Every great drama has three acts and the Vidor Pirates saved their best for the final act.
The Pirates proved to be the comeback kids on Friday night as Vidor defeated Nederland, 29-28, in overtime at Bulldogs Stadium in Nederland.
Facing fourth and goal from the 8-yard line and trailing Nederland 28-21 in overtime, Vidor quarterback Maverick Quirante rolled to his right and found running back Haylon Leckelt at the goal line for a touchdown and brought the Pirates to within one point.
Instead of kicking the extra point and the tie to send the game into a second overtime, Vidor Coach Jeff Mathews opted to go for broke and the two point conversion for the victory.
Quirante brought the Pirates up to the line, took the snap and faked a handoff to his left and then darted right up the middle of the Bulldogs defense for the two point conversion and the win, as the Vidor side of the field and stands erupted with jubilation.
Quirante (21 rushes, 100 yards) finished with two rushing touchdowns on the night, as well as the touchdown pass, but it was his two point conversion that was the difference maker in this hard fought contest.
Vidor, which had 309 total yards on the night, used its typically potent running game to set the tone early. The Pirates marched 77 yards in 15 plays, while chewing up 9 mins and 29 seconds of the clock and a 7-0 lead as Quiranted stepped in from the 1 yard line.
A 45-yard dash by Hogan Stogner early in the second quarter gave Vidor a 14-0 lead and things were looking good in the first-half. However, things changed following an injury to Nederland quarterback Blaysin Fernandez in the second quarter.
Replaced by Marshall Lange, the Bulldogs offense found its spark and dominated the remainder of the quarter and trimmed the lead to 14-7 at the break.
Both teams traded scores in the third quarter, but Vidor, leading 21-14, was on the march again and looking to put the game out of reach until a fumble at the start of the fourth quarter deep in Bulldogs territory nearly proved to be the turning point of the game. For the rest of the fourth quarter, the Pirates defense seemed to spend more time on the field and found it difficult to keep up with the Bulldogs quick tempo offense.
Plagued with a sputtering offense and untimely penalties, Vidor held on as the clocked ticked down. On the final play of regulation, Nederland kicker Travis Wiedenfield missed a 38-yard field goal just left as time expired, which forced the game into overtime.
Vidor (4-1, 3-0) returns to Pirate Stadium next Friday as the Lumberton Raiders come to Vidor. Lumberton (2-2, 1-2) defeated Baytown Lee, 55-21, in Lumberton on Friday night.
Nederland (2-3, 2-1) will travel to Port Arthur to face the Memorial Titans.
Story and photo by Tommy Mann, Jr.
Story and photo by Tommy Mann, Jr.
Vidor quarterback Maverick Quirante (23) follows the blocking of Kolbie Humble (5) early in the first quarter against Nederland. The Pirates defeated Nederland, 29-28, in overtime.
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