The Nederland Bulldogs needed every second of the game clock to snag a hard-fought 14-13 victory over the West Orange-Stark Mustangs on Friday night.
Nederland quarterback Ayden Sunday led the Bulldogs on a 97-yard game-winning drive as he completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jabneel Serrano as the clock expired. The pass and catch tied the score at 13-13 and the extra point kick by Lance Resch gave Nederland the victory.
The Mustangs scored on its first possession of the game as quarterback Marcus Turner Jr. completed a 16-yard scoring strike to receiver Ja’mikael Davis late in the first quarter to complete a 80-yard scoring drive and a 7-0 lead over the visiting Bulldogs.
Both defenses held throughout the half as each team traded possessions. The Bulldogs recovered a Turner fumble at the Mustangs 18-yard line, but the WO-S defense held firm and stymied the Nederland offense and regained possession following a failed 32-yard field goal attempt by Resch that went wide left.
West Orange-Stark looked to add another touchdown late in the second quarter as Turner completed a 26-yard pass to Davis to the Nederland 3-yard line. However, a penalty pushed the Mustangs back to the 21-yard line and Turner’s pass to the end zone was picked off by Nederland to end the drive.
The Mustangs showed how dangerous the offense can be on the first possession of the third quarter. On the first play of the half, running back Khelvy Jefferson rumbled for 50 yards to the Nederland 22-yard line. Two plays later Turner ran to his left and found the end zone to give the Mustangs a 13-0 lead after the failed extra point attempt.
The Bulldogs responded on its next possession as Sunday guided Nederland on a 58-yard scoring drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. Facing fourth down and 10 at the Mustangs 33-yard line, Sunday hit running back Hubert Thomas in the right flat and Thomas danced his way to the WO-S 11-yard line for a first down. A penalty pushed the ball to the 6-yard line and Sunday ran around the left end untouched two plays later to put Nederland on the board and cut the Mustangs lead to 13-7.
The Mustangs looked to put the game away in the fourth quarter but were forced to punt and pinned the Bulldogs down at their own 3-yard line with 4:20 left in the game, which is when Sunday led the Bulldogs to the last minute win.
The Mustangs had 300 yards of total offense compared to Nederland’s 230 yards of total offense, but WO-S had two fumbles and interception to zero turnovers for Nederland.
Jefferson led all rushers with 118 yards on 13 carries, while Turner completed 9 passes for 117 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Davis had four receptions for 79 yards.
West Orange-Stark (1-1) will play the No. 8 state-ranked Waco La Vega Pirates in a neutral site contest next Friday in Madisonville. La Vega (1-1) lost to Class 4-A Div. I No. 4 state-ranked Celina Bobcats 49-27 on Friday night.
-Tommy Mann, KOGT-
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