DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

Van Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt has said throughout the season that he has been waiting for his team to put together a solid performance in all three phases: offense, defense, and kicking game.

He may have received his wish Oct. 25 as the Vandals bounced back from a tough loss at Gilmer to dominate the visiting Pittsburg Pirates, 49-0, at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

The Vandals are currently 6-2 overall and 2-1 in District 7-4A, Division 2, play as they will host the Paris North Lamar Panthers (1-7, 0-3) on ‘Senior Night’ in a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, Nov. 1 at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

Against Pittsburg, the Vandals finished with an impressive 33 first downs and 483 yards of total offense including 247 yards rushing and 236 yards passing while executing 60 offensive plays. Van’s offense scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions.

Van’s defense held Pittsburg to 99 total yards of offense including 86 yards rushing and 13 yards passing.

Vandal quarterback Jaxon Moffatt turned in a fine individual performance as he completed 17 out of 18 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Jaxon Moffatt also had 58 yards rushing on six carries and two TD’s.

Running back Austin Moffatt led the Vandal running attack with 19 carries for 89 yards rushing and one TD. Reserve RB Chris Fabian had 11 carries for 48 yards and a TD. Da’Quavion Williams had a 25-yard TD run on his only carry of the contest.

Caden Rowe led the Vandal receivers with six receptions for 102 yards and two TD’s.

Receiver Easton Hinch caught five passes for 63 yards. Asher Hawkins caught three passes for 40 yards.

Defensively, defensive end Maeson Ray led Van with 13 total tackles, four tackles for losses, three QB sacks, one fumble recovery, and one QB pressure.

Linebacker Landon Smith had 11 total tackles, four tackles for losses, one QB sack, and one QB pressure.

Van’s defense finished the game with 16 tackles for losses, six QB sacks, recovered two fumbles, and had seven QB pressures as they held the Pirates to minus-five yards of total offense in the second half.

“I was real proud of our team and we challenged our team to play a complete game for four quarters in all three phases,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “We had not done that until Friday night against Pittsburg. Now is the time to do that and I thought we did that Friday night. We did a lot of good things in all three areas. The challenge now is can we play consistently great, not just consistently good. Moving forward, we need to build on this performance.

“We scored on seven straight offensive possessions,” continued Jared Moffatt. “We stopped ourselves on our first possession with a fumble on the plus side of the field. We played consistently great Friday night offensively. We threw and caught the football really well. We ran the ball well. We need to continue this type of performance moving forward. 

“Defensively, our strong performance started up front,” said Jared Moffatt. “Maeson Ray had an outstanding football game. Waylon King was real active and was in their backfield a lot. Armando Lozano played well for us at defensive tackle. Landon Smith played really well for us. Wyatt Dale made some plays. We are getting production from different people every week. We are playing good team defense. Cade Christensen plays great for us every Friday night. He has been a tremendous leader for us. Da’Quavion Williams is playing well for us at cornerback. 

“Our kicking game was solid as well,” pointed out the Vandal head coach. “Our kickoff coverage was good overall. We had a couple of deep kickoffs late in the game. We did not punt. Our extra point team is doing a great job with Aiden Willis kicking, Connor Ammons holding, and Jackson Reed snapping. Josh Christian blocked a punt. We had a complete performance in all three areas against Pittsburg.”

Jared Moffatt continues to be impressed with Willis’ kicking as he has converted all but one of his extra points this season as well as convert all three of his field goal attempts.

“I have a lot of confidence in Aiden, and he has earned that confidence by being real consistent,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “He has produced when we needed him to produce. He is consistent at practice. I feel real good that Aiden can go make a late field goal for us if we need him to do that.”

The Vandals received the opening kickoff and moved from their own 30 to their own 48 in five plays including a 10-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to receiver Aiden Willis but the drive stalled on third down and seven when a completed pass from Jaxon Moffatt to Hinch was fumbled by Hinch after a 17-yard pass completion with the loose ball being recovered by Pittsburg.

