NEDERLAND - Even before Micah Mosley gained any of his 1,055 season rushing yards, the Nederland tailback likely experienced the defining moment in his high school football career.

  It happened about a year ago in a practice prior to the Silsbee game. Having just moved up on the varsity a couple of weeks earlier, Mosley suffered a spiral fracture of the tibia.

  A mere 15-year-old freshman at the close of the 2003 regular season, Mosley's resolve to excel in athletics had been tested.

  "It was very discouraging," he recalled. "It was real big. Either I could lay down and turn down football and go to something else or work hard to get back to where I was."

  The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore never actually had to make an either/or type selection, though. He carried every intention of regaining the prospect for a blossoming young career... even to the point of rolling into a weight room in his wheelchair.

  Mosley's road required patience and certainly contained its fair share of pain, ups and downs. The Bulldogs tailback candidate only discovered that he possessed the ability to make cuts during the summer. The entire process had its beneficial upside, though.

Mosley was stronger. His work with his upper body especially enabled Micah to add more strength to his body.

  "He's a pretty big back," NHS head coach Larry Neumann said. "He's a straight-A-type student and a fun kid to be around. I could see even in junior high that he had special ability in a lot of different ways."

  By surpassing 1,000 yards for the season in last week's Vidor game, Mosley said Tuesday that he fulfilled one of his pre-season goals by reaching that mark. Yet he never imagined the total would come so easily.

  "It wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be," he said. "But it was one of my goals."

  The son of James and Phyllis Mosley has balanced his new-found gridiron heroics with the acute awareness that his game has reached this impressive level because of a veteran offensive line and a veteran quarterback.

Mosley clearly understands that he has significant room to improve both his speed and his reliability as a ball-carrier.

  Translation: Mosley can work to get faster. He also can continue to quiet the whispers around the Southeast Texas scene that he's a fumbler. Nederland's coaches have tried to make adjustments in the way that the Bulldogs tailback has carried the ball. They have encouraged himto wrap two hands around that ball, rather than free-wheeling it more loosely.

  "I think I've gotten past that," Mosley reflected. "I would walk around school and coaches would say 'two hands' and it made me mad and a lot of linemen mad whenever I would (fumble)."

  The team's leading rusher and scorer feels he has corrected the problem now.

  "It was mostly how I was carrying the ball," he said. "I would swing my arm out and that's when they'd take it. But the line really deserves a lot of the credit. They've gotten so much better than last year."

  Mosley also moved up to second on Nederland's pass reception total through eight games. His scoring reception of a Dustin Hood pass on the first series really lifted the Bulldogs' spirits and seemed to deflate Vidor's.

  "When I'm open, I normally catch the ball," Mosley said. "He (Hood) is going to hit whoever's open."

  Mosley is not considered a sub-4.5 (in the 40) speed-burner. The Bulldogs tailback covers the space in the high 4.6s or low 4.7s. That has a chance to improve as Micah distances himself from last year's broken leg.

  "Without the broken leg, I would have a lower 40 time," he said. "What happened (on Mosley's injury) was my foot was plenty into the ground (during a practice) and it didn't come up when a helmet hit it."

  Neumann has been pleased Mosley's drive to raise the level of his game.

  "He's going to improve because he's very unselfish and he's the kind who's going to do everything he can to improve his game," Neumann said.


Bulldog Bites

  There will be no radio broadcast of Friday's home game against Lumberton at 7:30 p.m. The game, however, can be followed on the internet at www.fridaynightexperience.com. The game will be carried on the Port Arthur News Friday Night Experience on Cable 7 on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 p.m... The Sunday night telecast on the Port Arthur News Friday Night Experience will be a replay of the 2000 Mid-County Madness Classic, won by Nederland (21-19) at PN-G.... Parents of senior football players, as well as other athletic organizations will be recognized during pre-game ceremonies starting at 7 p.m.... The Helena Park Elementary School will host a Thursday afternoon pep rally and will greet the Dogs when they will take the field in the season's final home game.... No new injuries resulted from Nederland's 44-6 win at Vidor. A victory over Lumberton on Friday would clinch a Class 4A state playoff spot for the Dogs.... Top film grades at Vidor included Darin Smith (92), Micah Mosley and Tyler Thompson (91), Andrew Ferguson, Jordan Rash, Vincent Perricone and Dustin Hood (90), and Steven Phillips at 89.