Nederland celebrates homecoming, uses big second half against Santa Fe to stay unbeaten – Port Arthur News

NEDERLAND – Despite a slow start, the Nederland Bulldogs remain undefeated of the season after beating Santa Fe 31-0 at Bulldog Stadium on Friday.

Penalty shootouts broke the Bulldogs in the first quarter (5-0, 2-0 in District 12-5A Division II), but Nederland came on first with a 48-yard strike from quarterback Luke Broussard on receiver Preston Deserrano.

The Dutch defense held out all night against the Indians (0-5, 0-2) in the district competition.

Nederland quarterback Luke Broussard fights in the Bulldogs win against Santa Fe. (Chris Moore / The News)

Broussard again led the Bulldogs in rushing with 117 yards to 13 carries and pinned on a touchdown.

Nederland Head Coach Monte Barrow said he and his staff spoke to the defense about unnecessary penalties and leaving the field on third downs.

“We have to be a smarter football team,” he said. “… We just didn’t do well getting off the field. I thought we did that in the second half. “

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The Nederland defense forced four ball losses during the night.

Nolan White, Slade Stoker and Nash Leonard recorded interceptions. Stoker’s pick came in the first half. In the third quarter, Dutch linebacker Jaice Beck invented a fumble recovery to return the ball to the Bulldogs. A few games later, receiver Kyndon Fuselier lined up in the backcourt and accepted a handover for a score.

Kyndon Fuselier turns the corner for the Bulldogs. (Chris Moore / The News)

On the Indian drive that followed, White intercepted the ball and brought it back deep into Santa Fe territory, but a halting call assisted Nederland.

On the next drive, the Bulldogs relied heavily on Bryson Bryant, who put the ball into Nederland’s 31-0 lead with just over nine minutes to go.

Nash Leonard got the third and final pick with 2:00 before the game.

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“We put it on our offensive to open some holes,” said Barrow. “We had a lot of good runs in the first half. We played the ball again in the second half. “

Barrow said not many teams can say they are undefeated after five weeks.

“When you’re in the middle of it, you don’t notice it that much,” he said. “Right now our focus is on Texas City. We enjoyed that win all weekend last week, but now we’re in Texas City. “

Nederlands Landon Caywood (10) tries a tackle. (Chris Moore / The News)

Match ball goes to …

The match ball goes to the Dutch defense for pitching a shutout and forcing four turnovers.

Penalty shootouts hurt the group early on as the Indians pushed their way into goal position, but solid Bulldogs play kept Santa Fe out of the end zone. The Bulldogs defense kept the Indians at 145 yards overall attack.

Other important statistics …

Fuselier finished with three catches for 70 yards. The Bulldogs raced 295 yards with 33 carries.

The course of the game was …

Towards the end of the second quarter, Nederland wanted to put the first points on the board. With the previous drives empty, Broussard crawled until he found Deserrano deep down in the field.

The receiver made a contested catch and jerked a defender for a walk-in touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.

Next…

Nederland is on the road to Texas City. Santa Fe will host Dayton.

Both games start at 7.30 p.m. on Friday.

Queen Marley Scott and her father Dr. George Scott (Chris Moore / The News)