MikeEast

I heard a little something that really surprised me about the Dayton/Nederland game tonite that makes me feel a little better about what happened and why. If its true I dont feel as bad about the loss and I like our chances a little better against Lumberton. It also changes my opinion about the outcome of the PNG-Dayton game a little. I think that game could be a lot closer than I originally thought if what I heard is true. I knew that what I was seeing was almost surreal.

PNG Dayton 9th grade Game WAY too many turnovers by Dayton. Must have been at least 3 fumbles and 2 interceptions that I can remember. PNG 18 dayton 8

Creating your own reality again? I say again that Nederland was beaten outright by Dayton and would lose again probably 10 out of 10 times if something does not change. Dayton is a much better team than Nederland. But make no mistake, the Dogs DEFENSE gave up, I think the offense let up but I dont think they quit. Lumbertons defense is good, they are hard hitting, they are scrappy, they are stingy, they execute well, they are GOOD!! BUT, they are not Dayton. If Lumberton wins Friday night I will not be surprised in the least, and if so I will say congratulations and support the Raiders whole heartedly in the playoffs. If Nederland wins, it will be a pleasure for 2 reasons. My team wins and Maverick eats crow in massive portions. ;D

Nevermind,,,,, I take it back after what I was just told by a close friend.... Yikes. not good at all.

All I know is that I am ready for Friday. Go PNG and GO BULLDOGS!!

I am a realistic football fan too. Heck I am sure we all are in our own minds. To me our defense will be the key. We know both teams have a good offense, Lumberton has consistantly played very good agressive defense all year long. The only question mark is how well will our defense play as a team. I think Lumberton is going to have success running outside and throwing underneath and I do not think Lumbertons defense is going to give our offense any cheap completions and definitely not any chap rushing yards. The receivers are going to have to know where the 1st down markers are at and they are going to have to earn their yards. They are going to have to adjust and not continue to do the same thing when Lumberton figures it out. Asa makes some great catches for sure, but there are a lot of big play completions where I know everyone held their breath when the ball was in the air this year. Im not talking about throws into tight coverage, I have a lot of confidence in Kirby throwing in coverage. Its the vertical throws that scare me. So many have been caught that looked downright lucky (credit to ASA) and should have been knocked down or intercepted. PNG did a good job of stopping it and Dayton,,, well, you know. One thing I have to say is that although Kirby is sometimes hesitant and misses open receivers which is totally excusable for a young new QB, he seldom makes really bad decisions. HE usually knows where the defense is, when to run and when to throw it away. His good judgement has been his best asset to me.

Me too, I hope he is ok most importantly. I cant stand to see any of them get hurt.

Go Kelly! Beat Pius!!

If both teams play their best football, Dayton wins 10 out of 10 times. If I am wrong I am wrong but thats what I honestly believe. Nothing against PNG, they are my brothers and I love em', but I would be lying if I said otherwise. I would love to be wrong except for the obvious benefits for Nederland, but at this point I want Nederland to get in on their own accord or not at all. Either win by 10, or stay home. If they win by 10, they they have earned it.

Yeah, I have been talking online about football for YEARS and I have met so many people from other schools that you would not believe it, I have made true friends from LaMarque, WOS, PNG, Memorial, Smithson Valley, Bay City and several other schools that have met to watch many games from bulletin boards. Guys that post here all the time and some I have not seen in a few years. I have often wondered if my old friend Bumblebee and patitan are the same person, but I have never asked. Cool guy, loved to talk smack though. 8) I have made several life long friends and never made an enemy as a result of a personal meeting. I only know of a couple of real life jerks that frequent these boards,,, 99.9% of the guys I know from all the schools are genuinely nice guys and despite all the jawing that we do on here understand that everything here is said in fun and for a mutual love of the game and the kids.

I am not a big fan of the big print either, but its a free country. ??? Kind of distracting. I am really surprised at those comments. Thats really got nothing to do with football, dont let the frustration get to you James. You are playing patitans game when you let it get to you and lash out like that. No good can come of it. To hijack the thread ;D and just because I think its important, a few of us discussed this subject the other day. It was a mixed group of hispanic, black and white guys that are friends, understand one another and can speak openly in front of one another understanding that we all mean well. I think in the end it just came down to you send your kids to a place that is comfortable and feels right to you. Some want the best possible education, some want to send them to school where they feel they will be safe, or get the best education (in their opinion) or just flat want to keep them in their community and with people that are culturally similar. We all have our reasons, as long as your motivation is not to exclude or segregate your kids due to race, religion, or to be frank because you feel like you are "better" and others are "less" on its own then I dont see a problem. I want to know that the faculty has real control of the campus. I dont care what color or religion the kids that go to school with my kids are,,, I just want to know that my kids are safe, among friends and are getting a good education. I dont want my kids to have to "deal" with the distractions of violence or hate, or be afraid for my kids at school. I have a choice I will NOT send my kids to a school where I have to worry about them regardless of what people "think". I dont have to worry about violence and have every reason to think my kids will come home safe every day from NHS because although there is a little fighting on occasion as is typical I do not have to worry about gang violence, guns on campus or any of that sort of stuff. If I did not I would move to PAISD or BISD if I thought they were safer schools. Would not matter what color God made the kids. To me they are all special and worth fighting for. I am just sayin'...

