DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

Utilizing long sustained offensive drives, especially in the second half, the Van Vandals held off a rally by the Lindale Eagles Sept. 8 as they improved their season record to 2-1 with a thrilling 42-37 win on the road in Lindale.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals will return to Van’s Memorial Stadium Friday, Sept. 15, when they host the Paris Wildcats for Homecoming in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Van’s Memorial Stadium to close out Van’s non-district schedule.

Against Lindale, the Vandal offense registered some impressive numbers as they finished with 30 first downs and 493 yards of total offense including 325 yards rushing and 168 yards passing. Van did not punt during the entire game. The Vandals ran 65 plays from scrimmage including 55 running plays.

Van quarterback Jaxon Moffatt completed eight out of 10 passes for 168 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. The Vandal QB also carried the ball 24 times for 107 yards rushing and three TD’s.

Running back Austin Moffatt finished with 89 yards rushing on 10 carries and one TD while RB Cannon Rainey contributed 66 yards rushing on 11 carries and two TD’s. Wide receiver Caden Rowe caught four passes for 87 yards.

Lindale’s offense was led by QB Clint Thurman who registered 178 yards rushing on 15 carries and three TD’s in addition to completing seven out of 15 passes for 107 yards, one TD, and one interception. Eagle RB Wyatt Parker finished with 83 yards rushing on 10 carries and one TD.

“I was so proud of our kids’ effort to win that football game,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “I am so fortunate to be at a place where the players give their very best effort each and every week. Offensively, we played really well except for the three first half turnovers. We have to do a better job of protecting the football. I can’t say enough about how well our offensive line played. The ability for us to run the football was a big key against Lindale. We had four different guys running the football and they were all important to our running game.”

The Eagles received the opening kickoff and turned the ball over two plays later as Thurman’s pass deep down the sideline to WR Aiden Warnell on second down and 10 at the Lindale 25 was intercepted by Van defensive back Gabriel Bachert at the Van 33.

Five plays later, including a 14-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe, the Vandals had a second down and eight at the Lindale 39 when Moffatt fumbled following a blindside hit with Miles Miller of the Eagles recovering the ball at the Lindale 43.

Two plays after the turnover, Lindale got on the scoreboard first as Thurman outran the Vandal defense 60 yards for a TD. Seth Baggett added the extra point giving the Eagles a sudden 7-0 advantage with 8:23 to play in the first quarter.

The Vandals moved from their own 28 to the Eagle 35 in two plays that included a roughing the passer penalty against Lindale and a 20-yard run by Jaxon Moffatt.

On first down at the Eagle 35, the scoring threat ended for the Vandals as Jaxon Moffatt’s pass over the middle was intercepted by Lindale at the Eagle 7-yard line.

Van’s defense stiffened and later forced the Eagles to punt out of their own end zone giving the Vandals excellent field position at the Lindale 33.

Three running plays later, including an 11-yard gain by Austin Moffatt, the Vandals got on the scoreboard as Jaxon Moffatt ran six yards for a TD. Aiden Moore added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter.

After a 22-yard punt by the Eagles, the Vandals took over possession at their own 34 but on first down, Vandal RB DaQavius Williams fumbled with Lindale recovering the ball at the Vandal 38.

On the next play, Parker raced 38 yards for a TD. Baggett added the extra point giving Lindale a 14-7 lead with two minutes to play in the first quarter.

After a strong kickoff return by Easton Hinch, the Vandals needed only one offensive play to tie the score again as Austin Moffatt ran 43 yards for a TD. Moore added the extra point to deadlock the contest at 14-14 with still 1:42 remaining in the first quarter.

Following a Lindale punt, the Vandals took their first lead of the game as they drove 52 yards in seven plays (six running).

Rainey ended the march with a 3-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 21-14 lead with 8:28 remaining in the second quarter. Key plays in the go-ahead scoring drive for Van included a 22-yard run by Hinch on a reverse handoff and a 14-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe.

Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Lindale drew closer on the scoreboard as Thurman ran 62 yards for a TD cutting Van’s lead to 21-20 with 7:38 to play before halftime. The extra point attempt was no good.

The Vandals responded by moving 80 yards in 12 plays (11 running) with Rainey ending the march with a 5-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 28-20 lead with 51 seconds to play before halftime. Key plays in the Vandal scoring drive included pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 24 yards to Rowe and 31 yards to Hinch in addition to a 10-yard run by Jaxon Moffatt.

Lindale rallied by moving from its own 27 to the Vandal 15 in on five passing plays including completions from Thurman covering 18, 13, and 18 yards.

