DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

After a 6-5 season that came to a close Nov. 10 in the bi-district round of the Class 4A, Division 2, state football playoffs, the Van Vandals are already thinking about the challenges that they will be facing entering the 2023 season.

Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt, who has led Van to 12 state playoff appearances in his 13 seasons at Van, first looked back at the conclusion of the 2022 campaign.

“We lost more games this season that we were really out of than in the last five years combined,” recalled Moffatt. “We were never really in the game against Paris, Center, Carthage, and Texarkana Pleasant Grove. Those games completely got away from us. I am proud of our guys for responding and never giving up. Our kids competed and never laid down. They always competed no matter what the situation was facing them.

“We knew we had a lot of question marks entering the season and we knew that the answers to a lot of those questions involved playing a number of inexperienced players, specifically sophomores,” pointed out Moffatt. “We had a difficult non-district schedule, and our district was tougher this year.

“What we didn’t know, and we really couldn’t prepare for this season was the number of injuries that we had and that was unfortunate,” said the Vandal head coach. “This team, especially our senior class, did their best to overcome that. They knew how to respond when bad things happened. They continued to prepare each week to win football games. There were times when we could have checked it in and made excuses, but they never did, and I appreciate them for that.

“Nobody around here is happy with the way we finished our season,” emphasized Moffatt. “We were 6-5 and we lost in the first round of the playoffs against a really good football team. We are not sitting around patting ourselves on the back after a 6-5 season. We are all pretty frustrated. I am proud of our guys for the direction and the leadership that they showed throughout the season.”

Moffatt said that preparations for the 2023 season are already underway, but the pace will really not pick up on their off-season program until after the Christmas holiday break at school.

“Honestly, we will do very little between now and Christmas,” said Moffatt. “This season, our off-season program is beginning earlier than we wanted it to since we lost in the first round of the playoffs. When we come back from Thanksgiving, we will do a few things. The players will start lifting but really, the focus of our off-season program really doesn’t get underway until we come back to school in January. We will be focused and full speed ahead at that point getting ready for the 2023 football season.”

Moffatt also discussed the success of his sub-varsity teams in 2022 including a 9-1 record by the Vandal junior varsity squad.

“The J. V. had a really good year,” recalled Moffatt. “Their only loss was to Carthage, 10-6. You think about how many sophomores played on the varsity team this season. There were more than a handful. The J. V. had to deal with some injuries as well as the varsity. For that J. V. group to come together and win nine games was really impressive to me. I was really proud of our coaches and players on that J. V. team.

“The freshmen team ended with a record of 5-3-2,” said Moffatt. “They really came a long way and really grew up during the season. I saw some really good things from them particularly at the end of the season.

“So far as our junior high teams are concerned, the eighth grade had a really good season losing only one game,” summarized Moffatt. “We have some good players coming to the high school level as freshmen next school year and we are really excited about having them. Our seventh grade played well. You have to remember that a lot of those kids are playing competitive tackle football for the first time ever. We are excited about that group as well.”