NEDERLAND - Larry Neumann faced the music on Tuesday and it did not sound real pretty.

  Kicking game malfunctions of all sorts and shapes played a significant role in Nederland's inability to remain undefeated last Friday night at West Orange-Stark.

  Nederland scored five touchdowns. West Orange-Stark countered with four touchdowns and a field goal. But the victorious Mustangs supplemented their total with five additional points on three successful kicks and a successful two-point pass.

  Meanwhile, the Bulldogs did not add to their total at all, missing two kicks, having a third one blocked, and failing to convert on a pair of two-point plays.

  If that amounted to Nederland's only kicking games woes, it already would have totaled more than enough. But that's not all. WO-S returned the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, marking the second game in as many weeks for a Nederland opponent to run one all the way back.

 

  And which member of head coach Neumann's staff is in charge of the kicking game? Yep, you guessed it, his name is Neumann, too.

  It can be stated, in Larry's defense, that virtually every varsity staff member assists in working on Nederland's kicking game in certain ways. Yet when it comes specifically to the additional work with punters, place-kickers, etc., the buck stops at the head coach's chair.

  That's why Neumann, rather than any of his players, got to sit in his own office seat on Tuesday afternoon and account for something which never had happened in Larry's previous 11 head coaching seasons. Or at least never to the extent of the 32-30 loss to WO-S -- a game which contained a complete NHS kicking game breakdown virtually from start to finish.

  "It's alarming to our coaching staff and to our team," Neumann said. "Frustrating? Yes, with a major F."

  Neumann woke up Saturday morning feeling horrible about his team's inability to convert extra points. The feeling did not go away either.

  "I think you can include Sunday morning in this one, too," he added. "Our purpose is not to assess blame but to get better. If it's something we need to tweak, we will."

  The 12th-year NHS head coach sounded and looked visibly upset about the issue because he admitted all the practice in the world would not convince him or his fellow coaches that the problems could be solved. Translation: the answers to such kicking game issues will remain unanswered until Friday night at 7:30 in Bulldog Stadium when NHS (1-1) will host West Brook (2-0), the already-crowned Beaumont Bowl champion for the first time since 1997.

  Neumann only could promise before Tuesday's practice that his football team would intend to make the kicking game its first priority on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The rest will be determined by practice performances.

  "I don't know if any of our schemes will change," he said. "In some regards, it may... Second, is personnel. I don't know if any of that will change either. But the most important thing we can do is to have quality repetition in practice."

  How bad was Nederland's kicking game at West Orange? The worst-ever by Neumann's standards since he's been the head coach of the Bulldogs, but he wanted to make sure of one thing in regard to the overall kicking game analysis. That nobody is blamed within the framework of the team... although the head coach is more than willing to shoulder his, and more than his portion of the blame.

  When the media's toughest questions headed Neumann's direction, the 52-year-old Pasadena native pointed the finger more at himself than anyone else.

  "If you're asking if I feel directly responsible for our breakdowns, I certainly do," he said. "All our coaches work the kicking game but, as far as working directly with extra-point and placement kicking, that would be me more than anyone else.

  "This one's been very, very hard to take. It makes you more determined to overcome things. As of right now, we're monitoring our kickers, coaching technique and evaluating performance in practice. We're working on protection, too... putting greater emphasis on protection."

  Nederland's kicking problems at WO-S started with the game's first extra-point kick. Less than three minutes into the game, a 57-yard scoring pass from Dustin Hood to Ryan Butler made it 6-0. Clint Whitaker's extra-point kick was ruled wide to the right. Whitaker clearly had been one of the heroes in Nederland's 37-7 opening victory over Texas City.

  Because of that missed conversion, Nederland tried for two points just five minutes later. A Hood-to-Butler pass sailed too high. Then WO-S took its first lead of the game (18-12), running back the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.

Twenty seconds after the runback, Nederland tied the game before Whitaker's PAT sailed wide right again. After Whitaker's two misses, Neumann went with backup Zac Wallace in the fourth quarter. WO-S safety Jeremy Williams blocked Wallace's kick.

  Did Neumann have any special explanation for Whitaker's misses? Not really. 

  "I think we just missed it," Neumann said, when asked to identify with the conversion attempts. "Early in the season, we've been fortunate in that we have never had a game with so many kicking game breakdowns as this one. It's unfortunate that we found out about the problems in our kicking game the way we did.

  "What we're trying to make sure is that our team doesn't do is blame anyone. We're certainly not satisfied with every facet of it. I want you to know how proud we are of how we played in the face of adversity."

  The Bulldogs battled back from a 32-18 deficit in the fourth quarter without the services of Butler who left the game in the first half with a painful shin bruise... so now it's back to work in the kicking game.... concentrate... keep your head down and follow-through. The results remain undetermined until Friday night.

 

BULLDOG BITES

  Three X-rays were negative on NHS players following the WO-S game. WR/DB Ryan Butler is questionable for West Brook with a shin bruise. Outstanding senior bandit backer Stephen Phillips has tried to wrap a bruised hand. Junior RB John Jaeger has sustained a severe shoulder strain... WR/CB Michael Young (back strain) did not suit out at WO-S but returned to practice on Monday and appeared to move well. Reserve lineman Travis Braugh sustained a knee injury in Monday's practice. His status remained undetermined.... The Highland Park elementary students will greet the Dogs with a Thursday 2:30 pep rally and greet them again when they take the field prior to Friday's West Brook game. A Dogdome pep rally is scheduled for the NHS student body on Friday at 2:30... Top film grades among the regulars belonged to Ryan Butler (89), Adam Osgood (88), Darin Smith (87), Blake Amy (85), Vincent Perricone and Trevor Huber (84 each).... Overshadowed by the 32-30 scoreboard were the fine outings by three skill players, senior QB Dustin Hood, soph TB Micah Mosley and senior WR Ryan Butler, prior to his injury.