DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

After defeating one opponent, Liberty-Eylau, for the fourth time in two seasons, the Van Vandals are now preparing for an opponent they have not faced in a number of years, if at all.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, 11-0 overall, the District 7-4A, Division II, champions, will take on the District 6-4A runner-up, the Sunnyvale Raiders, 6-5 overall, in an Area round matchup in the Class 4-A, Division II, state playoffs Friday, Nov. 19.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Wilkerson-Sanders Memorial Stadium in Rockwall. Van will be the visiting team.

The Vandals and the Raiders are both coming off impressive victories in their bi-district round playoff games Nov. 12 as Van blanked the Liberty-Eylau Leopards, 28-0, in Longview while Sunnyvale outlasted the Ferris Yellowjackets, 41-27, in Mesquite.

Sunnyvale Head Football Coach John Settle is in his 11th year at Sunnyvale after being the head coach at Brownsboro for a number of years.

“Coach Settle’s last year at Brownsboro was my first year at Van,” recalled Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt. “He is a really good football coach. His teams play real hard and they play physical on both sides of the ball. They have a big offensive line, and their defensive line is big and strong physically as well. They are good in their special teams. Their football team and their program are similar to us.”

Offensively, Moffatt said that the Raiders are a power football team. “They run a lot of counters,” emphasized Moffatt. “They are really good at what they do. They have a receiver that is a big play threat who has caught a number of long passes. Their quarterback is throwing well. They are a complete offense with the ability to hurt you throwing and running.”

Defensively, the Raiders will show mostly an even front, according to the Vandal head coach. “They are really coached very well on the defensive side of the ball,” said Moffatt. “They also have a good kicker who has made a number of field goals. Sunnyvale is 6-5 but most of their losses came early in the season. They are an entirely different team now than they were at the beginning of the season. They have made some personnel changes during the season, and they are a better team now. They hammered Caddo Mills by 40 points and played against their district champion, Quinlan Ford, very competitively.”

The winner of the Van/Sunnyvale game will meet the winner of the Gilmer/Caddo Mills matchup next week in the Class 4A, Division II, regional semifinals.

For results of the Van/Sunnyvale Class 4A, Division II, Area championship game, check out www.vanzandtnews.com.