DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

Rallying from behind twice in the second half, the Van Vandals saw their defensive unit hold off a potential late Chapel Hill Bulldog scoring drive in the fourth quarter to preserve a thrilling comeback 23-17 home-opening victory Sept. 2 at Van’s Memorial Stadium to move their season record to 2-0.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals will take their undefeated record into their Homecoming contest against one of their major rivals, the Lindale Eagles (1-1), in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 9, at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

Against 0-2 Chapel Hill, the Vandals were down by one point when Vandal running back Garrett Florey raced 27 yards for a TD to give Van a 23-17 lead with 7:41 to play in the game.

On their final offensive drive of the game, the Bulldogs drove down as deep as the Van 5-yard line but on fourth down and goal, an incomplete pass ended the Chapel Hill scoring threat with 2:47 remaining allowing the Vandals to run out the clock.

Offensively, the Vandals finished the contest with 16 first downs and 285 yards of total offense including 110 yards rushing and 175 yards passing.

Florey led Van’s running attack with 90 yards rushing on 11 carries and two TD’s including the game-winning score.

Sophomore quarterback Jaxon Moffatt completed 12 out of 18 passes for 175 yards, one TD and no interceptions.

Brayden Bradshaw caught eight passes for 112 yards while sophomore Caden Rowe caught three passes for 53 yards and a TD.

Defensively, the Vandals held Chapel Hill to 15 first downs and 317 yards of total offense including 203 yards rushing and 114 yards passing.

Vandal linebacker Beau Barton finished the game with 14 tackles, four tackles for losses, two QB sacks, and two QB pressures.

Florey, playing in the defensive backfield for the Vandals, registered 14 tackles and one tackle for a loss. Linebacker Christian Campuzano had 11 tackles for the Vandals.

“I was extremely proud of our kids,” summarized Jared Moffatt. “We knew it was going to be a tough game against a really talented football team. We preached all week long to our kids about toughness, the way they play, the mentality of how we play. That is what makes us special around here. The game eventually unfolded into that. Our kids battled. Our defense held Chapel Hill to 17 points. We played against a team that has four Division 1 college prospects on offense. Our defensive staff and players did a tremendous job. We just kept lining up and playing the next down. We just played good team defense. Offensively, I saw some guys settle in and make some plays that we had to have. Our offensive line played well. We had no turnovers. We did what we needed to do to win.”

Chapel Hill received the opening kickoff and drove from its own 32 to the Vandal 43 in six plays including an 18-yard run by RB Rickey Stewart.

Facing fourth down and six at the Van 43, the Bulldogs decided to go for the first down, but the Vandal defense rose to the occasion and sacked Chapel Hill QB Demetrious Brisbon for a 13-yard loss giving Van possession at the Bulldog 44.

Seven plays later, including a 28-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Bradshaw and a personal foul penalty against the Bulldogs, the Vandals had a fourth down and goal at the Chapel Hill 11.

Van’s scoring threat came to a close as Jaxon Moffatt’s pass to Bradshaw was incomplete giving Chapel Hill the ball back.

Chapel Hill then went on a long time-consuming drive as the Bulldogs moved from their own 11 to the Vandal 16 in 16 plays including two 19-yard pass completions from Brisbon to RB Dillion Johnson, and a 27-yard pass completion from Bisbon to wide receiver Cameron Kelley.

On fourth down and goal at the Vandal 16 following a holding penalty against Chapel Hill, the Bulldogs sent in kicker Aiden Campos to attempt a 33-yard field goal. The kick was good giving Chapel Hill a 3-0 lead with 10:28 remaining in the second quarter.

Van moved from its own 18 to the Bulldog 41 in eight plays including a 20-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Bradshaw and a 10-yard run by Jaxon Moffatt but the Vandals eventually had to punt.

The punt by Florey was downed at the Bulldog 4-yard line. Two plays later, the Vandal defense got on the board as the Bulldogs were penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone as Brisbon threw a pass and was tackled resulting in a safety cutting the Vandal deficit to 3-2 with 5:15 to play in the second quarter.

Following Chapel Hill’s free kick from the 20, the Vandals got possession at the Bulldog 47 but were again later forced to punt.

