Corley's Game Notes

Déjà vu Dogs Romp Stingarees 38-14

            The fastest way to score on a team is to return the opening kickoff, and Texas City succeeded on a 96-yard kick return. The early start by the Stingarees foreshadowed a long, hard night for the Dogs. Nederland managed to complete a field goal by Whitaker to put up 3 points in the first quarter, but could not defend a 48 yd TD run by Jarvis Carraway that put Texas City up 14-3 going into the second quarter.

As unbelievable as it seemed at the time, that was all the points Texas City would see for the rest of the night. The Dogs managed to close the gap before halftime as Chris Gutierrez scored Nederland’s first touchdown on the night. Nederland clearly had the momentum going into halftime after an interception by Butler with under a minute remaining in the first half. As the third quarter got under way, the Dogs offense put together an impressive drive that was abbreviated by a holding penalty, which forced the Dogs to punt on fourth down. After that stop, they should have saved some electricity and turned the lights out. The Dogs started firing on all cylinders in a much-anticipated trample, reminiscent of last season’s 30-7 win over the Stings. Texas City could not get anything on the ground while the Dogs defense attacked them in the trenches led by senior tackle Ron Mohica. With a little under three minutes to go in the 3^rd quarter, Butler flew by the secondary and Moshier hit Butler for a 54-yard touchdown pass to jump ahead 17-14. The Dogs defense proved praiseworthy again after forcing Texas City to punt on the next possession. A bad snap on the punt allowed Nederland start the drive on the Stingaree 37-yard line, which led to an eight-yard trot into the end zone by Washington.

The following two scores came from a 15-yard run by Washington and a 1-yard run by Danny Nguyen.  Moshier was 8 for 18 on the night with 149 yards. Other standouts were Darren Washington (21 carries for 137 yards), Clint Whitaker (3 receptions for 69 yards), and the entire Nederland offense for putting up 363 total offensive yards. Many said it was impossible. Texas City head coach Tim Finn said what happened last year would be unthinkable at Stingaree Stadium in front of a home crowd of about 5,000. After suffering a first quarter knockdown of 14-3, the composure of these young, inexperienced players was heroic. Many other teams would have panicked under a situation similar to the one faced last night, but not Neumann’s boys. Moshier stayed calm under the immense pressure he must have felt. His pocket presence showed similarities to the likes of Sullivan and Barbay.

I asked Coach Neumann after the game what needed to be done this week to keep the momentum going into next Friday when the ‘Stangs invade Bulldog Stadium. His response was, “There really isn’t a lot that needs to be done to keep the momentum. These boys have enough excitement after tonight’s win to carry them next week. Tonight showed a lot of positives, but there are enough negatives to work on next week.” Neumann’s demeanor after the game was that of great excitement, but also a great determination to get better. This team proved quite a bit last night, but they still have many areas where improvement is needed; experience being one. Next week will be another big test of the Bulldogs defense against quarterback Kenneth Beasley of West Orange-Stark, the Mustangs’ leading offensive weapon.

Brandon Corley