DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

Replacing 21 lettermen from last year’s 12-1 team and entering a new district will be among the challenges that the Van Vandals are facing as they begin a new campaign in 2022.

Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt is entering his 13th year as the leader of the Vandal football program with an overall record of 103-39.

Only Mal Fowler has been the head football coach at Van longer than Moffatt. Fowler coached in Van for 26 total seasons over two different time periods.

Around 115 high school participants, including approximately 40 freshmen, were on the practice field when the Vandals began their pre-season workouts Aug. 1.

“Our offseason program for the 2022 season started after we returned to school following the Christmas holidays,” recalled the Vandal head coach. “While the calendar is saying that our workouts officially began on Aug. 1, we have been preparing since January. Our kids have worked hard in the weight room. After Spring Break, we worked on a lot of football-related skills.

“In the summertime, our players worked out in the weight room four days a week and we got to work on some more football-related skills as well,” continued Moffatt. “Our offense and defense have stayed pretty constant with very few changes. We feel like our kids always come in with a pretty good base of knowledge. If we had to play a game during the first week of practice, we could have done that. Our players are not starting over. They are just picking up where they left off. This allows us to get more done in a less amount of time.”

The Vandals’ 12-1 season in 2021 included a district championship, a bi-district championship, an area championship and an appearance in the Class 4A, Division 2, regional semifinals. Last season was only the fourth 12-win season in the history of the Vandal football program.

Despite losing 21 lettermen due to graduation following last season, the Vandals return 20 lettermen for 2022.

“We have some extremes on both sides of the scale,” pointed out Moffatt. “We will be returning some three-year starters like linebacker Beau Barton, strong safety and running back Garrett Florey, and receiver Brayden Bradshaw. We have some guys with tons of varsity experience. Offensive lineman Jose Suarez will be a junior this year, but he started as a freshman. On one side of the spectrum, we do have some experienced players that have proven to be really good football players. On the flip side of that, we have some players coming in with no varsity experience. We anticipate starting some sophomores this season.”

Moffatt went over the 2022 Vandal football roster as he talked about the players on the offensive side of the football first.

Left tackle: Senior Sergio Salinas, who played tight end for the Vandals last season, will be battling for playing time with junior Bruce Shaw.

Left guard: Junior Trae Derrick and sophomore Cooper Hullum. “The battle for playing time at left guard and left tackle is wide open at this point,” emphasized Moffatt.

Center: Senior Kepler Multhaup, sophomore Justus Anderson, and junior Colton Grier.

Right guard: Junior Ace Bostick and Reagan Smith.

Right tackle: Junior Jose Suarez and junior Joe Ruiz. “The right side of our offensive line is the complete opposite of our left side,” pointed out Moffatt. “Ace and Jose are back, and I am excited about what those guys are going to do for us moving forward. They have a chance to be dominant.”

Running back: Junior Demarcus Stinnett, Florey, sophomore Calem Redding, a move-in from Mineola; Barton, and junior Colton Miller.

H-Back: Grier and senior Braydon Hullum.

Quarterback: Sophomore Jaxon Moffatt, Coach Moffatt’s son, is the starter. He will be backed up by junior Cannon Rainey, senior Justin Gregory, and Florey.

“We started the spring with three guys working at QB that included Jaxon, Cannon, and Justin,” explained the Vandal head coach. “What ended up happening was Cannon may be starting at free safety and Justin is working a lot at cornerback and may win a starting job there. Jaxon was the only one remaining that was just playing QB. Personnel wise, it just worked out that way.”

‘X’ Receiver: Senior Brayden Bradshaw and sophomore Caden Rowe. “We need Brayden to play well early for us,” said Coach Moffatt.

‘Z’ Receiver: Sophomore Easton Hinch and junior Austin Johnson.

‘A’ Receiver: Junior Jackson Admire, and sophomore Austin Moffatt, Jaxon’s twin brother.

‘Y’ Receiver; Junior Luke Horton, junior Gabriel Bachert, and sophomore Landon Smith.

“We really need our offensive line and our running game to play well early,” emphasized Coach Moffatt. “We are probably starting not only a sophomore at QB but two sophomores at receiver as well. We only have one receiver with any varsity experience. These young guys will need to grow up real fast. We have some unproven players. How will they respond?”

Defensively, the Vandals will have the following players competing for quality playing time during the 2022 season:

Defensive end: Junior Logan Fattig, Miller, and junior Tuff Arozamena.

Defensive tackle: Brayden Hullum, moving from linebacker. “We need some players at defensive tackle,” said Coach Moffatt. “Brayden is making this move unselfishly with a great attitude. The other DT spot is wide open at this point.” Also competing for playing time at DT are junior Reggie Johnson, senior Christian Campuzano, a move-in from Edgewood who was the defensive MVP in their district last season; and Fattig.

‘Rover’: Smith and junior Garrett Phillips.

