Fourth Quarter Rally Leads Vandals Past Mineola, 20-13

VAN—For the second week in a row, it appeared that the Van Vandals would have to work overtime to try to keep their record in District 14-3A spotless.

Quarterback Tory Parsons made sure that the job would get done in regulation time as he raced 30 yards for a touchdown on fourth down and four with 54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Vandals a come-from-behind 20-13 victory over the Mineola Yellowjackets on homecoming night in Van.

Van’s win over Mineola gives the Vandals a 5-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in District 14-3A play.

The Vandals face a tremendous challenge Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Wills Point to take on the district co-leading Wills Point Tigers (6-1, 2-0).

Van, Wills Point and the Eustace Bulldogs lead the district race with 2-0 records.

Mineola (3-4, 0-2) lost its fourth consecutive contest as they will host the Canton Eagles (4-3, 0-2) in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday.

Against Mineola, the Vandals registered 21 first downs and 390 yards of total offense including 277 yards rushing.

Parsons, in his third varsity start at QB, finished the contest with 224 total yards including 120 yards rushing on 25 carries and completing 11 out of 19 passes for 104 yards.

Van, which suffered six turnovers in their 3-0 double overtime district opening win at Kemp last week, did not commit a turnover against Mineola.

"We just better execution overall offensively," pointed out Vandal head coach Brady Pennington. "We had no turnovers which was a big plus for us. Our offensive performance was so much improved against a stingy Mineola defense."

Vandal running back Michael Terry contributed 155 yards rushing on 27 carries and two TD’s.

"We made a commitment to move Michael Terry to running back," said Pennington. "Chase Rabe is still battling a lot of pain in his foot. Michael was really a catalyst for us against Mineola."

Defensively, the Vandal defense, despite allowing TD runs of 43 and 50 yards by Mineola, held the Yellowjackets to 152 yards of total offense (154 rushing and minus-two passing).

"Our defense was out of position on their first touchdown run and we just took some bad angles on their second touchdown run," recalled Pennington. "We made some incredible adjustments on defense and I was so proud of their performance Friday night."

Van also sacked the Mineola QB’s five times for losses of 46 yards.

The Vandals received the opening kickoff and moved 62 yards on six consecutive running plays to take an early lead.

Terry ended the initial march with a 14-yard TD run. Brad Bogue added the extra point to give the Vandals a 7-0 advantage with 9:48 remaining in the first quarter. Terry also contributed a 20-yard run in the opening TD drive.

Mineola suffered two QB sacks in its first drive and was forced to punt the ball back to the Vandals as Van began possession at its own 45.

Eight plays later, including a 27-yard pass completion from Parsons to receiver Tye Hughes, the Vandals faced fourth down and four at the Yellowjacket 9-yard line.

Parsons was stopped after a two-yard gain giving Mineola possession at its own 7-yard line.

"We felt like we had a good play called in that situation," said Pennington. "We are confident in our offense making the first down or a touchdown in that situation."

The Yellowjackets then moved 93 yards on seven consecutive running plays to tie the game.

Yellowjacket RB Alex Kerby (seven carries, 63 yards) ended the long time-consuming drive with a 43-yard TD run. Matt Shade added the extra point to deadlock the contest at 7-7 with 1:08 remaining in the first quarter. Key plays in the Mineola scoring drive included running gains of 13 yards by Kerby and 23 yards by RB Colt Bickerstaff.

A punting battle took place as both teams punted twice before the Vandals took over controls at the Van 44 with 1:53 to play before halftime.

Seven plays later, including a 19-yard run by Parsons and a 12-yard pass completion from Parsons to WR Cody Daniels (five receptions, 36 yards), the Vandals had one final play before intermission on third down and 15 at the Yellowjacket 25.

Parsons’ pass to Daniels in the end zone was incomplete keeping the game tied at halftime, 7-7.

Early in the third quarter, after the Vandals were penalized for a face mask during the second half kickoff, the Yellowjackets had possession at midfield.

On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Mineola RB Paul Nevarez (five carries, 56 yards) stunned the Vandal defense with a 50-yard TD run giving the Yellowjackets a 13-7 lead with 11:45 to play in the third quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked.

From that point on, the Vandal defense held Mineola to minus four yards of total offense for the remainder of the contest.

The Vandal offense responded to the Mineola TD by moving from their own 20 to the Mineola 4-yard line in 11 plays including a 28-yard completion from Parsons to WR Joey McMinn.

Facing fourth down and three, the Vandals decided to go for the first down but Parsons’ pass to McMinn in the end zone was incomplete.

The two teams exchanged punts before the Vandals began their rally late in the third quarter as they took over possession at the Mineola 39 following a 19-yard punt by the Yellowjackets.

Eight running plays later, Terry ran three yards for a TD to tie the game again at 13-13 with 10:52 to play in the fourth quarter. The extra point attempt by Bogue was wide left. Terry also had an 18-yard run in the scoring drive.

Mineola, which did not pick up a first down in the fourth quarter and was held to minus 14 yards of total offense in the final 12 minutes of the game, punted the ball back to the Vandals giving Van possession at its own 23.

Nine plays later, including a 10-yard pass completion from Parsons to Daniels, the Vandals had a fourth down and four at the Yellowjacket 48 but decided to punt the ball back to Mineola.

The Yellowjackets, starting from their own 9-yard line, could not pick up a first down and punted the ball to Van setting up the game-winning drive at the Vandal 35 with 3:47 remaining.

Seven plays later, including a 12-yard run by Parsons, the Vandals decided to go for the first down on fourth down and four at the Yellowjacket 30.

Parsons rolled to his right looking for a receiver and decided to keep the ball.

With good downfield blocking, Parsons raced into the end zone for the deciding TD. Bogue added the extra point to give the Vandals a 20-13 lead with 54 seconds remaining.

"We went empty in the backfield on that fourth down play," emphasized Pennington. "Mineola’s defense really committed to the pass as Tory rolled out to his right and the sideline just opened up for him to run and get into the end zone."

Mineola’s final possession started at its own 34 and went backwards as two QB sacks totaling 22 yards in losses forced a fourth down and 32 for the Yellowjackets at their own 12.

The final play for Mineola resulted in an incomplete pass allowing the Vandals to run one offensive play to expire the clock.

Other individual performances against Mineola recognized by the Vandal head coach included the following:

Sophomore offensive tackle Dalton Santos; junior offensive lineman Nick McLean, senior noseguard Jacoby Alexander (nine tackles, three solo tackles, three QB sacks and three tackles for losses); senior defensive back Hughes (eight tackles and two solo tackles); junior defensive end Corey Fuller (nine tackles, two QB sacks and two tackles for losses).

"Our center, (senior) Devon Pickard, has to deliver several shotgun snaps each week and he just continues to do a solid consistent job with his snaps," added Pennington.