DAVID BARBER

davidb@vanzandtnews.com

With five sophomores in the starting lineup, the Van Vandals opened their 2022 football campaign in impressive fashion as they outlasted the Class 5A Pine Tree Pirates, 28-14, at Pirate Stadium in Longview Aug. 26.

Coach Jared Moffatt’s Vandals will have their home opener at Van’s Memorial Stadium Friday, Sept. 2, when they host the Chapel Hill Bulldogs in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Chapel Hill lost to Gilmer, 51-27, in its season opener Aug. 26.

Against the Pirates, the Vandal offense ran the ball 53 times and threw the ball seven times as they registered 21 first downs and 292 yards of total offense including 227 yards rushing and 65 yards passing.

The Vandals almost had two 100-yard rushers in their running game as senior Garrett Florey (18 carries, three touchdowns) and junior Demarcus Stinnett (24 carries) each finished the game with 97 yards rushing.

Sophomore quarterback Jaxon Moffatt, making his first varsity appearance, completed four out of seven passes for 65 yards, including three completions totaling 61 yards to senior Brayden Bradshaw, who also had six carries for 27 yards.

Van’s longest run from scrimmage was 15 yards and their longest pass play was 28 yards as they methodically controlled the clock against the Pirates.

Defensively, the Vandals were dominant as they held Pine Tree to seven first downs and 198 yards of total offense (73 yards rushing and 125 yards passing). Van recorded five QB sacks against the Pirates. Pine Tree was 0-9 on third down conversions against the Vandal defense.

Senior linebacker Beau Barton led the Vandal defense with nine tackles, two tackles for losses, three QB sacks, one blocked field goal and recovery, and five batted passes/pass breakups.

“I was real pleased with the way we played overall against Pine Tree,” summarized Jared Moffatt. “Defensively, we played really well with the exception of two big plays.”

Following an exchange of poor punts by both teams in their opening possessions, the Pirates threatened to get on the scoreboard first as they moved from their own 41 to the Vandal 1-yard line on six consecutive running plays, including a 56-yard scramble by the quarterback.

Facing fourth down and goal at the Van 1-yard line, the Pirates decided to go for the touchdown, but the Vandal defense rose to the occasion and tackled the Pine Tree running back for a two-yard loss ending the Pirate scoring threat.

After another exchange of punts, the Pirates did get on the scoreboard first early in the second quarter as the QB connected with wide receiver Tre Brown on a 70-yard TD pass play. The extra point was good giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead with 11:39 left in the second quarter.

The Vandals responded by taking the ensuing kickoff and moving 97 yards in 14 plays to tie the game.

Florey ended the long time-consuming march with a 4-yard TD run. New kicker Fernando Jimenez, making his first varsity appearance, kicked the first of his four extra points for a 7-7 deadlock with 3:18 remaining in the second quarter. Key plays in the first Vandal scoring drive included running gains of 13 yards by Florey, 12 yards by Stinnett, and a 24-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Bradshaw.

“That was a huge drive in the game,” recalled Jared Moffatt. “Things could not have been much worse before we started that drive. In that drive, we completed two key third down passes. We converted another third down on that drive.”

Van received a big break on Pine Tree’s next possession as the punter for the Pirates fielded a low snap from center as his knee touched the ground ending the play with the Vandals taking over in excellent field position at the Pirate 25.

Two plays later, Stinnett raced into the end zone on a 10-yard TD run. Jimenez added the extra point giving the Vandals a 14-7 advantage with 1:02 to play before halftime. The short TD drive started with a 15-yard run by Bradshaw.

Pine Tree attempted to come back before the first half ended as they drove from their own 32 to the Vandal 27 in seven plays including a 25-yard pass reception by Fuller and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Vandals giving the Pirates one final play before halftime at the Vandal 27.

The field goal kicker was sent in by the Pirates to attempt a 45-yard field goal, but the kick was blocked and recovered by Van’s Beau Barton to end the first half of action.

Van received the third quarter kickoff and extended its lead by moving the ball 60 yards in eight plays as they had to overcome back-to-back illegal procedure penalties.

Florey ended the drive with a 4-yard TD run. Jimenez added the extra point giving Van a 21-7 lead with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter. Running gains of 12 yards by Florey and 10 yards by Jaxon Moffatt along with a 28-yard pass completion from Jaxon Moffatt to Bradshaw were key plays in the scoring drive for the Vandals.

“We always talk about the significance of the first drive in the third quarter whether we are on offense or defense,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “That drive established the tone for the second half. We overcame two false start penalties on that drive. I was really proud of our offense responding the way they did. We were nine out of 14 on third down conversions after starting out 0-3 on third down. As it turned out, third down was big on both sides of the ball for us.”

