DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

On a rain-soaked ‘Senior Night’ at Van’s Memorial Stadium Oct. 28, the Van Vandals found out first-hand why the Carthage Bulldogs are ranked number one in the state in Class 4A, Division 2, as the visitors claimed another district title on their way to a 41-15 victory over the Vandals.

Carthage ended their regular season with a perfect 10-0 overall mark and a 6-0 district record to claim the District 8-4A, Division 2, championship as they will enjoy a bye week prior to the start of the Class 4A, Division 2, state playoffs Nov. 11.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals (5-4, 3-2) are now tied with Rusk and Center for second place in the district standings as Van will travel to Bullard Nov. 4 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Bullard Panthers (3-6, 2-3).

The winner of the Van/Bullard contest will earn a berth in the upcoming state playoffs while the loser will see their 2022 season come to a close.

Against Carthage, the Vandals were held to eight first downs and 120 yards of total offense (61 rushing and 59 passing) by a stout Bulldog defense while Carthage finished the game with 18 first downs and 361 yards of total offense (162 rushing and 199 passing).

Senior running back Garrett Florey finished with 30 yards rushing on 12 carries. Florey also punted seven times for a 41-yard average.

Quarterback Jaxon Moffatt completed six out of 13 passes for 59 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. Easton Hinch caught three passes for 45 yards and a TD.

“The second half for us was not terrible,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “It did not rain near as hard. It was pouring during our first offensive possession of the game. The weather did impact the game somewhat for both teams. It did not have a bearing on the actual outcome. That was probably the worst weather we have had for one of our games in about four years.

“You know what you are up against when you are playing against Carthage,” continued Moffatt. “We did a lot of things well. Our kids played hard on every down. Defensively, I thought we played well, especially in the first half.”

Carthage received the opening kickoff and moved 77 yards in six plays to get on the scoreboard first as Bulldog QB Connor Cuff (13 completions, 21 attempts, 199 yards, three TD’s, no interceptions) connected with receiver Tedric Pipkins on a 16-yard TD pass play. Omar Medrano added the extra point giving the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 8:39 remaining in the first quarter. A 12-yard pass completion from Cuff to Pipkins and a 27-yard run by RB Larandion Dowden were key plays in the first scoring drive for Carthage.

The Vandals had a fourth down and two at their own 33 as they lined up to punt when the snap sailed over the head of punter Florey and was recovered at the Van 6-yard line giving Carthage excellent field position, but the Vandal defense stiffened and later forced Carthage to attempt a 40-yard field goal try on fourth down and goal at the Van 11.

The FG attempt was good, however, the Vandals were penalized for roughing the holder giving the Bulldogs a new set of downs at the Van 6-yard line.

On the next play, Dowden ran six yards for a TD. Medrano added the extra point giving Carthage a 14-0 advantage with 4:59 to play in the first quarter.

“That roughing the holder was a terrible play on our part,” recalled Moffatt. “We could have been down only 10-0 at that point instead of 14-0.”

Following a booming 49-yard punt by Florey, the Bulldogs went on a long time-consuming drive to extend their lead as they moved 73 yards in eight plays with the march ending on a 21-yard TD pass play from Cuff to Bradan Manning. Medrano added the extra point giving Carthage a 21-0 lead with 9:45 remaining in the second quarter. Key plays in the Bulldog scoring drive included a 15-yard pass completion from Cuff to Kydarius Matlock and two Vandal defensive penalties (offsides and roughing the passer).

“We had them in a third and 12 situation and then we jumped offsides twice and we were flagged for roughing the passer,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “You can’t do that against any team, especially a team like Carthage.”

After another Van punt, the Vandal defense came through with a stop forcing Carthage to line up in punt formation from deep in its own end of the field at the Bulldog 16 when the punt was blocked and recovered by Van’s Braydon Hullum at the Bulldog 7-yard line.

Three plays later, Jaxon Moffatt connected with Hinch on a 7-yard TD pass play cutting the Vandal deficit to 21-6 with 2:51 to play before halftime. The extra point attempt was blocked.

Carthage responded with a 66-yard scoring drive in 10 plays before intermission as Noah Paddie ended the march with a 10-yard TD run extending the Bulldog lead to 27-6 with 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked. Key plays in the scoring drive for Carthage included a 10-yard run by Dowden, pass completions from Cuff covering 14 yards to Manning and 17 yards to Kadadriane Bell, and a 20-yard run by Cuff.

Following a Vandal punt early in the third quarter, Carthage wasted little time in extending their advantage as on their first play from scrimmage, Cuff connected with Paddie on an 84-yard TD pass play. Medrano added the extra point giving the Bulldogs a 34-6 lead over the Vandals with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter.

After a Vandal punt, the Bulldogs moved from their own 24 to their own 40 but the Vandal defense stopped any further penetration by Carthage as a pass from Cuff to Paddie on fourth down and five at the Bulldog 40 was incomplete giving Van excellent field position.

The Vandals could not take advantage of the good field position and were later forced to punt the ball back to Carthage.

Another quick strike by the Bulldogs haunted the Vandals as RB DaQuives Beck raced 71 yards for a TD. Medrano added the extra point giving Carthage a 41-6 advantage with 1:02 to play in the third quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the Vandal defense got on the scoreboard after a 50-yard punt by Florey pinned Carthage inside its own 1-yard line.

On first down, Bulldog RB Karladarian Beechum was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by a host of Vandal defenders resulting in a safety cutting Van’s deficit to 41-8 with 5:47 to play in the fourth quarter.

After the free kick by Carthage, the Vandals moved 40 yards in eight plays to end the scoring as senior Beau Barton ran two yards for a TD to end the final offensive drive for Van. Tristan Miller added the extra point cutting Van’s deficit to 41-15 with 51 seconds remaining in the game. Key plays in the final scoring drive for the Vandals included pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 12 yards to senior receiver Brayden Bradshaw and 22 yards to Hinch.

“I was real proud of the effort from our kids but I was disappointed in the mistakes that we made,” summarized Jared Moffatt. “We have to be better than that.”

Individually, the Vandal head coach pointed out the performances of defensive tackle Braydon Hullum, linebacker Beau Barton, and receiver Easton Hinch.

Jared Moffatt discussed the decision to play the game at home against Carthage as scheduled Oct. 28 when several other schools in the East Texas area decided to move their games up a day to avoid the potential of rain and lightning issues.

“For me, it was pretty simple,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “To move a varsity football game requires a lot of moving parts. There are a lot of people involved, not just the players and coaches. In this case, you have to make a call early in the week. It is not like baseball. The final decision had to be made Wednesday morning, so my decision was based on a forecast that was 48 hours away. What I saw called for rain only with no severe weather in the forecast.

“If we played Thursday instead of Friday, our sub-varsity games would have been cancelled,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “All of that went into my decision to keep the game as scheduled on Friday night. Football is an outdoor sport. The weather is part of the game. There was no consideration to moving the game to Saturday. Looking back on it, those schools that moved their game to Thursday were pretty smart.”