NEDERLAND - Vidor will post stop signs for Brock Lemire at every street corner Friday night. The Nederland senior will not stop in Vidor unless he's forced to do so.

  With fiesty Pirates nose guard Scott Phillips on the opposite side of the ball, licking his chops, the Bulldogs center will have an enormous responsibility this week. Vidor's top-rated District 20-4A defense forces that load on every member of the NHS offense, but especially on Lemire.

  Nederland at Vidor is a game which certainly places the survivor in a strong posture to reach the 4A state playoffs. Vidor (2-3 and 1-1) will be smarting a bit from a 26-8 loss last week at Port Neches-Groves. Nederland (4-3 and 2-1) needs to arrive in Pirateland quite focused because a second loss right now could prove fatal to the Dogs' playoff chances.

  If Lemire shows the leadership skills that he has inside the Bulldogs' football program, Bulldogs boss Larry Neumann figures to rest easily this weekend. That's because Lemire measures up as an effective leader on this team. Fact is, Brock likes it that way.

  "I feel I have to be a great leader," Lemire said. "I have to keep encouraging guys, yelling out the right calls and helping the line to correct any mistakes."

  One of these nights, Nederland's mistakes may get minimized and the Bulldogs could score an incredible total of points and yardage on an opponent because of their acute quick-striking ability.

  The quick-striking actually starts when Lemire snaps the ball and assumes his blocking role, whether as a run blocker or a pass blocker. A two-year starter at center, Brock has a favorite choice of those two.

  "It's much easier to pass block, for me at least," he said. "Most of the time when we pass block, I just help out other linemen and I anticipate stunts.

  "I feel this year that the coaches have asked more of me. And I've accepted that. I think I have done a lot better."

  How good has Nederland's No. 63 rated himself on a scale of 1 to 10 this season? Lemire issued himself a grade of 8, but the 5-10, 200-pounder may be on the modest side to put it that way.

  There's two significant experience issues which cause Lemire to have improved greatly from last year, in his opinion. First, he's more experienced. Second, the rest of his offensive line associates are more seasoned as well.

  The 17-year-old son of Brett Lemire, Brock has mainly played football "for the love of the game" and because he's well aware that he knows his dad loves to watch him play.

  While Lemire easily could rank among the area's better centers, he would aspire to continue playing college baseball after he completes his third straight year as a third baseman for the 2005 Bulldogs baseball team.

  Back to those stop signs in Vidor, where the Pirates want to put a muzzle on Nederland's high-powered attack. The video study of Vidor nose man Scott Wilson has occupied a fair amount of Lemire's time this week. The inspection reveals that Lemire faces a huge challenge.

  "He's an upfield player," Lemire said of Wilson. "He just knocks your head off. They look to be real difficult to face. It looks to me like most of the time, they stunt. For me and for the offensive line, it's going to be difficult."

  Neumann believes Lemire gives away size to his Vidor opposition.

  "Brock will have a great challenge," the Dogs boss said. "He will be out-sized but he sets up our pre-snap calls and he does a good job of identifying the fronts. He's a tenacious blocker.

  "He takes the game very personal. It eats at him if he misses a block and he's the first guy to congratulate someone for making a good block. If he wasn't so proficient as our center, he would get some time in playing defense."

 Bulldog Bites

  Nederland's football family and the entire NISD community would like to extend its congratulations to Stevie Brisendine, the 2004 NHS homecoming queen.... Tyler Thompson headed the grade book against LC-M with an 85 on offense and a 92 on defense. He was followed on offense by Micah Mosley (90), Michael Young (82) and Jameson DeLord (80). The 80-and-above grades on defense also included Steven Phillips and Darin Smith (86 each), Vincent Perricone (85), Jordan Rash (83) and Blake Amy (80)... This Friday at 3:30 marks the end of the three-week time frame when no-pass, no-play casualties were required to miss any football games. The first six-week grading period contained one varsity casualty, 14 on the junior varsity and 12 on the freshman squad.... The lone significant absentee from last Friday's 35-3 homecoming win over LC-M was defensive tackle Trey Thibodeaux (knee bruise), who returned to this week's workouts on Monday....Nederland remained a top 20 Class 4A team (19th) in last week's Harris Ratings. That's indicative of an increasing level of state-wide respect which is afforded to Larry Neumann's program despite three losses on the Dogs 2004 record.