DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

It was not easy, but the undefeated Van Vandals advanced to the Class 4A, Division II, Regional Semifinals with a hard-earned 35-25 Area round victory Nov. 19 over the upset-minded Sunnyvale Raiders in Rockwall.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, the District 7-4A, Division II, champion, improved its overall record to 12-0 as they were scheduled to take on the 11-1 Gilmer Buckeyes in a battle of top-10 state ranked teams in the regional semifinal round Friday, Nov. 26, at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Stadium in Tyler. Kickoff was scheduled for 2 p.m.

Sunnyvale, the District 6-4A runner-up, ended its season with an overall mark of 6-6.

Against the Raiders, the Vandals registered 14 first downs and 409 yards of total offense including 262 yards rushing and 147 yards passing while Sunnyvale posted 24 first downs and 417 yards of total offense including 142 rushing and 275 passing.

Vandal quarterback Jackson Rainey completed six out of 13 passes for 147 yards, one TD, and no interceptions in addition to carrying the ball 18 times for 137 yards and two rushing TD’s.

Running back Alex Zifer had 61 yards rushing on nine carries while receiver Brayden Bradshaw contributed a 50-yard TD run on a reverse in the fourth quarter.

Receiver Luka Kozhev caught three passes for 70 yards while receiver Ryder Shoquist added a 65-yard TD reception.

Sunnyvale QB Rigdon Yates completed 22 out of 32 passes for 275 yards, two TD’s and one interception.

Raider RB Matt Leavitt led the Sunnyvale running attack with 17 carries for 88 yards and a TD while receiver Joey Bruszer caught 12 passes for 181 yards and two TD’s against the Vandal defense.

“It was a great win and any time you win in the playoffs, it is a great win, because the alternative is to pack up your stuff,” emphasized Moffatt. “We are excited about moving on to the third round. We did what we had to do win. We made some big plays. There are areas that we could have performed better in. Sunnyvale has played some really good football recently.”

Following a Vandal punt early in the game, Sunnyvale advanced from its own 37 to the Vandal 20 on its first offensive possession in 11 plays including a 15-yard pass completion from Yates to Bruszer and a 14-yard run by Yates.

Facing fourth down and 11 at the Vandal 20, the Raiders sent it kicker Jake Pecina to attempt a 38-yard field goal, but the attempt was wide left and no good keeping the game scoreless.

The Vandals broke through on the scoreboard as they moved 80 yards in six plays with Rainey connecting with Shoquist on a 65-yard TD pass play. Eli Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 7-0 lead with 3:56 remaining in the first quarter. An 11-yard pass completion from Rainey to Kozhev was a key play in the first scoring drive for Van.

Sunnyvale’s next offensive series saw the Raiders advance from their own 30 to the Vandal 38 in seven plays but on fourth down and three, Leavitt was stopped after a one-yard gain by Van’s defense giving the ball back to the Vandals at their own 37.

Six plays later, Rainey ran into the end zone on a 2-yard TD run. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 14-0 advantage with 9:44 to play in the second quarter. A 50-yard pass completion from Rainey to Kozhev was a key play in the scoring drive for Van.

The Raiders came right back with a scoring drive of their own following the ensuing kickoff as Sunnyvale moved 75 yards in 12 plays to get on the scoreboard.

Yates connected with Bruszer on a 7-yard TD pass play to end the long time-consuming march. Pecina added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 14-7 with 4:16 remaining before halftime. Key plays in the Sunnyvale scoring drive included a defensive pass interference penalty against the Vandals in addition to an 11-yard run by RB Evan Johnson and a 13-yard pass completion from Yates to wide receiver Landry Laird.

Van attempted to stretch their advantage before intermission as they moved from their own 30 to the Raider 30 in 10 plays including running gains by Rainey covering 11, 16, and 22 yards but the first half clock expired before the Vandals could get off another play.

Following a Sunnyvale punt early in the third quarter, the Vandals moved from their own 37 to the Raider 9-yard line in eight plays including a 33-yard run by Zifer.

Facing fourth down and six at the Raider 9-yard line, the Vandals sent in Hartman to attempt a 27-yard FG, but the kick was blocked and recovered by the Raiders, however, Sunnyvale was penalized for being offsides on the play setting up a fourth down and one at the Sunnyvale 4-yard line.

This time, the Vandals decided to go for the first down and following a one-yard run by Rainey, the stretch of the chain showed that Van had indeed picked up a first down and goal at the Raider 3-yard line.

On the next play, reserve RB Garrett Florey ran three yards for a TD. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals a 21-7 lead with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter.

