BAYTOWN - John Clayton promised the dawn of a new day for Ozen football. Stedman Williams, Josh Nixon and company delivered Thursday night.

  Easily delivering their season's most prestigious victory to date, the Panthers bullied Nederland's smaller defense, sending senior tailback Stedman Williams into the trenches for 205 yards on 21 carries and two second-half touchdowns as Ozen pounded Nederland, 21-7, before around 6,000 at Stallworth Stadium.

  Ozen's youthful 60-year-old first-year mentor Clayton ordered Williams to step it up after a scoreless first half. Williams managed only 29 yards on four carries by intermission, but that's while Ozen seemed more intent on throwing the ball.

  Once Clayton issued his locker room orders toward his tailback, a totally different Panthers attack ripped away at Nederland's mid-section during the final two quarters. Those superior ground efforts enabled Ozen to improve to 4-1 and 2-0, taking sole possession of the District 20-4A lead.

  Nederland, 3-3 and 1-1, had plenty of chances to gain the upper hand, only to suffer five turnovers and eventually struggle to sustain a physical tone, either.

  "They established the running game," Bulldogs boss Larry Neumann stated the obvious. "When they know you're going to throw the majority of the time, it's extra tough. They put us on our heals and we never could overcome it."

  Williams said the Bulldogs had their problems hanging with Ozen's new and improved physical nature.

  "Coach (Clayton) put the team on my shoulders and said that I would have to carry them," Williams said. "I didn't think I was going to get the ball that much. But anything to help the team. That's what's

important.

   "They (Nederland) started showing signs that they started giving up."

  Williams waltzed 72 yards with a pitchout from quarterback Anthony Boutte to give Ozen a 21-7 cushion with 7:44 to play. It served as a timely reply because Nederland had trimmed its deficit to 15-7 just 22 seconds earlier on a 22-yard pass from Alex Moshier to James Law.

  That was the lone time that the Bulldogs junior quarterback directed his team to the end zone. Moshier completed 15 of 27 passes for 167 yards and three interceptions. Mack Randall, Ryan Clark and London

Durham picked off passes for Ozen's top-rated 20-4A defense. The Panthers muzzled the NHS running game especially in the second half, permitting only 90 total rushing yards on 31 tries.

  Nederland's leading rusher, Micah Mosley found the running lanes far more clogged in the second half. The junior tailback finished with 79 yards on 16 carries after rushing 11 times for 59 yards in the first

half.

  Clayton obviously felt the win was his sweetest in his first head-coaching season with the Panthers.

  "That was the one," Ozen's coach said. "That (Nederland) is a good football team.... but we were better. I told Stedman at half that this is the kind of game scouts are looking for. He showed a lot of

determination and leg drive."

  Ozen's dominance truly began to show on the second half's initial series -- 80 yards, 12 plays, six first downs covering 5:33. The winners dialed Stedman for 61 yards on eight carries, having especially good

success with the sprint draw.

  A nine-yard bootleg by Boutte fattened Ozen's lead to two touchdowns with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

  It's not that the Bulldogs totally had no shot to win, though. Nederland led in possession time, 27:05-20:55, but Neumann's charges lacked enough dominance at the line of scrimmage to take command.

  Nederland's Clint Whitaker ended the Bulldogs' first two possessions with missed field goals during the scoreless first half.

  NHS advanced to Ozen's 4 on the game's opening series before Whitaker's 27-yard attempt was ruled wide. A 37-yarder fell short to end the second drive which stalled at the Panthers' 18-yard line, following

a 19-yard Ryan Butler interception return.

  Ozen had its opportunities, too. The Beaumonters penetrated Nederland's 30-yard line on two of their final three possessions. Dogs defender Dravanti Johnson recovered a fumble by Ozen's Williams at the

NHS 19 in the opening nine seconds of the second quarter.

  The half expired with Ozen advancing to the Dogs 28 from its own 15. Ozen's passing game failed to connect on the last nine passing attempts of the half.