DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

In a wild offensive shootout between two rival teams, the Van Vandals ended up on the short end of a 56-49 loss to the Lindale Eagles in their first road contest of the 2025 season Sept. 12 in a game that lasted over three hours.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals (2-1) will try to bounce back when they take on the undefeated Sunnyvale Raiders (3-0) in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 19 in Sunnyvale.

In the Van/Lindale contest, the two teams combined for 15 touchdowns and 15 extra point conversions. 

There were 105 total points scored, 121 offensive plays. 48 first downs; and 1,078 total yards (520 yards rushing and 558 yards passing).

The two starting quarterbacks combined for 32 completions on 51 attempts with each starting QB throwing four touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Vandal QB Rawly Hinch had an impressive individual performance in his first road start as a varsity player.

The junior QB completed 16 out of 23 passes for 334 yards, four TD’s, and no interceptions. Hinch also had 25 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Senior running back Da’Quavion Williams led the Vandal running attack with 115 yards on nine carries and one TD. Reserve RB Marcus Fabian added 77 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Connor Ammons led the Vandal receivers with seven receptions for 116 yards and two TD’s. Williams also had two receptions for 60 yards and one TD. Ian Hopson caught two passes for 94 yards and one TD.

“I would say that it was a typical Van/Lindale game, but looking back, I am not sure there was really anything typical about that game,” recalled Moffatt. “It came down to the last possession. It was really something. That game reminded me of the 55-54 game we won at Canton a few years ago when their field goal attempt hit the crossbar and bounced back onto the playing field. It became a shootout at Lindale. It came down to which team could make the most plays at the end. I was proud of our team in the way they played. There were a lot of questions about this team at the start of the season, and I believe that after three games, we have answered a lot of those questions. It was a great high school football game with a great atmosphere. It was an emotional game. It was unfortunate that we could not find a way to win that game.”

Van received the opening kickoff and began the scoring with a 65-yard march in six plays. Hinch ended the initial scoring drive with a 1-yard TD run. Alex Aceves made the first of his seven extra point attempts to give the Vandals an early 7-0 lead with 8:19 remaining in the first quarter. The key play in the opening scoring march for the Vandals was a 49-yard pass completion from Hinch to Ian Hopson.

The Eagles came right back to tie the game as Lindale advanced 70 yards in nine plays with Eagle QB David Lindig connecting with Kaden Fowler on a 19-yard TD pass play to end the march. Elijah Polland added the first of his eight extra point attempts to deadlock the game at 7-7 with 4:34 to play in the first quarter. A 21-yard pass completion from Lindig to receiver Brodee Copeland was a key play in Lindale’s first scoring drive.

Following a Vandal punt, Lindale took the lead as they advanced 66 yards in nine plays with Lindig running 19 yards for a TD to end the march. Polland added the extra point giving the Eagles a 14-7 advantage with exactly one minute remaining in the first quarter. A defensive illegal procedure penalty against Van on fourth down when Lindale was in punt formation and a 19-yard pass completion from Lindig to receiver Lincoln Laing were key plays in Lindale’s go-ahead TD drive.

The next three scoring drives combined for the two teams took only 31 seconds off the second quarter clock.

Van rallied to tie the game once again as the Vandals moved 67 yards in four plays with Hinch connecting with Hopson on a 45-yard TD pass play to end the drive. Aceves added the extra point to deadlock the game at 14-14 with 11:14 to play in the second quarter. Prior to the TD pass play, Hinch connected with receiver Cash Walker on a 20-yard pass completion.

Fowler almost immediately broke the deadlock as he received the short ensuing kickoff for Lindale and raced 68 yards for a TD. Polland added the extra point giving the Eagles a 21-14 lead with 11:02 remaining in the second quarter.

On the first play from scrimmage following the next kickoff, Williams outran the Lindale defense up the middle on a 77-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point to tie the game once again at 21-21 with 10:43 still to play before halftime.

After a 52-yard return of the next kickoff by Fowler, the Eagles had excellent field position at the Vandal 23 but the Van defense rose to the occasion and kept Lindale out of the end zone on fourth and 13 at the Vandal 26 when Lindig’s pass to receiver Jacob Pettway was incomplete giving the Vandals possession.

Five plays later, the Vandals gave the ball back to Lindale as a fumble by Hinch was recovered by Hank Thurman of the Eagles at the Van 35.

Thurman ended the five-play drive with a 2-yard TD run. Polland added the extra point, giving the Eagles a 28-21 advantage with 4:34 remaining in the second quarter. A 22-yard pass completion from Lindig to Laing was a key play in Lindale’s go-ahead TD drive.

