PN-G's power finally prevails
NEDERLAND -- Port Neches-Groves seemed to cross the tracks with an acute overdose of confidence. Nederland made the Indians earn this cherished victory. But earn it, powerful PN-G did.
The more they can turn any game into an infantry war, the more the Indians like it. They outrushed the Bulldogs 262-45 at this 80th Mid-County Madness and claimed a 23-14 victory Friday night before 14,000 at Bulldog Stadium.
This was the night PN-G's seniors had awaited throughout their high school careers, especially because Nederland had entered with a three-game win streak in this longest continuous Southeast Texas high school football rivalry.
Fittingly, Travis Hebert and Jacob Diltz were the among the heroes, atoning for last year's disappointing, 22-19 setback.
Hebert turned out the lights, dashing 37 yards with a game-clinching touchdown interception runback with 59 seconds to play. The same Hebert had been penalized for an illegal block which nullified a potential game-winning touchdown in the final three minutes of last year's game.
"This makes up for it and a little extra," said Hebert after catching as many passes from Nederland's quarterback as from PN-G's.
Hebert intercepted two passes in the game's final three minutes, getting so excited after the first one that he fumbled the ball at midfield. The PN-G senior made sure not to fumble the next one, adding insurance to a victory that remained anyone's game until the final minute.
The victory improved PN-G to 8-0 (7-1 legally) and 6-0, keeping coach Matt Burnett's Indians in undisputed possession of the District 20-4A lead. Nederland dropped to 5-3 and 4-2, joining Central, Ozen, and West Orange-Stark with two league losses going into the final two regular-season weeks.
Nederland did all it could to cope with PN-G's highly regarded offensive line. Although the Indians blockers did not succeed at playing keep-away, they enabled Derek Gohlke and Josh Cook to collect the real estate little by little for the most part.
Gohlke rushed 22 times for 134 yards, running for one score and catching a well-thrown throwback lob for another. Cook did not duplicate last week's workmanlike numbers but would support Gohlke with 101 yards on 14 carries.
"We thought it would be easy," Gohlke admitted. "It was tougher than we thought it would be. You've got to give it to them (Nederland) credit. They're a great team. We knew it wasn't going to be given to us."
While the Indians' chief understandably downplayed his personal ledger in the head-to-head Mid-County series, Burnett improved his record to 4-6 against Nederland. That 4-6 had to feel much better than 3-7 would have. As for his team's game plan, Burnett received Rush Limbaugh's seal of approval for keeping it ultra-conservative.
"We played it pretty close to the cuff," Burnett said. "Our plan was not to let them win it through our turnovers. It was a conservative plan tonight offensively, but it worked."
The Indians doubled the Bulldogs in first downs, 18-9, and led in total yards, 333-230, but a determined defensive effort by Nederlanders such as Ron Mohica, Blake Amy and Chase Gentile prevented PN-G from getting anything cheap before Hebert's last-minute interception runback.
For NHS seniors such as receiver-kicker Josh Waite, the inability to beat PN-G all four years in high school was a disappointment.
"Even though we beat them three times in a row, we didn't come in here thinking about the past," Waite said. "It's disappointing but the difference tonight was we didn't execute on first and second downs and that put us in a hole."
Bulldogs boss Larry Neumann -- now 7-4 vs. PN-G -- emphasized his team's need to regroup on Monday in order to keep its state 4A playoff chances alive.
"I told the players that I was proud of the way they played and prepared during the week," Neumann said. "You're never satisfied with losing. In a game like this, you can always point to five or six plays that were critical."
One of them definitely was Diltz's 31-yard throwback pass to Gohlke for the game's first score with 4:10 left in the first half. Ironically, that was the same play call which Nederland intercepted late in last year's game to stop PN-G's bid for victory.
Gohlke slipped out of the backfield on PN-G's sideline and escaped Nederland defender Clint Whitaker just enough to haul in Diltz's lob.
The Indians' quarterback lost control of the ball on the next time that he he touched it, enabling Nederland would tie the game on a 37-yard fumble return by Evan Foxworth with 2:28 left in the half. Amy had gotten penetration and knocked the ball from Diltz' grasp, with Foxworth scooping up the loose ball.
PN-G then covered 50 yards in seven snaps right before intermission, setting up Ricky McCurley's 45-yard field goal from the right hash for a 10-7 edge with two seconds left in the half.
"I wondered how much farther it would have been good," McCurley said. "I thought I had enough room."
McCurley's kick enabled PN-G to keep the lead for only one series into the second half. Nederland's offense solved PN-G's defense for its only scoring drive, taking the second-half kickoff 80 yards in six plays. Three Dustin Hood completions of 34 yards to Waite, 21 to Ryan Butler and a 16-yard touchdown toss to Trent Hanley helped to lift NHS ahead 14-10. Hanley found an opening in the middle of a shaky and generous PN-G secondary with 9:25 left in the third quarter.
PN-G's defense permitted only two first downs and less than 50 net yards during Nederland's remaining six possessions.
Meanwhile, the Indians' offense cranked up its finest possession, moving 72 yards in nine plays, with the help of a critical face mask penalty on a 3rd-and-19. After PN-G was staked to a first down at the Bulldogs 24, Gohlke cut off Richard Montalvo's block for the final yard for a 17-14 lead with 11:56 to play. Cook gained the biggest chunk on the drive, rambling 43 yards before Andrew Ferguson made a touchdown-saving tackle.
Nederland's Mohica recovered a Cook fumble to rob the Indians of another fourth-quarter touchdown at the Dogs 15. But Hebert enabled the Indians' celebration to erupt anyway.
"It feels great," Dusty Dubois said. "We came here knowing it was our last year to play them. Our seniors really wanted to get on a roll."
The Indians need that roll to continue next week at The Reservation when they host West Orange-Stark. Nederland will hit the road to visit Silsbee.