‘Sam’ linebacker: Barton and Admire. “We need Beau Barton to make a lot of plays for us on defense,” said Coach Moffatt.

‘Mic’ linebacker: Sophomore Wyatt Dale and Campuzano.

Cornerback: Senior Reed Parish, Gregory, Bachert, and Rowe.

Free safety: Rainey and Bradshaw.

‘Bandit’: Florey and Redding.

“We have a core of guys that have played a lot of varsity snaps on defense,” pointed out Coach Moffatt. “We do have more experience on the defensive side of the football.”

In the kicking game, the Vandals are looking for someone to fill the shoes of the kicker. Gregory, a move-in from Bullard last spring, is leading the competition. Bradshaw returns as the punter. Among the kickoff and punt return specialists will be Florey, Bradshaw, and Stinnett.

The Vandals will enter a new district for the next two seasons as they will be competing in District 8-4A, Division 2, which features perennial state championship contender Carthage along with Center and Rusk as new district opponents while Bullard, Brownsboro, and Van Zandt County rival Canton join the Vandals from their previous district.

“Our district race starts with Carthage, one of the best high school football programs in any classification anywhere in the state of Texas,” pointed out Coach Moffatt. “Carthage has won eight state championships in the past 13 seasons and are ranked number one in the state pre-season this year. They are 49-1 in their last 50 games. Who is next after Carthage?

“Texas Football Magazine picks us to finish second in the district,” continued the Vandal head coach. “I appreciate that, but they picked us to finish second because we were 12-1 last season. We have had success over time in Van and I appreciate the respect that our program has because of our success over time. At the same time, we may be starting six sophomores this season and that makes me nervous. In the end, it could be us after Carthage. I think we are putting together a pretty good football team. We also have a tough non-district schedule, so we are going to have to get real good, real fast. By the time we start district play, we will know where we are.”

The Vandal head coach discussed the other teams in the district other than Carthage that his team will be facing this season.

“Center has a tremendous QB,” emphasized Coach Moffatt. “I am a huge fan of that guy. He will only be better as a junior. He was tremendous when he played against us as a sophomore last year. Their top two receivers are back as well. Brownsboro has a ton of players back on both sides of the ball. I was impressed with the job that their coach did last year, and he is back for his second season at Brownsboro. They have a player that has received multiple Division I college offers. Rusk is coached by Thomas Sitton, one of my favorite coaches. He does a great job there. They graduated a QB who went to Colorado, but they have another good one ready to play. Canton has a new head coach in Heath Ragle. I can’t predict what they will look at. I know that they lost a number of players to graduation. I don’t know about Bullard either. They had a tough season last year. When it is all said and done, there will be at least one pretty good team from our district not make the playoffs this season.”

In preparations for a challenging district race, Coach Moffatt believes that his team’s non-district schedule may be the toughest he has had since he has been at Van.

The 2022 regular season and non-district schedule begins Friday, Aug. 26 when the Vandals travel to Longview to take on the Class 5A Pine Tree Pirates in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Van’s home opener will be Friday, Sept. 2 against the Chapel Hill Bulldogs in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. After taking on their long-time rival, the Lindale Eagles, Friday, Sept. 9 at Van’s Memorial Stadium for Homecoming, the Vandals close out their non-district schedule at Paris Friday, Sept. 16.

“Lindale played in the state championship game two years ago and they are still playing real good football,” said Coach Moffatt. “Chapel Hill got beat in the last few seconds in the state semifinals last season and they are ranked pre-season number two in the state this year. Chapel Hill, Lindale, and Paris are all state-ranked in Class 4A entering this season. Paris is always a talented football team. We open against a Class 5A team on the road at Pine Tree. They are all good football teams. We are going to be throwing some inexperienced players into the fire early this season and we are going to have to play at an extremely high level in order to win.”

Members of the Vandal coaching staff for the 2022 season and their areas of responsibility are as follows:

Jaren Rainey, defensive coordinator; Scott Reynolds and Sam Harvey, co-offensive coordinators; Robby Parish, safeties; Matt Young, outside receivers; Zac Bryant, offensive line; Desmond Oliver, defensive tackles; Clay Haltom, defensive ends; Ethan Robinson, outside receivers and junior high; Brett Doring, running backs; Toby Mitchell, junior high; Justin Stanfield, junior high; Adam Shaw, cornerbacks; Ryan Hinch, junior high; Corey Harris, junior high; Kendall Williams, freshmen team; and Travis Willoughby, junior high.

“We have a great coaching staff, and we are extremely fortunate to have the collection of people we have coaching in our football program,” pointed out Coach Moffatt.

The Vandals will open District 8-4A, Division 2, play against another rival, the Brownsboro Bears, in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 23, at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

“Our team is not afraid of anybody on our schedule,” emphasized Coach Moffatt. “That is their mindset. I appreciate that about them, and I am proud of them for that. Our kids love playing football and they have a lot of confidence. It will be a war every week. They are ready to line up and play.”