Region II Bi-District GotW: Van(9-1) Vs. Henderson(6-4)

[Yoe_09]

Van(9-1)
31-Aug Longview Pine Tree W 41-28
07-Sep @Hallsville L 38-13
14-Sep @Lindale W 27-13
21-Sep Kaufman W 34-7
28-Sep @Texarkana Liberty-Eylau W 34-27
12-Oct Mineola* W 69-41
19-Oct @Athens* W 42-27
26-Oct Brownsboro* W 70-30
02-Nov @Mabank* W 49-7
09-Nov Canton* W 35-21

Vs.

Henderson(6-4)
31-Aug Plano Prestonwood Christian L 56-21
07-Sep @Nacogdoches W 26-14
14-Sep Hallsville L 21-20
21-Sep @Jacksonville W 37-13
28-Sep @Tyler Chapel Hill* W 24-6
13-Oct Gilmer* L 28-26
19-Oct @Longview Spring Hill* W 42-14
26-Oct Bullard* W 24-14
02-Nov @Kilgore* L 14-10
09-Nov Gladewater* W 41-22

Thoughts & Predictions?

[defense51]

Give me Henderson by a td

[83Indian]

Henderson rolls by 21

[icu812]

This should be a great game. Henderson seems to have the superior D. Van's offense is pretty good. Van's O-line vs Henderson's D-line will determin the winner imo. Great 1st round game. Vandals win a close one. The way the bracket sets up the wInner is likely to go a few more rounds.

[regaleagle]

Most people unaware will naturally pick Henderson to win this one simply because of Henderson's last 2 years in 3A. Van has a HUGE Oline, and superior passing qb, and gained something like 300+ yds. on the ground last week against a 8-1 Canton team. The only game Van has dropped all year came against Hallsville, a playoff team in 4A. It will be Van's offense against Henderson's defense for sure. Henderson has big play threat Monsta at the wildcat quarterbacking this team now. You guys can jump on the 16-3a DOD bandwagon if ya want, but I see a good team here in Van. Besides, Henderson(6-4) has proven to be mistake-prone, which has been costly to them. It's been costly because the games they lost only took one or two mistakes to lose them. Most teams make mistakes, but good teams overcome those mistakes one way or another. Henderson didn't. I'm going with the Van Vandals to win this one in a close match 31-27. No one has scored 31 pts on Henderson this season...not yet. QB Smallwood may change that for Van.

[cowboyandchrist]

Henderson has a very good D that can hit. The offense is a one man show, but stopping him can only be done if you have a very fast D. I know nothing about Van, so I can only assume they are pretty good because of there record. I say Henderson by 7 because of the Defense.

[Lion70]

Henderson in a close one. Just remember we should have beat hallsville. 12 turnovers in the pouring rain will do that lol.

[Aggie98]

I think Henderson is going to score a lot of points on that young Van defense. I know Van's DT is very good, but he won't be much of a factor the way Henderson runs thier offense. Van will have to score and score a lot to keep up and that's going to be hard to do against the Henderson pass rush. Henderson wins this one.

[bobcat1]

I'm going Van.

[regaleagle]

Most people unaware will naturally pick Henderson to win this one simply because of Henderson's last 2 years in 3A. Van has a HUGE Oline, and superior passing qb, and gained something like 300+ yds. on the ground last week against a 8-1 Canton team. The only game Van has dropped all year came against Hallsville, a playoff team in 4A. It will be Van's offense against Henderson's defense for sure. Henderson has big play threat Monsta at the wildcat quarterbacking this team now. You guys can jump on the 16-3a DOD bandwagon if ya want, but I see a good team here in Van. Besides, Henderson(6-4) has proven to be mistake-prone, which has been costly to them. It's been costly because the games they lost only took one or two mistakes to lose them. Most teams make mistakes, but good teams overcome those mistakes one way or another. Henderson didn't. I'm going with the Van Vandals to win this one in a close match 31-27. No one has scored 31 pts on Henderson this season...not yet. QB Smallwood may change that for Van.


Well, nobody except Plano Prestonwood the first game of the year, LOL. They scored alot, but we're gonna overlook that for now.

[defense51]

Henderson has a way of stepping it up and playing at a higher level during the playoffs. I think they continue again this year, their record isn't indicative of their talent.

[waterboy]

This is a pick 'em game, in my opinion. I'm still going to pick Henderson to win because I think they have a much better defense, and have played a much tougher schedule to get them prepared for battle. Van has a very good offense, but it's their defense I question, and with Monsta Brown in that backfield making plays the Lions will be tough for the Vandal defense to stop.

[PurpleReign2011]

Henderson by 14.

[regaleagle]

It all comes down to this game for Henderson and Van. Both teams have talent, have a shot at a regional title, and one will go home early. This is a tough game for me to predict. Van's offense will have to show up, no doubt. Henderson's offense and defense together, playing a good quality game with few mistakes, could be enough to oust Van from the playoffs. OR Van could have a balanced attack passing and running on the Lions, scoring at least 4 Td's to put pressure on Henderson to score. This is what I think may happen. I don't think Van can just pass it and win. They will have to move the chains with the run mixed in consistently all nite to break down the Lion's D. Qb Smallwood will be a key factor in how Van performs against Henderson's D. If he makes good decisions and good throws, Van will be a tough out. If not, Henderson wins.

