Penalties, miscues factors in Vandals’ loss to Comets
Vandalia fell to Greenville on Friday, with turnovers and penalties being key factors.
Vandalia’s Jay Keck looks to make some blocks for quarterback Andrew Kelly during Friday’s game at Greenville
The Vandals, now 3-2 on the season, will continue their quest for another playoff appearance when they face Hillsboro this Friday in the Homecoming contest. Due to Homecoming festivities at halftime, Friday’s game starts at 6:30 p.m.
Greenville jumped out to a 7-0 lead about midway through the first quarter, and Vandalia countered with a touchdown early in the second half, but the extra-point kick failed, leaving the Vandals behind by a point.
The Comets then put four scores on the board before the Vandals narrowed the gap to 14 with about 10 minutes left in the game.
But Greenville secured the win with a touchdown with a little more than three minutes left in the game.
Vandalia quarterback Andrew Kelly attain surpassed the century mark in rushing with 125 yards on 10 carries.
Kelly also completed 15 of 36 passes for 133 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
On defense, Brody Roberts led with seven solo tackles, three assists, four tackles for -10 yards and two sacks for -14.
“We got beat by a better football team tonight,” Vandals coach Jason Clay said.
“They outexecuted us and we had more penalties, more mistakes, just a lot of silly things you can’t have to beat a good team,” he said.
“We had some opportunities, and they didn’t really ever give us that big play to get us back in the game.
“They were able to run the ball a little bit, and I thought that defensively we played well a lot of the night, just gave up a couple of big plays,” Clay said.
“Give them credit, but just the penalties we’ve got to cut out, and we’ve got to run some better routes and know what we’re doing.
Photos by Rich Bauer
Vandalia’s Landon Christian goes up high to pull in a pass during Friday’s contest at Greenville.
“We were forced to do some stuff that we hadn’t used a lot, and a lot of things we’ve had success with so far this year, they were playing tough.
“We weren’t really opening up holes, so give them some credit up front. I think we got beat up front,” he said.
“And when we went to some secondary stuff, we didn’t execute as well as we needed to, so that will be on the coaches to get it better,” Clay said.
The coach feels his squad can get back on the winning track, hoping for the same outcome the last time a Vandals team was in this shape at this point in the season.
“There’s a lot to rally around,” Clay said. “The last time it happened to us, we went on a four-game winning streak.
“We can do it again, and it’s one of those things where we’ve got to pull together.
“We’ve got the right group of kids to do that,” Clay said.
The JV Vandals defeated Greenville, 28-7, on Monday and are now 4-1 on the season.
Last Thursday, the freshmen Vandals defeated North Mac, 56-0.
