Dogs Take Care of LC-M and the Coin

          The much anticipated ending to the regular season took place all in a few hours. As Nederland seemed unstoppable against a very unmatched team, the real battle was just a few miles down the road.

          Nederland came out quick against LC-M putting up 42 points and 372 yards of total offense. Moshier was 6 for 10 with 121 yards passing on the night, but he wasn’t the only player to toss the ball. Ryan Butler, athleticism personified, was 2 for 2 including a tricky reverse pass to Whitaker that put Nederland up 28-3. As delightful as the game was progressing, however, the Vidor/PN-G game was fresh on everyone’s minds from the fans, to the coaches and even some of the players. As the LC-M game came to a close with a final score of 42-10, I was being updated every minute or so on the game in Vidor. PN-G was able to squeak past Vidor in a much-unwanted fashion as far as Nederland fans were concerned.

I drove straight from the game to IHOP in Beaumont in preparation for the fate nobody wants to face, a lucky coin flip.  After I downed some great coffee and eggs, the wait began. Slowly representatives from each school showed up. Representatives from Ozen and PN-G arrived around 11:15 in preparation for the toss, however Nederland was nowhere to be found. Classic Larry Neumann style was very present as the coaches along with the representative players showed up shortly after midnight, fashionably late if you will. Coach Neumann had an interesting persona about him as he arrived. As if it were standard routine, Neumann’s first words were, “So where are we going to do this thing at?” The rules stated that all three teams would have a representative flip a coin at the same time, and the odd man out would be the first team in. Nederland and PN-G both flipped heads and Ozen was tails, granting Ozen the first of two playoff spots. Then it came down to Mid-County Madness Part II. There would only be one coin flipped and one team called it. The gentleman organizing the event stated that he would flip the coin and one team would call it. Coach Neumann said, “No. I want one team to flip and the other team call it and I don’t care who calls it.” PN-G coach Matt Burnett agreed to call it as Butler flipped it. Heads was Burnett’s call, but it was the wrong one. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard Butler quietly say, “It’s tails.” A small frenzy erupted and Nederland was in! As difficult as it is to lose to a coin, I believe the deserving teams won the spots. The three representatives from 20-4A: Ozen, Central, and Nederland will face their opponents this weekend in the first round of the playoffs. Nederland will be locking up with C.E. King in Pasadena on Saturday.