Vandals pound SW to go to 3-1

Vandalia took advantage of numerous Southwestern turnovers early in Friday’s contest in building up a quick lead for the second week in a row.

The 41-19 win at Piasa boosted the Vandals’ record to 3-1, and this week, they host North Mac.

Vandalia quarterback Andrew Kelly rushed for 26 carries on 217 yards and four touchdowns, three of those coming in the first half.

Kelly also completed 13 of 18 passes for 210 yards, which included touchdown passes of 74 yards and 49 yards to Kohnor Depew.

Kelly’s rushing and passes numbers accounted for 410 yards of the Vandals’ 468 total.

Kelly also led the defense in solo tackles with five, and he assisted on three other tackles.

Kelly’s 49-yard pass to Depew gave the Vandals a 34-7 lead at halftime.

In a sluggish second half, Vandalia’s other score of the game was Kelly’s 15-yard run with 9:13 left in the third quarter.

The final score would have been a lot closer had it not been for two plays by the Vandals’s Jay Keck.

On the final play of the first half, a Southwestern defender picked up a Vandalia fumble and was on his way to the end zone as time expired when Keck prevented the score with a tackle near the 5-yard line.

Then, in the second half, Southwest was driving for a score when Keck pulled a pass away from a SW receiver to kill that drive.

“The first half was good,” Vandals’ coach Jason Clay said. “They helped us out there with all of the turnovers (three).

“I would have liked to see us take more advantage of that and put the nail in the coffin.

“We had a chance (to do that), and that the next thing I think we’ve got to learn is how to finish the game,” Clay said.

“We’re learning how to win ballgames and we’re making plays; now, we’ve got to learn how to finish the win.

“It’s just part of it, and we’ll get after it on Monday,” he said.

“But these guys are doing a great job,” Clay said.

Again noting a stellar performance by Kelly, Clay offered praise to his offensive line for creating holes for the QB, “but it doesn’t take much of a crease for him to get through.

“He’s a stud. As he goes, we go, and then everybody else plays off of that,” Clay said.

“Andrew is the man, and he’s just got to keep bringing it.

“He also had a heck of a game on defense, making tons of tackles and assists,” Clay said.

The Vandals head coach also noted the effort of Jay Keck.

“It’s awesome to see – he made two huge plays – he caught the guy there (near the goal line after the fumble) and then he intercepted the ball down there (to kill a scoring drive).

“We talk before the game about playing with great effort, we talk about taking the next step, pursuing, blocking our butts off,” Clay said.

“That’s just a great example, testament to the kind of kid he is and what kind of worker he is, and it’s the reason he’s one of our leaders,” he said.

Even with the win, Clay said, “there are a lot of things to learn from this game and a lot of things to improve – (it’s good) to get a win and look forward to see what we can do (to get better).”