With one more non-district game remaining, Van Vandal Head Coach Jared Moffatt is looking for more than just trying to improve his team’s undefeated record to 6-0 heading into their bye week.

“Up to this point, we have been a pretty good football team, but we are not looking to be just pretty good,” emphasized Moffatt. “We want to be a great football team. How do we move from being pretty good to great? That continues to be our challenge moving forward each week.”

Van, ranked seventh in the state in Class 4A, Division II, in the latest state rankings by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, will close out their non-district slate with their longest road trip of the season as they will take on the Liberty-Eylau Leopards in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 1 in Texarkana.

The Vandals and the Leopards will be meeting for the third time in almost a year as Van easily defeated Liberty-Eylau in both meetings last season, including victories at Van’s Homecoming and a bi-district round playoff victory in Marshall.

Liberty-Eylau enters the rematch with the Vandals with an overall record of 3-1 having won three games in a row with victories over Waxahachie Life, Atlanta, and Jefferson.

The Leopards are competing in District 8-4A, Division II, which features defending Class 4A, Division II finalist, Gilmer, in addition to Texarkana Pleasant Grove, Spring Hill, Pittsburg, and Paris North Lamar.

District 7-4A, Division II, which features the Vandals, will be competing against District 8-4A, Division II, in the upcoming bi-district round of the Class 4A state playoffs in November.

“L-E is always athletic, and they always have good team speed,” pointed out Moffatt. “This year’s team is no exception. I started playing against L-E when I was a player at Sulphur Springs in the 90s. They have always been a very talented football team. They are playing with great confidence right now. Their three wins have not been close. They have had a defensive score in every one of their wins.

“Offensively, they are a spread team,” continued the Vandal head coach. “They are utilizing two different quarterbacks in their offense. They will be tough to beat in their stadium.”

Moffatt is anxious to see how his team responds to the challenges that Liberty-Eylau presents in their non-district finale.

“What I want to see from our guys is continued improvement,” summarized Moffatt. “The key to our season is taking those steps along the way. There is not one particular area that we need to be working on. We just need to be better in a number of areas moving forward if we want to meet the things we want to accomplish this season. We are capable of beating good football teams but there is a level of play that we need to get to. We want to stay healthy after this game heading into our bye week and as we get ready for district play to begin in a couple of weeks.”

Moffatt announced some changes in the sub-varsity schedule this week. While the junior varsity teams between the Vandals and the Leopards will play against each other beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, at Van’s Memorial Stadium, the freshmen team has had major changes in their schedule.

The Vandal freshmen will be traveling to Kaufman for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday, Sept. 29, due to the fact that Liberty-Eylau does not have a freshmen team and Kaufman’s varsity team is playing on Thursday, Sept. 30.

Van’s junior high football teams will be traveling to Liberty-Eylau Thursday, Sept. 30, with the seventh grade game scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. followed by the eighth grade contest.

For results of the varsity game between the Vandals and the Leopards as well as what the Vandals will be working on during their upcoming bye week, check out www.vanzandtnews.com.