Following a Pirate punt, the Vandals opened the scoring as they moved 70 yards in eight plays. Jaxon Moffatt ended the drive with a 5-yard TD run. Aiden Moore added the first of his seven extra points to give Van a 7-0 lead with 1:19 remaining in the first quarter. Key plays in Van’s first TD drive of the contest included an 11-yard run by Fabian and a 21-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Hawkins.

The Pirates responded by moving from their own 25 to the Vandal 31 in five plays including a 36-yard run by Pittsburg RB J.R. Thompson.

Facing fourth down and six, the Pirates attempted to go for the first down, but Pittsburg QB Kord Johnson fumbled with Ray recovering the ball for the Vandals at the Van 35.

Six plays later, the Vandals extended their lead as Jaxon Moffatt connected with Rowe on a 30-yard TD pass play. Moore added the extra point giving Van a 14-0 advantage with 8:35 remaining in the second quarter. Pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 13 and 11 yards to Hinch set up the TD pass play.

After another Pittsburg punt, the Vandals got on the scoreboard again as a 73-yard drive in six plays ended with a 13-yard TD run by Jaxon Moffatt. Moore added the extra point to give Van a 21-0 lead with 2:38 remaining before halftime. A 25-yard completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe and a face mask penalty against the Pirates were key plays in the Vandal scoring march.

The Vandals got the ball back following a Pirate punt as they started their next scoring drive from their own 45 with 1:36 to play before intermission.

Five plays later, Van completed its 55-yard scoring march with a 14-yard TD pass play from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 28-0 advantage with 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Consecutive running plays by Austin Moffatt of 20 and 11 yards each and a 15-yard run by Jaxon Moffatt were key plays in the Vandal scoring march.

In the third quarter, following another Pirate punt, the Vandals took over possession at their own 30.

Ten plays later, the 70-yard scoring drive ended with a 1-yard TD run by Austin Moffatt. Moore added the extra point giving Van a commanding 35-0 lead with 5:23 to play in the third quarter. Key plays in Van’s TD drive included pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 15 and 13 yards to Rowe, and 14 yards to Hinch in addition to a face mask penalty against Pittsburg.

After a Pittsburg punt, the Vandals moved 80 yards in 13 plays with Fabian ending the long time-consuming march with a 2-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving Van a 42-0 lead with 8:06 to play in the fourth quarter. Key plays in the Vandal scoring march included a 15-yard run by Austin Moffatt and pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 12 yards to Hawkins and 15 yards to receiver Foster Rust.

Pittsburg lined up in punt formation on fourth down and five at its own 30 when the punt was blocked by Van’s Josh Christian, who recovered the ball at the Pirate 25.

On the next play from scrimmage, Williams raced down the sideline for a 25-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point to give the Vandals a 49-0 advantage with 6:31 remaining to complete the scoring.

Pittsburg moved as deep as the Vandal 24 on its next offensive series, but the scoring threat ended on second down and three when Johnson fumbled, and Van defensive tackle Adam Beall recovered the ball at the Van 44.

Reserve RB Marcus Fabian contributed an 11-yard run during Van’s final offensive series which ended on downs at the Pirate 47 before Pittsburg was able to run out the clock.

Jared Moffatt also recognized the individual performances of Rowe, Hawkins, Hinch, Austin Moffatt, Fabian, Jaxon Moffatt, Willis, left offensive tackle Cooper Hullum, and offensive lineman Karter Broyles. 

The Vandal head coach also expressed how impressed he was with the performance of freshman left offensive guard Jace Wilson in his first varsity game as he started the contest filling in for an injured Collier Bryant.

“Jace Wilson had been on our junior varsity team this season,” said Jared Moffatt. “Going back to last spring, we felt like he was someone who could help us in case of an injury in the offensive line. He does not look, and he does not play like a freshman. He got better as the game went on.”