Friday night football wrapup: Sept. 25

If the opening night of District 20-4A football play is an indicator of what’s to come, then buckle up.

Central needed two overtimes and stopped a two-point conversion to end a 57-56 victory over Vidor, Ozen got rich with an overtime touchdown to beat Nederland 17-10, Lumberton used a last-second defensive stop to secure a 42-35 victory on Livingston and Port Neches-Groves used a late interception to snag a 27-20 win over Little Cypress-Mauriceville.

If nothing else, the narrow margins by which the games were settled illustrated just the kind of season our 20-4A squads will face.

The average point margin between the winners and losers was 5.5. Contrast that with the 15-point average margin in last season’s opening round of district games, and there’s reason to think they’ll be in for a tight race.

Go ahead and try guessing the winners of next week’s games — or the week after that — and you’ll find there are no sure bets. If bookies wagered on high school games, they’d be wise to leave the point spread in the single digits.

Next week Central plays host to LC-M, Nederland goes to PN-G for the annual Mid-County Madness affair, Vidor plays at Lumberton and Ozen faces Livingston at Durley Stadium.

Each of those games features a district-opener winner against a district-opener loser, meaning each of the eight district teams could end next week with 1-1 district records. Either that, or four teams could improve to 2-0 and send the other four to 0-2.

At any rate, later games will determine district championships and narrow a playoff field. Four teams from this eight-team district qualify for the playoffs.

The No. 6 state ranking The Woodlands carried into Memorial Stadium suggested that fans should have expected a blowout. What they got instead was a respectable game played by a competitive Memorial squad.

The Titans lost 24-7, but only after a pair of fourth-quarter field goals did The Woodlands lead by a comfortable margin.

Take away a pair of safeties for The Woodlands in the second quarter, and Memorial would have faced just a 14-7 deficit as it entered the fourth quarter.

The Woodlands successfully stalled what had been a potent Memorial rushing attack, forcing the Titans to pass.

If nothing else, playing The Woodlands gives Memorial a yardstick by which it can measure up to Galena Park North Shore, Memorial’s District 21-5A opening opponent. North Shore entered the week ranked No. 9 in the state poll.

Bridge City and Orangefield look like contenders to be in a District 21-3A title mix once thought to include only West Orange-Stark and Silsbee. Bridge City has won four of five non-district games, quite an improvement from the winless season the team experienced in 2007. The Cardinals latest triumph came in a 43-28 victory over Bridge City. Orangeifeld, which fell to Newton 62-40 in a wild game, is 3-2.

FRIDAY’S TOP PERFORMERS
RUSHING
Caleb Harmon, PN-G, 22 carries, 307 yards, 3 touchdowns
Kelvin Bennett, Newton, 87-287-3
Jeremy Jackson, Newton, 15-237-4
Matt Menard, Bridge City, 23-208-2
Shane Pittman, Vidor, 34-208-5
LeFrederick Ford, Kirbyville, 12-197-3
Dewan Childress, Anahuac, 12-151-1
Kevin Tate, Vidor, 20-145-1
Evan Guidrey, Orangefield, 19-143-3
Keith O’Neal, Central, 19-135-1

PASSING
Hunter Gonzales, LC-M, 24 completions, 40 attempts, 201 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
Ryan Hughes, Lumberton, 10-15-176-3-1
Dakota Eddins, Kelly, 14-26-158-1-3
Corwin Keal, Memorial, 17-30-135-0-0
Blake Venable, H-J, 7-13-125-1-1

RECEIVING
Jacoby Anderson, Ozen, 6 catches, 148 yards, 1 touchdowns
Zack Sonnier, LC-M, 11-90-0
Chase McDonald, Lumberton, 3-85-1
Ryan Brady, Nederland, 3-82-0
Braxton Mayes, Anhuac, 2-66-1

Friday night football wrapup: Sept. 18

Two Southeast Texas football teams made major statements Friday night, giving fans reason to dream about the season that lays ahead.

