Vandals Take Over First Place With 21-7 Win

Recent injuries to two senior starters forced the Van Vandals to move some personnel around to different positions especially on defense.

The changes did not appear to have any negative effect as the Vandals won a mostly defensive battle on the road as they outlasted the Mineola Yellowjackets 21-7 Friday night.

Van not only improved its season record to 6-1 but more importantly, they took over sole possession of first place in District 14-3A with a 2-0 mark.

The Vandals will host the Wills Point Tigers (0-7, 0-2) in a battle of Van Zandt County rivals at 7:30 p.m. Friday while Mineola (4-3, 1-1) travels to Canton to take on the Canton Eagles (4-3, 1-1) in a key district battle Friday night.

Against Mineola, the Vandal defense held the Yellowjackets to seven first downs and 126 total yards while forcing six fumbles and recovering two.

Mineola registered only 40 total yards in the second half as the Vandals broke open a 7-7 deadlock at halftime with touchdown drives in the third and fourth quarters.

"Our defense continues to play well," emphasized Vandal head coach Brady Pennington.

Among the changes defensively included moving Chase Rabe to linebacker to replace Clayton Kendrick, who was out with a knee injury.

Rabe responded with 20 tackles against Mineola.

Ryan Wigley contributed 12 tackles and two quarterback sacks in his first start at defensive end.

Linebacker Matthew Broadbent finished with 13 tackles and caused a fumble.

The Vandals finished the game with 270 yards of total offense including 192 yards rushing.

Following a Vandal punt, the Yellowjackets began the scoring by moving 64 yards in six plays in their initital possession.

The drive ended when reserve quarterback Colt Bickerstaff connected with receiver Evan Finley on a 44-yard TD pass play. Juan Palacios added the extra point to give Mineola a 7-0 lead with 6:55 remaining in the first quarter.

A 20-yard pass completion from Bickerstaff to receiver Eric Hughes set up the Mineola TD pass.

Bickerstaff came into the game for starting QB Tyler Drennon, who suffered an apparent knee injury and did not return for the Yellowjackets.

"Their backup quarterback (Bickerstaff) was a better thrower than their starter but we did a good job of keeping pressure on him," recalled Pennington.

The two teams exchanged punts before the Yellowjackets threatened to add to their lead as they moved from the Vandal 49 to as deep as the Van 28 in six plays.

The scoring threat for Mineola ended on fourth down and 15 at the Vandal 28 when Bickerstaff scrambled for 11 yards before being pushed out of bounds.

Following another Vandal punt, the Yellowjackets had a first down at their own 28 when fullback Trevor Hudson fumbled. Van defensive back Tye Hughes recovered the ball at the Yellowjacket 32.

Five plays later, the Vandals got on the scoreboard as running back Rabe powered into the end zone on a 1-yard TD run. Blake Pennington added the extra point to tie the contest at 7-7 with 5:20 to play in the second quarter. A key play in the Vandal scoring drive was an 18-yard pass completion from quarterback Tyler Sharpe to receiver Hughes.

Blake Pennington surprised almost everyone by being available for extra point and field goal duty after suffering a torn ligament in his knee the week before on the first play from scrimmage against Kemp.

"We really did not know until Thursday that he would be available to kick," said Brady Pennington. "He was fitted with a knee brace Thursday and came out on the practice field and worked on his kicking. We took a look at him during warm-ups Friday night and he was ready to go. We are looking at the possibility of him doing kickoffs against Wills Point this week."

Following a Mineola punt, the Vandals tried to execute their two-minute offense before halftime as they moved from its own 21 to the Mineola 47 in six plays setting up a bizarre ending to the first half of play.

On second down and one at the Mineola 47, Sharpe’s pass was intercepted by Mineola DB Matt Collett and returned to the Vandal 44 with four seconds remaining.

The Vandals were flagged 15 yards for a chop blocking penalty during the runback giving the Yellowjackets a chance to kick a potential go-ahead FG.

The 45-yard FG effort by Palacios was short keeping the game deadlocked at intermission.

Exchanging punts to open the third quarter, the Vandals broke the tie by moving 66 yards in four plays.

Vandal RB Michael Terry (18 carries, 124 yards) ended the march by racing 39 yards untouched for the go-ahead TD. Pennington added the extra point to give the Vandals a 14-7 advantage with 3:54 to play in the third quarter. A 15-yard scramble by Sharpe preceded Terry’s TD run.

"Michael has been dealing with a high ankle sprain for the last few weeks," said the Vandal head coach. "He tried a new ankle brace last week and it really seemed to help him. I would say he was at about 95 percent when we played against Mineola."

The go-ahead TD was the result of a play not in the original game plan, according to Brady Pennington.

"Michael’s touchdown run was a play that we put in during halftime to use out of our spread formation," pointed out the Vandal head coach. "Our coaches thought it was a good time to put it in based on the way they were defensing us in the first half and it worked."

Another exchange of punts developed before the Vandals began to put the game out of reach as they moved 56 yards on six consecutive running plays to end the scoring.

Rabe ended the march with a 2-yard TD run. Pennington added the extra point to give the Vandals a 21-7 lead with 2:59 to play in the fourth quarter. A 39-yard run by Terry set up Rabe’s TD run.

Mineola’s final offensive effort saw the Yellowjackets move from their own 38 to the Vandal 36 in six plays including a 10-yard pass completion from Bickerstaff to fullback Ethan Mack and a 24-yard scramble by Bickerstaff.

The scoring threat for Mineola ended on third down and eight at the Vandal 36 when Bickerstaff was sacked and fumbled.

The fumble was recovered by Broadbent at the Vandal 41 allowing Van to run out the clock.

"Our kids really stepped up in the second half and I am proud of the way they are staying focused on what they need to do," summarized Brady Pennington.

The blocking efforts of fullback Tanis Cotton were also recognized by the Vandal head coach.