Not Enough: The Vandals’ one scoring drive got them on the board, but was not enough to get them in contention

As the Vandals walked off the field Friday night, they had little to show for the last two hours they had spent in the cold and rain. The scoreboard read Southwestern–20, Vandalia–6, but the scoreboard didn’t show the six turnovers by Vandalia and only one significant drive.

“We didn’t play well,” coach John Stout said. “We didn’t play real well. We turned the ball over, and couldn’t get anything going.”

Vandalia’s offense was shaky from the start, as it was flagged for a penalty on the very first play. The Vandals recovered with several runs by Cory Bunker, but the drive stalled at the 33 and Vandalia turned the ball over on downs.

Southwestern got on the board with five minutes remaining in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run. The Birds would go for two and get it, taking an 8-0 lead.

“[Southwestern] had a nice drive at the start of the game and that got us on our heels a little bit, and we couldn’t do anything after that,” Stout said.

The Birds were in the end zone again as time expired in the first quarter. On Vandalia’s 35-yard line, Southwestern ran a play action pass play, when the defense saw the fake handoff the corners and safety’s rushed. The Birds’ quarterback looked for a receiver wide open down the left sideline, who caught the ball at the 15 and jogged into the end zone for the score and 14-0 lead. The Birds failed on the 2-point conversion.

Southwestern opened the second quarter with onside kick and recovered it on Vandalia’s 49-yard line. Vandalia’s defense forced and covered a fumble during the drive, but the offense gave the ball right back on a fumble two plays later.

The defense got another fumble with a minute to go in the half, but Marty Johnson would throw his second interception of the quarter on the first play.

The Birds took a 14-0 lead into the half. Vandalia turned the ball over four times in the first half, including three times in the second quarter.

On Southwestern’s first play of the second half, the Birds ran the ball 67 yards for a score, going up 20-0. The 2-point conversion was no good.

Following turnover by the Birds a few drives later, Vandalia was able to put together its best drive of the game. Starting back at their own 22, the Vandals were able to move downfield, thanks to the running of Tyler Vosholler. He broke several big runs and Vandalia picked up six first downs. Vosholler got the Vandals down to the 4-yard line, and Drew Stewart would punch the ball in from the 1, getting Vandalia on the board, 20-6 with seconds remaining in the third quarter. The PAT failed.

The teams traded turnovers in the fourth quarter, but Vandalia was unable to put together another scoring drive. Southwestern would run the victory formation, taking a knee and running out the final seconds of game. The loss dropped Vandalia to 3-4 and the Birds moved to 4-3.

Vandalia had 213 rushing yards, one touchdown and two fumbles. Johnson was 7-for-21 passing for 60 yards and four interceptions.

Vosholler had a team-high 101 yards on 14 carries. Stewart had 54 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Bryan Hosick pulled in eight catches for 47 yards.

“You have to give them some of the credit,” Stout said. “They had a pretty good scheme to stop Cory. We just could get anything going.”

Bunker, who is normally Vandalia’s biggest running threat, was held to just 49 yards on 15 carries, one of his worst outings of the season.

The Vandals were without receiver and defensive back Daniel Bell, who was out with a back injury. Bell sustained a back injury during practice earlier in the week. He is expected to play this Friday.

Southwestern had only 43 more yards then Vandalia. Six points is the Vandals’ lowest point total of the season; they are 0-4 when scoring 21 or less.

On Friday, Vandalia will host Pana. If the Vandals want to return to postseason action, they must when both of their remaining games.

“Our backs are against the wall and we’re just going to have to come out and play hard, that’s all we can do,” Stout said.

The Panthers are 5-2 this fall, their only losses coming to Greenville and Carlinville. In all five of their wins, they have held their opponents to seven or less points. Last week, Pana defeated Litchfield 35-0. It has shut out three teams this season, including Southwestern, 3-0.

Last season, Vandalia defeated Pana 20-15. In the defensive struggle, both teams were held to less than 200 yards of offense and both had three turnovers.

This will be Vandalia’s final home football game of the season. Prior to the game, VCHS will honor seniors on the football and golf teams, as well as the band, color guard and cheer-leaders.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.