For one, Class 2A Newton showed its worth with a thrilling victory at Silsbee, a Class 3A school thought to be a district championship contender. In another game, Jasper looked to be the real deal in a surprising 23-13 victory over West Orange-Stark, thought of as a state championship contender before the season.

The victory for Jasper was its second straight against a team ranked in The Associated Press top 10 state rankings. Most striking in those victories for the Bulldogs has been their 11 takeaways, four against WO-S and a whopping seven two weeks earlier in a 31-22 victory against Kirbyville, then the No. 4 team in Class 2A.

Next for Jasper is a trip to Hamshire-Fannett before a final district tune-up at home against Silsbee. After then, Jasper might be sitting with a surprising 4-1 record as it enters District 18-3A play against Diboll.

As for Newton, the Eagles picked up a second straight victory against a Class 3A team. They needed a last-second field goal try by Silsbee to bounce off the crossbar to seal the victory, but a win is a win, no matter how you slice it.

What Newton has now is a 4-0 record and an eye on a third straight Class 3A opponent, Orangefield, which will provide another stiff test. Those battles will do nothing but help Newton — ranked No. 6 in Class 2A — prepare for a District 22-2A race that looks to be getting tougher by the week.

One week after the Little Cypress-Mauriceville football team snapped a 16-game losing streak that stretched through one season and in parts of two others, the Battlin’ Bears have another kind of streak: A winning streak.

In a whichever-team-has-the-ball-last kind of game, LC-M snagged a 39-36 victory over Cleveland, a strong 3A school. LC-M’s Hunter Gonzales scored four touchdowns, two passing and two rushing. He also completed 14 of 24 passes for 249 yards.

Coupled with last week’s victory against Bridge City, LC-M takes a two-game winning streak into a district opening game against Port Neches-Groves. Play in District 20-4A will be a bit tougher than what LC-M has faced in recent weeks, but the Bears still have good reason to be confident.

Two good things to take from the West Brook football team’s near-comeback loss to Houston Eisenhower:

One, the Bruins fell a failed two-point conversion shy of going to overtime after they scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes. The team’s never-say-die approach should give coach Craig Stump something to build upon.

Two, the two-point loss came against an Eisenhower team that lost by 16 points to Galena Park North Shore, the No. 7 team in the Class 5A state rankings. West Brook and North Shore end the District 21-5A season against each other, and there’s reason to think the Bruins have the potential to keep the game closer than the 41-13 margin by which they lost last season.

The Nederland football team used third-string quarterback Adam Atterberry in a 42-7 loss to Friendswood. Starter Tyler Smith missed the game with the flu. Atterberry became Nederland’s third starting quarterback in as many games. The season-opening starter, Kirby Bellow, is out for the season after he suffered a ligament injury in the opener.

Watch for Orangefield to be a party crasher in a district thought to have been sewn up before the season began.

The preseason prediction that would give the District 21-3A title to the winner of the Oct. 9 game between WO-S and Silsbee might go out the window if Orangefield continues its impressive play.

The Bobcats, who won just once last season, now have a three-game win streak after a 52-0 victory over Cleveland Tarkington. In all, the Bobcats have played well enough to give reason to think they might be good enough to knock off either or both off the preseason district favorites.

The bigger they are ...

I don't know what was more impressive on Saturday last, McNeese State's 40-35 win at Appalachian State or Houston's 45-35 defeat of Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

Both wins were potential season-makers. McNeese's win over the then-No. 2 team in the Football Championship Subdivision boosted the Cowboys from 16th-ranked to No. 8 in the FCS.

Newton native and MSU running back Todd Pendland was a straight-up man, amassing 127 yards rushing and 121 more receiving. Pendland accounted for 20 points on his own. Game ball time.