I think trying to turn it off and on is their worst problem Soulja. I agree with your comments in general but teams that only play hard part of the time always lose the big games. Lumberton has been playing all out as a team for the last 36 quarters of football this season. Nederland has really only played all out, no mercy football as a team for 9 quarters this season where it has been apparent that they were playing for life or death. I am hopeful, but not optomistic. I just cant see them flipping the switch, but that is one thing that I would absolutely have no problem being wrong about.

With all the objectivity I can muster I can only say that it depends on who shows up. If the hard hitting, refuse to be denied Bulldogs show up then I think this is an even matchup and the team with the least mistakes and a little luck on their side will win. If the slow to start, easily discouraged, only "collectively" play hard (moreso on defense the offense always plays hard, and there are a couple who really do go all out on defense to be fair) when they are ahead Bulldogs that hit dont hit but rather hug, that have been with us most all season show up, then I pick Lumberton. That team cannot play with Lumberton. They are two distinctly different teams and both definitely exist. But we have only seen brief flashes of the afforementioned, that is 11 players on defense going all out for 4 straight quarters. The last time we saw them was in the fourth quarter of the Ozen game and before that the PNG game and before that the Brenham game. I just hope its a good close hard fought game with both teams doing their best,,,, and let the best team win!

I feel the exact same way, except I dont "think" Nederland will get their heads together and pull off an upset, but I truly "hope" they do.... We are the underdog and should be. Our team has not played well enough to be the favorite. Lumberton deserves to be the favorite and their team and community is rightfully extremely excited about the season, the way the kids have played and the likelihood of their first playoff appearance. and Maverick, we know how to lose . We in Nederland have been in losing efforts in big games in football, soccer, baseball, volleyball and softball for a long long time. If we lose this game, it wont be the first do or die game we have lost and we survive each year, each time it happens. The last really ungrateful loss where we felt we had a gripe was the 2000 game against WOS in WOS. Other than that game,,, we were just flat beaten. The question is, should the moment arise, will YOU know how to win gracefully ? Its a simple yes or no question for a simple yes or no answer....

A win would be awesome, but to be honest if our team would just show up this week and play as hard as they possibly can for 4 straight quarters without letting up win or lose, I would sleep well Friday night.

LOL, you wish... I think I have only made 1 serious score prediction on this board this season and it was the PNG Lumberton score. It was exact, pure luck though. Well I also predicted like 35-7 on the WB, Memorial Score and I was off by 1TD each. the score was 42-14 I think. I told 82 5A that I HOPED WB would win 56-0, but that was not my prediction, lol. I VERY seldom make score predictions and never for Nederland, I just talk about what I see basis the teams I see play. Usually if I have only seen one or neither teams I will be clear that I would rather just let it unfold altough like everyone here, I have an opinion. Also, my score prediction on the PNG Dayton game is not driven by what I want. I want PNG to win regardless of the points Nederland needs. I have lots of friends and family involved with PNGISD. I am always a Nederland fan first and PNG fan second. Have been my whole life, but I also know what I see. My actual friends that hang out on this board and really know how I feel about the area teams will back me on that.

Barring Injuries,,,,, I still say 28-7 Dayton... But I am pulling for PNG despite our need for them to lose.

Why because Dayton shut them out? They might not... but Lumberton is certainly not anywhere even remotely close to being as good on defense as Dayton. Not by a long shot. These games are totally unpredictable. Lets just let this one play out and see... If Lumberton earns the win I will be glad for them, if they don't then so be it. I will be happy that my Dogs get in. We will know by about 10PM on Friday night one way or the other. Till then its all just jawing.