Pine Tree moved from its own 28 to the Vandal 45 in five plays including a 21-yard run by Brown setting up a fourth down and four as the Pirates decided to go for the first down instead of punting. The drive stalled on an incomplete pass giving Van possession.

After an exchange of punts, the Vandals began to put the game out of reach for the Pirates as Van moved 46 yards on 11 consecutive running plays for their final TD drive of the game.

Operating out of the Vandals’ short yardage and goal-line ‘Rhino’ formation, Florey took the direct snap from center and powered into the end zone on a 1-yard TD run on fourth down and goal. Jimenez added the extra point giving Van a comfortable 28-7 lead with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. A 12-yard run by Stinnett was a key play in Van’s final TD drive.

Following a Pine Tree punt that backed the Vandals to their own 9-yard line, a turnover occurred for Van as the handoff from Jaxon Moffatt to Stinnett was fumbled with Pine Tree defensive lineman Keith Duffy recovering the ball at the Van 6-yard line. Two plays later, the running back for the Pirates scored a TD. The extra point was good cutting Van’s lead to 28-14 with 2:39 remaining in the game.

After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by the Pirates, the Vandals ran seven straight running plays, including a 12-yard gain by Florey, to run out the clock.

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

Beau Barton: Nine tackles, two tackles for losses, three QB sacks, one fumble recovery and five batted passes/pass breakups; Brayden Hullum: seven tackles, five tackles for losses, one QB sack and three batted passes/pass breakups; Garrett Florey: six tackles and one QB sack; Reed Parish: four tackles; Christian Campuzano: four tackles and one tackle for a loss; Landon Smith: fourth tackles and one tackle for a loss; Tuff Arozamena: three tackles, one tackle for a loss, and two batted passes/pass breakups; Easton Hinch, three tackles; Reggie Johnson: three tackles and three batted passes/pass breakups; Cannon Rainey: two tackles; Logan Fattig: two tackles, one tackle for a loss, and one batted pass/pass breakup; and Bruce Shaw: two tackles.

Jared Moffatt recognized a number of individual performances against the Pirates. “Defensively, Braydon Hullum was active and made a number of plays in their backfield. Colton Miller, Logan Fattig, Tuff Arozamena, and Reggie Johnson made a lot of plays. They were disruptive to their offense. Beau Barton made a ton of plays, and we will need him to continue doing that moving forward. He made some big plays. Christian Campuzano played well for us at linebacker.

“Offensively, we started off real slow in our first couple of drives,” continued Jared Moffatt. “We finally got going and settled in. Our offensive line performed very well. Garrett Florey and Demarcus Stinnett ran the ball well. We did some good things on special teams but there are things that we need to clean up. Overall, I was real proud of our effort as a team.”

Jared Moffatt discussed the performances of not only his five sophomore starters but the sophomore group as a whole competing in their first varsity game against Pine Tree.

“There were some nerves involved but they settled in,” said the Vandal head coach. “It was a progression playing in their first varsity game. It is different than anything else. The atmosphere is different. There are more people watching. Overall, they did a good job, and they know they will need to get better as we go along.”

Jared Moffatt also discussed the 53-play running attack of the Vandals against the Pirates. “I don’t think we anticipated running the ball that much but there was a combination of things that happened during the game that led to us leaning toward running the ball more as the game went along,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “We were having success running the football and they had a hard time defending our running game. When we increased our lead from 14 to 21 points in the fourth quarter with the way our defense was playing, I did not think they could catch up to us. We were working the clock throughout.”

The Vandal head coach also praised the work of his offensive line against Pine Tree. “We had three offensive linemen starting in their first varsity game,” emphasized Jared Moffatt. “Kepler Multhaup played his first full game at center. He played well. Sergio Salinas played tight end for us last year. He was our starting left tackle against Pine Tree. Trae Derrick played his first varsity game at left guard. Pine Tree showed a lot of defensive fronts against us, and I thought our guys handled that pretty well. Ace Bostick and Jose Suarez also played well on the right side of our offensive line. Our line will continue to get better.”

Jared Moffatt also recognized the efforts of Brayden Bradshaw, both as a receiver and as a runner against Pine Tree.

“He is a player that we have to generate touches for,” pointed out Jared Moffatt. “We have to find different ways to get him the football. Very rarely does the first defender tackle him. He makes big plays for us offensively.”

Also making his first varsity appearance was kicker Fernando Jimenez, who made all four of his extra point attempts against the Pirates.

“He did a good job, a little shaky at the beginning, but overall, he did well,” summarized Jared Moffatt. “Garrett Phillips was snapping, and Gabriel Bachert was the holder. They did a great job as well.”