The Vandals came back before halftime as they marched 75 yards in eight plays with Hinch ending the drive on a 2-yard TD run. Aceves added the extra point to tie the game at 28-28 with 53 seconds to play before halftime and ending the first half of scoring for both teams. A 51-yard run by Fabian was a key play in Van’s scoring drive.

Lindale received the third quarter kickoff and moved from its own 25 to the Vandal 4-yard line in seven plays setting up a fourth down and goal.

The Eagles decided to send in Polland to attempt a 21-yard go-ahead field goal, but the kick was blocked by Hopson giving the Vandals possession at their own 20.

Van then took the lead as they moved 80 yards in 10 plays with Hinch connecting with Ammons on a 14-yard TD pass play. Aceves added the extra point, giving the Vandals a 35-28 lead with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter. Key plays in the Vandal go-ahead scoring drive included pass completions from Hinch covering 10 yards to Walker, and 22 and 14 yards to Ammons.

Lindale came right back to deadlock the contest again as the Eagles moved 75 yards in five plays with Lindig connecting with Jackson Price on a 31-yard TD pass play. Polland added the extra point to tie the game at 35-35 with 1:33 to play in the third quarter. A 31-yard run by Thurman opened the scoring drive for the Eagles.

The Vandals responded by moving 86 yards in four plays with Hinch connecting with Williams on a 60-yard TD pass play to open the fourth quarter of play. Aceves added the extra point to give Van a 42-35 advantage with 11:51 to play in the fourth quarter. A 23-yard pass completion from Hinch to receiver Aiden Willis was a key play in the scoring drive for the Vandals.

Lindale came back with a 69-yard scoring drive in four plays with Thurman racing 45 yards for a TD to end the march. Polland added the extra point tying the contest at 42-42 with 10:28 to play in the game.

Van came right back with what turned out to be its final scoring march of the game as they moved 72 yards in six plays with Hinch connecting again with Ammons, this time on a 28-yard TD pass connection. Aceves added the extra point, giving the Vandals a 49-42 with 8:24 remaining. A 26-yard run by Williams opened the final scoring drive for Van.

The Eagles fired back with a 75-yard scoring march in 10 plays as Lindig connected with Fowler on an 11-yard TD pass completion to end the drive. Polland added the extra point to deadlock the game one more time at 49-49 with 4:38 to play in the contest. Key plays in the scoring drive for Lindale included running gains of 12 yards by Thurman, and 20 and 27 yards by Lindig in addition to a 14-yard pass completion from Lindig to Copeland.

Van’s next possession saw the Vandals move from their own 31 to the Lindale 45 in eight plays including a 19-yard pass completion from Hinch to Ammons but consecutive QB sacks of Hinch by the Eagle defense forced the Vandals to punt.

The punt return by Fowler gave Lindale good field position at the Vandal 48 with 1:31 to play.

Five running plays later, the game-winning scoring drive for Lindale came to a close as Lindig ran 17 yards for a TD. Polland added the extra point giving the Eagles a 56-49 lead with 31 seconds remaining.

Van’s final offensive play at its own 14 resulted in a turnover as a quick pass from Hinch to Ammons was fumbled by Ammons as he tried to lateral the ball back to Hopson with Lindale recovering the ball allowing the Eagles to run out the clock.

Moffatt pointed out some of the individual performances from his team against Lindale starting with his QB.

“I thought Rawly Hinch played out of his mind,” emphasized Moffatt. “There have been very few games that I have seen since I have been at Van where a Van QB played any better than what he did. He was willing us to win that game. He made play after play. He made some throws in the pocket while getting hit. It takes guts to stand in there when you know you are about to get hit and he made those throws count. I was real proud of his performance.

“Our receivers made a lot of plays,” continued Moffatt. “Connor Ammons made some big catches for us. Cash Walker quietly made some big plays as did Aiden Willis. Ian Hopson brings speed to our offense. ‘Q’ (Williams) made big plays for us running and catching. Our offensive line played well. Our kicker, Alex Aceves, did well on his deep kickoffs. He was seven out of seven on his extra points.

“I hate losing those types of games, especially to Lindale, but I was real proud of our kids’ effort and performance,” said the Vandal head coach. “It was a tough loss for us. We have to put that game behind us. That will be the key moving forward. This was an emotional loss.

“Defensively, it was not one of our best performances against Lindale,” summarized Moffatt. “We did not tackle well. We lost Carter Admire to an injury in the second quarter which hurt us. I know this, our players and our defensive staff will be ready for the next challenge. The way the game went against Lindale, we were going to have to win it with offense and special teams. We scored a lot of points, but we had the ball with four minutes to play in a tied game, and we just did not get the job done. We gave up a big kickoff return for a TD and another long kickoff return as well. Again, our team responded well to some adverse conditions overall. There are a lot of things to learn from and improve on from that game.”