the Bullard game were recently released by the Vandal coaching staff that included the following numbers:

Beau Barton, nine tackles, two tackles for losses, and one QB sack; Braydon Hullum, eight tackles, one tackle for a loss, one QB sack and one batted pass/pass breakup; Garrett Florey, six tackles; Ryan Johnson, five tackles and one interception; Reed Johnson, three tackles and one tackle for a loss; Wyatt Dale, three tackles; Mason Moffatt, three tackles, one QB sack and one QB pressure; Logan Fattig, three tackles; Colton Miller, three tackles, and two tackles for losses; K. D. Erskine, three tackles, two tackles for losses, five QB pressures and one batted pass/pass breakup; Kaison Stanford, three tackles and three QB pressures; Reed Parish, two tackles and two batted passes/pass breakups; and Addison Manley, one tackles.