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Bears invade revengeful Indians Tom Halliburton The Orange Leader PORT NECHES — Todd Moody and his Little Cypress-Mauriceville travelers should choose the main roads into The Reservation this afternoon. A sneaky backroad would be pointless. There’s no way the Battlin’ Bears can roll their buses toward Indian Stadium on this district football Friday without excessive purple shirts on the lookout. When this veteran scribe ventured to PN-G for his weekly Tuesday visit, Port Neches-Groves mentor Matt Burnett avoided any mention the 42-0 setback which his Indians endured last year at Bear Stadium. Matt didn’t have to mention it. But the implication of last year’s embarrassment has spoken for itself around Indian land for PN-G (2-2 and 1-0). Moody and his LC-M squad (1-3 and 0-1) have their own set of more recent 2007 losses which they wish to reverse. This first October victory definitely would become a most welcome occasion for either side by the conclusion of tonight’s 7 p.m. kickoff. As both arrive toward mid-season, the Indians and the Bears have similar answers to their identity questions. LC-M followers are wondering if this truly will be that first playoff season under Moody, a 36-year-old coach who has brought an Odessa Permian-like flair to the Bears' program. Remember Mojo at Permian? LC-M’s common moniker is called Bojo and these Bears fondly resemble Permian’s Panthers in some of their plain and simple, hard-nosed traits. As for Cherokee’s favorite listeners, a pair of back-to-back wins over LC-M and Nederland would work wonders at restoring plenty of peace and tranquility. But the Indians will not have their minds on Nederland that much tonight. Not after last year’s LC-M game. “You have to forget all of that,†the Indians’ chief explained. “You can’t ever carry over a previous game because each time you play a different team. But we know that LC-M is a real good football team. They had a chance to beat Central.†LC-M’s coach sounded painfully aware on Thursday that his squad has had a chance to seize victory on more than one outing when it has failed to do so. It's still relatively early in the Bears’ season, but that pattern gets old real fast. “We’ve played good teams,†Moody said. “We hadn’t played any teams that weren’t very formidable. We’ve had games when we’ve fumbled and haven’t been able to convert in the red zone. We would have come away with at least two more wins if we could have done that. So we just have to put it all together.†PN-G can sympathize with LC-M a bit, too. The Tribe had its chances against La Marque and Crosby. The 21-19 win at Ozen was not exactly a convincing win, yet Ozen brought plenty of talent and speed to that 22-4A opener. The Indians struggled through a three-interception night from junior quarterback Harrison Tatum yet Burnett displayed his class and shouldered a good bit of the blame for those turnovers. “We ran some play-action deep routes and we thought we might get Ozen’s cornerbacks to bit and they didn’t bite,†the Indians’ coach said. “Ozen made some really athletic moves in order to make some tremendous interceptions. “That’s how I see what happened. Tatum’s a fine quarterback and he will do a good job. Really, we weren’t that pleased with our running game at Ozen, either, but I think Ozen's defense had a lot to do with that. Ozen had an outstanding defensive unit.†PN-G ripped off season-highs of 427 yards and 43 points two weeks ago at Silsbee. The Ozen defenders limited the Indians to season-lows of 136 total yards and seven first downs last week. LC-M experienced similar peaks and valleys in the last two outings. The Bears pounded home 503 total yards and 25 first downs two weeks ago against Kashmere. But Central's defense closed the goalline door shut after Kendrix Salter scored a first-quarter touchdown last week. The Bears rank higher in both total offense and defense numbers. Salter and PN-G’s Jake Hemmings rate No. 1 and 3 respectively among league rushers with 363 and 254 rushing yards. The Bears are led by quarterback President Driver who has 450 yards on 26-for-50 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Yet defense likely will rule the proceedings a great deal once more. PN-G has a group of fine defenders led by Kaleb Walker and Austin Miller at linebackers, Clint Burnett and Zeke Schexneider at ends. None of those are Indians are any better than two of LC-M’s seasoned defensive leaders — Joseph Viator at middle linebacker and Phillip Richard at free safety.

2 I believe

Hardin wins 28-6 to move to 6-0 on the year. Jordan Nolan had 4 touchdown passes on the night to put his season total at 20.

Another passing touchdown for Nolan, that makes 4 on the night. 28-6 Hardin mid 4th quarter.

