Nederland gets it done in fourth quarter
LUMBERTON -- Nederland games aren't for the weak at heart. The cardiac Bulldogs needed another fourth quarter defensive stop and a late touchdown by Ben Davis to pull away from Lumberton, 21-7, in District 20-4A action Friday night at Raiders Stadium.
Nederland (4-1, 3-0) has been able to pull out the close games by rising to the occasion in fourth quarters this season. The Bulldogs also been able to convert key third downs to keep drives alive and the defense has forced turnovers and made big, late-game stops.
"The one constant on our team right now is that we are a good fourth quarter team," said Nederland coach Larry Neumann after the game. "We either make a stop or make a drive when we have to. That was the case again tonight. We scored late to kind of put the game away.
"As long as we keep doing that, recognizing that crisis of the moment and performing like we have through the entire season, we're going to be competitive to the end."
The return of senior quarterback Kirk Dean, after a slow start, seemed to provide a spark for the Bulldogs. After a scoreless first quarter, Dean connected with Josh Atterberry on a 21-yard scoring strike for the game's first touchdown.
However, the injury bug would bite the Bulldogs, again, in the second half as both Dean and Atterberry would leave the game with injuries. Dean took himself out of the game early in the fourth quarter after re-aggravating a hamstring injury that kept him out of the two previous games. The early report on Atterberry is a strained knee. Both will be re-evaluated today.
"We're feeling this district," commented Neumann as a reason for all the injuries. "This is a tough, physical district. We're not alone, everybody's dealing with that. You just have to get guys ready to play to fill in and we've done a good job of that this season."
Dean, who was engineering his last drive of the night, provided Nederland some breathing room late in the third quarter. This time it was tight end Cody Deitz on the receiving end of a Dean 13-yard touchdown pass. Dean, who was 14-of-23 for 183 yards and two touchdowns, hit Michael Brady
for the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.
Lumberton (3-3, 2-2) , whose offensive sputtered all night, finally put together a scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Sean Gilley connected with Kenny Hare for a 42-yard completion
on third-and-10 to move the ball into Bulldog territory.
Following an incompletion, Gilley hit Matt Cochran on a 29-yard strike to give the Raiders first-and-goal at the seven. Ty Collette finished off the drive on the very next play with a 7-yard scoring run to pull Lumberton within a touchdown at 14-7.
With Dustin Hood taking over at quarterback, Nederland was driving to answer the Lumberton score. Hood completed his first two passes, an 11-yard toss to Trent Hanley and a 7-yarder to Daniel Tompkins. However, the drive stalled and the Bulldogs had to punt the ball away.
Lumberton took over with 5:52 remaining in the game at its own 20. An incompletion and a penalty temporarily stalled the Raiders. Gilley hit Hunter Bittle for 12 yards on second down and completed a 3-yard pass to Hare on third down to keep the drive alive.
Just when it looked like Lumberton was gaining some momentum for a possible game-tying drive, the Nederland defense stepped up as it has all season long. Joel Guidry intercepted Gilley, who was trying to hit Cochran on a fly pattern down the right sideline.
"Our entire defense has played well, but our secondary has really excelled," said Neumann, who saw his defense intercept two passes and recover one fumble. "Our secondary is getting better and better as time goes on. We got some pressure on the quarterback tonight. Enough to make him
(Gilley) throw some bad balls and keep them a little off balance in the passing game."
The Bulldogs wasted little time in putting the game out of reach. Ben Davis, who led all rushers with 91 yards on 21 carries, finished off the drive with a 21-yard scoring run with 2:16 remaining.
In looking at the offensive numbers, the game was much closer than it should have been. Nederland rolled up 386 yards off offense, 201 through the air and 185 on the ground, and gained 23 first downs. Lumberton managed just 200 yards of offense, 152 passing and 48 rushing, and tallied
just eight first downs.
Those statistics were misleading because the Bulldogs fumbled the ball away twice, and had a drive end with a missed field goal at the end of the first half.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Nederland finally put together a scoring drive midway through the second stanza.
After stopping the Raiders on downs, the Bulldogs took over at their own 29. Dean hit Josh Waite for a 13-yard pass play on first down and connected with Atterberry for 22 yards three plays later on third-and-nine to move the ball to the Lumberton 34.
Tompkins, who gained 68 yards on 14 carries, gave Nederland another third-down conversion with a 5-yard run up the middle on third-and-two to keep the drive alive. Dean hit Atterberry on a 21-yard
strike to score the game's first points. A bad snap led to a failed extra point attempt, making the score 6-0.
Lumberton had its first drive of the game end on an Atterberry interception of a Gilley pass intended for Cochran, who was running a fly pattern down the right sideline.
The Raiders, who recovered a Davis fumble at the Nederland 35, failed to take advantage of the good field position. Collette was tackled for a 3-yard loss and a 10-yard holding penalty pushed the ball back to the 48. Gilley, who was 11-of-26 for 152 yards, completed a 15-yard pass to Hare
on third down. Gilley's pass to Wade Abercrombie on fourth-and-four fell incomplete.
A 13-yard punt gave Nederland good field position at its own 46 for the half's final drive. Dean completed back-to-back passes to Waite and Deitz to give the Bulldogs first-and-goal at the 6. Davis gained four yards on first down, but the Raiders defense tightened up.
Tompkins was stopped for no gain on second down and Davis was thrown for a 3-yard loss on third down. Waite missed a 21-yard field goal on the half's final play.