DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

With their run for the Class 4A, Division 2, state championship getting underway in the coming days, the Van Vandals still have some unfinished business to take care of in their regular season finale.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, 7-2 overall and 4-1 in District 8-4A, Division 2, play will enter the state playoffs as the runner-up team in the district regardless of the outcome of their final regular season contest.

The Vandals will host the Bullard Panthers (5-4, 1-4) in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Nov. 3 at Van’s Memorial Stadium on ‘Senior Night.’

For the visiting Panthers, their season is on the line against the Vandals as Bullard must win to keep alive their faint hopes for a potential berth in the upcoming state playoffs. A loss to Van would end their 2023 campaign.

Although on the surface, it would appear that there is nothing on the line for the Vandals in their final regular season contest against Bullard, Moffatt would disagree.

“Motivation always starts with opportunity to play,” emphasized Moffatt. “Our first key to victory for this game against Bullard is to start fast and play well early but all that stems from the love of playing football. When I ask kids throughout the year about ‘why do you play?’ the answer should always be, ‘I love to play the game.’ That is why we do this.

“People on the outside don’t realize how much work goes into this and the level of commitment that these kids have to try to put themselves and the team in the best position to win in the fall,” continued Moffatt. “What people see is what happens on the field on Friday nights. When the season ends, these kids are already going to work getting ready for the next season.

“Anytime you get an opportunity to play a football game on a Friday night, what motivation do you need to go play hard than the fact that you love the game, you love the competition, and you love the physicality of the game?” emphasized Moffatt. “That’s who our kids are and that is the mentality of our kids.

“We have an opportunity Friday night to run out on that field in front of our fans to play high school football in the state of Texas,” pointed out Moffatt. “What more motivation do you need? By the way, we are coming off a 35-7 loss to Carthage.

“Our kids will be ready to play against Bullard,” said Moffatt. “They know that Bullard is fighting for their playoff lives. Our seniors have an opportunity to finish their home schedule undefeated. These seniors have not lost many home games through the years. This is their last opportunity to play at Van’s Memorial Stadium and I expect them and our entire team to play well.”

The Vandal head coach then commented on the regular season finale matchup at home against the Panthers.

“Bullard has always been an intriguing team to me,” emphasized Moffatt. “I feel like that they should have won more games than they have. They never should have lost to Brownsboro, and they had a great chance to beat Rusk. They barely beat Canton. They went undefeated during their non-district schedule.”

The Panthers will be without the services of their senior starting quarterback at Van as he suffered a knee injury against Center Oct. 27, according to Moffatt.

“He is a great player with a strong arm,” said Moffatt. “I hate to hear about season-ending injuries happening to anybody. He was a three-year starter for them. Their backup QB is a junior who has not played very much but he is a good player who is more than capable of running their offense. They have been a ‘spread’ team running lots of empty formations. They have thrown the ball a lot with their starting QB but how much their offense changes with a new QB playing, we will just have to wait and see.”

Moffatt also talked about the Bullard defense. “They have been real multiple in the secondary,” pointed out Moffatt. “They play a bunch of different coverages. They will play both an ‘even’ and an ‘odd’ front. Their kids play hard. Their head coach this season was their defensive coordinator last season. We have had tight games with Bullard especially at their place. We had to rally in the fourth quarter to beat them last season.”

In other District 8-4A, Division 2, regular season finales, the Canton Eagles (3-6, 1-4) will visit the Rusk Eagles (5-4, 2-3) while the Brownsboro Bears (5-4, 1-4) will travel to Center to take on the Center Rough Riders (6-3, 3-2).

The Carthage Bulldogs (10-0, 7-0), the District 8-4A Division 2, champion, is enjoying an open date Nov. 3 before entering defense of their Class 4A, Division 2, state championship in the coming days. Carthage is currently ranked #1 in the state.

If Bullard and Brownsboro lose, the Canton/Rusk matchup will decide the fourth and final playoff seed in the district.

The Vandal head coach also shared that Van, the District 8-4A runner-up, will play the Spring Hill Panthers, the District 7-4A third place team, in the bi-district round of the state playoffs more than likely in Tyler at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Nov. 10.

Van’s sub-varsity teams will conclude their seasons Thursday, Nov. 2 as the junior high teams will host Bullard at Van’s Memorial Stadium starting at 4:30 p.m. while the freshmen and the junior varsity squads will travel to Bullard with the freshmen game starting at 5 p.m. followed by the J.V. game.

For results of Van’s final regular season game against Bullard and a preview of the Vandals’ bi-district playoff game against Spring Hill, check out www.vanzandtnews.com.