Darth Texas

The refs are spotting the ball horribly. Not giving forward progress at all.

Predicting a blowout was delusional.

Montgomery’s qb and Rb are a problem

I think it was Brent Carroll on defense, the starting running back Traeshawn Brown, and one other guy on offense. @Eazy might be able to tell us.

The scores weren’t similar at all between Montgomery/Huntsville and PNG/Huntsville. Montgomery had the game won by halftime. There was about a quarter (the first one) where they traded punts and it looked like Huntsville could be in the game, and then Montgomery gave them absolutely no breathing room. PNG, after the comeback from 21-10 at the half, didn’t have the game fully in hand until the beginning of the 4th quarter. And of Huntsville’s three scores against Montgomery, two of them were in garbage time. There’s not any real comparison between those two games. Admittedly, Huntsville lost three starters in that game, so they might have played better in a different week. Comparing those two games doesn’t tell us anything, and if it does, it’s that Montgomery is really good and PNG better forget about La Porte and Huntsville and get ready for a war.

I thought HJ and BC didn’t even deny opting up for competition reasons — They pretty openly were trying to get away from Silsbee, WOS, and HF. I don’t remember a source, and I may be remembering what people were publicly assuming. Regardless, I agree: Opting up shouldn’t be allowed unless there are compelling non-competitive reasons justifying it, like travel distance.

Never mind - I should have read the whole thread. You already answered it.

Follow-up to my last question: I’m following how the point differentials move, I’m just not sure where “21” fits into it.

To clarify, Huntsville is still in the picture and likely to be 3rd seed (assuming they beat Nederland and Splendora), so this three-way discussion is just for who gets 4th. Next question: What do mean “21 point cap”? I’m not following how the points tie breaker works.

Follow up: what happens in this scenario? Dayton: beat WF, lose to PNG (district record: 3-4) WF: lose to Dayton, beat LC (district record: 3-4) LC: beat Splendora, lose to WF (district record: 3-4) Dayton would have tie-breaker over WF, WF would have tie-breaker over LC, and LC would have tie-breaker over Dayton.

You’re not wrong. My point is the only thing Ned’s defense has been good at is being aggressive attacking the runner and getting to the backfield. That lines up well with what Huntsville is trying to do. PNG, Montgomery, and Lake creek were very successful being aggressive against the run, and Huntsville doesn’t really have a plan B. They’re not good passing. So, Nederland needs to sell out completely against the run. Force them to win through the air. Yeah, Ned’s secondary and linebackers aren’t good, so just have the linebackers attack gaps and tell the secondary to do their best. That’s basically your best shot and it plays to the only thing Ned’s good at on defense.

I wish PNG and PAM had played this year. I don’t think PnG would score, but that’s the point. I would have liked to see us have to face a team in the early season that can stop the things we’re good at so we get experience with the emotions of executing well even when the results aren’t coming. And, I think the PNg defense could use reps against that speed — We’d have played well on defense, but it would have been humbling, and very, very good playoff prep. On the other hand, if i’m a port Arthur fan, I’d want the same thing, so I’d leave png off the table and try to play summer creek or north shore.

Port Arthur is emerging as a juggernaut. I just saw they’ve allowed only 24 points TOTAL in district. Has Memorial ever had a defense this good? (Not counting TJ or Lincoln years). Current projections have them set up to meet La Porte in the third round. I’d pick Port Arthur in that matchup, and I think La Porte is about as good as anyone in 5ad1. All of that to say, Baytown Sterling’s not winning this game.

I don’t think Montgomery being at home is going to be a factor. PNG has only lost two away games in the Joseph era (20-2 overall)(that’s not counting neutral site playoff games). Our last loss away was to Port Arthur in week 1 of the 2023 season. Our last loss away to a 5ad2 team was in September 2022 against Fort Bend Marshall. None of that has any effect on this week’s game, but it’s to show that this staff and team do a good job overcoming whatever a team’s home field advantage might be.

On paper, this is a good matchup for Nederland. Nederland’s biggest strength is its agressive run defense. They’re capable of doing the most important thing for stopping the Huntsville offense: Attack the backfield and get to the runner before he can break into open field. On the other side, Huntsville’s defense hasn’t been very good in any game, so Nederland can hope to get some points. The problem is Nederland’s execution, which mostly hasn’t improved all season. That will be the difference. Mistakes, fumbles, missed blocks, poorly timed plays will give Nederland short drives and Huntsville more chances to score . Huntsville wins 28-14.

I would love for this to be a PNG blowout. But it’s pure arrogance to look at this Montgomery team and say we’re going to blow them out. Watch their film — Where’s the obvious weakness? Can we play with them? Yes. Can we beat them? Yes. Is the answer to both questions also “yes” for Montgomery? Yes.

50/50 game. Montgomery is dangerous. They really haven’t had any hiccups on offense, and no hiccups on defense since the Dayton game. They’re more than capable of beating PNG. Numbers-wise, the Bears average about a td per game better than PNG, and PNG’s about 4 points better on defense. That’s a wash in my mind - These are two equal teams. PNG’s going to need its best defensive performance since La Porte to contain Montgomery’s RB. And our play calling has to be smart. We can’t afford to waste drives trying to get long pass plays that take too long to develop. We wasted three drives against Nederland (one in the second half, two to start the third) - We were bailed out by Nederland’s mistakes. Montgomery won’t make those mistakes. And the Montgomery pass rush is better than that of any team we’ve played (exception possibly for La Porte). We need to hold the ball, burn the clock, and play keep away. I want first downs, not tries for quick touchdowns (if quick TDs happen, fine, but we don’t need to call plays like we have to score right that second). Short, quick high-percentage passes. And delete whatever was that play that led to Nederland’s interception last night from the playbook. PNG can get this one — If our run defense is tough and we keep the ball moving, we can get another W.

A big question that keeps going unanswered in the articles I’ve found: Attorneys for the parents allege that the ISD knew of previous criminal behavior from Coach’s son, and part of their evidence for it is the parents were sent a letter acknowledging the incidents. Why on earth would the parents not have gone straight to the police after the first incidents? Every single person involved is required by law to have notified the police if they were aware of child abuse.

That explains why he wasn’t in the rotation earlier. He’s going to be really good.

What grade is he?

LC should be favored against West Fork. And I think you’re right about Huntsville being 3rd. Even if either PNG or Montgomery loses both of their next two, they’d be 5-2 but have the head-to-head vs Huntsville. Next week is for the 1 seed and at least a piece of the district championship.

I don’t think we need those deep pass plays hardly ever, and if Nederland had been better tonight our attempt to do those plays would have given them the ability to get back into it. I guarantee if we’re up against Montgomery, or any good team, and we gift them short drives while trying to execute low-percentage deep passes, they’ll punish us.

Good game bulldogs

I love the way Nederland does the national anthem. I’ll take a good instrumental version over a choir any day.

Montgomery’s so good. They really haven’t been slowed down at all, or allowed many points, since the Dayton game.