NEDERLAND — Nederland coach Larry Neumann said don’t expect much change tonight even if the Bulldogs are starting their third different quarterback of the season.

Sophomore Blaysin Fernandez gets the nod tonight against Baytown Lee while Nederland waits on a ruling about Port Arthur Memorial transfer Kevin Laday’s eligibility.

Laday started last week in a 51-9 win over Livingston. Neumann said Wednesday that Nederland officials are now waiting to hear from the UIL if Laday was eligible to play. Until that ruling, Fernandez is the starter under center.

The UIL ruling could cost the Bulldogs the win.

Junior Marshall Lange started the first two weeks for Nederland and suffered an ankle injury in the Bulldogs second game of the season, a 24-23 loss to Dayton.

“I don’t think anything changes,” Neumann said. “We had that competition early for the starter. Blaysin has been playing linebacker and I told him the other day: ‘You must really be liking not having to go through tackling drills this week.’ He laughed it off.

“Blaysin understands our offense. The decision I made in going with Marshall early was Marshall looked more comfortable. Blaysin’s skill set is there and he is capable of running our offense as it is. We don’t have to adjust anything with him there.”

Neumann does hold the same expectations for Fernandez at quarterback as he would any player, no matter how much varsity experience he lacks at the position.

“Do I expect him to play a perfect game?” Neumann asked. “Well, of course, but no he is not going to play a perfect game. He can manage our offense enough for us to be productive and that is what we are asking the other 10 guys around him to do for that to happen. We are confident with him there.”

The Bulldogs (1-2, 1-0) have never lost to the Ganders. Nederland holds a 2-0 record against Lee and won 63-10 in 2015.

Lee (1-2, 0-1) comes into Friday’s game at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown fresh off a 20-7 loss to the Ozen Panthers.

Neumann has prepared his team all week to be ready to face a Slot-T offense geared to confuse a defense.

“They are not at the stage of Vidor running that offense,” Neumann said. “Vidor is more efficient at it, but you can tell they are moving in that direction. They have some guys back there that if you aren’t tackling at the scrimmage, they are going to stretch you out and you might not get a chance to tackle them at all.

“It is the kind of offense you just get your lunch pail and go to work. You better tackle them in that line of scrimmage area because if they get a chance to get into that second level, they have some speed.”

Nederland’s defense comes in ranked sixth in District 22-5A with 307.3 yards per game given up. The Bulldogs have allowed 140.6 rushing yards per game and the Ganders average 188.3 rushing yards a game.

Lee had lost 24 straight games heading into last week’s matchup against Nederland. The Ganders lost 27 in a row until winning this season’s opener against Houston Westbury, 16-14.
So it is easy to assume one could expect a lackluster effort for a team coming off back-to-back 0-10 seasons.

“I know preparing for that offense is rigorous,” Neumann said. “It is rigorous. There is no other way to prepare for it other than go to work. I think our defensive attitude about it this week has been pretty good. Our goal is to play well on both sides of the ball and keep improving. We think we are capable of doing that.”
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe