By Cody Pastorella
LUMBERTON — A tipped pass for a touchdown, a tipped pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown, muffed punts, fumbles and a lack offense left the Nederland Bulldogs and Lumberton Raiders in a 14-14 tie at the half.
Nederland boss Larry Neumann and his coaching staff made the right adjusments at the break. Those adjustments included a steady dose of Grant Lovelady, who went for 105 yards on the ground, and ultimately helped the Bulldogs claim a 31-21 victory and a playoff berth that seemed totally unlikely three weeks ago.
Lovelady tallied a total of 124 rushing yards on the night and punched in Nederland’s opening score in the first quarter and opening score in the third quarter.
Lovelady’s efforts combined with a 48-yard boot from kicker Taylor Trahan, the timely passing of Dionte Forney and a clutch performance from Nederland’s defense made the difference on the night.
Lovelady lifted the Dogs to a 21-14 advantage but the Raiders pulled one out of their bag of tricks and completed a 25-yard end around pass from Ryan Hughes to Lance Pace to lock the game at 21-21 with 6:10 left in the third frame.
Trahan broke that tie with his long field goal with 2:46 left in the third.
While that was all Nederland would need, it tacked on some insurance with a 7-yard pitch and catch from Forney to Brent Salenga, who used a block to get to the right edge and dove into the endzone for the score and a 31-21 lead.
But with 11:19 left in regulation, Neumann said his stomach did not come to ease until the Dogs recorded their night’s ninth sack with 10 seconds winding down in the fourth.
Lumberton had used all its time-outs and so the drive and game ended at the Bulldogs’ 30.
“Even when we got that 10 point lead, I was not convinced. They always play us very hard and they did a good job tonight,” said Neumann whose team finishes the regular season whose 4-3, 5-5 outfit finished the season on a three-game winning streak.
Nederland claimed District 20-4A’s two-seed in the big school division and will open the playoffs against Crosby at a time and date to be determined today.
About the nature of the Bulldogs’ playoff berth, Neumann said it was one of the more satisfying seasons he’s ever had as the Nederland chief.
“We’ve had some fine teams here, teams I have enjoyed a whole lot. With all the injuries and things that have been documented in the newspapers and some things that haven’t — it just makes you feel real good as a coach to see this team overcome what they’ve had to overcome,” he said.
“I could not be more proud of a group of kids than I am right now. We found away to win tonight and we found a way to make the playoffs.”
Nederland did not seem to be in control in the first half. The Dogs first score was set up after they recovered a muffed punt at Lumberton’s 11. Lovelady jogged in from there to give Nederland a 7-0 lead.
Much like Nederland’s first score, Lumberton was set up by a fumble on the Bulldogs 20-yard line.
The Raiders’ Jesse Sparks and Hughes hooked up for a 20-yard touchdown to even the score.
On Nederland’s next possession, Forney tossed a pass through the hands of Salenga. Lumberton’s Kyler Keith grabbed that tipped pass and took it 65-yards to go up 14-7 in the first quarter.
Nederland did not respond until late in the second quarter when Forney threw a rope 20 yards down field to Stephen Schlett, who could not haul in the pass. But the ball glanced off his hands and right to Salenga for a game-tying 31-yard touchdown connection.
Just how offensive coordinator Monte Barrow drew it up.
Still, Nederland’s offensive production was rather sluggish in the first half, collecting a total of 102 yards.
“I knew we were going to have to do something,” Neumann explained. “They had a heavy rush on Forney and our sweeps and draw plays weren’t working. It seemed they had us pegged. We felt like we could have some success with the quick traps and that worked out for us.”
Boy did it. Nederland had 15 yards rushing in the first half but ended the game with 141.
Neumann said getting the running game going allowed for the air-attack to open up.
And it did. Forney completed 7-out-of-9 passes in the second half. He was 7-of-17 in the first half.
Lumberton, coming off back-to-back playoff seasons, finished 2-5 in 20-4A and 5-5 overall.