21-6 Hardin end of the 3rd

Haven't heard but all 3 touchdowns are passing scores. That puts his season total at 19

21-6 Hardin 3:20 left in the 3rd

Same score midway through the 3rd

14-6 Hardin at the Half

14-6 Hardin 1:00 left in the 2nd

7-6 Hardin 9:23 left in the 2nd

Pirates hope to slow down Thomas, Bucs Van Wade The Orange Leader DEWEYVILLE — Without a doubt, the Deweyville Pirates will have their mettle tested when the East Chambers Buccaneers roll into Pirate Stadium tonight in District 24-2A action. The Pirates are coming off a tough 46-20 loss at the hands of the Hardin Hornets last week while the Bucs, picked by most to win the 24-2A crown again, had their bye week last week. The Hornets piled up 491 yards of total offense last week in the win over the Pirates. Deweyville was allowing just 114 yards a game going into that game. “The kids played hard against Hardin but we gave up a lot of big plays,†said Pirate head coach Dwight Bickham. “Just when we thought we had them stopped, they would make a big play. It wasn’t all the kids’ fault either, we could’ve done a lot better lining them up and we need to absorb some of the blame. We don’t like to make excuses though, Hazrdin has an excellent football team.†Bickham, who has led the Pirates to two striaght playoff berths, feel the Pirates will be ready for the stern challenge against East Chambers. “We started the week off with a new focus and the kids have been working really hard at practice,†Bickham said. “I guess you can say that we’re re-tooling a little bit and we’re making a few changes. Football is all about making adjustments.†The Pirates and Bucs played in one of the most entertaining games last season in Winnie. East Chambers prevailed in that one 60-44 as more than 1,000 yards of total offense was put up. Coach Tony Valastro returned seven starters on both side of the ball from last year’s 11-1 24-2A champion. He also has the luxury of having perhaps not only the best athlete in 24-2A but arguably the entire Southeast Texas area in quarterback Tremain Thomas. Thomas rushed for 1,349 yards and 22 TDs as a junior and passed for 1,366 yards and 11 TDs and hasn’t missed a beat this year despite the fact that so many teams are honing in on him. The Bucs, led by linebacker Paul Trammell, are stingy as well, limiting opponents to just 11 points a game. “Thomas is one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot of good ones in our area over the years,†said Bickham. “He’s so hard to contain. You may think you have him bottled up and all of a sudden he goes 80 (yards) on you.†The Pirates continue to be a well-oiled machine with their ground attack. Sophomore tailback Keeton Addison leads the way with 528 yards on 72 carries. Senior quarterback Brandon Powell has 397 yards on 33 touches and senior running back Stephen Gibson has rumbled for 255 yards on 28 carries. Bickham feels that the Pirates will put it all on the line against the Bucs. “East Chambers is still the favorite to win the district,†Bickham said. “They’ve had two weeks to prepare for this game, so you know they’ll be ready. Our kids are ready to battle them. They’ve been looking forward to this game. I expect a big crowd and the way the kids have been working this week, I really expect it to be a good battle.â€

Pirates seek to cool off Raiders Van Wade The Orange Leader VIDOR — A young and hungry bunch of Vidor Pirates look to take charge and knock the undefeated Lumberton Raiders off their pedestal tonight when the Raiders visit Pirate Stadium in District 22-4A play. The Pirates (1-3, 0-1) are coming off a tough 28-7 loss at the hands of the Nederland Bulldogs last week while the Raiders (4-0, 1-0) nipped defending 22-4A champion Dayton. Vidor coach Jeff Mathews has certainly been patient with his young squad, one that starts sometimes as many as eight sophomore on any given Friday night. “We’ve got some young kids that are really learning under fire and we’re so proud of them for that,†Mathews said. “We’re going to make young mistakes but we’re also seeing a lot of improvement out of the sophomore group. It’s a group that will just continue to shine as they get older.†Mathews felt a play here and a play there made a huge difference in the loss to Nederland last week. “Nederland gets a touchdown pass when a ball slipped through our defensive back’s hands, then we were able to come back and tie it,†Mathews said. “Then we tip another pass and it gets in their (Nederland’s) hands for another score. The final score may not indicate it, but we saw a lot of positive things in that game and the kids know the areas that they have to work on.†Lumberton has never made the postseason in their 40-year history so this is as excited as Raiders fans have been under the guidance of second-year head coach Alvin Credeur. The Raiders scored with 0:14 left in the game against Dayton and Credeur decided to go for the win as quarterback Bryce DeJohn connected with Aaron Credeur for the game-winning two-point conversion pass. “I tell you, that was a gutsy call by Coach Credeur,†Mathews said. “He didn’t want to go into overtime with the defending district champion and it came out great for the Raiders. Coach Credeur is doing a super job with that program. This is a very special group that they have. They have a bunch of seniors that have won a lot of games since the seventh grade so they’re riding high right now.†DeJohn has passed for 410 yards and four touchdowns for the season. Tailback Cody Hussey leads a tremendous ground game with 294 yards and three TDs on 38 carries. Anthony Beard has 176 yards and three TDs on just 12 totes and Jacob Hanna has darted for 157 yards and three TDs on only 12 carries. “Lumberton can do so many things on offense,†Mathews said. “They’ve always liked to throw it but their running game is loaded. They’ve been popping big runs all season. One thing about Lumberton, you know their kids are going to play hard and battle to the end.†Senior quarterback Roman Franklin continues to guide the Pirate offense, which has certainly leaned on hard-nosed running game behind a young offensive line. Fullback Theron Reynolds leads the ground attack with 258 yards on 49 totes. Tailback Derek Worthy has motored for 182 yards on 29 carries while Bo Pillsbury and Jacob Peevey have been getting a lot of work in as well. Lumberton picked up its only 22-4A win last year when it defeated the Pirates 35-29 at Raider Stadium. “It’s been fun watching our kids mature and the Raiders will be another tough game for them,†Mathews said. “Our kids continue to work hard, and just because we’re 1-3, they know that we still have a lot to play for. I think it’s really going to be an excellent football game.â€

