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