DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

It always seems to come down to the fourth quarter of play to decide the outcome when the Van Vandals and the Lindale Eagles get together on the football field and the Friday the 13th version of the long-standing rivalry was no exception.

Trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter, the Vandals scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game before holding off a late Lindale rally to come away with a hard fought 28-23 victory before a large, enthusiastic crowd at Van’s Memorial Stadium in the home season opener for the Vandals.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals will now host Sunnyvale for Homecoming in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday, Sept. 20 in a battle of 2-1 teams.

Against Lindale, the Vandals executed an impressive 75 plays from scrimmage resulting in 25 first downs and 437 yards of total offense including 199 yards rushing and 238 yards passing.

Lindale finished the contest with 52 offensive plays, 14 first downs, and 283 yards of total offense including 110 yards rushing and 173 yards passing.

Van senior quarterback Jaxon Moffatt completed 19 out of 32 passes for 238 yards, one TD, and no interceptions. He also had 39 yards rushing on 11 carries and one TD, a 62-yard scamper.

Senior running back Austin Moffatt added 76 yards rushing on 16 carries and two TD’s. He also caught five passes for 32 yards. Reserve RB Chris Fabian registered 84 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Senior receiver Caden Rowe caught seven passes for 138 yards and senior receiver Easton Hinch caught six passes for 75 yards and one TD.

With their varsity victory, the Vandals defeated Lindale in every game played last week from seventh grade on up. It was the second year in a row that Van had accomplished that feat against Lindale.

“It has been a theme for us in these first three games we have played that it hasn’t always been pretty,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “We got off to a terrible start against Lindale allowing them to return the opening kickoff to our 40. Our defense had two or three red zone stops in the game forcing field goal attempts instead of touchdowns. We gave up some big plays, but in spite of that, our kids just kept playing hard. We can’t win the game on the last play, but we can win the game on the next play. We just needed to do the next right thing and that is what we had to do to win the game. I was really proud of our kids and their mentality. We had some negative plays, but we made some huge plays as well. It was another great Van/Lindale football game.”

The Vandals have now won 10 out of the last 13 meetings against Lindale after the Sept. 13 victory.

Jared Moffatt was impressed with the performance of the offensive line against the Eagles.

“We had two returning offensive linemen entering the season in center Justus Anderson and left tackle Cooper Hullum,” said Jared Moffatt. “They are the anchors up front. Our three juniors are getting better each week (right tackle Carter Broyles, right guard Landon Robinson, and left guard Collier Bryant). Lindale’s defensive front was the strength of their defense. Coach Bryant, our offensive line coach, had a good plan going into the game with our running attack. Austin Moffatt and Chris Fabian are giving us a really good 1-2 punch in the backfield with their different skill sets.”

Lindale received the opening kickoff and moved from the Vandal 40 following a strong kickoff return to the Van 5-yard line in seven plays including an 11-yard run by Eagle RB Hayden Gateley and a defensive pass interference penalty against Van.

Facing fourth down and goal at the Vandal 5-yard line, Eagle kicker Seth Badgett was sent in to attempt a field goal, but the snap was low forcing Badgett to scramble which eventually resulted in an incomplete pass giving the Vandals possession deep in their own end of the field.

Three plays later, the Vandals gave the ball right back to the Eagles as a fumble on the exchange resulted in a recovery by Lindale linebacker Hayden Nations at the Van 18.

Five plays later, including a 14-yard pass completion from QB David Lindig to tight end Reed Carnathan, it set up third down and goal at the Vandal 4-yard line for the Eagles but an intentional grounding penalty against Lindig moved the ball back to the Van 13 forcing a 30-yard FG attempt by Baggett.

This time, the kick was good giving Lindale a 3-0 advantage with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter.

An 11-yard run by Fabian highlighted the next Vandal offensive series before they were forced to punt the ball back to the Eagles.

Following a Lindale punt, the Vandals moved 87 yards in 11 plays to take the lead as Austin Moffatt ended the long time-consuming march with a 4-yard TD run. Aiden Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 7-3 advantage with 10:26 to play in the second quarter. Key plays in the first Vandal scoring march included pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 12 yards to Hinch and 47 yards to Rowe.

After an exchange of punts, the Eagles retook the lead as they moved 57 yards in four plays with Gateley (17 carries, 99 yards) ending the drive on a 35-yard TD run. Baggett added the extra point giving Lindale a 10-7 advantage with 7:19 remaining in the second quarter. Gateley began the drive with an 18-yard run.

It only took two plays to light up the scoreboard for the Vandals on their next offensive series as Jaxon Moffatt outraced the Lindale defense on a 62-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 14-10 lead with 6:34 to play before halftime. Austin Moffatt ran 12 yards on the previous play to set up his twin brother’s TD scamper.

Lindale moved from its own 36 to the Vandal 27 in three plays including a 19-yard pass completion from Lindig to wide receiver Aiden Warnell and a defensive pass interference penalty against the Vandals.

