DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

A furious second half rally by the Van Vandals Sept. 6 fell short at the end as the Pine Tree Pirates escaped with a 36-30 victory over Van at Longview’s Pirate Stadium.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, now 1-1 for the season, will have their home opener against one of their major rivals, the 2-0 Lindale Eagles, Friday, Sept. 13 in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

Against Pine Tree, the Vandals came back from a 22-6 deficit at halftime to pull within six points in the fourth quarter, but a potential game-winning drive stalled on fourth down at their own 47 in the final seconds of play.

Van finished with 23 first downs and 311 yards of total offense including 88 yards rushing and 223 yards passing while the Pirates had 17 first downs and 324 yards of total offense including 53 yards rushing and 271 yards passing.

For the second consecutive game, senior receiver Caden Rowe had a 100-yard plus receiving game as he caught seven passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Jaxon Moffatt completed 15 out of 34 passes for 223 yards, three TD’s, and no interceptions before leaving the game during Van’s final offensive drive with a head injury. The senior QB is expected to play against Lindale Sept. 13.

Senior running back Austin Moffatt had 51 yards rushing on 16 carries and caught two passes for 26 yards and one TD.

Senior receiver Easton Hinch caught four passes for 55 yards and Aiden Willis had a 32-yard pass reception.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game against Pine Tree,” said Jared Moffatt. “Pine Tree had just come off a big win on the road at Gilmer. They are a good football team, and I was real impressed with their quarterback. He is a heck of a player. Pine Tree also had a really good defense. It was a physical football game. The first half did not go the way we wanted it to go. The blocked extra point that they ran back for two points was essentially a three-point swing in the game and it turned out to be very important in the game.

“Down 22-6 at halftime, I was real proud of our players and the way they came out and played in the second half,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “Nobody panicked and nobody was pointing fingers at halftime. We talked about the things we needed to do better at halftime. We played much better in the third quarter and got back into the game. We gave ourselves a chance to win in the end. That’s all you can ask for. Losing leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but we saw some good things in the game against a really good football team Friday night.”

The Vandals received the opening kickoff and moved from their own 25 to the Pirate 30 in eight plays including a 29-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe but on fourth down and two at the Pine Tree 30, the scoring threat came to a close for Van as Austin Moffatt was tackled for a two-yard loss giving the Pirates possession.

Six plays later, Pirate running back L’Marion Hunter (12 carries, 40 yards) ran three yards for a TD giving Pine Tree an early 6-0 lead with 4:46 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was no good. Hunter also had a 14-yard run in the opening scoring drive for Pine Tree.

Following a Vandal punt, the Pirates extended their lead as they advanced 51 yards in four plays.

Pirate QB M.J. Cates 9 (14 completions, 20 attempts, 271 yards, three TD’s, no interceptions) connected with RB Dylan Montgomery on a 42-yard TD pass play. The extra point was good giving Pine Tree a 13-0 advantage with 2:43 still remaining in the first quarter.

Van’s offense got on track with its first scoring drive of the contest as they moved 75 yards in 11 plays.

Jaxon Moffatt connected with Rowe on a 5-yard TD pass play to end the long march cutting Van’s deficit to 13-6 with 9:36 remaining in the second quarter.

The extra point attempt by Aiden Moore was blocked and returned for two points by Kalil Deckard extending Pine Tree’s lead to 15-6.

It was Van’s first extra point miss since the 2022 season as the Vandals converted all 61 of their extra point conversions last season.

Pine Tree then moved 72 yards in seven plays to widen their advantage as Cates connected with RB Jatavian Sonia on a 7-yard TD pass play to end the march. The extra point was good, giving the Pirates a seemingly comfortable 22-6 lead with 6:07 remaining in the second quarter.

An exchange of punts followed before Van ran out the first half clock deep in their end of the field.

“We did not make a whole lot of schematic adjustments at halftime,” said Jared Moffatt. “We just talked about the things that we needed to do better going into the second half of play. We just played better in the second half. We got a couple of turnovers which helped to get us back in the game.”

In the third quarter, momentum began to swing in Van’s direction as Hunter fumbled on Pine Tree’s opening possession in the second half with Van defensive end Foster Rust recovering the ball at the Pirate 48.

Five plays later, Jaxon Moffatt connected with Rowe on a 12-yard TD pass play. Moore added the extra point cutting Van’s deficit to 22-13 with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter. A 23-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Hinch was a key play in the Vandal scoring drive.

