Bulldogs hold off Lincoln 24-21

By DAVE ROGERS

Port Arthur News Sports Writer

NEDERLAND - If the football gods owed Nederland one, mark the debt paid.

After last week's controversial call at West Orange, one that cost the Bulldogs a touchdown and a chance at a go-ahead score in the final minutes, coach Larry Neumann's squad caught two big breaks Friday night and hung on to beat Lincoln, 24-21, in another of a seemingly unending string of District 20-4A clashes of the titans.

At 8-1 overall and 3-1 in district, the Bulldogs remain a game behind West Orange-Stark in the district race with only next week's shootout against Port Neches-Groves remaining in the regular season.

"Our defense did the things to win it," Neumann said as the crowd of 8,000 filed out of Bulldog Stadium. "And maybe we got a little luck on the pass over the middle.

"Maybe things are evening out. Whatever, we'll take it."

Lincoln actually misfired on two excellent chances to tie or take the lead in the final seven minutes, the last of which came when Bee quarterback Calvin Roberts and seldom-used receiver Traylon Jones failed to connect on a fourth-down pass when Jones was running wide open behind two Bulldog defenders.

Jones could only get his fingertips on Roberts' pass and couldn't hang on to the ball.

Earlier, the Bees had a fourth-and-one situation at the Bulldog 7-yard line, but a procedure penalty and then a penalty for having too many men on the field backed Lincoln up to the 17.

From there, Coreyan Gorrer's 33-yard attempt at a game-tying field goal clanked off the left upright.

"We had our shot to win it at the end," Lincoln coach Dick Williams said, his team hanging on to the slimmest playoff hopes after dropping its third game in a row to fall to 1-3 in 20-4A, 6-3 overall.

"All we had to do was put it in the end zone, and we didn't do that."

The Bees, who were forced to play most of the game without district rushing leader ShanDerrick Charles, thought they should have had another chance to mount a comeback in the game's final two minutes, when the ball squirted loose from Nederland running back Joe Ramoin at the end of a 15-yard run into Lincoln territory.

Referee John Payton's officiating crew ruled the ball popped out after the play had been blown dead. The Lincoln sideline disagreed, so much so that assistant coach Tim Green ran out to the middle of the field to argue.

Green was ejected and the game ended with Lincoln drawing five unsportsmanlike conduct calls, moving the ball from near midfield to the Lincoln 3.

"The kid (Ramoin) wasn't close to being down," Williams said, "and they (officials) are pointing to the ground" to signal no fumble. "The coach (Green) just lost it."

Losing the ball proved to be a key ingredient to the goings-on in this defense-dominated contest.

Lincoln took a 14-10 halftime lead when Israel Joubert picked up a bad Nederland punt snap and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown with 56 seconds left in the second quarter.

Nederland took advantage of a Lincoln fumble for a quick two-play, 13-yard drive to a 17-14 lead midway through the third quarter.

Bulldog linebacker Ryan Cobb drilled Lincoln's Lakeima Roberts after he one-handed an outlet pass and the ball popped loose for Nederland's Jim Weatherly to cover.

Ramoin, who led all ground gainers with 119 yards on 26 carries, carried for gains of eight and five, the last one putting the Bulldogs up for keeps.

The senior tailback then followed up a 19-yard punt return by teammate Sean Yoder to gain 31 yards of a 38-yard Nederland scoring drive. His five-yard run around right end made it 24-14 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Bees answered right back with an eight-play, 63-yard drive with junior Ricky Wilson taking Charles' spot in the backfield and getting 56 of the yards, including a 32-yard run to the Bulldog 8.

Roberts, the Bees' sophomore quarterback, scored on a seven-yard keeper with 9:52 left in the game.

The Bees got their best two chances to go ahead on interceptions thrown by Bulldog quarterback Kevin Barbay. Graylon Proctor returned the first 29 yards to the Bulldog 16 and Wilson took the second one back 20 yards to inside the Bulldog 20, but an illegal blocking penalty brought it back to the 27.

After penalties pushed Lincoln back on the first try and Roberts and Jones couldn't hook up on the second one, Ramoin proceeded to plow down the field, helping Nederland run out the clock.

"They're a good team and they were fighting for their lives," Ramoin said. "You've got to give them a lot of credit. Our offensive line really stepped it up in the second half and did a good job. They opened up some big holes for me."

The game opened with the Bee linemen opening the big holes. Charles and the Bees zoomed 94 yards in 13 plays to score after the opening kickoff. Charles, who had 14 carries for 69 yards before leaving in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, scored from two yards out and Gorrer's conversion made it 7-0 with 7:19 left in the first.

Nederland scored the next 10 points, with some big help from Lincoln. A late hit penalty on a punt return left the Bulldogs only 39 yards to go for their first score, 32 of them coming on Barbay's payoff pitch to Yoder. And a defensive holding call against Lincoln kept alive a Bulldog drive that ended in Michael Mitchell's 37-yard field goal.

Info