Nederland holds off LC-M
NEDERLAND -- Nederland coach Larry Neumann said that whenever Nederland and Little Cypress-Mauriceville get together it's always a tough, hard-fought game. That's exactly what he got Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
After jumping out to an early lead, Nederland held off a furious LC-M rally for a 27-20 Homecoming win.
The Bulldogs (4-3, 3-2) defense had to come up big in the closing minutes of the game, stopping the Bears on fourth-and-eight from the 33 with 1:44 remaining.
"Our kids expected a tough game, but I'm really proud of the way they hung in there and pulled out the win," Neumann said. "Give credit to LC-M, coach David Williams and his staff. They prepared a great game plan and played great. We really just hung on to win the game.
"It was ugly, ugly, ugly, but they (wins) can't be bad. We're still nursing some injuries. We had some guys that were out tonight that we hope to get back next week. I'm really proud of the guys that came in and replaced them. They did a good job."
After failing to gain 100 yards of total offense in the previous two games, LC-M (2-5, 1-4) regained the services of senior tailback Josh Chargois. After missing three games due to grades, Chargois almost single-handedly brought the Bears back for the win.
Chargois scored both of LC-M's touchdowns and ran in a two-point conversion. He led all rushers with 126 yards on 16 carries and caught eight passes for 94 yards.
"Obviously, people that see him run can tell that he's an excellent back," LC-M coach David Williams said of Chargois. "If you give him any room at all, he can take it to the house. The kids stayed on their blocks well tonight and he was able to do some things."
The Bears pulled to within a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Chargois' 50-yard run from his own 39 gave the Bears a first down at the Nederland 11. Chargois scored from six yards out two plays later to make the score 27-20 with 11:55 left in the game.
"It's a real heartbreaker for us," Williams said. "The kids played their tails off. We had bad field position, due to sacks and penalties, and you can't capitalize when you have third and long. You have to give Nederland credit. The game could have gone either way, and they hung on for the win. We just ran out of time."
Nederland jumped out to an early 19-0 lead and looked to have the game well in hand early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and drove the ball all the way to the Bears 12 yard line, but the drive ended on a missed 36-yard field goal by Josh Waite.
After forcing a three-and-out by LC-M, Nederland wasted little time in scoring on its next possession. Kirk Dean hit Jake Askew on a 28-yard scoring strike on the first play from scrimmage.
The Bulldogs scored on their next possession as well. This time Dean connected with Josh Atterberry on a 47-yard pass-play. The two-point conversion failed, giving Nederland a 12-0 lead after one quarter of play.
LC-M finally got the offense going on its third possession, only to have Weslee Weaver intercept a Donald Tardy pass and return it 52 yards for a touchdown.
The Bears finally scored on a 31-yard Jonathan Davis field goal with 6:53 remaining in the second quarter. LC-M scored again in the final minute of the quarter on a 7-yard run by Chargois to cut the Nederland lead to 19-11 at intermission.
The Bears defense scored the first points of the second half when Dean was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone to make it a 19-13 game.
After the two teams exchanged turnovers, Nederland bounced back with a scoring drive to push the lead to 27-13. Dean capped the nine-play, 69-yard drive with a quarterback sneak from the one. The drive was aided by a personal foul penalty on the Bears that kept the drive going after an incomplete pass on third-and-10.
Nederland used a balanced offensive attack. Six running backs carried the ball 49 times for 196 yards, and Dean was an efficient 5-of-10 passing for 113 yards.
"We've got tailback by committee, and it's been that way all year," said Neumann, who hopes to get junior Ben Davis back in a couple of weeks. "It's just kind of the way the year has worked out. Every one of them did a little bit to pull out this win tonight."
Daniel Tompkins did the most damage for the Bulldogs, running for 78 yards on 20 carries. Atterberry added 68 yards on nine carries and Dean had 28 yard on 14 rushes.
However, it was the defense that Neumann was most pleased with after the game.
"Let's give great accolades to our defense. They came up with some big plays late in the game."