“Looking back, we probably should have gone for two points at that time,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “We just did not get that communicated well on our sideline. We went ahead and kicked the extra point.”

Momentum continued to build for the Vandals as the Pirates muffed the ensuing kickoff with Van’s Maeson Ray recovering the ball at the Pine Tree 27.

Seven plays later, Jaxon Moffatt plunged into the end zone on a 1-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point and suddenly, Van was down by only two points, 22-20, with 3:43 remaining in the third quarter. A 10-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Hinch was a key play in the scoring drive for the Vandals.

It only took one play after the ensuing kickoff for Pine Tree to regain control of the game as Cates connected with WR Jordan Taylor (four receptions, 101 yards) for a shocking 69-yard TD pass play. The extra point was good giving Pine Tree a 29-20 lead with 3:23 still to play in the third quarter.

“We were only down two points at that point and then, their quarterback executed a great play for them,” said Jared Moffatt. “All of a sudden, we were down nine points again.”

Van refused to give in as they advanced from its own 25 to the Pirate 11 in eight plays including a 19-yard run by Austin Moffatt, a 10-yard run by Jaxon Moffatt and two Pirate defensive penalties (face mask and unsportsmanlike conduct).

Facing fourth down and goal at the Pirate 11, Moore was sent in to attempt a 28-yard field goal and his kick was perfect cutting Van’s deficit to 29-23 with 11:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Following a strong kickoff return, the Pirates moved 48 yards in seven plays with Hunter ending the march with a 4-yard TD run. The extra point was good extending Pine Tree’s lead to 36-23 with 7:41 remaining. A 10-yard run by Hunter, a 24-yard pass completion from Cates to Deckard along with back-to-back offsides penalties against the Vandal defense were key plays in what turned out to be Pine Tree’s final scoring drive of the game.

The Vandals came right back as they moved from their own 36 to the Pirate 17 in eight plays as Jaxon Moffatt connected with Austin Moffatt on a 17-yard TD pass play. Moore added the extra point cutting Van’s deficit to 36-30 with 6:38 remaining in the game. A 32-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Willis was a key play in Van’s final scoring drive of the game.

Van attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by Pine Tree at the Pirate 45. Van’s defense later forced a punt setting up one final chance for Van to pull the game out starting at their own 15 with 3:20 remaining.

“So far as the decision to go for the onside kick attempt, Pine Tree was having success on offense and we felt like we needed to try to steal a possession in that situation,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “I have a lot of confidence in our ability to execute an onside kick. I never like to lose games being too conservative. I just felt like it was a good time to go for that onside kick attempt. I thought we executed it well, but their kid did a great job recovering the ball.”

Eight plays later, including pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 11 yards to Rowe and 13 yards to Hinch, the Vandals had a second down at their own 47 when Jaxon Moffatt was injured and had to leave the game bringing in starting tight end and backup QB Ryder Savage into the game to see his first varsity action at QB.

“Jaxon got his bell rung after he got tackled from behind,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “He hit his head on the turf. I called timeout because I knew I had to take him out. He is good and ready to play against Lindale this week.”

Savage’s first pass attempt was knocked down at the line of scrimmage by a Pirate defender and on fourth down and 10, Savage was sacked for a five-yard loss with 1:27 to play allowing the Pirates to run out the clock.

“We had to make some adjustments offensively simply because Ryder hasn’t had the varsity snaps prior to entering the game against Pine Tree,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “I was real proud of the way our kids kept battling and competing in the game.”

The Vandal head coach recognized several individual efforts by his players against Pine Tree.

“Caden Rowe made some unbelievable catches,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “He was a huge part of our offensive effort Friday night. Easton Hinch caught a number of passes in the second half. Our running backs, Austin Moffatt and Chris Fabian, did a good job, especially in the second half. Our offensive line played much better in the second half. Jaxon Moffatt made a number of plays in the passing game against a really good secondary.

“Defensively, Cade Christensen had another good game,” summarized Jared Moffatt. “He is making a lot of plays for us. Our defensive line played well with a number of players seeing playing time. Our linebackers, Wyatt Dale and Landon Smith, did a good job. Boston Blalock is getting better each week. Aiden Moore kept us in the game with his kicking. Aiden Willis made a big catch in the game. We are getting contributions from a lot of different players. We just need to continue to get better and play well in all three phases of the game.”