If I were from PNG I would also be rationalizing why and how we can and should beat Dayton too, especially sight unseen. However, now that I have seen Dayton, Nederland, Lumberton and PNG, I really don't think you guys will appreciate it until you see it. That is, Daytons defense. I have seen a lot of playoff football in the last 10 years and not just BigNed. I am telling you that Daytons defense is as good as ANY defense I have seen in Texas 4A in the last 10 years. They are just about perfect in their execution. They are always in absolutely perfect position, they are absolutely ridiculously quick to the ball and they miss ZERO tackles. These guys are lights out and I mean LIGHTS OUT!!! What is so intereresting is how decieving their size is, they are really small but play like giants. Im not saying that PNG should concede a loss or anything, but this is not your run of the mill excellent defense. Dayton is playing defense on a higher level. I promise PNG has not seen a defense this good since the 99 playoff run and even that season I am not sure that they met a defense like this. We are talking state champion level defense. PNG may need to shutout Daytons offense to win. I know they scored 63 points but they were not any better than what you guys or Lumberton have ofensively, our defense just laid down. I really REALLY hope I am wrong, I want PNG to win the game, but my PNG friends you just need to be prepared for it,,, these guys are really really really really good. I think its going to come down to PNG's defense keeping Dayton to 1 score or less if PNG wants to win.

I would not count on that from the Dogs. They tackle, but as of yet there is no reason to think they will be hard hitting. Maybe the absolute all or none situation will awaken the sleeping giant.... I believe they have it in them,,,, but can they flip the switch in week 10?????

In the Houston area I would guess that it would be Jaquizz Rogers from Lamar Consolidated. In our immediate area... I have no idea. Probably the RB from Dayton after last Friday...... EDIT: I looked it up. Pierce Rhodes from Kirbyville statistically in our immediate area..

I have to ask, is all this jawing you have been doing for the last 9 weeks in fun??? Or are you really seriously this obnoxious in real life? I am almost certain that you are a really good guy in person and just enjoying the anonymity but I cant help but wonder.......

Honestly after seeing Dayton, Lumberton, PNG and Nederland all play in the last 3 weeks I have to go with Dayton. Their defense is lights out and not just by luck, they really are for real. They are a state championship quality defense against the pass and the run. I dont think Daytons offense is that good despite the score last night. Nederlands defense quit, I mean quit, for the first time in Neumanns time at NHS. After the 1st quarter Daytons offense was doing whatever it wanted at will with practically no resistance at all. Daytons offense is about like PNG and Lumbertons. Its good, real good, plenty good enough to score on PNG's defense but not good enough to win a state title in my opinion unless that defense can pitch a shutout. Dayton should be about as productive as Lumberton was against PNG and there is no way that PNG is going to score 21 on Dayton. I would be surprised if PNG scores 7, shocked if they score 14 and I will eat my hat if they score 21... Provided that they dont suffer any injuries. OF course anything can happen but I would feel comfortable with that prediction. I say 28-7 PNG and a shutout is not out of the question.

If you remember, I said after the PNG game that even though the game was essentially tied at the half 14-13 that the Indians RAN off the field fired up and ready to keep going. The Dogs WALKED off the field, heads down, hands on hips, looking totally defeated. The PNG fans were going berserk, our fans were collectively just sitting there barely clapping like they had just watched the NHS choir perform their rendition on Ave' Maria. Has Friday Night gotten to be passe' for Nederland? Has Bulldog football been good for long enough that the community and the kids are losing interest, has the new worn off or something? I said it in another post. I saw Lumberton play PNG 2 weeks ago. Bulldog fans,,, watch Lumbertons fans... That is what WE used to look and sound like!! Although I thought the bubbles were gay,,, I sure do miss the cheers and the bubbles. Maybe the band needs to start playing Smoke on the Water again or something.

Its more than just that. They don't seem to have a killer instinct, there is no violence in their game. Even if a team has a weak defense you can see that they are HITTING people. You never see anyone really hitting anyone, even when the opportunities present, never. No form tackling, no nose to nose contact, wrap em up and ride em down. Just glancing blows, and a lot of hugging. The hit by Grogan last week against LCM is the only memorable hit I can think of this year. I dont want to say they do not care because I think they do,,,, I know they do. But it sure looks like the kids are playing very cautiously and with no visible passion, almost like they are being coached to not be too agressive but its being taken to the extreme. It's almost eerie to watch. It's like they are so afraid that they are going to be over agressive or over pursue and get beaten that they have let discipline turn into fear. Whatever it is,,, it looks like fear at the first sign of a challenge. It would be great to see them throw caution to the wind and give up a possible touchdown or penalty to put someone on their BUTT, repeatedly with extreme prejudice. It cant get much worse than a 63 point game. What do you have to lose? At least you go down with heart and looking like a football team. The fans are not helping either. There is about 1 fan audibly supporting the team for every 100 that just sit there and watch silently. Our fans used to at least stand up and make some noise when the defense is on the field, especially on 3rd downs. Now even on 4th and goal at the 1 and the other team going for it, all but just a scant few sit and watch in silence for 4 straight quarters no matter what. Watch Lumbertons fans next Friday,,,, that is what we USED to look and sound like. :-[ >