Football Preview: Van Vandals vs. Sunnyvale
The Van Vandals will challenge Sunnyvale at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Van took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They snuck past Lindale with a 28-23 victory.
Meanwhile, Sunnyvale took their contest on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 57-14 win over Caddo Mills. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 28-0.
Sunnyvale found their leader in underclassman Cayson Maupin, who threw for 283 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 10.9 yards per attempt. Owen Dlabaj was Maupin's top target, picking up 95 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Sunnyvale's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Drew Gardner, Grayson Smith, and Garren James picked up one apiece. Smith is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least six every time he's taken the field this season. Sunnyvale got some further help from Alyric Brown: he picked up two sacks and made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Van now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Sunnyvale, they pushed their record up to 2-1 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Van was able to grind out a solid win over Sunnyvale when the teams last played back in November of 2021, winning 35-25. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Sunnyvale's Joey Bruszer, who picked up 172 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Van to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
