By SCOTT W. COLEMAN

Four Points News

Vandegrift (1-4, 0-1) vs Lehman (2-3, 0-1)

Bob Shelton Stadium

4800 Jack C Hays Trail, Buda

Friday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Lehman is in the unenviable position of being the de-facto Vanderbilt of the SEC-like District 25-6A.

Competition is tough across the board, but Lehman struggled to win in since opening and has only one season above the .500 mark in school history. In its final two seasons in Class 4A, the Lobos were 5-15. Since moving up to 6A two years ago, the Lobos have gone 1-9 and 0-10 before starting this season 2-3.

Coach Todd Raymond came over from McCallum in 2012 and has faced tough competition right away. The Lobos have played in the same district as Lake Travis and Westlake since 2014 and in that time, only managed one district win — over Akins in 2014.

This season started with losses to Westwood and Raymond’s former team McCallum. Then, the Lobos blew out Akins 42-7 in a non-district meeting before beating San Antonio Jay 29-14 on Sept. 16. In both games, the Lobos’ play selection was run-heavy. Bryan Mendoza leads the team in rushing with 486 yards, including a 169-yard outing against Jay and 180 yards in the win over Akins. Tyler Henderson ran for 191 yards in the opener against Westwood and has 386 yards on the season.

Lehman has played four different athletes at the quarterback position this year, but Jacob Zamora handles the majority of the snaps. Zamora is 42-for-71 for 473 yards on the season and has limited scrambling ability. Dominic Martinez is more of a run-threat from the quarterback position, with 110 rushing yards to add to his 79 passing yards. Receivers Braden Sullins and Chastin Evans are the main targets, with a combined 34 catches for 343 yards.

Lehman struggled defensively against the passing game against Westwood and Vista Ridge, allowing over 300 yards in each game. If there’s a recipe for success against Lehman, it would seem to be stopping the run on defense and employing a pass-heavy offensive gameplan.

Friday will be a chance for Vandegrift to get even in district play — something that will be extremely important in the coming weeks as playoff spots are more up for grabs than they were expected to be coming into the season.