With Nederland and Lumberton battling for the one remaining playoff spot in District 22-4A in the last regular season game of the year, you could argue that the playoffs for both teams started Friday night at Raider Stadium.

Carrying the weight of 41 years of football plight, the 2007 edition Raiders made history by becoming the first football team in school history to earn a trip to the playoffs with a convincing 33-7 win over Nederland.

“I have 30 seniors on the team and they are the heart and soul. They deserve this,” said Lumberton coach Alvin Credeur, in reference to this team breaking the school’s playoff drought. “It’s nothing I’ve done. I’ve kind of been the guide, but those guys have been the backbone.

“It’s just a blessing from God to just be in this position. To be able to coach a group of kids that are so dedicated and such great individuals, it’s about a lot more than winning football games. I told them in the locker room that they’ve got some bonds that they’ll never have anywhere else.

“This is so special. For those kids to be able to live together like they do. There are no selfish players here and that’s really unique. That’s even more special than winning.”

As one door opened, another closed. In the ultimate irony, Nederland’s string of 11 consecutive trips to the playoffs came to an end Friday to a Lumberton team that had never been to the playoffs since first fielding a varsity team in 1966.

“The last two weeks were very difficult,” said Nederland coach Larry Neumann, whose Bulldogs finished the season with a 7-3 record and a 4-3 mark in district play. “We’ll reflect on what we did this year and try to improve on it and be better next year.”

Lumberton (9-1, 6-1) seized momentum of the game from the very start, even winning the opening coin toss. Senior tailback Cody Hussey ran 60 yards on the Raiders’ first play from scrimmage to the Nederland 5. Anthony Beard scored two plays later on a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Raiders defense forced a three-and-out by the Nederland offense. That was a sign of things to come, as the Bulldogs would have trouble moving the ball against the stingy Lumberton defense.

The Raiders scored again to start the second quarter. Aaron Credeur capped a nine-play, 96-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. Bryce DeJohn hit tight end Cody Evans for 24 yards and Hussey on a 47-yard crossing route to fuel the drive.

Lumberton added another score before halftime. On third down, Hussey took the pitch around the right end for an 18-yard touchdown to make the score 20-0. After Nederland quarterback Kirby Bellow threw an interception that Travis Wilkerson returned to the Bulldog 30 with 19 seconds left, the Raiders were looking to pad their lead even more.

Hussey’s 13-yard gain put the ball at the 17 with :04 on the clock. Trace Freeman’s 35-yard field goal attempt was wide right on the final play of the half.

Nederland received the second half kickoff, but was unable to mount a scoring drive. Lumberton picked up where it left off in the first half.

Credeur capped off another lengthy drive with a 28-yard run on a quarterback option keeper. A steady diet of Hussey and Beard moved the ball down the field. Hussey carried four times for 28 yards and Beard had 33 yards on three totes during the 10-play, 88-yard drive.

Nederland tried to rally on its next possession. Bellow completed four straight passes, two to Brent Salenga covering 15 yards, one to Asa Cardenas for nine yards and another to Ryan Brady for 11. Bellow hit Bryce Breaux for a 17-yard completion to the Lumberton 13.

Bellow and Cardenas connected on a 12-yard scoring strike with Cardenas making a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone to make the score 26-7. That ended a seven-quarter scoreless drought for the Bulldogs, dating back to their win over Little Cypress-Mauriceville.

Lumberton closed out the scoring early in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-4 from the Nederland 9, DeJohn hit Jacob Hanna on a 9-yard touchdown pass that made the score 33-7.

Hussey, the District 22-4A rushing champ, led all rushers with 158 yards on 18 carries. Credeur added 95 yards on just seven totes and Beard finished with 80 yards on 10 carries. Lumberton rushed for 351 yards, while limiting the Bulldogs to 65 yards on the ground.

“The offensive line did a great job all night long,” said Credeur. “Nederland was in an eight-man front most of the night and our offensive line was still able to create some holes. We have excellent backs. All they need is a crease and they know what to do then.

“The defense played great, too. Nederland is the leading passing team in the district and they only put seven points on the board. I can’t say enough about our defense. They got the job done tonight.”

Bellow completed 20-of-37 passes for 191 yards. Cardenas, the 22-4A receiving champ, was the beneficiary of eight of those passes for 82 yards. DeJohn completed five-of-11 for 100 yards. Lumberton out gained Nederland 451 to 257.

“Honestly, every year is so independent of the other one that it’s not something that has been a battle cry for us,” said Neumann on the 11 straight years of making the playoffs coming to an end. “We’ve had pretty good football teams and circumstances have allowed it to happen.

“It’s not something that we hung on this team’s neck or any team’s neck to continue. I think certain teams took pride in keeping the streak going, but it was never one of those things that we beat a drum about.

“We won’t pine away that it’s not there any more. We’ll try to get back to the playoffs next year. We’re glad that we had that run and hope to start another one.”

Neumann was complimentary of Lumberton and the other two tri-district champions in Dayton and Port Neches-Groves.

“Lumberton is a quality football team and we knew that going into the game,” Neumann said. “There’s nothing they did tonight to change my feelings about what we were facing.

“I think our district has three very capable representatives and that’s what you want out of your district. We lost to all three of them, so we were beaten by the ones that will continue to play. I hope they all go deep into the playoffs.”