'Dogs survive late scare from Bruins
NEDERLAND -- Nederland jumped out to an early lead on a pair of first quarter touchdowns by Daniel Tompkins. However, the Bulldogs had to hold off a late West Brook rally to hang on for a 17-14 win Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
For the second straight week, West Brook had a chance to capture its first win of the season on the game's final drive. The Bruins took over possession with 2:25 left in the game after stopping the
Bulldogs on fourth-and-five from the 10.
Quarterback Willie Jordan scrambled for 27 yards on the drive's first play to put the Bruins at their own 42. However, WB was unable to muster any more offense as Jordan was sacked on third down and his screen pass on fourth-and-13 fell incomplete with :27 remaining.
"Our defense did a great job in getting us opportunities on offense," said Nederland coach Larry Neumann. "I'm not sure how many turnovers we had, but a couple were big ones when they (WB) were driving. Giant possession changes that kind of kept us from getting us really in to tough shape."
Despite the heavy rains and quagmire-like playing conditions, Nederland decided not to alter its offensive game play. That was evident from the start as senior quarterback Kirk Dean completed nine-of-17 passes for 108 yards in the opening stanza.
"Our field really holds up pretty good under heavy rain," said Neumann referring to the playing conditions. "It wasn't perfect, but we felt like we could stick with our original game plan. We didn't alter it at all."
Nederland (1-1) took advantage of West Brook miscues in racing to a 17-0 lead after the first quarter. The Bulldogs started the scoring by capitalizing on the first of three West Brook turnovers in the opening half.
Taking over at its own 22 after a fumble by J.D. Ahysen, Nederland drew first blood on a 23-yard field goal by Josh Waite. West Brook cornerback Jeremy Veazie dropped an interception in the end zone that would have given the Bruins the ball.
Nederland wasted little time in scoring the game's first touchdown. Bruin quarterback Willie Jordan was intercepted on third-and-seven by Clint Whitaker, who returned it 50 yards to the West Brook
11.
Tompkins, who topped the century mark for the first time in his career, gave the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead by scrambling 11 yards for a touchdown on the very next play from scrimmage.
The Bulldogs defense forced a three-and-out on the Bruins next possession. Nederland gained excellent field position when WB punter Jonathan Cruz shanked a punt, which traveled just four yards, under a heavy rush that gave the Bulldogs the ball at their own 39.
Dean hit Tompkins for a 21-yard completion on the first play. Tompkins carried the ball in from 18 yards out on the next play to put Nederland up 17-0.
"Daniel really had a big night tonight in some of the things he did," commented Neumann. "This was really his first good test in running the ball. He didn't get much work in the scrimmages and in the first game. You could see him get better asthe game went on."
Ben Davis served as a good compliment to Tompkins, running the ball 14 times for 40 yards. For the game, the Bulldogs amassed 133 yards on the ground and 252 total yards for the game.
"I'm proud, generally speaking, of the way we ran the ball tonight," Neumann said. "Obviously, we'll go back to work to try to improve on all the areas.
"I'm not satisfied in the least with anything we did tonight. But I'm very satisfied with winning the game because West Brook was a very good opponent for us tonight."
Nederland was primed to make the game a rout in the second quarter, consuming the ball for over nine minutes over two lengthy drives. But the Bulldogs were unable to put additional points on the board.
A low snap on Waite's 38-yard field goal attempt thwarted the first opportunity and Waite was wide right on a 32-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.
West Brook (0-3) started its second half comeback early in the third quarter. The Bruins benefited from good field position due to a bad snap on a Nederland punt.
Taking over at its own 37, West Brook scored six players later on Quinn Pinson's 4-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal. The drive was kept alive by Jordan's 27-yard scamper on third-and-three to give the Bruins first-and-goal.
The Bruins pulled to within three points early in the fourth quarter. On third-and-16, Jordan connected with Pinson on a screen pass from 19 yards out to make the score 17-14.
Pinson led all rushers with 156 yards on 13 carries, which included long runs of 70 and 39 yards. Jordan added 52 yards on 15 carries and complete three-of-eight passes for 37 yards.
"We challenged the kids at halftime, about what they stand for and are they going to grow from this experience or let it go," said WB coach Al Rabb. "From that standpoint, I was pleased with how we played in the second half.
"May be this is what we have to go through to get better. I hope we continue to get better."