NEDERLAND — Defense won on this night.

So did Port Arthur Memorial.

Memorial and Nederland combined for 371 yards in a rare Monday night classic, and the Titans stayed in first place in District 22-5A with a 13-7 win.

Quarterback Keitha Jones put Memorial (3-0, 3-0 in 22-5A) ahead 10-7 with 5:36 left in the third quarter on a 5-yard race to the right-hand pylon, and the Titans benefited from holding the Bulldogs (3-1, 2-1) to a net of 17 yards on 20 carries for the game. The Titans had 232 total yards, with 193 coming on 45 carries.

Memorial is a half-game ahead of Port Neches-Groves (3-0, 2-0), which beat Livingston 56-14 on Monday.

Looking to avenge a 30-point defense in Port Arthur last year, Nederland started the final possession with 2:19 left from its own 21 and got its passing game clicking. Blaysin Fernandez, who was 10 for 22 for 122 yards, opened with a 22-yard completion to Nicholas Kingston on a screen, found Landon Hiltz for 23 yards on third-and-11, took a second-down sack for an 8-yard loss, hit Kevon Latulas for 13 yards and found Hiltz for 10 to earn the first down to the Memorial 20. With no timeout and a spike to bring up second down, Hiltz went up field for a 4-yard gain, effectively running the clock out.

Talk about leaving it all on the field on Senior Night.

Thanks to the compressed District 22-5A football schedule, Nederland designated this game as such because its next home game against Ozen on Oct. 20 is homecoming. The last remaining home game is the Bum Phillips Bowl against Port Neches-Groves on Nov. 10, and Nederland coach Monte Barrow said he didn’t want to add any more distractions to that game.

Nederland totaled 35 yards of offense in the first half, but a Noah Lewis interception and 26-yard return set up Latulas’ 14-yard touchdown run up the middle, giving the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead with 5:51 left before halftime.

Memorial took a 3-0 lead on a 20-yard Kenny Pham field goal. That capped a 14-play, 52-yard drive set up by Javontae Hopkins’ 30-yard opening kickoff return.

The Bulldogs held the Titans to two first downs over the next four drives, but Memorial allowed Nederland two first downs on its first three series.

Elijah Hines carried 29 times for 131 yards to lead the Titans. He had a 48-yard touchdown run called back for a holding penalty on the fourth play of the game.

Nederland was in position to go up by two possessions, but Ja’Quaylen Crook picked off Blaysin Fernandez in the red zone and returned it 10 yards with 22 seconds left before halftime.

Pham went 2 for 2 in field goals, giving the Titans a six-point lead from 36 yards out late in the third quarter.

Nederland will visit Vidor for a 2 p.m. Saturday game. Memorial moved kickoff of its home game that against Lumberton to 4 p.m.
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

**This version corrects statistics, although they are unofficial. UPDATE at 6:44 p.m.: PNG’s records are corrected**