[Z's daddy]

Van and Henderson are both good teams. Van has had very good teams for the last few years, and Henderson has been very good since coming down to 3A. This will be tough. I feel Van will have just enough to win this one. I believe their balanced attack will be able to keep Henderson off balance enough to get the win. It will be a great game and a shame that these two teams have to face each other inside of the 3rd round. A very good team will be going home in the first round. Prediction: Van 27 Henderson 21.

[waterboy]

After what I saw last night, I'm inclined to believe that Henderson "should" possibly win this game a little easier than I first thought, but, hey, anything can happen in the playoffs.

[Lion70]

Henderson 24 Van 21 half

[Lion70]

Henderson Lions = 31
Van Vandals = 21
6:47 3rd Quarter

[Indian 1985]

So, what was the final?

[Lions88]

48-21.. Us.. ;)

[icu812]

Well good game Henderson. Wish we could have given you a better game in the 4th. Lots of speed over there.

[83Indian]

48-21.. Us.. ;)

Pretty much what I predicted. That district is tough and will make a long run. Lack of passing game I think will be the weakness later down the playoff road. Too much reliance on one player. I think Argyle will eventually take you out.

[Lion70]

7-4 Henderson plays 8-3 Quinland Ford in area.

[12thMan]

Most people unaware will naturally pick Henderson to win this one simply because of Henderson's last 2 years in 3A. Van has a HUGE Oline, and superior passing qb, and gained something like 300+ yds. on the ground last week against a 8-1 Canton team. The only game Van has dropped all year came against Hallsville, a playoff team in 4A. It will be Van's offense against Henderson's defense for sure. Henderson has big play threat Monsta at the wildcat quarterbacking this team now. You guys can jump on the 16-3a DOD bandwagon if ya want, but I see a good team here in Van. Besides, Henderson(6-4) has proven to be mistake-prone, which has been costly to them. It's been costly because the games they lost only took one or two mistakes to lose them. Most teams make mistakes, but good teams overcome those mistakes one way or another. Henderson didn't. I'm going with the Van Vandals to win this one in a close match 31-27. No one has scored 31 pts on Henderson this season...not yet. QB Smallwood may change that for Van.

There's enough room on the bandwagon for you if you want!!! The 16-3A DOD blew your district out of the water. Even with mistakes, Henderson blew Van out...it could of been a lot worse! I guess this makes Henderson a good team. Van's high-powered offense only crossed the 50 yard line a few times in the second half.

The only thing that I liked about Van was their big #44. He was an awesome defender and game changer!

[Lion70]

7-4 Henderson plays 8-3 Quinland Ford in area.

Saturday, Nov. 24th, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. in Royse City

[regaleagle]

Hey 12th man. Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not from East Texas at all. I'm an Argyllian poster that is quite familiar with all of Region 2 teams. Not one to jump on East Texas bandwagons, esp. since Argyle doesn't lose much. Gilmer's wanting revenge against us from 2 previous losses, but we've never played Henderson yet. One and one against Carthage. We play Melissa next week....last year's 2A Div. I champion. Maybe they have something for us.....we'll see.

[12thMan]

Hey 12th man. Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not from East Texas at all. I'm an Argyllian poster that is quite familiar with all of Region 2 teams. Not one to jump on East Texas bandwagons, esp. since Argyle doesn't lose much. Gilmer's wanting revenge against us from 2 previous losses, but we've never played Henderson yet. One and one against Carthage. We play Melissa next week....last year's 2A Div. I champion. Maybe they have something for us.....we'll see.

I assumed you were from or around East Texas because of the comments. Gilmer has nothing to do with this match up last night. You can't measure how good a team is by simply looking at their record. Van at 9-1 coming in was clearly outplayed by the 6-4 Henderson team. I do see Gilmer and Henderson facing each other again in the state quarterfinals. Good luck to y'all the rest of the way.

[Aggie98]

Henderson's offense rushed for 403 and threw for 94. Henderson's defense held Smallwood to 13 of 34 passing with 2 picks. Not bad for a 6-4 3rd place team.

[icu812]

I thought the turning point in the game was the fumble on Van's long pass play that put them inside the 20. Game was tied at 21 just before the half and Van was rolling at the time having scored 21 straight. Huge play by Henderson. Was hoping to go back up 7 at half and be receiving 2nd half kickoff. Instead we fumbled the kickoff away as well. Van had over 350 yards of offense but a lot of that was in the first half. Henderson D played better as the game went on. I said going in Van would have to play well and have no turnovers to beat a good team like Henderson. Didnt happen. Also Smallwood missed a lot of throws he normally makes. We usually run the ball more with #44 in the game either lead blocking or getting the ball. Not sure why we didnt. Van had success running with #20 in the two back set. Not sure why we went away from that. Always easy to second guess after the game though.

[regaleagle]

I also said that Van needed for Smallwood to have a very good game throwing it and Van mixing in alot of runs for Van to advance. When you get to stiff competition in the playoffs, the team that executes best with the fewest mistakes usually wins. I think running the ball more would have helped Smallwood in the passing game, making it more effective. Like you said though, it's all in retrospect now as Henderson did what good teams do in order to advance. Congrats to Van on another good season, and the Henderson Lions for winning and advancing to the area round.

[icu812]

Thanks regaleagle. Good luck to Argyle they seem like the team to beat in Reg 2 this year.