DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

Breaking a two-game losing streak, the Van Vandals entered their bye week on a strong positive note as they overwhelmed the Brownsboro Bears, 57-18, on Homecoming night Sept. 26 at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, 3-2 overall for the season, concluded their non-district schedule and will now enjoy their bye week before starting their District 7-4A, Division 2, schedule, with a visit to Spring Hill for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 10, against the Spring Hill Panthers.

Against Brownsboro, the Vandals rolled up some impressive offensive statistics as they finished with 32 first downs and 563 yards of total offense including 365 yards rushing and 198 yards passing. Van ran 67 offensive plays from scrimmage.

The Bears were held to eight first downs and 174 yards of total offense including 42 yards rushing and 132 yards passing by a stingy and opportunistic Vandal defense. Brownsboro ran 34 offensive plays from scrimmage.

Van’s running attack was led by the return of senior running back Da’Quavion Williams, who came back from a knee injury suffered against Lindale Sept. 12.

Williams finished the game against the Bears with 194 yards rushing on 18 carries and three touchdowns.

Reserve RB Marcus Fabian contributed 13 carries for 110 yards rushing and two TD’s.

Vandal quarterback Rawly Hinch completed 14 out of 21 passes for 198 yards, three TD’s, and no interceptions.

Ian Hopson caught two passes for 69 yards and one TD. Receiver Cash Walker had five receptions for 57 yards and receiver Aiden Willis caught three passes for 44 yards and two TD’s. 

Defensively, Vandal linebacker Carter Admire returned to the lineup after missing the previous week’s game due to a concussion and finished the game with nine total tackles including three tackles for losses.

Van LB Tim Jones had seven total tackles, one tackle for a loss, and one QB sack against the Bears.

“I thought we did a lot of really good things against Brownsboro,” recalled Moffatt. “One of the things we stressed was starting fast. We have had some slow starts in the past particularly in the two games that we lost. We wanted to create some early momentum with some early play calls, and we took some risks as well. The guys executed most of those plays well. I was real proud of the way our kids started the game on both sides of the ball. Our special teams also played well.

“We also stressed to our kids that we have to be who we are,” concluded Moffatt. “When we do that, we have a chance to win each and every week. We got on Brownsboro big before halftime. We had a good two-minute drive to end the half. It was important to see our defense playing well.”

The Vandals were without the services of starting defensive lineman Waylon King, who was out due to a shoulder injury.

“We had some guys step up and play really well including Townes Hamman in the defensive line,” pointed out Moffatt. “Our defensive ends, Ti’ler Williams and Brigg Barton, are getting better every week. It was good to have Carter Admire back at linebacker. Boston Blalock, our linebacker, had his third interception of the season in five games. Overall, in all phases, I thought we played well, and we needed that kind of game from everyone. 

“There are still some things we can do better,” emphasized Moffatt. “We were up 14 points early and it could have been more, but we had penalties and didn’t execute correctly three plays in a row. You can’t have that. That is frustrating. We could have been up 28-0 in the first quarter. That didn’t happen. There are still things that we need to be better in moving forward.”

The Vandals wasted little time to start their scoring blitz as Hinch connected with Hopson on a 60-yard TD pass play on the first play from scrimmage. Alex Aceves, who has been perfect on all of his extra point attempts, drilled the point after giving Van a 7-0 lead with 11:44 remaining in the first quarter.

Van then surprised the Bears with an onside kick attempt as Aceves recovered his own kick at the Brownsboro 49.

Six plays later, Williams ended the drive with a 6-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point, giving Van a 14-0 lead with 9:26 to play in the first quarter. Key plays in the Vandal scoring drive included back-to-back 13 yard running gains by Da’Quavion Williams and a pass interference penalty against the Bears.

Brownsboro’s special teams again gave Van great field position as the ensuing kickoff by Aceves was muffed by the Bears and recovered by Tate Young of the Vandals at the Brownsboro 35.

Five plays later, including a 10-yard run by Hinch, the Vandals had a fourth down and 11 at the Bear 36 but the drive stalled as Hinch was tackled after a six-yard gain giving the ball to Brownsboro for its first offensive play of the contest.

Two plays later, Van’s defense rose to the occasion on second down and seven at the Bear 33 when Brownsboro QB Adam Thompson’s downfield pass was intercepted by Vandal linebacker Boston Blalock at the Van 38.

The Vandals appeared to be on their way to extending their lead as they moved from their own 38 to the Brownsboro 10 in nine plays including two running gains of 11 yards each by Hinch, 15 yards by Da’Quavion Williams, and 12 yards by Fabian.

Facing fourth down and three at the Bear 10, the Vandals decided to go for the first down, but Hinch’s pass to Willis was incomplete, ending Van’s scoring threat.

“I probably lean on being overly aggressive as a play-caller,” said Moffatt. “I am not usually conservative in those situations. We talked about kicking a field goal in that situation. Needing three yards for a first down, I thought we had a good call, and we had a good chance to knock them out in that situation. We have to take advantage of those situations and opportunities.” 

Following a Brownsboro punt, the Vandals had excellent field position again at the Bear 28.

On the next play from scrimmage following an offensive holding penalty against Van, Da’Quavion Williams raced 38 yards for a TD. Aceves added the extra point, giving the Vandals a 21-0 advantage on the final play of the first quarter.