The then-unranked Cougars went to the No. 5 team in the country and put on a show from start to finish. The win earns them a berth in The Associated Press Top-25 Poll, with a debut at No. 21 this week.

It was the program's first win over a top-5 team since 1984 when the Cougs beat the University of Texas.

Momentum like this can turn into a special season if used properly. Houston has another big test this Saturday against Texas Tech. Can the Cougs make it 2 for 2 against the Big 12?

McNeese gets a breather at home against Savannah State.

College football in the area just got a whole lot more interesting.

NBA fines Port Arthur's Jackson

The NBA fined Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson $25,000 for “public statements detrimental to the NBA,” the league announced Tuesday.

Jackson, a Port Arthur native, violated a league rule Aug. 28 when he made a trade request publicly. Jackson said he would like to be traded to Cleveland, New York or one of the Texas teams.

Less than a year ago, Jackson signed a three-year contract extension worth $28 million, according to a report on ESPN.com. Jackson can appeal the fine, but only NBA commissioner David Stern can rescind a fine of $50,000 or less.

Buchholz, Bruce have reasons to smile

Jay Bruce drives in the go-ahead run for the Cincinnati Reds in his first game back from the disabled list one day after Clay Buchholz continued to sparkle. Not bad for a pair of Southeast Texans.

In case you missed it, the former Lumberton High School baseball star continued his major league surge Sunday by helping the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. From a story in the Boston Herald:

Buchholz is undefeated in his last six starts, during which he has gone 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He had a 15-inning scoreless streak snapped by Jason Bartlett’s RBI single in the seventh inning yesterday.

“He was tremendous,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He threw all four pitches, had a very good changeup, was aggressive with his fastball.”

Whenever Buchholz pitches a good game - and, again, that’s been the norm lately - the manager is routinely quizzed about the 25-year-old right-hander’s burgeoning maturity. But while Francona applauds Buchholz for his pitching, he continues to raise caution flags on the maturity issue, perhaps thinking long-term, not short-term.

“Just because he’s pitched well, that doesn’t mean he’s . . .,” Francona said before pausing and adding, “It’s been a process over the last year. He’s throwing the ball very well. All that we hoped for Buc is starting to come to fruition. And it’s great to watch - not only for the present, but for the future.”

As for Bruce, he pinch-hit singled in the go-ahead run for the Reds in their 3-1 victory Monday night against the Houston Astros. Bruce, who played high school baseball at West Brook, had not played in the majors since before he broke his wrist while he tried to make a sliding catch July 11 in right field.

"That was a lot of fun," Bruce said. "It was pretty exciting to be out that long and come back and help the team win."

Why Ryan S. Clark voted the way he did in this week's poll

Whenever Sunday rolls around, that's when I know its time to vote in The Associated Press high school football poll.

I just look around to see how other schools did and that way it gives me a chance to gauge what's going on. In the case of WO-S, which is No. 3 in Class 3A, and Newton, which is No. 6 in Class 2A, there really isn't much to gauge because those schools started the preseason in the Top 10.

But as for schools like Lumberton and Vidor, it was time to give them credit because they have started the season 3-0. Lumberton has won district the last two years and Vidor is pegged to win district this year, which factored into the voting. Plus, what I have learned from folks over the last few weeks is area schools do not get much respect in these polls, because voters across the state might not be familiar with the schools around here.

Take Evadale for example. That is a program that is off to a 3-0 start and last season finished 7-2. Coach Mark Williams has quite a few kids back from last season and they looked poised for another strong run.

But there are schools that do get respect from across the state such as Kirbyville. Kirbyville got quite a few votes in the latest poll, but I did not vote for them. Sure they played an epic game against WO-S, but they made multiple turnovers and errors against Jasper. That's something Kirbyville coach Jack Alvarez told me. Plus, Jasper has only played two games so the game against WO-S on Friday should be a good gauge how good Jasper is and how good Kirbyville could be.

