Van vs Palestine in Palestine

[OldBison75]

I don't know alot about Van, but let me give you some info on Palestine. Plaestine played an outstanding game against Navasota last night and lost 28-20, but they were in the game to the end.

Palestine on offense if very fast and the QB and RB have the quickest feet you will see in 3A. Both change directions very well and have excellent field vision. The receivers are pretty good and have good speed. They used several players at receiver and all were pretty good. The offensive line is not large but very athletic and holds blocks very well.

On defense, the entire team is quick and athletic. They fly to the ball and have a scheme that includes a varied and multiple blitz package that will make the opposing offensive line have to be very smart. Navasota had the most success running quick hitters and anything to the outside seemed to be shut down. Thier pass defense is outstanding, partially because they get good pressure on the passer.

Palestine has the tools to be a force in thier district, and I hope that Navasota dosen't have to face them in the playoffs. They don't quit and will really hit you hard on every play. They don't quit.

Look for Palestine to play very tough in this game and Van will have to control the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to win. If Palestine gets on a roll, they will keep rolling and shock some really good teams. I think they have the team that could win thier district if they can build a little momentum.

[LE Dad]

This will be one of the games to watch Friday, not the one I will be watching though. Lol. I am interested to see how good Van is. Palestine was tested last night. The next 2 weeks should shake out contenders from pretenders. I don't look at wins as much as I do competitive aspects, moving ball on offense, defense keeping team in game. Pre district wins are nice but not necessary.

[PHS Wildcats]

The Rattlers fast, the qb.....WOW!!! Like I said, I thought we had the game won, but that kickoff return for a TD swung the momentum for you guys. I felt good about the Cats after last week, but I feel better after last night.

[OldBison75]

LEDad,

Palestine had about 400 yards of offense in the game against Navasota and held Navasota to about 300. I think I saw where Navasota only ran about 40 offensive plays in the game and Palestine had about 60 plays. They have the speed and talent to break plays big, but they can also sustain some drives and made alot of third and three or four first downs.

This should be a good matchup to determine which team is for real.

Good luck to your LE boys this next few weeks.

[icu812]

This should be a great game.

Last year Van won 44-21 in Van.

This year they already have a common opponent. Palestine beat Rusk 33-7 in Week 0. Van beat Rusk 42-8.

I don't know the details of the Palestine/Rusk game but Van/Rusk could have been worse. It was 28-0 at the half. Rusk's td came on defense when they picked up a misshandled pitch to a backup rb and ran it in late in the 4th.

Palestine looks to be improved this year with a great showing vs. Navasota. Van has yet to be tested by a good team this year.

As for Van I would say our offense at the skill positions is better this year than last (mostly just a year older). O-line has some new faces and 1 starter out last week with injury. Hopefully, we get him back this week. Returning qb (Tyler Sharp) putting up good #'s this year. Balanced offense. We run the spread and the power I.

Defense is solid again this year. 7 starters back from one of the top defenses in 3A last year. Undersized but all 11 are fast and rarely miss assignments.

On the negative side for Van the injury bug has hit us hard again this year. We've lost two defensive starters in back to back weeks with season ending knees injuries (DE&LB). We have some depth at those positions but still it sux.

Should be a great game. If Van contains the Palestine QB like they did last year I think Van wins again 28-21. However, if Palestine's D isn't better than last year Van will score more than 28. I'd be surprised if Van gives up more than 21 points. The key will be Palestine's defense.

I'm just hoping for an injury free game.