AUBREY CHAPARRALS
The Aubrey Chaparrals varsity football team enters Week 2 for a matchup against a familiar foe, the Van Alstyne Panthers.
The Chaps piled up almost 700 yards of offense in their season opener but will look for their first win of the season at home against the 1-0 Panthers.
“Our programs are pretty similar to be honest; their kids work extremely hard, are mentally and physically tough, and are extremely well coached,” said Keith Ivy, Aubrey athletic director and head football coach. “We’ve played them every year except for two since I’ve been here, and this is one of the better teams [they’ve] had in a while. They’re athletic, and they have some really good skill kids on both sides of the ball.”
An experienced Van Alstyne squad, which returned 16 starters from last season, rolled over the Dallas Carter Cowboys 55-7 in Week 1.
The Panthers are led by receiver/defensive back Tim Moore, who missed most of last season because of an injury, and running back/linebacker Xavier Vidaurri, who totaled over 1,000 yards of offense and 11 total touchdowns in 2025.
“They have dynamic receivers and a very good running back, and he’s a load to bring down at 190 pounds,” Ivy said. “He runs angry, so we’re going to have to get a lot of bodies to him, and their quarterback has had one start at the varsity level, so it's going to be key that we get some pressure on him and try to rattle him early.”
On the other side of the ball, the Chaps will look to maintain the momentum they found in the second half against Prosper Richland, where they torched the Raiders' defense for 42 points but struggled with turnovers in the loss.
“I feel like we’re playing really for this early in the year, but we had too many mistakes last week, so this week we’re concentrating on our execution,” he said.
Ivy said the Chaps learned a lot about themselves in Week 1 and that the team hopes to carry those lessons with them as they move forward in the season.
“I know they played their hearts out, and that’s hard to coach,” he said. “We can clean up mistakes, but what we can’t fix is having players and a team that put it on the line and play their hearts out, and that’s something special that we have in that locker room. … Obviously, we didn't get the win in Week 1, but we're never satisfied if we don't get the win, but we can tell this is going to be a special group at the end of the day.”
Aubrey and Van Alstyne are set to get things rolling at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chaparral Memorial Stadium.