Of course as the season rolls along, these picks will change and for all we know, Evadale and others could crack the Top 10. No matter what happens, this season should be an interesting one.

Pendland leads Southeast Texans to make college football impact

A look at Southeast Texans who had the biggest impact in weekend college football games:

Toddrick Pendland, RB, McNeese State: Pendland accounted for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys' 40-35 victory over Appalachian State, the No. 2-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision. Pendland, a senior from Newton, tallied his second straight 100-yard rushing game with 19 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 10 passes for 121 yards and two scores. A field goal by freshman Josh Lewis gave McNeese a 38-35 lead with four seconds left, and a safety as time expired provided the winning margin. McNeese entered the contest ranked No. 16 in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA).

Darrell Jenkins and Seth Thomas, DBs, McNeese State: Jenkins forced a fumble that Thomas recovered near the goal line to prevent Appalachian State from scoring a touchdown less than a minute before halftime of McNeese's 40-35 victory. Thomas, a former West Orange-Stark standout, returned the fumble to the McNeese 22, where the Cowboys ran out the clock. Jenkins, a former Newton standout, also notched a team-high 9 tackles, two more than Thomas. The fumble and recovery let McNeese take a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri: Weatherspoon tallied a team-high 14 tackles -- including one for a loss -- to help Missouri, which scored the game's final 21 points in a 27-20 victory against Bowling Green in Columbus, Mo. The most important tackle for Weatherspoon, a former Jasper star, came on a third-down pass that forced Bowling Green to punt and gave the Tigers a chance to tie the game, reported the Columbia Missourian newspaper. Missouri scored tying and go-ahead touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Kheeston Randall, DT, Texas: Randall made his first collegiate start and had two tackles Saturday in UT's 41-10 victory against Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. UT coach Mack Brown has credited Randall, a sophomore from Kelly, and defensive end Sam Acho as showing the most improvement of any players since spring training. Brown said both are "completely different than the players we saw last year," Brown said in the Austin American-Statesman. Randall had two tackles in eight games as a true freshman last season.

Tramain Thomas, DB, Arkansas: Arkansas did not play over the weekend, but here's a nod to Thomas for his first collegiate interception, snagged near the goal line in the Razorbacks' 48-10 victory over Missouri State on Sept. 4. The interception set up a touchdown that put Arkansas ahead 38-10 early in the third quarter. Thomas, a former East Chambers football and basketball star, also had six tackles. Thomas made 29 tackles in 12 games as a true freshman last season.

Lucky No. 34 for Central, Kelly

Two Southeast Texas high schools played football games Saturday, and both secured victories by scoring their game's last 34 points. Central used a 34-point run to cap a 41-21 victory over Galveston Ball and Kelly used a 34-point run to lock up a 40-13 victory over Houston Furr.

Central appears to be playing with the same discipline that helped the school reach the fourth round of the Class 4A state playoffs last season. The Jags had a plus-2 in the turnover ratio against Ball and are a plus-3 on the season. That's one sign of a team that plays with discipline.

Central won games last season with a grind-it-out offense that kept the ball out of the air and the other team's offense on the sideline. Few will forget the way Central stymied a high-scoring Friendswood team in a 20-19 playoff loss last season that was supposed to be a one-sided affair.

As for Kelly, the Bulldogs have looked good since the opening week loss against Class 4A Kelly. If nothing else, Kelly appears to be rounding into shape for a TAPPS district run that includes tough games against Houston Pius and St. Thomas high schools.

The third week of the high school football season is finished. Check out our take on some of the week's key events.

Friday night football wrapup: Nelson, Crouch among winning coaches

This week's final scores, boxes/Next week's schedule

Three weeks into the high school football season, and seven of the nine schools that opened the season with new head football coaches have at least one victory to their team’s credit.

Two of those coaches picked up their first victory Friday, when Little Cypress-Mauriceville’s Randy Crouch and Ozen’s Jeff Nelson both put their heads on a pillow as winners. LC-M topped Bridge City 16-0 and Ozen beat Houston Worthing 30-19.

