Vandals conducting Media Day, Red/White Inter Squad Scrimmage Friday, Aug. 8
DAVID BARBER
It will be a busy day and night for the Van Vandal varsity football team on Friday, Aug. 8 at Van’s Memorial Stadium.
Their day will start before sun-up as they will be holding their annual Media Day activities starting at 6:45 a.m.
Fans will have their first opportunity to see the 2025 squad in action on the field later that evening at 7 p.m. when the team will have its Annual Red/White Inter Squad Scrimmage on the first official day that players can wear pads.
The Vandals began fall practice Aug. 4 as they continue to prepare for two upcoming scrimmages and the start of the regular season schedule.
“We had a good first day and a good turnout,” recalled Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt, who is entering his 16th season at Van. “Our numbers were between 125-130 which is a good number for us. It was not an extraordinary number, but it was about what we expected. Our kids come in with a good understanding of where we are and what we are doing. There is not a lot of learning new things. We are basically reviewing and putting stuff in this first week. It is business as usual. The kids are ready to go and excited to get started.”
Regarding the schedule for the inter squad scrimmage Aug. 8, Moffatt said that player introductions will start around 6:45 p.m.
“We will be recognizing our cheerleaders, the volleyball team, the freshmen and junior varsity football teams, as well as our varsity football team,” emphasized Moffatt.
In addition to the varsity scrimmage, there will also be action from the freshmen and junior varsity teams as well, according to Moffatt.
“In the Red/White scrimmage, the varsity players that were with us last season normally don’t scrimmage a lot,” pointed out Moffatt. “What we need to get out of this Red/White scrimmage is to evaluate unproven players going full speed. That is the priority. We are not trying to sharpen up the guys that we already know can play. We do have to get our guys ready for the regular season, but we also want to limit their exposure to injury. The last thing we need to see in this scrimmage is someone getting hurt. We have a number of players who have never played on Friday nights. We think we know what we have but until they get out there and prove it, you are not 100 percent sure.”
Following their Red/White inter squad scrimmage Aug. 8, the Vandals will have two pre-season scrimmages as they will host Corsicana Friday, Aug. 15 before visiting Palestine Thursday, Aug. 21.
The Vandals will open their 2025 regular season schedule at home against Dallas Carter in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Aug. 29 at Van’s Memorial Stadium.