Nederland Upsets PNG, 24-21
Published 3:07 pm Saturday, October 26, 2024
PNG running back Blair Chatagnier navigates through traffic. (Chris Moore/Special to The News)
The Bum Phillips Bowl was played in front of a packed house at The Reservation. (Chris Moore/Special to The News)
Nederland running back Hubert Thomas breaks multiple tackles.(Chris Moore/Special to The News)
Nederland quarterback Ayden Sunday stiff arms Travis Cobb on a run play. (Chris Moore/Special to The News)
Port Neches-Groves student section cheers on the Indians. (Chris Moore/Special to The News)
Nederland running back Hubert Thomas cuts to find a hole during Friday’s win over PNG. (Chris Moore/Special to The News)
Nederland student section cheers on the Bulldogs.(Chris Moore/Special to The News)
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Daucy Crizer
Special to the News
PORT NECHES – The 101st edition of Mid-County Madness did not disappoint. Nederland scored first to grab an early lead and never trailed in upsetting top-ranked and unbeaten Port Neches-Groves 24-21 in District 8-5A Division II action Friday night at The Reservation.
The Bulldogs snapped several streaks. Nederland will take home the Bum Phillips Trophy for the first time in three years and snapped the Indians 23-game unbeaten streak in the process. PNG still holds the advantage in the all-times series at 54-40-7.
PNG dropped to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in district play. Nederland improved to 7-1 and 5-0. Next week’s action is just as important in the race for the district championship as the Indians host Montgomery (4-1) and the Bulldogs host Huntsville (3-2).
“Yes and no surprises,” said Nederland coach Scott Rich when asked if he was surprised by Hubert Thomas’ performance. “He’s a warrior and plays his tail off. He’s a winner. He told me I could give him the ball 50 times if I needed to.
“PNG’s defensive coaches do a good job and made some adjustments and did some things I was a little surprised about. We finally executed on some plays, and it worked.”
“I think I felt, honestly, at the end of last week,” said Rich of his belief that his could win this week. “These kids are starting to play at a high level. We have to keep getting better because we have more fish to fry.”
Hubert Thomas led all rushers with 146 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns. Ayden Sunday completed 6 of 10 passes for 153 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 86 yards on nine carries.
“With the game plan we had from the coaches, we had nothing but confidence coming into the game,” said Nederland quarterback Ayden Sunday. “The plan was to get Hubert (Thomas) the ball as much as possible. You get him in space with one guy to make miss, he makes magic out of nothing.”
Trailing 10-7, PNG received the second half kickoff. The Indians looked poised to take the lead, or at least tie the game as the drove the ball deep into Nederland territory. Blair Chatagnier had consecutive runs of 9 and 15 yards to put the ball at the Bulldogs 35.
Tyson Henry followed with runs of 4 and 7 yards to the Nederland 24. That’s were the drive bogged down and Fernando DeLeon came on to attempt a 43-yard field goal. His kick was long enough but was wide right, his second miss of the game.
Nederland took advantage of the missed field goal and drove down the field and scored. After being held in check for the most part in the first half, Thomas ripped off an 18-yard run. A personal foul penalty against PNG was tacked on to the end of the play to put the ball at the Indians 38.
Thomas continued with big runs. He carried for 12 yards to the 13. Then scored on a 13-yard touchdown run as the Bulldogs increased their lead to 17-7 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs defense forced a quick three-and-out by the Indians. The Nederland offense went right back to work.
Thomas ripped off a 26-yard run to the PNG 47. He followed with a 39-yard scamper to the 6. He scored two plays later on a 6-yard TD run to extend the Bulldogs lead to 24-7 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
PNG answered right back, and it was the passing of Connor Bailey that got things going on this drive. Bailey hit London Nunnley for 11 yards. Tyson Henry followed with an 18-yard run to the Nederland 43. Bailey hit Nunnley on a 43-yard scoring strike to make the score 24-14 with :10 left in the third quarter.
The Indians put together another scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. Bailey connected with Jude Gohlke for a 38-yard completion to the Bulldogs 44. Following a pass interference penalty against Nederland, Henry ripped off a 28-yard run to the 1. Bailey scored two plays later on a quarterback sneak. That made the score 24-21 with 2:16 left in the game.
PNG was able to use timeouts and force Nederland to punt the ball back to the Indians. Taking over at their own 19 with 1:52 left in the game, Bailey dropped back to pass, rolled to his left and his pass to the sideline was intercepted by Nederland’s James Ladner. That sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
“They just beat us,” said PNG coach Jeff Joseph. “I thought we practiced well all week. I don’t think we put our quarterback in great situations the whole game. We missed some things early that we should have had, and we should have taken some more shots down the field early in the game. In order for us to win games we are going to have to run the ball, and we weren’t consistent doing that tonight and that’s an issue.
“We just didn’t finish. We have to help our kids out and put them in better positions. You have to give them (Nederland) some credit, they played good and made some plays.”
Defenses set the tone early as both offenses were forced to punt on the opening drives, respectively. Nederland got its offense going on its second drive.
Sunday hit KJ Tezeno for 22 yards to the PNG 39 and another 15-yard completion to Jabneel Serrano to the 24. The drive stalled the Bulldogs settled for a 36-yard field goal by Lance Resch to give Nederland a 3-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter.
PNG put together a promising drive on its ensuing possession. Chatagnier was featured prominently, and his 30-yard run gave the Indians a first down the Nederland 17. That drive stalled, but DeLeon’s 32-yard field goal was wide right to keep the score 3-0.
Nederland didn’t waste any time to put more points on the board. Sunday hit Tezeno on an 81-yard scoring strike to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Indians finally put together a scoring drive on their next possession. Bailey hit Gohlke for a 15-yard completion to the 44 on third-and-six. Bailey followed with a 42-yard completion to Nunnley at the Nederland 14.
Chatagnier, lined up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation, carried the pile for 10 yards down to the 4. Bailey scored on a 1-yard yard quarterback sneak to make the score 10-7 with 2:14 left in the second quarter. That’s how the two teams would head into the locker room at halftime.
THE PLAY OF THE GAME WAS…
Nederland’s James Ladner intercepted Connor Bailey with 1:45 left in the game to seal the win.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO…
Nederland’s Hubert Thomas carried the ball 26 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
KEY STATS…
Nederland’s KJ Tezeno had three catches for 108 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown. James Ladner had two catches for 30 yards. PNG was led by Blair Chatagnier who rushed for 106 yards on 17 carries. Tyson Henry rushed for 56 yards on 11 carries. Connor Bailey completed 7 of 16 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. He also scored twice on quarterback sneaks. London Nunnley had five catches for 112 yards and one touchdown.
UP NEXT…
Port Neches-Groves stays home to host Montgomery next Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from The Reservation. Nederland returns home to host Huntsville next Friday at 7 p.m.
