Van is 0-3 against Carthage since October of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Van Vandals will head out on the road to face off against the Carthage Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Van comes in on six and Carthage on 13.
Van's and Center's matchup two weeks ago was close at halftime, but Van turned on the heat in the second half with 28 points. Everything went Van's way against Center as Van made off with a 56-36 victory. The result was nothing new for Van, who have now won four matchups by 20 points or more so far this season.
Meanwhile, Carthage put the finishing touches on their eighth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They took their game on the road with ease, bagging a 72-27 win over Center. Given Carthage's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while Center is ranked 185th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jett Surratt, who threw for 413 yards and six touchdowns while completing 76.2% of his passes. Surratt hasn't dropped below three passing touchdowns for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Mikel Fields, who picked up 137 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Van's victory was their sixth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 39.7 points per game. As for Carthage, their win bumped their record up to 9-0.
Van might still be hurting after the 41-15 defeat they got from Carthage when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Can Van avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
