DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

Trailing 7-0 early in the first quarter, the Van Vandals rallied to score 24 unanswered points before halftime and never looked back as they posted an impressive 38-21 victory over the visiting Pine Tree Pirates at Van’s Memorial Stadium Sept. 5.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals, now 2-0 in the young season, will travel to Lindale for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 12 against the 2-0 Lindale Eagles as the two teams will renew an old rivalry.

Against Pine Tree offensively, the Vandals registered 23 first downs and 368 yards of total offense including 293 yards rushing and 75 yards passing. Van executed 59 plays on offense.

Vandal running back Da’Quavion Williams led a balanced running attack with 89 yards rushing on 16 carries and one TD.

Quarterback Rawly Hinch contributed 83 yards rushing on nine carries and two TD’s.

Reserve RB Marcus Fabian added 49 yards rushing on 12 carries and two TD’s while reserve RB Parker Rainey had 51 yards rushing on five carries.

Hinch completed seven out of 11 passes for 75 yards. Wide receiver Connor Ammons led the Vandals with two receptions for 42 yards. Wide receiver Cash Walker also had a 22-yard pass reception.

Pine Tree was held to 15 first downs and 252 yards of total offense including 63 yards rushing and 189 yards passing by the Vandal defense, which forced four Pirate turnovers (two pass interceptions and two fumble recoveries).

Linebacker Carter Admire led the Vandal defense with 10 total tackles followed by strong safety Rainey with eight, and free safety Ian Hopson and linebacker Boston Blalock with five each.

“I thought the kids played hard and did a lot of things well in the game,” recalled Moffatt. “Defensively, we created four turnovers. That put us on a good path toward winning the game Friday night. The defense played well. We defended the run well. We held their best running back to just over 60 yards rushing. We pressured the quarterback. A defensive back’s best friend is a good pass rush from the defensive line. 

“Offensively, we started out poorly in our first possession but after that, I thought we played really well on offense,” continued Moffatt. “We ran the ball extremely well. Our backs were patient and they found the holes to run through. ‘Q’ (Williams), Marcus Fabian, and Parker Rainey all had timely, important runs. Rawly carried the ball well. We gave him more running opportunities than maybe what we originally planned. Our offensive line played well. Sophomore H-back Kace Lovett is really doing some good things on the field. He is getting better every week. Connor McCurley is also playing well for us at the tight end position. Our receivers blocked well downfield, especially Connor Ammons and Cash Walker. 

“Alex Aceves made another important field goal for us,” said Moffatt. “His kickoffs were good, and I thought we were sound on our kickoff coverage. Overall, I told our team after the game that right now, we are probably where we should be but we are nowhere near where we are going to be. The only way we are going to do that is to show up for work with the right frame of mind and to correct the mistakes that we have made so far.”

The game did not get off to a good start for the Vandals as a bad 15-yard punt on their opening offensive series gave Pine Tree excellent field position at the Van 45.

Two plays later, Pirate RB Roger Atteberry raced 35 yards up the middle untouched for a Pine Tree TD. Julian Ibarra added the extra point giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead with 10:24 remaining in the first quarter. The short scoring drive began with a 15-yard pass completion from QB Colton Croft to WR Rashaad Wofford.

Van responded with a 73-yard scoring march in 13 plays (12 running) to tie the game as Hinch ended the drive with a 3-yard TD run. Alex Aceves added the extra point to deadlock the contest at 7-7 with 2:52 to play in the first quarter. Key plays in the initial Vandal scoring drive included running gains of 14 and 10 yards by Hinch.

The Vandal defense rose to the occasion on Pine Tree’s next offensive possession as a third down and seven pass play at the Pirate 37 from Croft to WR Ashton Valentine was intercepted by Van defensive back Hopson at the Vandal 44.

Seven plays later (six running), the Vandals ended the 56-yard scoring march with a 1-yard TD run by Fabian. Aceves added the extra point giving Van a 14-7 advantage with 10:03 remaining in the second quarter. Key plays in the go-ahead scoring drive for the Vandals including running gains of 12 yards each by Williams and Rainey.

Van’s defense forced another Pine Tree turnover on the next offensive series for the Pirates as Atteberry fumbled with Hopson recovering the ball for the Vandals at the Pine Tree 38.

On the next play, Hinch outraced the Pirate defense to the end zone on a 38-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point giving the Vandals a 21-7 lead with 8:30 to play in the second quarter.

Pine Tree threatened to get on the scoreboard on their next offensive possession as the Pirates moved from their own 21 to the Vandal 20 in four plays including a 54-yard pass completion from Croft to WR Taibran Homer but on fourth down and five at the Van 20, Croft’s pass to Homer was incomplete giving the Vandals possession.

Van was forced to punt but Pine Tree fumbled the punt return with Hopson recovering the loose ball at the Vandal 45.

Seven plays later, including a 17-yard pass completion from Hinch to Ammons, the Vandals faced a fourth down and four at the Pirate 6-yard line when Aceves was sent in to attempt a 22-yard field goal. The kick was good to extend the Vandal advantage to 24-7 with 1:56 to play before halftime.

Pine Tree showed no signs of giving up as they received the third quarter kickoff and advanced 80 yards in 11 plays to get on the scoreboard as Atteberry ended the long time-consuming march with a 4-yard touchdown run. Ibarra added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 24-14 with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter. Key plays in the Pine Tree scoring drive included pass completions from Croft covering 35 yards to Wofford and 13 yards to WR Bosston Johnson.

The Vandals came right back with a 79-yard scoring drive of their own in 10 plays (nine running).

Williams ended the scoring march with an 11-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point to increase the Van lead back to 17 points, 31-14, with 58 seconds to play in the third quarter. Key plays in the Vandal scoring drive included running gains of 10 yards by Fabian and 36 yards by Rainey.

The next offensive play for Pine Tree resulted in another forced turnover by the Vandal defense as Croft’s pass from the Pirate 25 was intercepted by Vandal linebacker Blalock giving Van excellent field position at the Pine Tree 45.

Five running plays later, Fabian ended the 45-yard scoring march with a 3-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point giving the Vandals a comfortable 38-14 advantage with 10:29 to play in the fourth quarter. A face mask penalty against the Pirates was a key play in what turned out to be Van’s final scoring possession of the game.

Pine Tree closed out the scoring by advancing 72 yards in 13 plays as Croft connected with Wofford on a 5-yard TD pass completion to end the scoring march. Ibarra added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 38-21 with 3:44 to play in the game.

Following an onside kick recovery by Ammons, the Vandals executed five consecutive running plays to run out the clock.

Individual performances against Pine Tree that were recognized by Moffatt included defensive lineman Waylon King, Admire, defensive end Tim Jones, Rainey, Ammons, and Hinch.