Another well placed punt by Florey was received and fumbled at the Bulldog 1-yard line by Chapel Hill’s Drew Harmon and recovered by Van’s Reed Parish at the Chapel Hill 3-yard line.

Two plays later, Florey, operating out of the Vandals’ short yardage and goal-line ‘Rhino’ formation, took the direct snap from center and powered into the end zone on a 1-yard TD run. Fernando Jimenez added the extra point giving the Vandals a 9-3 lead with 58 seconds remaining before halftime.

Following a Vandal punt early in the third quarter, the Bulldogs regained the lead as Chapel Hill moved 61 yards in four plays.

Chapel Hill WR Quinton Greenlee took a reverse handoff and outraced the Vandal defense 43 yards for a TD to end the drive. Campos added the extra point to give Chapel Hill a 10-9 advantage with 8:47 to play in the third quarter.

The Vandals responded with a scoring drive of their own as they advanced 86 yards in six plays. The drive finished with a 24-yard TD pass play from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe. Jimenez added the extra point as Van led, 16-10, with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter. Key plays in Van’s go-ahead TD march included a 33-yard run by Florey and a 20-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe.

Chapel Hill wasted little time in getting the lead back as Stewart (13 carries, 143 yards), on the first play from scrimmage following the ensuing kickoff, raced past the Vandal defense on a 61-yard TD run. Campos added the extra point giving the Bulldogs a sudden 17-16 advantage with 5:35 still to play in the third quarter.

The Vandals were backed up to their own 7-yard line on their next offensive series when Jaxon Moffatt connected with Bradshaw for a 37-yard pass completion giving Van a first down at its own 44 but the Vandals were later forced to punt.

As the fourth quarter began, the Bulldogs were forced to punt following their next offensive possession giving Van good field position at the Vandal 47 to begin what turned out to be the game-winning TD march.

Seven plays later, including a 10-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to WR Luke Horton, the Vandals completed their most important offensive possession of the game as Florey outraced the Bulldog defense on a 27-yard TD run to end the 53-yard scoring drive. Jimenez added the extra point giving the Vandals a 23-17 lead with 7:41 to play in the game.

“There was some thought about going for two after the go-ahead touchdown,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “Generally, I don’t like to chase points. We still had seven minutes plus to go in the game.”

Chapel Hill’s final offensive series saw the Bulldogs move from their own 32 to the Vandal 8-yard line that included a bizarre sequence of plays including an apparent 53-yard TD run by Stewart that was called back due to offensive holding and Brisbon being sacked for a 25-yard loss by the Vandal defense.

The final Bulldog scoring threat also included a 15-yard run by Stewart and two Vandal defensive penalties (personal foul and holding).

On fourth down and goal at the Vandal 8-yard line, the final scoring threat by the Bulldogs came to a close as a pass from Brisbon to Stewart was incomplete giving the ball back to the Vandals with 2:47 left.

With Chapel Hill using back-to-back timeouts in their final offensive possession, the Bulldogs only had one timeout remaining as the Vandals gained one first down on the ground to run out the clock.

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

Beau Barton: 14 tackles, four tackles for losses, two QB sacks, and two QB pressures; Garrett Florey: 14 tackles, and one tackle for a loss; Christian Capuzano: 11 tackles; Colten Miller: nine tackles, two tackles for losses and one QB pressure; Cannon Rainey: eight tackles; Logan Fattig: eight tackles; Reed Parish: seven tackles and one fumble recovery; Easton Hinch: seven tackles and two tackles for losses; Brayden Hullum: five tackles and two tackles for losses; Tuff Arozamena: five tackles, one tackle for a loss, and a half-QB sack; Landon Smith: five tackles, tackle for a loss, one QB sack, and one QB pressure; Reggie Johnson: four tackles; Bruce Shaw: two tackles; and Luke Horton, one tackle and one fumble caused.

Jared Moffatt recognized the individual efforts of Easton Hinch, Luke Horton, Caden Rowe, Jaxon Moffatt, Brayden Bradshaw, Beau Barton, Tuff Arozamena, Logan Fattig, Colton Miller, Braydon Hullum, Garrett Florey, Christian Campuzano, Jose Suarez, and Colton Grier against Chapel Hill.