Bobcats to fight Bulldogs Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader ORANGEFIELD — The Orangefield Bobcats are still waiting. Patiently waiting for a Friday night when after the game is over, the Bobcats will have won their first game of the season. Tonight Orangefield will try again when the Jasper Bulldogs come barking into F.L. McClain Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Jasper will enter the stadium at 1-3 overall and 0-1 in District 21-3A play after last week’s 21-6 loss to Kirbyville. Orangefield is sitting at 0-4 and 0-1 in district after the Silsbee Tigers downed the Bobcats 42-0 last week. While the routines of practice have not changed in Orangefield, Coach Blake Morrison is hoping to see a different outcome at about 10 p.m. tonight. “It has been the same around here as usual,†Morrison said. “We are still out practicing hard and trying to get better each day.†One aspect of the game the Bobcats will be looking to get better on against Jasper is on the offensive side of the ball. The Bobcats are averaging just 202.5 yards a contest through their first four games of the season. Orangefield has just 810 yards of total offense on the year. Jeremy Granger leads the way for Orangefield in the rushing department with 204 yards on the ground on 37 carries to go with three scores. Quarterback Jared Helton has put in 134 yards on the ground on 41 carries to go with his 283 yards passing. Helton is 16-of-46 passing with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Helton’s favorite target through the first of the year has been Devin Green who has hauled in 10 receptions for 167 yards with one touchdown. Granger has three catches for 73 yards and a score. The Bulldogs are looking to get back on the winning side of things tonight after expectations on the season grew when Thomas Brooks came back to town to coach Jasper. After last year’s 2-8 record, the Bulldogs are looking to regain their past success. “They look real good on film,†Morrison said. “They have a lot of good skill position players and they are very big. They get after you on defense and they do a great job protecting their quarterback. Jasper is just a good football team and it will take some real hard work to take them down.†Morrison knows his Bobcats are hungry to come away with a win. “We have to come out and execute our offense and tackle on defense,†Morrison added. “We do those things and we have a chance just like anyone else to win on any given Friday. The kids want a win bad and now they just have to relax and play the game.â€

Cards eye first victory Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader BRIDGE CITY — The Bridge City Cardinals are still looking for their first win of the season and the Silsbee Tigers are looking for some consistency. The Cardinals (0-4, 0-1) got close to the elusive win last week as Bridge City was downed 28-26 by the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks. Bridge City actually held a lead with 1:41 left to play only to see H-J score the game-winner and notch its first ever win against Bridge City. Tonight at Larry B. Ward Stadium at 7:30 p.m. the Cardinals will try again to pick up a victory. This time it will be Silsbee (2-2, 1-0) standing in Bridge City’s way of walking off the field as the winning team. Silsbee leads the series 27-7. The Tigers are fresh off a 42-0 pounding of the Orangefield Bobcats. Silsbee’s defense limited Orangefield to 37 yards on 27 carries a week ago. Offense was certainly not a problem for Bridge City last weeka against Hardin-Jefferson as the Cardinals racked up 461 yards. Junior quarterback Dustin Breaux had his best outing of his young high school career with 317 yards passing and 100 yards rushing with four total touchdowns. Breaux was 19-of-33 passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions, giving him 12 interceptions on the year. Receiver Jerry Landry had a monster game with five receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. On the season the Cardinals are putting up nice offensive numbers by averaging 301 yards a contest. Breaux is leading the team in rushing with 235 yards on the ground with five touchdowns. Sophomore Joe Robertson has 189 yards on 61 carries. Breaux for the year has 748 yards in the air with four touchdowns. Luke Rhodes has been Breaux’s favorite target with 19 catches for 251 yards and two scores. Robertson has 17 catches for 75 yards while Landry has 10 receptions for 190 yards and two scores. Defense has certainly be a problem in Cardinal Country as Bridge City has given up an average of 422.5 yards a game in its first four contests. Bridge City’s opponents have taken a liking to running the football against the young Cardinals, who returned one returning starter from a year ago. In four losses, Bridge City has yielded 1,396 yards on the ground.

