Bruin bobbles help Bulldogs prevail
The West Brook Bruins are just one player away from being 3-0 this season. Unfortunately, Chip Ambres, their former star quarterback, has gone off to play pro baseball.
The Nederland Bulldogs suited up the player they'd been looking to boost their offense and Ben Davis rewarded them with a 26-yard touchdown run on his second carry of the year.
But still it took five West Brook fumbles -- three on consecutive Bruin snaps in the fourth quarter -- to get the the Bulldogs off and running for their 32-16 non-district win over the Bruins, who are 0-3 after refusing some golden opportunities to win each of their games.
"The first thing tonight is we got a win," Nederland coach Larry Neumann said, his team now 1-1 after a season-opening loss to La Marque two weeks ago, "and that's what we needed.
"I'm proud of the kids and the way they worked, but certainly, I don't think they're proud of their performance.
"We had some bright spots, but we're not where we want to be."
With its District 20-4A opener with No. 8-ranked West Orange-Stark just a week away, the last place Nederland wanted to find itself Friday night was hanging on to a narrow, 14-8, lead midway through the third quarter with West Brook perched on the Bulldog 11-yard line.
"We had an opportunity at that time to really make a go of it," West Brook coach Al Rabb said, "but we had a couple of busts. Maybe we tried to do some stuff we couldn't do, but some of it was Nederland, too. They're a pretty good football team."
On third-and-five from the Nederland 11, Bulldog nose tackle Trey Thibodeaux broke through to sack Bruin quarterback Bryan Powdrill for a 10-yard loss. On fourth down, a 39-yard field goal try by Fuller Blanchette fell harmlessly short of the cross bar.
The Bulldogs proceeded to put four scores on the board on their next four possessions.
After rushing for a minus-9 yards against La Marque, the Bulldogs rang up 192 yards overland on 35 totes. Davis, the junior whose transfer from Port Neches-Groves was held up opening week, led the way with 91 yards on 13 carries.
"It felt good," Davis said. "Like I was finally participating in the program."
But heat cramps ended Davis' night one play after Nederland's big defensive stop. Wide receiver Jake Askew took Davis' place in the backfield and capped a five-play, 79-yard touchdown drive with a 2-yard dive for a 20-8 Bulldog lead with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
Junior Daniel Tompkins set up the score with a 52-yard run to the 2-yard line. Tompkins, moved from tailback to fullback this week, finished with 86 yards on nine attempts.
Nederland's first fourth-quarter possession ended in the second interception of the game off quarterback Kirk Dean (he was 3 of 7 for 35 yards), but the Bulldogs got it right back when West Brook's Edward Lewis coughed it up to Bulldog safety Colin Weber at the Bruin 20.
Six plays later, Josh Waite booted a 25-yard field goal to make it 23-8 with 6:26 left in the game.
Eleven seconds later, Nederland lit the scoreboard again when cornerback Josh Atterberry picked up an off-target pitchout by West Brook's backup quarterback, Jason Woodside, and carried it 10 yards to the end zone.
Again, Woodside fumbled away West Brook's next offensive play and Darin Smith covered it for the Bulldogs at the West Brook 30. When Nederland stalled, Curtis Parks nailed a 45-yard field goal to make it 32-8.
The Bruins rushed for 160 of their 207 total yards, with 5-6 tailback Josh Lowe getting 136 yards and two TDs on 14 carries. He scored a 42-yard breakaway with 1:51 left.
A 14-0 Nederland halftime belied the ease with which the Bulldogs scored their points in the game's first three minutes, 36 seconds.
Dean's one-yard sneak capped a 13-yard drive that began when Powdrill fumbled on the game's second play.
After a Bruin three-and-out, a 13-yard punt left Nederland just 26 yards away from paydirt and Davis gobbled it all up in one cutback TD run.
But Nederland gained just two first downs in the rest of the half and West Brook took a 16:14 to 7:46 edge in time of possession for the first two quarters.
After Dean's first interception ended Nederland's first second-half drive, West Brook's Powdrill ran 38 yards on a keeper and Lowe broke a tackle in the backfield to score on a 17-yarder. When holder Willie Jordan picked up the PAT attempt that Askew had blocked and carried it in for two points, West Brook had cut Nederland's lead to 14-8.