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NEDERLAND — The Nederland Bulldogs saw their postseason hopes come to an end Friday night, as they dropped a 42-7 decision to the visiting Texas City Stingarees on senior night.

Nederland (2-8, 2-5 in District 9-5A Division II) committed four turnovers, including one on the opening kickoff, as Texas City (6-4, 4-3) took a 7-0 lead just 32 seconds into the game and never looked back.

“We made too many mistakes, and you can’t do that against a good team,” Nederland coach Monte Barrow said. “It’s a disappointing way to end the season, but your last game is going to be a loss unless you win the state championship.”

The flat start began when the Bulldogs coughed up the opening kickoff, giving Texas City a short field.

A few plays later, Stings’ running back Caleb Bell bunched it in from short yardage to give Texas City the lead and never looked back.

Texas City led 21-0 after one quarter and increased its lead to 35-0 in the second quarter before the Bulldogs got on the board with 57 seconds remaining in the half on an 8-yard run by Ayden Sunday. Carter Piletere added the PAT to make it 35-7 heading into halftime.

Nederland stunned Texas City by recovering its own kickoff to start the second half, but the Bulldogs couldn’t mount a comeback.

Texas City was content to kill the clock for most of the second half, controlling the ball for 10:27 of the final 12 minutes. Bell scored two touchdowns for Texas City. Bell scored on runs of 14 and 21 yards.

Hubert Thomas had 47 rushing yards to lead the Nederland offense. Bryson Bryant ran for 33 yards.

“I’m proud of this senior group and all they have accomplished,” Barrow said. “Nobody outside of us will know how much they did and how much they accomplished. We’ll get back to work in the offseason, and we’ll blink and 2023 will be here.”

Game ball goes to… Texas City’s Caleb Bell, who rushed for two TDs. For Nederland, Hubert Thomas, who had 47 yards on nine carries.

Play of the game… Texas City’s Clyde Bruton had a fantastic 42-yard run that saw him channel his inner Josh Allen, as he made like the Bills quarterback by hurdling over a defender on an end around play.

Key Stats… Nederland had four turnovers and had only one drive that lasted more than 3 minutes.

Next up… The Bulldogs start making plans for the 2023 season while Bulldog Stadium continues to undergo renovations.

Written by Pat Murray