“On the field goal attempt, it was fourth down and six and the way they were playing in the secondary, I didn’t like what we had in that situation so far as a pass play goes,” recalled Moffatt. “I felt like that we really needed to go up by two scores and at that point, I thought our defense was playing pretty well at that time. When they blocked the field goal, that was very unfortunate for us. Fortunately, they lined up offsides. That was a huge game-changing call at that moment.

“I felt way better about picking up a first down on fourth down and a yard and a half to go so there was no hesitancy about going for a first down at that point,” summarized the Vandal head coach.

Sunnyvale responded by moving from its own 21 to the Vandal 8-yard line in seven plays including a defensive holding penalty against Van and a 56-yard pass completion from Yates to Bruszer.

On fourth down and four at the Van 8-yard line, Pecina was sent in to attempt a 24-yard FG and the kick was good cutting Van’s lead to 21-10 with 2:22 to play in the third quarter.

Following a 35-yard return of the ensuing kickoff by Florey, the Vandals needed only two plays to move 45 yards as Rainey ended the short drive by outracing the Sunnyvale defense down the sideline on a 38-yard TD run. Hartman added the extra point giving Van a seemingly comfortable 28-10 advantage with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter.

Sunnyvale showed no signs of giving up and rallied following the ensuing kickoff to advance 66 yards in seven plays to get on the scoreboard as Leavitt ended the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge. Pecina added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 28-17 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Key plays in the Raider scoring march included a 12-yard pass completion from Yates to Bruszer and running gains of 10 and 28 yards by Leavitt.

Van’s next offensive possession resulted in a 10-yard run for a first down by Zifer but four plays later, the Vandals were forced to punt giving the ball back to Sunnyvale at the Raider 26.

Seven plays later, the Raiders completed a 76-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard TD pass completion from Yates to Bruszer. The two-point conversion pass from Yates to Laird was successful as the Raiders pulled within three points of the Vandals, 28-25, with still 5:50 to play in the game.

After an onside kick attempt by the Raiders that failed to go the necessary 10 yards, the Vandals took over possession at the Sunnyvale 49.

Two plays later, Bradshaw took an inside handoff as he came in motion from his receiver position and raced 50 yards untouched for a huge Vandal TD. Hartman added the extra point giving the Vandals some breathing room at 35-25 with 5:01 to play.

“I don’t think Brayden Bradshaw gets enough credit for being a tough guy to tackle,” said Moffatt. “It was a great call by Coach Reynolds and great execution by our guys on that play. It was a very timely play in a close game at that point. That play has been a good play for us this season.”

Sunnyvale came right back and moved from its own 25 to the Vandal 10 in nine plays including pass completions from Yates covering 10 and 32 yards to Laird and 10 yards to Bruszer.

On second down and five at the Vandal 10, the scoring threat for the Raiders on their final offensive drive of the contest resulted in a turnover as Yates’ pass into the end zone was intercepted by Van defensive back Reed Parish with 2:17 remaining allowing the Vandals to run out the clock five running plays later, including a 19-yard gain by Rainey and a personal foul penalty against the Raiders.

“Defensively, we did some really good things against their running game,” said Moffatt. “Their quarterback and their two receivers really did a good job for Sunnyvale. We knew those guys were good players and they made me nervous. Our defense in the red zone came up big in the game. We held them to one field goal, a missed field goal, and we stopped them on fourth down. We made the plays we had to in order to win the game. Reed Parish’s end zone interception was a huge play late in the game. Beau Barton made some tremendous plays which he has done all season long.”

Offensively, Moffatt was pleased with the effectiveness of the Vandal running game. “We have developed a mentality that has allowed us to run the ball effectively. Alex Zifer ran hard. Jackson Rainey made some big runs for us. He has played with tremendous consistency all season long. We found some things we liked against Sunnyvale’s defense so far as our running game was concerned. We did not throw the ball a lot, but we made some big plays in the passing game. Ryder Shoquist made a big TD reception for us. Our offensive line continues to play well led by Will Braswell, Spencer Shinn and Omar Hernandez.”

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

Garrett Florey, 11 tackles and three batted passes/pass breakups; Beau Barton, eight tackles, one tackle for a loss and two QB pressures; Reed Johnson, seven tackles and one tackle for a loss; Ryan Johnson, seven tackles and one batted pass/pass breakup; Braydon Hullum seven tackles; Mason Moffatt, seven tackles; Colton Miller, seven tackles; Reed Parish, six tackles, one tackle for a loss, one interception, and two batted passes/pass breakups; Kaison Stanford, six tackles; Cayden Mitchell, five tackles; Wyatt Dale, three tackles and one tackle for a loss; K. D. Erskine, three tackles, two tackles for lossess and four QB pressures; and Logan Fattig, one tackle.