Vandals host Brownsboro in rare Thursday night district game Oct. 22
DAVID BARBER
Two teams looking to get back in the race for potential post-season appearances will be in action in a rare Thursday night matchup on Oct. 22 when the Van Vandals host one of their long-time rivals, the Brownsboro Bears.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Van’s Memorial Stadium.
Both teams are 0-2 in district play after suffering lopsided defeats last week as the Vandals were blown out at Madisonville, 49-7, while the Bears were shutout at home by the undefeated Canton Eagles, 55-0.
With three district games remaining, the winner of Thursday night’s contest will remain alive for a potential state playoff berth while the loser can probably think about the start of basketball season.
“All we can do right now is prepare for the next game and do what needs to be done to defeat Brownsboro,” emphasized Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt. “To think anything beyond that right now would be foolish on our part. That is our task at hand.”
Playing on a Thursday night is nothing new for the Vandals over the past few years, but it still provides some unique challenges, according to Moffatt.
“We are losing a day in preparation but since we are in the latter part of the season is much more manageable now than it would be if it happened at the beginning of the season,” pointed out Moffatt.
The main reason that the Van/Brownsboro district contest was moved to Thursday was due to a referee shortage.
“This game is being played on Thursday for one reason,” emphasized Moffatt. “The Tyler Chapter of the Football Officials Association does not have enough crews to cover all of the Friday night football games. This was made clear to all coaches by the chapter before the beginning of the season. This was not a decision that was made by Van or Brownsboro. We attempted to look for officials from other chapters that could call the game on Friday night, but it did not happen. We contacted the College Station, Houston, and Waco chapters but the problem is that all of those chapters are calling district games and their schedules are full. I don’t like playing on Thursday night, but this situation is out of our control. The biggest change is that we will have sub-varsity games on Wednesday this week.”
Moffatt has been impressed with the improvement of the Bears throughout the season.
“They are doing a good job over there,” pointed out Moffatt. “They have won a few games this season. Their kids are playing hard. They have talented kids at the skill positions. They have some good players on defense, especially one of their defensive tackles. Their quarterback is back from last season. He is a good player. This game is going to be more about us than our opponent. We have to play way better than we did at Madisonville in all three phases. We need to play a complete game Thursday night.”
Following their home game against Brownsboro, the Vandals travel to Athens Oct. 30 before closing out their regular season and district schedule at home against Rusk Nov. 6.