On the final play of the first half, Baggett drilled a 32-yard field goal to cut Van’s lead to 28-23 at halftime.

The Vandals and the Eagles then put on an offensive show in the second half as Van had three total possessions resulting in two TD’s and a kneel-down at the Lindale 9-yard line to end the game while the Eagles had two offensive possessions in the final two quarters resulting in two TD’s.

Van received the third quarter kickoff and advanced 75 yards in 12 plays (10 running) to extend their lead as Jaxon Moffatt ended the long time-consuming march with an 8-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 35-23 advantage with 5:19 to play in the third quarter. Key plays in the Vandal scoring drive included running gains of 22 yards by Rainey and 11 yards by Austin Moffatt in addition to an 11-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to WR Austin Johnson.

Lindale responded by advancing 75 yards in six plays as Thurman connected with his receiver on a 32-yard TD pass play to end the drive. Baggett added the extra point cutting Van’s lead to 35-30 with 2:49 to play in the third quarter.

The Vandals then moved 68 yards in nine plays to once again extend their advantage as Jaxon Moffatt ran one yard for a TD to end the march. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 42-30 lead with 10:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. A 35-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe was a key play in the Vandal scoring drive.

Lindale refused to go away as they advanced 69 yards in 11 plays for what turned out to be their final offensive possession of the game.

Thurman ended the drive with a 24-yard TD run. Baggett added the extra point to again cut the Vandal lead to five points, 42-37, with 6:45 remaining.

Van then moved from its own 25 to the Lindale 9-yard line in 11 plays as they consumed the remaining time on the clock.

Two plays highlighted the final offensive drive for the Vandals. After overcoming a holding penalty, the Vandals had third down and 12 at their own 34 when Jaxon Moffatt rolled to his right before stopping and tossing a throw-back screen pass to the left to his twin brother, Austin Moffatt, as he followed his blockers down the sideline for a 26-yard gain and a first down at the Lindale 40.

“We gained six yards on a first down call and our running back got called for holding which I could not believe,” said Jared Moffatt. “Holding had not been called the whole game and there was some holding going on out there prior to that play that was not called. I can live with consistency from the officials. That holding penalty occurred in a crucial situation. That was an impactful call.

“We had third down and 12 and we felt like the throw-back screen pass would be an effective play,” continued Jared Moffatt. “That was a key play in that moment. The kids did a great job of executing the play.”

With Lindale forced to use their timeouts on defense, the Vandals later faced a fourth down and three at the Eagle 22 as Van took a timeout with 1:24 remaining.

With virtually everyone in the stadium anticipating a running play, Jaxon Moffatt faked a handoff and fired a quick pass over the middle to a wide-open WR Luke Horton, who then hit the ground after catching the pass at the Eagle 9-yard line allowing the Vandals to run out the clock.

“My thought process was that maybe, we could run three yards for that first down, but I thought we had a pass play that would be wide open in that situation,” said Jared Moffatt. “We had not worked on that play very much and we had not been using that particular formation a lot. We talked about it on the sideline. We were able to make the play and run the clock out.”

Jared Moffatt said that Horton was told to fall on the ground after catching the pass but not by him.

“To be honest, Austin and Jaxon were the ones that told Luke not to score on that play,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “I thought to myself when they said that, ‘you are right.’ Catch the ball, hit the ground, and the game is over. He could have scored easily on that play, but he made the right decision to hit the ground in that situation. I wish I could take credit for thinking about all of that, but I really can’t. We were all happy after that play.”

Jared Moffatt recognized the individual efforts of Rowe, Colton Grier, Hinch, Johnson, Bachert, Rainey, Cade Christensen, Jackson Admire, Jaxon Moffatt, and Austin Moffatt.

Defensive statistics from the Lindale game were recently released by the Vandal coaching staff and the numbers were as follows:

Cade Christensen, 12 total tackles; Tuff Arozamena, eight total tackles; Foster Rust, seven total tackles; Cannon Rainey, five total tackles; Logan Fattig, four total tackles, one tackle for a loss, one QB sack, and two QB pressures; Luke Horton, four total tackles and one QB pressure; Wyatt Dale, four total tackles and one batted pass/pass breakup; Armando Lozano, four total tackles; Colten Miller, three total tackles, one QB sack, and one QB pressure; Reggie Johnson, two total tackles; Easton Hinch, two total tackles; Gabe Bachert, two total tackles, one interception, and two batted passes/pass breakups; Garrett Phillips, one total tackle; Caden Rowe, one total tackle; Jackson Admire, one total tackle; Josh Christian, one QB pressure; and Anthony Skitt, one total tackle.