SILSBEE — Poor field conditions made for a slippery game as the Nederland Bulldogs beat the Silsbee Tigers 21-14 at Tiger Stadium on Friday.

Each team fumbled the ball four times. Nederland (3-0) did not lose one, but Silsbee (0-3) turned over three of its own.

The Bulldog defense started out forcing a turnover on downs and took over on their own 46. After three consecutive runs by Kade Scott, Blaysin Fernandez took a shot toward the end zone but was picked off by Silsbee’s Darshon Turk on the 1-yard line. Turk recorded two interceptions on the night.

The Nederland defense responded by forcing a three-and-out. The ensuing punt only traveled to the Silsbee 38. On the next play, Scott ripped off a 38-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 5:22 left in the first.

After a 1-yard touchdown run by Fernandez put the Bulldogs up 14-0 with 9:26 left in the first half, the Silsbee offense received the spark it needed. On the first play of the next drive, Antonius Arline ran for 64 yards for the end zone. The Tigers missed the extra point.

Another score and two-point conversion tied the score up at 14 with 7:02 left in the half. Both teams were scoreless in the second half.

With a little over three minutes  to play on fourth and inches, Nederland took a shot downfield that was broken up by Turk. The Tigers took over and converted a crucial fourth and six only to fumble the snap on the next play. Nederland recovered the ball and was able to run out the rest of the clock.

The game changed when …

Bryce McMorris entered the game for Fernandez. On McMorris’ second drive, he completed a 60-yard pass to a streaking Logan Nguyen, who was pushed out at the 5-yard line. Josh Mazyck punched the ball in on the next play to make the score 21-14 going into half time.

The game ball goes to …

The Nederland running game stepped up after a wet ball made passing plays difficult to complete. At the half, Scott had nine carries for 94 yards and a touchdown. Mazyck had nine carries for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Next up …

The Bulldogs have a bye week before starting division play as they host Santa Fe at Bulldog Stadium. The Indians (1-2) will also come off a bye week after getting their first win of the season in a 31-24 victory over Brazoswood. The Tigers will visit Bridge City.

 

Bulldogs 21 Tigers 14

Nederland — 7 14 0 0

Silsbee — 0 14 0 0

First quarter

Ned — Kade Scott 38 run (Payne Barrow kick), 5:22

Second quarter

Ned — Blaysin Fernandez 1 run (Payne Barrow kick), 9:26

Sil — Antonius Arline 64 run (kick fail), 9:11

Sil — Chris Martin 6 run (two-point conversion good), 7:02

Ned — Josh Mazyck 5 run (Payne Barrow kick), 1:54

Nederland Silsbee

Rushes-yards 39-176 32-167

Passing yards 120 16

Total yards 296 183

Comp-Art-Int 6-15-2 4-8-0

Fumbles-lost 4-0 4-3

Penalties-yards 2-20 5-21

 

Individual leaders

RUSHING — Nederland: Scott 14-126, Mazyck 13-58, Ashton Guilbeaux 1-4 Fernandez 1-1, Bryce McMorris 6-25, Cedric Pete 2-6. Silsbee: Martin 8-25, Zion Brown 4-15, Dralyn Taylor 15-57, Arline 5-69,

PASSING — Nederland: Fernandez 2-4-1, 17 McMorris 4-11-1, 103. Silsbee: Taylor 4-8-0, 16

RECEIVING — Nederland: Pete 1-7, Guilbeaux 1-10, Logan Nguyen 1-60, Scott 1-6, Blayne Burnett 1-13. Silsbee: Jalen Davis 1-5, Aaron Sells 1-9, Darshon Turk 1-2, Martin 1-0.