Only one first-year coach, Port Neches-Groves’ Brandon Faircloth, has an undefeated team at 3-0. Memorial’s Kenny Harrison and Orangefield’s Brian Huckabay are 2-1. Other coaches with a victory to their credit are Jasper’s Mike Bickham and Central’s Andrew Washington.

But for all the attention placed on new coaches this season, each of them would point to their players as the reason for success. After all, the players are the ones doing the work on the field.

Legacy’s Eric Holton and Kountze’s Mike Stewart are still without a victory at their new schools, but we’re sure they’ll soon earn a notch in the “W” column.

Among Friday night’s more intriguing events were the overtime contests won by West Orange-Stark and Port Neches-Groves.

WO-S ended the game when it stuffed a two-point conversion run to preserve a 21-20 victory over former district mate Kirbyville.

As for PN-G, it sealed a 22-16 victory over Texas City with a 13-yard TD run by Caleb Harmon. Texas City fumbled away its only overtime possession, and PN-G enters District 20-4A play undefeated.

Other 20-4A teams to finish non-district play with undefeated records are Vidor and Lumberton. How non-district success translates to district play is tough to gauge, as some of those victories came against schools in smaller enrollment classes.

Only PN-G earned each of its three non-district victories against schools in Class 4A or above. PN-G’s three victories were 21-20 agianst Barbers Hill, 37-7 against Crosby and 22-16 against Texas City.

Keep in mind, however, that none of those victories came on the road.

Among Friday’s more notable performances were that of Nederland quarterback Tyler Smith, a junior who engineered a John Elway-like drive in the fourth quarter of his first varsity start, a 27-23 victory over Waller.

Smith landed in the starter’s role when third-year varsity starter Kirby Bellow suffered a partially torn knee ligament in Nederland’s season-opening loss to West Orange-Stark.

Smith showed moxie during an 83-yard game-winning drive that ended with a pass to a wide-open Ryan Brady on a fly pattern for a 38-yard score with 5:14 left that ended a frantic 20-point Nederland rally.

Let’s chalk up Memorial as a much-improved team this season. The Titans have won two of three games, and they appear to have found the reliable rushing attack they’ve needed for the past few seasons. Ronzell King rushed 27 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns in Memorial’s 28-14 victory over Houston Nimitz. For the season, King has 371 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

We’re not making predictions, but Memorial may finally get a chance to steal one against West Brook when they meet later this season. Watch out.

There’s no mystery as to how Vidor figures to win games this season. The Pirates have averaged 416.3 yards through its three season-opening victories. Vidor runs a Slot-T offense that coach Jeff Mathews and his staff borrowed from coaches at Liberty Hill, winner of Class 3A state titls in 2006 and 2007.

"We begged, borrowed and stole information from everybody that was willing to listen," Mathews said in an Enterprise story published last season.

The offense is designed to methodically work the ball down the field, slowly melting time off the clock and keeping the other team’s offense off the field. Vidor did it well last season. How well the Pirates can run that offense this season will be determined in a district-opener against a strong Central team in two weeks.

Lumberton looks to have a slightly different look this season than it did during its two district championship seasons in 2007 and 2008. That much appeared evident in a 20-14 victory over Hardin County rival Silsbee. A portion of Lumberton's newly-stamped identity comes through the confidence and experience shown by junior quarterback Ryan Hughes, a second-year starter who looks to give his team a more balanced offensive look. Lumberton won those two district titles with a heavy run-based game. So far, the Raiders -- from Hughes to a strong defense backed by linebacker Anthony Beard -- are looking good.

An indicator that the likely District 22-2A title game between Kirbyville and Newton at the end of the regular season will be a tight one come with this fact: Both school hung 62 points on Diboll this season. Newton routed Diboll 62-21 on Friday, two weeks after Kirbyville beat Diboll 62-20.

