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November 19, 2008

Brady battles to rehabilitate for Saturday

By Tom Halliburton

NEDERLAND -- Ryan Brady continues to have a flair for the dramatics on or off the field, in victory or defeat.

Give Ryan an opportunity to dance with the stars, and he usually does. Let Ryan have the slightest crease and he often slides right through it.

If a spectacular catch turns on your fancy more than other football plays, Ryan's leaping spread-eagle catch on the first snap against Lumberton ranks right up there.

A similar type of electricity may have been created as Ryan headed toward Nederland's sideline last Friday night. It was about the same time when the wind picked up and the cold front arrived at Dayton's Bronco Stadium.

Nederland led 28-20 with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter of its 4A Division I bidistrict playoff game against C.E. King. The Bulldogs had a first down at the Panthers' 30. Brady carried the ball to the left side of the formation on an end-around. A C.E. King helmet smacked into Ryan's right knee. Brady found himself lying on his back, unable to get up.

The 16-year-old son of Mike and Lydia Brady explained what happened.

"I was trying to make a cut, to cut back into the field," he recalled. "When I tried to plant, their defender hit me with his helmet.

"It was pretty painful. There's still a bruise on me. I still have to keep ice on it so that the swelling will go down."

A MRI on Monday revealed a low grade tear to Ryan's right medial collateral ligament, plus a hamstring bruise. Junior quarterback Kirby Bellow sustained a lesser MCL injury, but both remained questionable on the ability to play this week.

Brady was on crutches and in tears while most of his teammates celebrated a rather memorable 35-34 playoff victory. Ryan's crutches were gone on Tuesday. The brace on his knee remained, yet Brady planned to be able to play this Saturday in the 4A Division I area playoff round against Magnolia (7-3) at Conroe's Moorhead Stadium (1 p.m.).

"By the looks of it right now, it's pretty possible," he said. "It's requiring intense training to get back. I think Kirby's going to be back, but we're going through the same thing. All I can do is try my best to get back and work through my treatments. I can just see how it feels and see what happens."

Bellow and Brady receive treatment for their knees twice daily. They get in a hot pool before their classes at 7:30 in the morning. They currently are doing light weight squats and training room therapy during the athletic period.

Riding the stationary bike and light jogging have been on their mid-afternoon agendas, along with throwing the football to each other.... But not participating in practice with the team. They were not to that point as of Wednesday.

That means Nederland prepares this week with the unknown sophomore trio of Tyler Smith at quarterback, Stephen Schlett at wide receiver and Tanner Adams at defensive back to fill their vacancies. Brady watched some of the 5-1 junior varsity's games, so their outings against C.E. King did not shock 6-1, 175-pounder. After all, Ryan himself flashed his 4.4 speed in the 40 long before this season, too. He even played some varsity minutes as a freshman.

"Those guys did real good," he said. "They came in and came through on some big plays when they needed to. I went to see a couple of their games."

Brady's physique can be very deceptive. Ryan is slender but he licks opponents as well as any Bulldog.

"He's lean but defensively he packs a punch," Nederland head football coach Larry Neumann said. "He's very instrumental in run support at safety and he has great timing on his tackles.

"Ryan has breakaway speed when he catches it. And he's built like a wide receiver that can catch the ball."

Does Neumann have a major criticism of Brady's game? Not really. He gladly would take six or seven more Ryan Bradys. But there is a downside to having talent -- sometimes a guy can try to overachieve. That's what the NHS coach says Ryan has to curtail.

"He will have a tendency to try to do too much and improvise. That's when he gets into trouble on both sides of the ball."

That's how Brady got hurt, and that's part of the game. But bring on the electricity and toss in the dramatics, Ryan Brady is quite well worth having and becoming a big hero for the Nederland Bulldogs.

Bulldog Playoff Bites: Tickets for the 4A Division I area-round playoff game remain on sale today at Nederland High School from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.... A few more tidbits from last week: that 100-yard kickoff return by Wareall Grogan was the first time all season that Wareall had been positioned in a deep receiving spot. Guess what? He will be there again on Saturday, however Bulldogs' coaches have noticed Magnolia seldom has kicked the ball that deep on kickoffs.... Here's Larry Neumann's take late Wednesday on the progress of injured offensive weapons, Kirby Bellow and Ryan Brady: "I feel a lot better about it today compared to yesterday, especially on Kirby," Neumann said.... Junior running back Nick Woods (5-11, 160) has been added to the varsity roster this week. Woods will wear No. 23

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