Dogs offense clicks, earns bid, 37-17
VIDOR -- Challenged to discover an offense in the season's final regular-season game, Monte Barrow and his Nederland attack unit invented a pretty good one this week.
The Bulldogs reached the playoffs on Friday night with arguably their year's best all-round offensive game, running for 184 yards and passing for 144 in an impressive 37-17 victory over Vidor before 7,000 at Pirate Stadium.
Nederland (7-3 and 6-2) returned to the playoffs for a seventh straight year and claimed the right to represent District 20-4A as the third-place team. The Bulldogs will play 19-4A representative Willis next weekend, with the game tentatively scheduled for Humble's Turner Stadium.
Officials from both schools will finalize their date and time when they will meet this morning.
Nederland won at Port Neches-Groves with defense. Nederland largely got past Silsbee with a superior kicking game. Nederland was not winning many games this season with a fine-tuned consistently productive offense. The Bulldogs would dial up a big play every now and then, but on a consistent basis you had to inquire about the NHS offense at the lost and found department.
Offensive coordinator Barrow, trusty back Daniel Tompkins (23 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown), accurate passer Kirk Dean (8 of 14 for 144 yards and a score) and an in-sync offensive line basically accepted the challenge of coping with Vidor's top-rated 20-4A defenders.
The new-found NHS offense outgained Vidor, 328-252 in total yards; 20-14 in first downs, 28:50-19:10 in possession time and charged in the front door on this night. The 2-0 edge in turnovers contributed two touchdowns to Nederland's cause but Dean and the Dogs already had the upper hand before any Vidor giveaways arrived.
"I know it's week 10 but it's just kinda coming together," Bulldogs head coach Larry Neumann said. "We have attained a great confidence in being able to throw the ball.
"If we can throw it like we threw it tonight, we will be in position to run. This was probably our offensive line's best game of the year. Their pass protection and run blocking was outstanding."
Nederland coaches have wondered quietly when the blocking unit of Willie Dinolfo, Tyler Nemeth, John Tobias, Josh Jones and Chris Pierce would jell. On this Friday -- with the league's deluxe defenders in the house -- Nederland's line performed its task most admirably. They protected Dean as if their lives depended on it.
Given time to cut up Vidor's pass defense, Dean did so early and effectively. Getting ahead of Vidor early was the key.
Dean and Askew teamed on a perfectly executed 29-yard post-corner route for a 7-0 lead midway in the first quarter. Askew spun around Vidor safety Josh Smith with a fake toward the middle and headed toward the boundary. Dean's throw was perfect with 5:55 left in the opening quarter.
After an ensuing drive produced a Vidor field goal, Askew adjusted his path and delivered an all-American diving catch -- the kind you only see on Sundays -- to complete a 40-yard play at Vidor's 14 on the opening snap of the second quarter.
Basically school was out at Vidor right then. The Pirates (6-4 and 4-4) exposed themselves as terribly vulnerable to the pass, as they had at home against Beaumont Central and Port Neches-Groves in earlier weeks.
Tompkins darted nine yards to the 5 and Ben Davis dashed to the end zone on his night's lone carry for a 14-3 lead with 10:55 left in the half. The playoff bark increased to 21-3 after Pierce's fumble recovery led Dean's one-yard sneak with 7:22 left in the half. Deke Massey's pretty over-the-shoulder TD catch cut Vidor's halftime deficit to 21-11.
Nederland's second-half mastery became most evident when the Dogs went 69 yards in 17 plays, covering 8:04 and leading to a Curtis Parks 30-yard field goal for a 31-11 edge with 9:31 to play.
"They came out firing, didn't they?" Vidor coach Jeff Mathews said. "They came out and made the plays they had to make."
"We put some new things in for this game," Dean said. "We wanted to come out strong because we knew they had two weeks to get ready. We came out passing some more."
Vidor defensive boss Eddie Hatch said the Pirates expected Nederland to air it out more in this finale.
"We thought they were going to pass," Hatch said. "We just blew two coverages. A normal kid is not going to catch that ball (that Askew caught to start the second quarter)."
Askew was happy that his team was able to settle a score with Vidor after last year's 10-8 Pirates win in Pirate Stadium.
"We designed the offense this week to try to confuse Vidor," Askew said.
In the process, it looked as if Nederland found itself an offense... as well as a just-in-time ticket to the playoffs.