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Comeback attempt falls short

The third time wasn’t a charm for the Vandals when they visited Pana on Friday night. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Pana kept Vandalia from doing what it had done the previous two weeks to Hillsboro and Piasa Southwestern – scoring a late touchdown to squeeze out a win.
“I’m proud of our guys – they stayed right in there,” coach John Stout said. “We had a shot right down to the last play.
“They’ve done this all year. This week, we didn’t have that magic play at the end, but we put ourselves in a position to do that.”
Scoring 14 points in the final stanza, the Vandals were a score away from tying or winning the game when Collin Nestleroad’s Hail Mary pass at the end of regulation was picked off in the end zone.
Pana held a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after scoring on a 34-yard run.
The Vandals then countered in the second quarter when Bobby Bradley fought loose at the line of scrimmage, then outran Pana defenders for a 64-yard touchdown. The point-after kick attempt by Gage Miles had the distance, but went just left of the uprights.
Pana upped its lead to 15 points in the third quarter, but the Vandals narrowed the lead to nine when Nestleroad combined again with freshman Marcus Zimmerman on a catch-and-run score from 33 yards out.
Nestleroad hooked up again with Zimmerman on the two-point conversion to make it 21-14.
Nestleroad put the Vandals within one point a 16-yard run on a drive that started at the Vandals 1-yard line, after a fourth-down stop of Pana, then added the two-point conversion to put Vandalia on top, 22-21.
Pana scored twice more in the fourth quarter to go up by 12, 34-22, but the Vandals got back within six when Nestleroad and Marcus Durbin connected on an 8-yard score. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
The loss put the Vandals at 5-3 on the season, and they close out the regular season by hosting undefeated Greenville on Friday night.
The Vandals gained 287 yards on the ground on 42 carries.
Bradley carried 12 times for 102 yards to lead the Vandals in rushing. Blake Hankins had 81 yards on 10 carries, and Nestleroad had 71 yards on 13 carries.
Kelly Jones carried five times for 24 yards, and Zimmerman totaled 9 yards on two carries.
Nestleroad completed six of 20 attempts for 85 yards, with Zimmerman his leading receiver with 46 yards on three catches. Codie Jackson caught two passes for 31 yards, and Durbin’s lone catch was the 8-yard TD.
 

After catching a short pass from Collin Nestleroad, Vandalia’s Marcus Zimmerman outruns Pana defenders on his way to a touchdown in Friday’s loss.

A group of Vandals combine for a first-half tackle in Friday’s contest at Pana: Kolton Etcheson (55), Grant Wells (53), Gage Miles (64) and Bobby Moore.

Kendrick Woolsey uses the Pana quarterback’s jersey to make a tackle.

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