After another Brownsboro punt, the Vandals moved 58 yards in nine plays with Fabian ending the march with a 5-yard TD run. On the extra point attempt, the snap from center almost sailed over the holder’s head but Connor Ammons, the holder, made a tremendous catch of the errant snap and immediately ran toward the goal-line as a host of Vandals and Bears put on a rugby scrum from the 2-yard line into the end zone for an unrehearsed and unscheduled two-point conversion giving Van a 29-0 lead with 5:57 remaining in the second quarter. A 22-yard pass completion from Hinch to Walker was a key play in the Vandal scoring march.

“Connor Ammons is a great holder, and he works at it every day,” emphasized Moffatt. “He had to stand up and catch that high snap. In that situation, everybody hollers ‘fire,’ and we try to execute a two-point play. It was chaos in that situation. He just pulled the ball down and our guys stepped up and pushed forward to help him get into the end zone. It turned into a rugby-like scrum. I appreciated everyone’s effort on that play. I am not a big fan of the ‘tush push’ play but it worked for us in that situation. It was a great play by Connor, but I will promise you, we are not incorporating the ‘tush push’ into our offense.”

On the strength of a Vandal defensive pass interference penalty, the Bears faced a fourth down and five at the Van 45, but Brownsboro’s drive stalled as the pass from Thompson to receiver Gabriel Hendricks was incomplete giving the Vandals possession.

Four pass plays later, the Vandals were in the end zone again as Hinch connected with Willis on a 28-yard TD pass play to the end the 45-yard scoring drive. Aceves added the extra point, giving Van a 36-0 advantage with 3:13 to play before halftime. An 18-yard pass completion from Hinch to receiver Caison Sieja was a key play in the Vandal scoring march.

Following another Brownsboro punt, the Vandals took over possession at the Van 42 with 2:25 remaining before intermission.

Six plays later, Hinch connected with Willis on a 10-yard TD pass play to end the 58-yard scoring drive. Aceves added the extra point giving the Vandals a commanding 43-0 advantage with 53 seconds remaining before halftime.

Brownsboro took the second half kickoff and needed only three plays to move 65 yards and get on the scoreboard as Thompson connected with Hendricks on a 62-yard TD pass play cutting Van’s lead to 43-6 with 11:04 remaining in the third quarter. The two-point conversion pass attempt from Thompson to Hendricks failed.

Van responded by advancing 56 yards on six straight running plays to increase its lead as Da’Quavion Williams ran three yards for a TD. Aceves added the extra point, giving the Vandals a 50-6 advantage with 8:01 remaining in the third quarter. Da’Quavion Williams also had a 46-yard run in the scoring drive.

The Bears came right back as they moved 67 yards in six plays as Thompson connected with RB Jack Anderson on a 6-yard TD pass play cutting Van’s advantage to 50-12 with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter.  The two-point conversion pass attempt from Thompson to Hendricks was incomplete. Running gains of 16 yards each by Thompson and RB Aiden Mitchem along with a 33-yard pass completion from Thompson to Hendricks were key plays in the Brownsboro scoring march.

The Vandals moved from their own 30 to the Bear 33 in four plays including a 19-yard run by Fabian but on second down and five, the drive resulted in a turnover as Fabian’s fumble was picked up by Mitchem, who raced 65 yards for a TD cutting Van’s lead to 50-18 with 2:45 to play in the third quarter. The two-point conversion run by Anderson was no good.

Van bounced back as they advanced 62 yards in seven plays with Fabian racing 40 yards for a TD to end the march. Aceves added the extra point, giving the Vandals a 57-18 lead with 9:59 to play in the fourth quarter. Key plays in the final scoring drive for the Vandals included pass completions from Hinch covering 12 yards to Walker and 10 yards to Sieja.

Brownsboro moved from its own 44 to the Vandal 23 in seven plays including pass completions from Thompson covering 12 yards to Hendricks and 11 yards to WR Travis Passons but the scoring threat ended on fourth down and six at the Van 23 when Thompson’s pass to Hendricks was incomplete giving the Vandals possession.

The Vandals ran out the clock as they advanced from their own 23 to the Bear 29 on 10 consecutive running plays including seven straight carries by RB Adam Beall.

“Our offensive line played well,” pointed out the Vandal head coach. “We had two running backs go over 100 yards rushing. ‘Q’ (Da’Quavion Williams) almost had 200 yards himself. The three seniors in our offensive line (Collier Bryant, Karter Broyles, and Landon Robinson) are doing a good job. 

“After three or four games, I stopped referring to our sophomores as sophomores,” emphasized Moffatt. “They are varsity football players now. They need to continue playing that way. That is our challenge to them moving forward. Cash Walker continues to make plays at receiver. Aiden Willis also made some big catches. I told our team that the time has come for us to play great football, not just pretty good football. What separates us from being great instead of just being pretty good? We are still searching for that. 

“Rawly Hinch continues to throw the ball on point,” said Moffatt. “Rawly likes to scramble, and he has made some big plays throwing while scrambling, When he starts scrambling, he always has his eyes looking downfield. He is making good decisions. Cason Sieja made a couple of big catches in the game for us as well. He has also done a good job as our deep snapper on punts. 

“Defensively, Dylan Johnson has done a really good job for us at cornerback,” said Moffatt. “Aiden Willis has had to play a lot on both sides of the ball at receiver and cornerback. I am really proud of his effort. Parker Rainey is playing well at strong safety. Ian Hopson at free safety has played well and he has made a significant impact playing limited downs on offense as well. We have to keep incorporating him into the offense. It was big having ‘Q’ and Carter Admire back in the lineup for us. Carter made a number of tackles and some big plays on third down.”