tvc184

I think it was in '93 when Nederland played WO-S in a district game. Nederland came back and went ahead with very little time remaining in the game, maybe a minute or so. I don't know if I have ever heard Bulldog Stadium any louder. WO-S was down to about their last play and about 70 yards away. They threw a long pass for a touchdown with a few seconds on the clock. If I remember correctly, it may have been the only pass they complete the entire game. Nederland lost 33-28 (I think). It was Nederland's only loss in district that year. The loss itself was not so hard to take as much as the way it happened. With a minute left in the game it looked like we pulled off a huge upset (and would have won the district undefeated), only to be crushed at the end. If it was in '93, it was Larry Neumann's first year as head coach and Nederland did go to the playoffs as the second place team. Maybe some WO-S fans can refresh my memory.

The title of this thread is "Importance of scrimmage scores". There is no importance whatsoever in the scores of any scrimmage as it means nothing. What is important is how much you have improved since the first practice (or last scrimmage), finding out who can play where and find what mistakes need to be corrected. Does coach want to "win" a scrimmage? Yes because we all want to win at whatever we do. I could be playing hopskotch or tiddlywinks and I would want to win that also. Is it important to outscore an opponent in a scrimmage? Not in the least other than ego or getting on bulletin boards. I am sure that all coaches want their team to perform well and make progress in working as a unit. I would bet that any coach would rather his team play a great scrimmage and lose some theoretical score rather than "win" a score like 2-1 or 3-1 and play lousy. In the regular season it is different. I would rather see my team walk off the field as victors even if they were outplayed. In Nederland's recent 10 year run at the playoffs I have missed exactly one game including the non-district and district games. I can tell you most of the scores for those 10 years (including back to 1966), can recount most of the big plays and can tell you how we played, win or lose. I think that I have been to all of Nederland's scrimmages in the last 9 years (but I wouldn't swear to it). I can't tell you any of the scores, even the ones from last year. I sure don't remember any of the plays. I have a lot of friends that love to point out how PN-G, TJ, WO-S or Lincoln beat Nederland in a particular game (like in '94 when PN-G won 54-0). I have never had someone approach me and bring up a scrimmage score. I wonder why? Wouldn't that make a great bragging point... "we went 0-10 that year but hey, we beat Nederland in a scrimmage 3-1!".

I predict that some coaches will be happy with their team's performance or the improvement shown over last week and some coaches will be disappointed. I also predict that many people will be worrying about scores that will not matter after Saturday morning right after everyone finishes reading the sports pages.

Scrimmages don't mean a thing but how the team played and how some people did in new positions. I would rather "lose" a scrimmage 3-1 but run up 400 yards of offense and hold the other team to 100 yards rather than win and have the stats reversed. People love to say, "well, we won the stats". That is for the losing team because everyone knows that the only thing that counts in the final score. A scrimmage is the one time that statement about the stats is probably pretty close to reality. I think a coach would much rather see good improvement in his team rather than worry about a scoreboard that no one will remember three weeks later and will appear nowhere in the yearly records.

The Bulldogs have had a pretty good passing game the last few years and naturally that makes the running game open up. I think it is too early to tell if this year will continue their success in the air. The passing game seemed out of sync against Silsbee and it may have had to do with Moshier and other players being out of town for the baseball playoffs and I am sure being the first scrimmage didn't help. Obviously there can be timing problems if you don't get to practice and even more so with a new set of receivers. Next week's scrimmage with Jasper might be a better indication of how the passing game (and thereby the rest of the offense) will go this year. Mosely can be great and most of the offensive line is returning but I don't think Nederland can survive with a one dimensional offense.

At least Vidor will have something to cheer for.

Toss up between Hood and Sullivan. Hood was a better passer and could move well enough to be hard to bring down. He was bigger than most Nederland quarterbacks and was strong. Even with that he was not a great threat to run. Sullivan was a very accurate passer but didn't have the strong arm of Hood. Sullivan was a dangerous runner and I think most of the time he was the fastest player on the field from either team. They did not use him as an option quarterback but he was a threat to score anytime he decided to cross the line of scrimmage.

