The first Friday night of the 2021 football season provided mixed results for county teams as Canton, Edgewood and Van all notched wins while Fruitvale, Grand Saline and Wills Point all came up short. Edgewood and Canton delivered arguably the most thrilling moments locally, rallying back in their respective games to earn wins that could serve as a springboard for bigger things ahead.

Canton

The 2020 football season was full of almosts and near-misses for the Canton program. The team found itself to be competitive in most contests, but could not get over the hump when a play needed to be made.

If week one was any indication, Canton may well have learned the lessons they needed to produce a consistent winner. The Eagles played host to Mineola Aug. 27, storming back from a 21-3 deficit late in the third quarter to score a 24-21 come-from-behind win before a packed house at Norris Birdwell Stadium.

Mineola’s Dawson Pendergrass was the story much of the night for the Yellowjackets, scoring on a 40- yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and a 70-yard score just before halftime to establish a 14-3 lead. Pendergrass added another highlight to his impressive resume in the third, stepping in front of an errant Canton pass in the third quarter. Pendergrass would race into the end zone on the sequence, putting the Eagles into a 21-3 deficit with less than 15 minutes to play.

Down but not out, the Eagles roared to life behind a dominant effort from both its offensive and defensive lines. Canton would score its first touchdown on a 29-yard Jason Brisbois to Ja’Braylon Pickens touchdown pass. Moments later the Eagles found the end zone again, this time on a Juan Robles touchdown run.

Trailing 21-16, the Eagles would get another Robles touchdown run and a Jason Brisbois two-point conversion to seize a lead they would never surrender.

Canton was scheduled to participate in its first road game Sept. 3, traveling to Paris to take on the North Lamar Panthers. The Eagles made it look easy the last time the two schools crossed paths, scoring a 65-19 rout in 2020.

Edgewood

The Edgewood Bulldogs and Commerce Tigers have been no strangers to one another in recent seasons, meeting on the gridiron each of the past three seasons heading into this season.

After consecutive victories by the Bulldogs in both 2018 and 2019, Commerce earned a measure of revenge in 2020 with a 42-12 win.

The Bulldogs, under new coach Alex Guerra, bounced back to return the favor in 2021, reclaiming bragging rights with a gutty 26-21 at I.T. James Memorial Stadium Aug. 27.

Commerce did well to keep Edgewood at bay throughout most of the night, taking a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 14-12 advantage into halftime.

After each team scored a touchdown in the third, the Tigers clung to a narrow 21-20 advantage in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldog defense would come up huge down the stretch, turning back Commerce at every turn. The offense would respond as well, doing just enough to allow Edgewood to secure the five-point win and a 1-0 start to the season.

Edgewood was slated to take on the Rains Wildcats Sept. 3. Due to COVID-19 issues within Rains ISD, that game was subsequently canceled. The Bulldogs will now hit the road to take on Prairiland in a substitute contest.

Fruitvale

The Fruitvale Bobcats opened the 2021 season at home Aug. 27, taking on a Fannindel squad that reached the State Quarterfinals last season.

Fruitvale would play well throughout the night despite being down three starters, ultimately falling 39-8 to a team expected to make another deep run in the playoffs.

Points proved to be tough to come by in the first half with Fannindel building a narrow 12-8 lead after 24 minutes of play. Fannindel began to pull away in the second half, ultimately securing the 39-8 win.

Coach Trent Taylor noted, “After halftime, the boys had just simply ran out of gas. The final score was 39-8 in favor of Fannindel, but if you attended the game on Friday, you know the scoreboard does not reflect the game. I appreciate everyone’s support at our game. You all are the greatest fans that we could ask for.”

Fruitvale was scheduled to hit the field again Sept. 2 at home against Christian Heritage. Due to COVID-19 issues within the Fruitvale ISD, that game and all other extracurricular activities were canceled.

Barring anything unforeseen, the next Fruitvale contest on the schedule will be Sept. 10 against Greenville Christian.

Grand Saline

Grand Saline opened its season at home last week, clashing with a Cooper team that handed the Indians a lopsided 54-0 loss last season. Cooper would once again prevail Aug. 27, dropping Grand Saline’s record to 0-1 on the year with a narrow 25-23 win.

Neither team was particularly sharp offensively as Grand Saline turned the ball over three times and Cooper twice.

Jase Melton finished play going 14/22 passing with 183 yards, including seven completions ot Brett Kindle, four to Hudson Griffin, two to Payton Butterfield and one to Michael Henson.

Caleb Amaya helped to lead the charge offensively, logging team-highs in carries with 19 and yards with 74. Amaya also scored two rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, Michael Henson, Payton Butterfield and Cooper Brown tied for the team-lead with nine tackles each. Henson also added a forced fumble, while Brett Kindle registered three tackles a forced fumble and a pass deflection.

Grand Saline was scheduled to take on Palmer Sept. 3. Due to COVID-19 issues within that district, the game between the two squads was ultimately cancelled. Grand Saline scheduled a fill-in game with Trinity, but that was also canceled.

The Indians are now set to return to the field Sept. 10 at home against the Rains Wildcats.

Van

The Van Vandals were an outlier among county football programs during the first week of the season, lighting up the scoreboard time and time again in an easy 45-16 rout of the Palestine Wildcats.

Jackson Rainey was impressive from start to finish under center for the Vandals in the contest, completing 17/28 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns. Rainey was just as effective in the ground game, logging 11 carries for 191 yards and another touchdown.

Alex Zifer also had a solid game out of the backfield, carrying the ball nine times for 69 yards and a score.

Leading receivers for Van included Luca Kozhev hauling in six receptions for 169 yards and three touchdowns and Brayden Bradshaw hauling in eight passes for 77 yards and a score.

Defensively, the Vandals registered four sacks, three fumble recoveries and two pass break-ups.

Van was scheduled to be at home Sept. 3 to take on the Malakoff Tigers. Malakoff will enter play against the Vandals with an 0-1 record after falling 24-21 to the Grandview Zebras in week one.

Wills Point

The Wills Point Tigers officially kicked off their 2021 season on the road last week, traveling to Bullard to participate in the 7 ^th annual American State Bank/ Brook Hill Warrior Bowl honoring veterans, active duty military, first responders and front line health care workers.

Brook Hill would prevail in the contest low-scoring affair, riding a shutdown defensive effort and big night from quarterback Jack Jordan to a 26-3 win over the Tigers.

Wills Point fell behind early, trailing 3-0 in the first quarter and 16-0 late in the second before Noe Rodriguez booted home a 31-yard field goal.

The second half would play out in a similar fashion as Brook Hill quarterback Jack Jordan connected with Felipe Tristan on a 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to effectively put the game out of reach.

Kevin Witherspoon finished as the leading rusher for Wills Point in the contest, grinding out 41 yards on 11 carries in the opener.

Wills Point was scheduled to face off against one of the best 3A teams in the state Sept. 3, traveling to Mineola to clash with the Yellowjackets. Despite playing without its starting quarter, the Jacekets held a late 21-3 lead over Canton during the first week of the season. A series of turnovers would prove to be too much to overcome down the stretch as the Eagles roared back to seize a 24-21 win in the contest.

Editor’s note: Results and game summaries from games played Sept. 3 will be published in the Sept. 12 edition of the Van Zandt News. Game results will also be posted on the Van Zandt News Facebook page as soon as they become available each Friday night.