MikeEast

They can pass and run, both very well. They have about 1500 passing yards for the year. LC's running back and overall offense will be the best these Indians have ever seen.... Jaquizz is really something very special, he has over 6,000 rushing yards. He may be the best 4A running back to come out of Region 3 in the last decade, maybe longer. Its been said repeatedly but its true,,, he moves like Barry Sanders with an almost supernatural ability to change direction of motion without losing speed. He is a good of a receiver as he is running back as well. I would say PNG's best chance will be to be able to throw the ball, get a few quick scores and get into a shoot out. If PNG does not score 35 or more points, they will most likely lose if Rogers and the O Line are healthy. Just looking through the box scores and stuff it looks like their defense was not impossible to move the ball and score on. They can be run on, although they did stifle Dickinson until late in the 4th quarter they did allow Dickinsons running back 180 yards on the ground. It looks like PNG should be able to move the ball effectively, but can they get into the end zone repeatedly? I hope that pride and tradition crap you Indians are always talking about pulls you through this week. You are gonna need all the help you can get. I will definitely be there pulling for the Indians either way.

Waller cant score 19 points on Dayton.....

I will be there to support you Friday night,, should be a great game!

You are correct about that..... But seriously, that does not discount the fact that Lumberton and PNG are plenty good enough to get to the Region 3 finals this year and Dayton is competing on a State Championship level. Those 3 teams are for real, someone has to lose every week and it could be them, but its going to take a VERY good team to beat any one of the three.

maybe so c4l, gotta pull for the home team though. I am really going to try to make the game,,, it should be a good one.

I just don't want to see them to get caught up in the whole LaMarque stigma. I think LaMarque has won a LOT of playoff games because teams have the will to win, but expect to lose. Sure, they have good talent and coaching but THIS YEAR LaMarque is very beatable and Lumberton is plenty good enough to win. The only thing thats going to stop Lumberton from beating LaMarque is Lumberton. No predicitions from me really, I just hope L Town goes in with the same determination and confidence that they have had all year and they will be fine.

I have not seen LaMarque play since week 0 so its tough to judge relative talent. I dont think LaMarque is anywhere NEAR the team they have been in the past and Lumbertons team is just innocent yet talented and determined enough to not let the hype get to them. I think this year LaMarque is more smoke and mirrors than a legitimately good team. They have been hammered 43-22 recently by a Dickinson team that is now getting ready for basketball season after being thrashed last night by Lamar Consolidated. If Lumberton lets the hype get to them they will fall to a team that is no better than they are..... If they dont, they will win this one by a couple of touchdowns. I like Mavericks score, it sounds realistic to me. Please dont let the pomp and circumstance determine the outcome Raiders. These guys are human, cut them they bleed, they can be shut down just like anyone else. JUst play focused, agressive football and you should not have any trouble winning this game. Like I said before, if the LaMarque posters find this they are going to start giving you the smug, chest thumping, sabre rattling act. Dont buy it, they are just another football team this year, nothing special.

I would say Dayton almost for sure. The fact that Texas City is very one dimensional does not bode well for them. Unless Dayton lets the hype get to them, they should win this one convincingly. PNG is going to have their hands full. This will be the most balanced attack they have seen all year with a bigtime running back carrying the football. From what I see I say PNG could go down this week. They wont be able to take 1/2 a game to get the playcalling right, they are going to have to outscore LC from the get go or its going to be a long night. Well, Lumberton now is your chance to get REAL respect. The dreaded LaMarque Cougars are not their normal unstoppable selves so if you ever wanted a year to play them in the playoffs, this is it,,, if they win which they should against El Campo. But just because they are down a little does not mean they are still not very good,,, but they are very very beatable. They are probably not any tougher than PNG although they are a little more balanced. It looks like they run by committee and have yet another Kerlegan at QB, that family must have about 15 kids. LaMarque plays sandlot football offense and have always relied on defenses to lose contain so they can run all over the field ducking and dodging until something opens up and use that to open up the pass so they can pickup a few cheap completions to keep everyone honest. I am sure that the LaMarque faithful are going to say that there is nothing different that they are still the be all end all of football and that whatever stadium you are playing in is their home away from home. Dont let the intimidation get to you, just go out there and play just like you have been and there is no reason you cannot come out of this game with a win. If you do not let all the pomp and hype get to you, like most teams that lose to them do,,,, you should be able to whip these guys this year.

Way to go Lumberton!! I pretty well expected that you would win this one easily... Get ready becuase although I think you can win this week for sure,,, the rubber is going to meet the road in week 2 D2 in region 3.

YES!!! If they can get past the intimidation factor of playing the teams in 21/23-4A re Texas City and LaMarque Bay City, El Campo, they SHOULD meet again. Both teams are plenty good enough to get to the R3 final game and play each other. Just play those teams like they play everyone else and they can do it. Dayton has plenty of speed to deal with it and Lumberton is just flat playing good football. I think it is a very good chance that they will meet again if they just play their best football and dont freak out. You see teams try to do too much in the playoffs and shoot themselves in the foot. I would LOVE to see Dayton hammer LaMarque in round 2, it could and probably should happen. We will see if they freak out or not. Then the semi final game you go against the unknown. Probably New Braunfels or Kerville. Calallen always chokes before they get that far. They are kindof the Nederland of Region 4.