That is true but if you read my post, I second First and Second Team all-district. I think Sullivan might have even been the MVP that year or Long was MVP and Sullivan was First Team.

I am sure that someone will correct me in short order if I am wrong but hasn't Nederland pretty much owned the all-district quarterback spot for the last few years? I think most of the time Nederland has had the First Team all-district quarterback and on rare occasion maybe the Second Team. In last year's shortened season Moshier got his first start and ended up First Team. Before him (in no order ) was Dustin Hood, Brad Sullivan, Kirk Dean, William Delage and Kevin Barbay. In those same years, Nederland has also had either the leading rusher in district or close to it. They usually were First Team or Second Team all-district. It makes me wonder with continued success at both quarterback and running back if it isn't the offensive line that is making the difference.

If Lumberton can beat both Mid-County schools and get into the playoffs, you can be sure that I will be in the stands cheering for the Raiders as far as they can go. If I can support PN-G in the playoffs, I can support Lumberton with equal enthusiasm.

Well NewIndian, if you would leave the quotes in (see just above this text), maybe someone could tell what you were referencing instead of trying to read your mind. By the way, that is not grouchy, that is sarcasm and wit.

Now you can tell the season is getting close, the boards are really starting to light up. Let the good times roll.

Dugat left, Dugat right, Dugat up the middle, Dugat throwing a pass.......

In the 4 years that Ozen and Nederland have been in the same district, Ozen owns the series 3-1. The total score for those 4 games is Ozen 100-Nederland 74 or an average of 25 to 18.5 Ozen's three wins come to less than a touchdown total average per game in the series. Those are some good wins for Ozen but hardly crushing defeats for Nederland. SFA85 loves to point out how some mistake cost Ozen a win. Three fumbles cost them the game against PN-G. I guess that WO-S was lucky on the blocked field goal attempt, according to SFA85. The largest margin of victory for Ozen over Nederland was 21-7 last year. It was a great game for Ozen but I don't guess the 5 turnovers from Nederland helped them any. Heck, Ozen probably didn't need those turnovers. It seemed to be an issue when PN-G won on three turnovers but when Nederland gave Ozen 5 turnovers, it is not an issue. I think bigdog got it right. If Ozen lost it was because the other team got breaks. If Ozen won, it could not have been that they got the breaks. IMO, most of the time you make your own breaks. PN-G won with three turnovers because they forced them. WO-S won because they stepped up and blocked a field goal. Ozen beat Nederland because they forced five turnovers. Quit making excuses when your team loses by blaming stats but dismissing the exact same stats when your team wins.

Some of the catches were guys taking a good hit and hanging on or a good run after the catch. Ron Brooks on the last one was the best IMO. What a leap forward to tip the ball and then haul it in while he was horizontal and before the ball (and he) hit the ground.

Nederland and Vidor played in Bi-District in 2000 and Nederland won 21-9. They were in different districts, Nederland in 20-4A and Vidor 19-4A. Nederland and Vidor were Division I reps.

38-17 is being positive. If they put what they really feel.............

Defense. Should have been made a poll question. I would bet at least 85% defense.

Obviously a lot has to do with the fact that there are more teams in the playoffs. Still, 10 straight years in the playoffs with 9 years in a row winning at least the bi-district is a very good feat. Of all the great programs in the entire state, there are very few that have gone to 10 years in a row/9 bi-district champs, even under the current three team playoff format. The last time Nederland didn't win at least a bi-district game, this year's seniors were in the second grade. What is more impressive is that Neumann took a team that won 38 games in the previous 13 years (2.9 per year average) and turned it into a team that has won 107 games in 13 years (8.2 per year average). Winning an average of more than 8 games a year is a darn good record for any high school coach over that many years. Playoffs or not, Neumann has put a very competetive team on the field year after year.

Probably whoever goes to the playoffs but I really can't see driving very far to follow Dayton... like anything over 3 miles.