The scoring threat for the Eagles came to a stop on first down at the Vandal 27 when Lindig fumbled the ball on a QB sack resulting in a recovery by Van defensive lineman Armando Lozano at the Vandal 36.

Following a Vandal punt, Lindale put together a go-ahead scoring drive as the Eagles moved 59 yards in four plays ending with a 40-yard TD pass play from Lindig to WR Chad Ward. Baggett added the extra point giving the Eagles a 17-14 advantage with 2:12 remaining before intermission. A 14-yard pass completion from Lindig to WR Asher Medders was a key play in the scoring drive for Lindale.

The Vandals then put together a near perfect two-minute scoring drive as they moved from their own 25 to the Lindale 22 in 11 plays including pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 10 yards to Rowe and 15 yards to Hinch.

After their final first half timeout was called with 12 seconds left and the ball at the Eagle 22, Jaxon Moffatt’s pass over the middle to Rowe was caught but the Vandal receiver was tackled in the middle of the field at the Lindale 13 as the first half clock expired with the Vandals still trailing, 17-14, at halftime.

Following a Vandal punt early in the third quarter, the Eagles threatened to expand their advantage as they moved from their own 44 to the Vandal 13 in seven plays that included a 17-yard pass completion from Lidwig to Warnell and a defensive pass interference penalty against Van.

With the Eagles facing fourth down and 11 at the Van 13, Baggett was sent in to attempt a 30-yard FG, but the kick was blocked by Van’s Ian Hopson resulting in a Vandal recovery at the Van 29 to end the Lindale scoring threat.

Van moved from its own 29 to the Eagle 28 in 10 plays including pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 14 yards to Rowe and 11 yards to Austin Moffatt.

Facing fourth down and six at the Lindale 28, the Vandals decided to go for the first down but the pass from Jaxon Moffatt to Hinch was incomplete giving Lindale possession.

Following a Lindale punt, the Vandals put together what proved to be their game-winning drive as they advanced 84 yards in 12 plays ending with a 15-yard TD pass play on third down and goal from Jaxon Moffatt to Hinch. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 21-17 lead with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. Key plays in the go-ahead scoring march for Van included running gains of 15 and 10 yards by Fabian, a 23-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Rowe and a 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Eagles.

Lindale moved as deep as the Van 49 on second down and 13 when a downfield pass from Lindig to Ward was intercepted by Vandal sophomore defensive back Hopson at the Vandal 9-yard line.

Van then increased their lead with another long time-consuming march as they advanced 91 yards in 10 plays with Austin Moffatt ending the drive on a 30-yard TD run. Moore added the extra point giving the Vandals a 28-17 lead with 1:59 to play in the game. Pass completions from Jaxon Moffatt covering 28 yards to Rowe and 12 yards to Austin Moffatt were key plays in Van’s final scoring drive.

“I never thought that we could break open a 30-yard TD run on that particular play,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “Austin wasn’t sure if he was supposed to score or not on that play because Lindale was out of timeouts. He could have taken a knee before he scored, and we would have been able to run out the clock. We did not discuss that possibility prior to running the play.”

Lindale refused to give up as they responded with a 71-yard scoring drive of its own in six plays that ended with a perfectly executed ‘hook and lateral play’ that began with a pass completion from Lindig to Warnell who then lateraled the ball back to Ward who then raced untouched down the sideline to complete a bizarre 50-yard scoring play. The extra point attempt by Baggett was wide left keeping the Vandal lead at 28-23 with 1:26 remaining.

With no timeouts remaining, Lindale was forced to go for an onside kick but after a mad scramble for possession, Van’s Wyatt Dale recovered the ball at midfield allowing Van to run out the clock.

Defensively, senior safety Cade Christensen finished the game with 10 total tackles to lead the Vandals followed by Landon Smith and Foster Rust with six total tackles each.

“This is a really good rivalry we have with Lindale,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “There is a lot of emotion. We have great crowds. It is like a playoff atmosphere every time we play against Lindale. Both teams and communities really want to win this game. It is a healthy rivalry game.”

Following three games, Jared Moffatt is seeing a lot of encouraging signs from his team moving forward.

“We are getting production from a lot of different players right now on both sides of the ball as well as special teams,” pointed out the Vandal head coach. “For example, Aiden Willis did not catch a pass against Lindale, but he had his best game blocking, and his block was a key block on Jaxon’s 62-yard TD run. We just need to improve each week.”

Jared Moffatt recognized the individual efforts of Jaxon Moffatt, Hinch, Rowe, Hopson, Hullum, Austin Moffatt, Fabian, Dale, Willis, Christensen, Anderson, Broyles, Robinson, Bryant, Foster Rust, Maeson Ray, Landon Smith, Armando Lozano, Tiler Williams, Waylon King, Oliver Stowe, Blaise Lineberry, Boston Blalock, Connor Ammons, and Josh Christian against Lindale.