By Tom Halliburton
NEDERLAND -- Every once in a while Nederland has an Eric Cammack, a Brian Sanches, a Sean Yoder, a Ryan Butler and now a Ryan Brady.
When he places old gold helmet over his dark mop of hair, this No. 7 just looks the part of a football player. He blocks downfield with authority. He catches passes of all kinds -- short and long, hard and soft, spirals and wounded ducks.
Four or five guys have thrown passes in the direction of No. 7 this tumultuous season. Sometimes they been thrown by a lefty... or a shorter righty... a mid-size righty.... or a much taller righty.
Adam Atterberry can throw 'em. Kirby Bellow can. Tyler Smith can. Trevin Sonnier can. Now Dionte Forney can. The balls come at Brady from all sorts of heights, velocities and angles.
Ryan Brady just keeps on in the grand tradition of Nederland's very finest receivers ever. He won't give up. He never does.
The guy has injured knee ligaments, shoulder bumps, hand tendons. You name it, Ryan has injured it. If anyone takes pride in being a Nederland Bulldog and playing for Larry Neumann, the 17-year-old son of Mike and Lydia Brady is your guy.
Just when this beaten, downtrodden team seemed on a rocky road toward 1-9, the 6-2, 190-pound wide receiver displayed the sort of now-or-never senior leadership necessary to lift Nederland back into the playoff race.
Brady showed the character that has attracted a top-notch program such as Top 10-rated Texas Christian University to show interest in the 17-year-old A-B student.
"It's been a pretty big challenge," said Brady, who has grabbed 36 passes for 538 yards and six touchdowns. That's easily the most on Nederland's team and the second-most in District 20-4A.
With his hand bandaged from a recent swimming pool accident, Brady has to battle through pain and all sorts of adversities. His status for Friday's regular-season finale at Lumberton may turn into a game-time decision. The whole season has been filled with one adjustment after another for Ryan.
It began in Bulldog Stadium's hot summer days when Brady and Bellow would hang out and play catch. What a great season they might have together. It lasted less than a game because Bellow suffered a torn knee ligament in the season opener at West Orange-Stark. The injury hit Bellow's throwing mate like a ton of bricks.
"When Kirby went down, I didn't think it was really happening," Brady said. "I went over to talk to him and told him 'get up' and he said, 'I can't... it's pretty bad'."
One lucky break followed for Ryan because an open date afforded Tyler Smith and Brady an additional week to work on their timing.
"We had a good connection too and then Tyler got hurt," he said.
The next adjustment was greater for Brady. The taller Forney (6-5) was more of a pocket passer but his tender knee was recuperating. The shorter Atterberry (5-11) understandably had to roll and sprint out of the pocket. Brady adapted well to either one but a receiver has to adjust his routes constantly when a passer operates from more of a mobile pocket.
By guiding Nederland to consecutive wins against Livingston and Vidor, the lanky Forney has chunked three touchdown passes in each game. Brady has had to adapt to a new quarterback once again. By now, Ryan should feel qualified to give out grades on his passers.
"I think Dionte has done a helluva job," Brady said. "He's filled some big shoes. Everybody has confidence in him."
Stay tuned to see if Brady and the Bulldogs have another remarkable story to tell. They're beaten and battered but don't count them out.
Bulldog Bites
Three key Nederland players are trying to rehabilitate from serious injuries between now and Friday's regular-season finale at Lumberton. Senior Ryan Brady has a hand laceration from a fall last Saturday at Marcus Louvier's house. His hand is being re-evaluated and bandaged daily. Brady will be a game-time decision. Senior defensive tackle Marcus Louvier sustained an ankle sprain and has not been cleared to practice, either. Junior safety Jake Kemp has been sidelined by a concussion and is not cleared to practice.... The Bulldogs would advance to the Class 4A Division 1 state playoff bracket as District 20-4A's runner-up if Nederland could end its regular season with a win at Lumberton. A loss at Lumberton probably would keep Nederland's playoff status undetermined until Saturday. LC-M plays Ozen at Babe Zaharias Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. NHS coaches have calculated four possible scenarios of 20-4A outcomes from this weekend's game. The Bulldogs would qualify for the playoffs in two of them and would not qualify in two others.... This long-time NHS football scribe of more than 20 years wishes to take this opportunity to express his appreciation and gratitude to Gail Krohn, who retires as NISD schools superintendent on Nov. 30. Ms. Krohn has been most supportive of Nederland athletics and a loyal NISD employee for 43 years... Top grades vs. Vidor belong to Brett Brown (98), Stephen Schlett and Grant Lovelady (93), Ryan Brady (91), and Jackson Broussard (90)... Dogs will have a Dogdome pep rally on Friday at 2:40 p.m.