Stangs, Wildcats battle for 21-3A bragging rights Van Wade The Orange Leader WEST ORANGE — Push could come to shove tonight as West Orange-Stark heads to Kirbyville in what looks to be an awesome early District 21-3A showdown. The Mustangs (3-1, 1-0) have owned their district since dropping down to the Class 3A ranks in 2004 and own an 18-game winning streak in district play. The Wildcats (4-0, 1-0) have been on the prowl in recent years under head coach Jack Alvarez and were picked by several, including Texas Football Magazine, to win 21-3A this season. So, something has got to give and it’s just a matter of who wins the tug-of-war. “It looks to be a tremendus football game,†said Mustang head coach Dan Hooks. “The atmosphere will be great for two pretty darn good football teams. Whoever wins this one will take a big step and will kinda be a leg up on the competition with a lot of football still to go.†Kirbyville opened 21-3A play with a 21-7 victory over rival Jasper last week while the Mustangs thumped Hamshire-Fannett 34-7. With seven starters back on both sides of the ball off of last year’s 8-4 playoff unit, the Wildcats have put up impressive numbers all season, led by outstanding running back Pierce Rhodes. Rhodes rushed for 1,526 yards and 23 touchdowns last season and hasn’t missed a beat thus far this year. Rhodes leads 21-3A in rushing as he’s darted for 551 yards and seven TDs on 65 carries. He also has four catches for 94 yards. “Rhodes is one of those kids that is just electrifying,†Hooks said. “He’s not a real big kid but he’s so darn elusive and he has that uncanny speed where once he gets in the secondary, he’s gone. Our defense will have to keep him in front of them, that’s for sure.†The Wildcats certainly have a superb leader in quarterback Aaron Hazlewood. The three-year starter has completed 20-of-42 passes for 339 yards and four TDs this season. He has a big-play receiver in Randy Musgrove as well. Musgrove has 12 catches for 265 yards and three TDs. The Wildcats also have two more solid backs in Fred Rhodes and Barry Burley, who have combined for 232 yards and three TDs. “Hazlewood is the kid that makes their whole operation go,†Hooks said. “Very seldom does he make a mistake. He has an accuate arm and he has always shown that he’s an excellent leader.†Hooks appreciates what Coach Alvarez has accomplished at Kirbyville. “Jack deserves a lot of credit for turning their football program around,†Hooks said. “He’s really been able to mesh everything together. They’ve won several playoff games the last couple years and they’re battle-tested.†The Mustang defense, without question, has held it’s own through four games this season, three coming against Class 4A opponents. WO-S is limiting foes to just 195.8 yards a game. Offensively, the Mustangs used a dominant running game to thwart H-F last week as senior tailback DePauldrick Garrett busted loose for 150 yards on 15 carries. Garrett has 288 yards and a TD on 53 carries so far. Mustang quarterback Ortavious Hypolite has completed 39-of-78 passes for 435 yards and four TDs and has also rushed for 239 yards and three TDs on 53 carries. Hypolite’s favorite target has been senior receiver Ronnie Dennis, who has caught 21 passes for 230 yards and two TDs. “Offensively, I thought we had a really good game against Hamshire,†Hooks said. “We missed a couple deep balls and had a couple drops in the first half that kept Hamshire in it. In the second half, we got our running game going and really got the momentum the rest of the way.†Without a doubt, the Mustangs know they’re in for a supreme test against the Wildcats. “Games like this, it’s what football is all about and it isn’t hard getting the kids up for a game like this,†Hooks said. “It’ll be a packed house at their place and should be a great football game. The key is that we’re so evenly-matched, that whoever gets penalized the most and coughs the football up, that’s the team that will get itself in trouble and hopefully that won’t be us.â€

End of the 1st quarter, 7-0 Hardin

Warren puts together a nice drive and is looking to score but fumbles in the end zone. Hardin ball

7-0 Hardin 5:50 left in the 1st