No question. Lumberton by a mile. PNG has a good line too but Lumbertons line is big and powerful, and they execute beautifully.

Raiders you earned your spot and this Bulldog is behind you 100%. You guys go and win a state championship. I would absolutely LOVE to see a rematch between Lumberton and Dayton and Lumberton win it.. That would be awesome.. WOO-WOOOOOOO!

You only eat crow if you talk smack. Other than 1 or 2 we from Nederland did not talk smack or make stupid predictions of victory, we knew this was a tough game and we were the underdog. The only ones talking trash this past week were Dayton and Lumberton... You walked to talk and that is good and fortunate for you!!! But we did not talk trash, I KNOW I did not, so I will not be eating any crow thank you very much. You can give mine to the trash talkers from PNG.

Yes, they did... Lumberton plays football the way it is supposed to be played. Prepared, focused, confident and PHYSICAL! There is no question about the players. the question is will be interesting to see if the Dogs coaching staff are smart enough to figure out where they screwed up before the season started, what they need to do differently and most importantly HOW are they going to get it done..... As far as I am concerened they need to throw everything Defense in the trash and start over from scratch. If they play this carefully again next year it will be a repeat of this year.

;D ;D ;D ;D

I do agree with that.... Actually because of the defense, not the kids, the defensive philosophy,,,,,I could see it coming all year although one must hope. 8) Thats ok, there is always next year and as I have done for the last 12 years I will continue to go to as many playoff games as possible if time and my wife permits. Hopefully I can make a couple of Dayton games.

I predicted 28-7, and maybe worse.. Preeeeety darn close!!! Yeah for me! lol. Seriously, congrats and good luck to both teams. You totally deserve to be there and should do well in the playoffs. Now I just have to decide WHO to go watch!!!!???? GO L-TOWN, GO BRONCOS and GO PNG!!!!!

You started out as an interesting guy to read and I thought a pretty good overall fan.. and although you are somewhat right you are a TERRIBLY ungracious winner. : No matter, I still hope Dayton kicks butt in the playoffs. My Karma finally went negative,, what took you haters so long!? ;D

I have to give credit, the team never quit. They were honestly playing hard to the end. There were some fans that left, but when the clock struck zero there were still a lot of people there. Lumberton was a far superior team and as the game progressed they became more and more confident and rightfully so. I think there are 3 things that just killed Nederland before the season ever started. First is the lack of a running threat to GO ALONG with the spread. Im not saying we did not have running backs, we did! I just dont think that running the ball was part of the plan. Second is a lack of creative play calling that included a balanced attack in the plan. Also I think having an offensive line that is inexperienced and cant win the battle in the trenches in a grinding running game is a big part of why they abandoned the run. Third and this is the biggest thing to me... What has happened to the run defense? They need to figure this out! I don't think it was a pesonnel problem. I honestly think this is one of the most talented defenses we have ever had. They seem to have setup the defense to play scared and passively and they GIVE yards in fear of giving yards. No one ever seemed to know where the football was all year and when they did the players just hugged the ball carrier to the ground. Lumberton put on a clinic in how to tackle violently. When they tackled they HIT hard, wrapped up and the runner went DOWN! Even against Hemmings this was true. He ran over people some but fundamentally Dayton and Lumbertons defensive coaches need to put on a tackling and philosophy class for the Nederland defensive staff. If they dont stop coaching the kids to play NOT to get beaten instead of caoching them to take the fight to the offense, this is going to happen year after year against good teams. I saw one real blitz last night and it worked perfectly and we stopped L-Town for a loss. 1 BLITZ!! ALL NIGHT! Other than that the players were doing what it looks like they are taught. To me it looks like when the ball is snapped they are taught to give yourself some space to figure out what is going on, keep the ball carrier in front of you and when you see the play happen THEN go to the ball. By the time that happens the runner is in the secondary and since they are not taught to kill the runner, by the time they hug him down he has fallen another 4-7 yards. Bottom line, they are not agressive or coached smartly enough to win the battle at the line. I am not a coach but THEY ARE. I can understand losing games but the Dogs used to know how to play defense... It looks like they have forgotten or something.

Congratulations to all 3 teams on your playoffs and Lumberton BIG congrats to you guys. Just like I saw a couple of weeks ago at PNG you guys play hard and you DESERVE to be in the playoffs. I am behind all teams 100% and wish you nothing but luck.... But I really dont think any of you need it!! Lumberton, you got what you want. Now it gets really tough. Represent us well, Nederland is VERY happy and proud for you!!!!

;D ;D I am about to depart...

To quote you 88,,, "blah blah blah"... Lets just get this game going and see what happens..

you got me there. I had to laugh out loud for real....

me too.... ;D I just went and saw PNG's 9th grade play... They looked good!

Heard a little something tonight that if true changes my prediction a little bit. I suspect that PNG might fare a little better than we did against that Dayton defense. I still think they are tough, but I knew that they looked too good to be true..... Maybe they were. ???