NEDERLAND, Texas — It's a saying as old as the game, defense wins championships. After posting a shutout against Houston Sterlng to open the playoffs, Nederland's defense shined again in a 34-21 win over Longview Pine Tree.
Head Coach Monte Barrow has been pleased with what he sees.
"First off our defense continued from the previous week having a shutout at halftime. Five turnovers is huge, especially in a playoff game. You know we talk so much offensively about not giving the other team extra possessions and our defense, you know weren't just giveaways. They were takeaways. And scoring off those is big for us too. So I was really proud of how our defense held and they have done it all year. You know if we get off to a slow start offensively or whatever it is, our defense is keeping us right there."
Now the bulldogs will try to do something that no other team has been able to do this season, beat Fort Bend Marshall.
"There's athletes all over the field, not unlike Crosby. They want to get you in space. We're going to have to be great tacklers in space. You know not miss early, get eleven guys to the ball which we've been good at this year. It's about getting eleven guys to the football and gang tackling. And offensively, the best defense is to keep their offense off the field. So that will be a big thing for us, is you know making progress down the field, third down conversions. Things like that.
And while Barrow and his staff are focused on their game plan for the Buffalos, they were also able to see what PNG was able to in their 21-14 loss to Marshall.
"We know what Port Neches is about so it helps us knowing, alright this is what they do. This is what they like to do, this is what was successful against them. And they did a great job, kind of what I was talking about earlier. I think Fort Bend Marshall had the ball one time on offense in the first quarter. So they did a great job keeping it away from them. And you know we kind of know how our kids matchup because we know how we matchup with them.
The Dogs and Buffs will faceoff Saturday at one o'clock in Humble's Turner Stadium.
