"Leopards roll Raiders; look to Friday game with Van Vleck" By John Hoffman Special to the Sentinel

   The Van Vleck Leopards used a ball-controlled offense and a stingy defense to upend the Rice Consolidated Raiders 27-6 last Friday night.  
   With the win, Van Vleck improves to 2-0 in District play, with a looming cross-county match against Tidehaven this week. 
   The first Van Vleck score of the night would come late in the first quarter. 
   After taking over at their own 31-yard line, the Leopards slowly worked their way down the field. Van Vleck used a mixture of running backs, as Cam Austin, Jace MacKenzie, Ka’Darius Woodard, and Brett Noster all got touches on the drive. 
   Quarterback Payton Brown connected with wide receiver Brysen Blackmon on a 16-yard touchdown to end the 16-play drive. 
   Cam Austin converted the two-point conversion on a swinging gate to give Van Vleck an 8-0 lead. 
   The Van Vleck defense held the Rice rushing attack in check as both teams could not find the end zone for the rest of the first half. 
   After a scoreless third period, the Leopards extended their lead early in the fourth quarter. Starting from their own 10-yard line, Van Vleck kept to their ground game, moving down into Rice territory.  
   A big 42-yard reception Payton Brown to Jace Mackenzie got the Leopards down to the two-yard line. Brown took it in from there to push the lead to 14-0 with 8:41 left in the ballgame. 
   Rice would answer right back on their next possession, going 59-yards in 5 plays, capped off by a 29-yard touchdown run by James Cotton to cut the Van Vleck lead down to 14-6. 
   The Leopards responded right back just 13 seconds later, as Cam Austin took the handoff, and raced untouched 65 yards for the touchdown.  
   The conversion was no good, but the Van Vleck lead was now 20-6 with 7:27 left in the game. 
   Defensive back Corey Austin came up big on the next Rice possession, intercepting Raider quarterback Ralph Herrera to give the Leopards the ball back on the Rice 47-yard line.  
   Van Vleck kept it on the ground, churning off big gains by Cam Austin and Brett Noster. Ka’Darius Woodard finished off the drive, taking it in from 3-yards out for the score and the victory. 
   Van Vleck and Tidehaven will square off in a battle of teams with matching 2-0 district records.  
   The winner will put themselves in a good place for either the first or second playoff spot. 
   Game time is set for 7:30 in Tidehaven.