A look at Friday’s top performers, based on statistics reported Friday night to The Beaumont Enterprise:
Rushers
Ronzell King, Memorial 27 rushes, 176 yards, 2 touchdowns
Caleb Harmon, PN-G 24-160-1
Nick Cardenas, Nederland 24-142-2
Dewan Childress, Anahuac 16-138-1
Kevin Tate, Vidor 12-129-3
Kelvin Bennett, Newton 9-119-2
Corey Huckabay, Orangefield 12-109-4
Percy Johnson, West Brook 7-108-2
Tye LeBlanc, East Chambers 21-107-0
Jacob Peevy, Vidor 17-107-1
Tevvin Jones, LC-M 22-107-1

Passers
Bruce Reyes, West Brook 20 completions, 35 attempts, 279 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
Jeremy Johnson, Silsbee 23-36-263-2-2
Cody Johnson, Anahuac 10-11-185-2-0
Tyler Smith, Nederland 15-30-167-2-1
Brennan Doty, PN-G 10-20-156-2-1

Receiving
Braxton Mayes, Anahuac 5 catches, 107 yards, 1 touchdown
Ryan Brady, Nederland 9-100-2
James Morrison, H-J 2-89-1
Pheal Hill, Silsbee 7-85-1
Prentice Lane, Silsbee 7-84-0

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Hey, Shaq, remember this?

In light of Shaquille O'Neal's visit to Southeast Texas yesterday and Michael Jordan's induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame, here's a montage of a game in which MJ scored 64 points agianst Shaq when he played for the Orlando Magic.

Confident Buchholz ready for playoff push

A more-confident Clay Buchholz figures to help the Boston Red Sox to the playoffs, the Boston Globe reports today. Buchholz, who played high school ball at Lumberton, is a starting pitcher with the Boston Red Sox who began the season in the minor leagues but quietly "asserted himself as the clear No. 3 starter behind Jon Lester and Josh Beckett," according to a story on the Globe's Web site, Boston.com.

“That’s what I worked hard for,’’ Buchholz told the Globe. “Eventually, sometime down the road, when it’s my time, I want to be a No. 1 on this team. That’s going to be tough, to fill the shoes that are already in that position right now. I want to be that guy, the No. 3, whenever September is over and into October. That’s the job I want to have.’’

Among Buchholz's struggles last season were a fear of failure that came after he threw a no-hitter in just his second major league start, in 2007.

From the story:

“I was afraid to fail a lot last year,’’ Buchholz said.

He thought so much about bad outcomes that he convinced himself he couldn’t make any outs. At the same time, he felt immense pressure from the previous season - “that whole no-hitter deal.’’

Playing a game defined by failure, Buchholz made perfection his standard.

“It drove me insane a little bit,’’ Buchholz said. “When last year was over, it felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders.’’

Buchholz credits much of his new found major league success to happiness in his personal life, found with an engagement to girlfriend Lindsay Clubine, "a model who once opened briefcases on “Deal or No Deal’’ - she was No. 26 - and now hosts a travel show," the Globe said.

Link: Buchholz masters changeup (Boston.com)

Jay Bruce on playoff team ... in minors

It appears that Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce will stay in the minor leagues a bit longer.

Bruce, a former West Brook baseball star, will continue to rehabilitate his wrist injury by helping the Triple-A Louisville Bats minor league team in the playoffs before a return to the big leagues. Bruce has not played in the majors since he suffered a fractured wrist while trying to make a sliding catch on July 11. The Bats play the third game of a best-of-five International League playoff series against the Durham Bulls tonight in Louisville. The series is tied 1-1.

Bruce has played five games with Louisville during his rehab stint. He is batting .278

Link: Bruce's rehab stay at Triple-A extended (mlb.com)

Link: Jay Bruce's minor league stats page (milb.com)