Football Preview: Van Vandals vs. Sunnyvale
The Van Vandals will face off against the Sunnyvale Sunnyvale at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Van is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Van Alstyne 45-42. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vandals.
Meanwhile, Sunnyvale came tearing into Thursday's game with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Buckeyes by a score of 27-17.
The critical scores for Sunnyvale came from Hudson Leonard and Cayson Maupin.
Sunnyvale didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Garren James, Grayson Smith, and Drew Gardner picked up one apiece. Another thorn in Gilmer's side was Cade Andrews, who made 14 total tackles (2.0 for loss) and defended a pass.
Sunnyvale's win bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Van, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 9-3.
Van strolled past Sunnyvale when the teams last played back in September by a score of 28-14. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Sunnyvale's Jaden Cross, who picked up 88 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 35 yards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Van still be able to contain Cross? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps