DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

After four straight days of practicing in helmets and shorts, the Van Vandals will put on the pads for the first time in 2022 when they conduct their annual Red/White Intersquad Scrimmage Friday, Aug. 5, at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

Freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity players and coaches will be introduced to those in attendance around 6:45 p.m. before the scrimmage begins at 7 p.m.

The first day of workouts in helmets and shorts took place Aug. 1 as Vandal Head Football Coach Jared Moffatt and his coaching staff welcomed around 115 high school participants including approximately 40 freshmen.

“It was a good first day for us,” said Moffatt following the Aug. 1 practice. “We have been here for a long time. These kids have grown up in our system. We just hit the first day running. There is not a lot of teaching that we have to do on the first day. Also, the way we prepare for the season has changed. We are able to do some things in the summer now that we could not do 30 years ago. Our players have a good understanding of what is going on. They know what is expected. Our numbers were good. Everyone is just glad to get started.”

The points of emphasis for the Vandals in the first day of practice involved installing offensive and defensive schemes.

“We are getting everything in, and we were practicing against different fronts that we will see throughout the season,” pointed out Moffatt, who is entering his 13th season as Vandal head coach. “As we get closer to our season opener against Pine Tree, we will turn the corner and focus in on preparing for Pine Tree. We got a lot done in our first day of practice.”

The heat was a concern for all players and coaches heading into the first practice which started at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 1 but Moffatt said that the weather was not as big a factor as he was anticipating.

“It could have been way worse,” recalled Moffatt. “Practicing in the evening is somewhat better but even at that, it was still 99 degrees at 6:30 p.m. I thought it cooled off a little bit when the wind started blowing. We do have to continue to be conscious about the heat especially at this time of the year. We have done this before. The last time it has been this hot was 2011. It is just something that we have to be mindful of. We just need to be smart and take care of our kids.”

Moffatt is anxious to see how his kids perform, with pads on, during the team’s intersquad scrimmage.

“How long the scrimmage will last and how many snaps we will have during the scrimmage varies from year to year,” emphasized Moffatt. “We have a lot of younger players this season that are in need of a lot of snaps. There are a number of sophomores and other players unproven at the varsity level that are battling for playing time right now. We might go a little bit longer at this scrimmage.”

Decisions that will need to be made involving some of the position battles on the team will probably not be determined after the Red/White scrimmage Aug. 5, according to the Vandal head coach.

“The Red/White scrimmage is the first opportunity for every player to put on pads,” pointed out Moffatt. “We will go at a different speed with the pads on. This scrimmage serves as our first evaluation tool. There could be some kids that come along and surprise us during this process. Very few of our questions are usually answered after the Red/White scrimmage. We will have our best players on offense go against our best players on defense for 10-12 plays and then we will switch out some players for the remainder of the scrimmage. Some of these competitions for playing time could extend into the start of the regular season.”

Overall, Moffatt is pleased with the start of practices in preparation for the 2022 regular season schedule.

“We have a really good coaching staff from top to bottom,” emphasized Moffatt. “I am really excited about who we have here. Some of our coaches have been here for eight years or more but we do have some new coaches on the staff as well. Our kids are excited to be back. Our slogan this year is ‘We’re In It.’ It comes from a quote in a Theodore Roosevelt speech. We are excited about our upcoming season, and we are glad to be playing.”

Following the Red/White Intersquad Scrimmage, the Vandals will continue their pre-season scrimmage schedule when they travel to Spring Hill to take on the Spring Hill Panthers Friday, Aug. 12, before returning home for their final pre-season scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 18, as they will host one of their Van Zandt County rivals, the Grand Saline Indians.

The Vandals will open their 2022 regular season schedule against the Class 5A Pine Tree Pirates in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Aug. 26, in Longview.

Van’s home opener at Van’s Memorial Stadium will be in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 2, against the Chapel Hill Bulldogs.

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

For more information about the results of the Red/White Intersquad Scrimmage as well as a preview of the Aug. 12 scrimmage at Spring Hill, check out www.vanzandtnews.com.