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Van Vandals 9-0 (3-0) vs. Brownsboro Bears 5-4 (3-0) 7-4A D2 District Championship

Innocent

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Innocent

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The Vandals host the Bears in the District Championship match this Friday at Mal Fowler Field in Van. 

The Vandals are coming off a tough and hard fought win over the upset-minded Canton Eagles 55-54 in a game where QB Jackson Rainey was stellar, but the defense proved to be… not so stellar.

Brownsboro is coming off a bye week after securing a chance at the district title with a win over the Canton Eagles 48-44 in Week 9.

Vandals come in as likely favorites, but who do you think wins?

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d0tc0m Rising Star

d0tc0m

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Van's QB Jackson Rainey is legit. And he's got a few good targets to throw to. And when he doesn't, he has game-breaking speed. Even though they're undefeated, the Vandals are gonna be somewhat of a sleeper in this postseason. I don't think they have the guys, defensively, to take down Gilmer, but if the postseason started today, I'd have Van taking on the Buckeyes in the Region II finals.

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d0tc0m Rising Star

d0tc0m

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That said, Van needs to be careful in this week's game. It's the definition of a trap game. The Vandals are fresh off a hard-fought, last-second win over big rival Canton. I happened to watch that game last week, because Celina was off and no other game really appealed to me. As a completely unbiased viewer, that was a mentally/emotionally exhausting barnburner. Van had to be up that entire game, and sometimes, when you've got to play at that level and win that type of game, it sets you up for a let down the following week. But Van has to remember they're playing for a district championship and an undefeated regular season and what I would consider a much easier playoff route to the Region II finals. With those things on the line, I think Van rises up again, leans on Rainey and goes into the postseason unblemished.

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HornetSenior Regular

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11 minutes ago, d0tc0m said:

Van's QB Jackson Rainey is legit. And he's got a few good targets to throw to. And when he doesn't, he has game-breaking speed. Even though they're undefeated, the Vandals are gonna be somewhat of a sleeper in this postseason. I don't think they have the guys, defensively, to take down Gilmer, but if the postseason started today, I'd have Van taking on the Buckeyes in the Region II finals.

If Van and Gilmer both win this week and in the first 2 rounds they would meet each in the Region 2 Semifinals as D7 and D8 winners. They other Semifinal will most likely have two of Glen Rose(W5), Quinlan Ford(W6), Pleasant Grove(R8), (TB) LE/Pittsburgh. 

If Van's Defense plays the way they did versus Canton I wouldn't be surprised if they lose to Sunnyvale(R6) in round 2.

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d0tc0m Rising Star

d0tc0m

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8 minutes ago, HornetSenior said:

If Van and Gilmer both win this week and in the first 2 rounds they would meet each in the Region 2 Semifinals as D7 and D8 winners. They other Semifinal will most likely have two of Glen Rose(W5), Quinlan Ford(W6), Pleasant Grove(R8), (TB) LE/Pittsburgh. 

If Van's Defense plays the way they did versus Canton I wouldn't be surprised if they lose to Sunnyvale(R6) in round 2.

You're right! Looked at the bracket wrong.

Sunnyvale's defense isn't much to write home about, either. Van could win that game in an ugly shootout just as easily as they won the game against Canton, to be honest.

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HornetSenior Regular

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10 minutes ago, d0tc0m said:

You're right! Looked at the bracket wrong.

Sunnyvale's defense isn't much to write home about, either. Van could win that game in an ugly shootout just as easily as they won the game against Canton, to be honest.

Although I still think Van would be the Favorite, Sunnyvale's Defense has improved over the season. They held Brownsboro to 14, Caddo Mills to 7, and Shutout Community. I was surprised the Van vs Canton game was that close after Canton's losses to Caddo(63-41) and Brownsboro(48-44).

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Innocent Starter

Innocent

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I’d assume the close game against Canton will wake the Van D up, but it could serve to do the opposite if Brownsboro manages to start stacking on some points. 

As mentioned previously, I think that Van has a chance to be in every game so long as Jackson Rainey is healthy. He makes huge gains out of completely broken plays. He is dynamic and elusive, with a pretty good arm and great decision making skills to boot. He is certainly one of the top dual threats in ETX.

I’m going to take Van by 14+ against a very motivated Brownsboro squad. Hopefully it’s a clean game with no injuries!

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Vandalman Experienced

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Van/Canton was definitely a head scratcher. I'll give credit to Canton because they played a stellar game. I do think the Van defense was just flat that night too. I'm betting that doesn't happen this week. Still, I think BB will be fired up since this is the first time in who knows how many years they've competed for a district title. The Baker kid looks to be real threat on offense and defense. This does have the potential of being a nail biter, at least for awhile. Assuming everyone is healthy,  I think Van will just be too much in the end though. I'll take the Vandals by 14. I know a lot of people in Brownsboro as I'm sure a lot of Van people do. The way the districts are laid out, a bunch of us live closer to Brownsboro than Van so it's good to see Brownsboro competing again.

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Guest Tiger03lb

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7 hours ago, HornetSenior said:

Although I still think Van would be the Favorite, Sunnyvale's Defense has improved over the season. They held Brownsboro to 14, Caddo Mills to 7, and Shutout Community. I was surprised the Van vs Canton game was that close after Canton's losses to Caddo(63-41) and Brownsboro(48-44).

There's no way Sunnyvale would win with Van having a bad game. 

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d0tc0m Rising Star

d0tc0m

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1 hour ago, Lions70 said:

Rivalry games tend to throw out records. Not sure how much they’re rivals but could explain the intensity.

I have fairly extended family in Canton. It's a big, big rivalry. No love lost between those two towns.

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d0tc0m Rising Star

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29 minutes ago, Jerryhawk111 said:

One sided rivalry

Is it? I'm not familiar enough with it to know one way or another. I just know my extended family from Canton didn't like Van. And listening to Van's announcers last week, it's clear, they don't care for Canton either lol.

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19 hours ago, d0tc0m said:

Is it? I'm not familiar enough with it to know one way or another. I just know my extended family from Canton didn't like Van. And listening to Van's announcers last week, it's clear, they don't care for Canton either lol.

Could be wrong, but believe it is very one sided in football. Not sure about other sports. I know Canton has had some good baseball teams in the past, I assume its a big rivalry in every sport

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