Sunday, September 26, 2010

La Porte vs Deer Park Postgame Report

On a night where the fans were chanting before the gates opened, Deer Park was victorious using 2nd half adjustments to down La Porte 21-19.  What a great atmosphere with a sold-out crowd and it was LOUD!

This game was absolutely a tale of two halves.  La Porte ate up almost the whole first quarter on the first drive and punched it in with Senior Running Back Anthony Webb who ended up having a big game with 130 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Another Webb touchdown run (60 yards) gave the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead and they seemed in complete control.

Deer Park did not have a first down in the first half.  They did however score after getting some good field position after a bad punt gave the Deer the ball at the La Porte 28.  On the next play La Porte's cornerback went for the interception and just missed.  Deer Park's Senior Tight End Payden McVey took it the rest of the way.  McVey was a beast all night and La Porte could not cover or tackle him the whole second half (6 catches 99 yards).  McVey and Deer Park Junior Quarterback Austin Rainer were standouts for Deer Park in the second half as they found a groove.  Also a change to Junior Running Back Demetrius Banks made a big difference for the Deer as he was running all over the Bulldog defense after the half.

The Bulldogs were down by 8 points and had a chance on the last drive to tie the ballgame.  La Porte Senior Quarterback Jeremy McNeal put in a heroic effort on the final drive taking the game into his own hands including a 4th and 1 play where he was stuffed on a QB sneak and bounced off the pile and broke a run outside to the 3 yard line.  McNeal showed quality senior leadership and unfortunately was stuffed on the 2pt conversion after Webb scored on a touchdown run.  Deer Park closed out the game soon after, running out the clock.

La Porte really has something to be proud of in this team as they fought until the final whistle and showed great sportsmanship.  This loss will only help make this team stronger for the district schedule in 2 weeks.

What happened in the second half against Deer Park?

They made some good adjustments to their blocking scheme.  Rainer had much more time to throw as La Porte could not get to him.  This left receivers open in the flat as the outside linebackers for the Bulldogs were controlled at the line of scrimmage. This seemed to discourage the La Porte defense and the tackling just wasn't there after that.

On offense Deer Park did a good job of containing Webb, something they had a very hard time with in the first half.

Credit the coaching staff at Deer Park for a great second half game plan and getting their offensive line prepared after having major trouble in the first half.

Here is the game story from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7217259.html

Box score: http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?site=default&mkt=&Season=2010&tpl=Boxscore&Sport=1&ID=77620&TeamID=70&SearchType=Teams

Now the real games begin with district play starting in two weeks.  I will have a district preview this week.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Final Deer Park 21 La Porte 19

Tough loss for the Bulldogs.  After dominating the first half the tides were turned in Deer Park's favor after some very good halftime adjustments by the Deer.  I will have a full recap coming soon.

Today we are signing for our new house, so I will get to it as soon as possible.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Gameday! La Porte vs Deer Park!

Friday is finally here!! The big game is today  and both teams have gone through their final preparations.  This will be the 50th game in  the La Porte-Deer Park rivalry.  The Bulldogs lead the all time series  25-23-1.  Here are some headlines this morning:

Feature story in the Houston Chronicle from Jenny Dial:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7215689.html

Game of the week announcement for the Houston Chronicle:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7215601.html
 
Game of the week announcement on Channel 2:
http://www.click2houston.com/video/25107959/index.html

My advice for tonight: GET THERE EARLY!

The roads that filter into Abshier Stadium are not made for the kind of traffic that comes into this game.  A couple years ago it was gridlock when the game was starting. 

A sellout crowd is expected.  Deer Park was expected to sell out yesterday.  There were still some tickets for the La Porte side at the athletic office.  I would call and check before you go up there.

Come out and support the dogs!

The game will be on 1560 The Game AM radio and online at http://1560thegame.com/

It will also be online at www.legacysportsnetwork.com

I will be live on Twitter http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog or @lpbulldogblog

Lets get this game going!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Thursday Update La Porte vs Deer Park

Happy Thursday everyone!  We are a little over 24 hours away from the big match-up.  A couple of notes from the last 24 hours:

-Sam Khan of the Houston Chronicle is reporting La Porte Head Coach Jeff Lareau was named one of the Houston Texans high school coaches of the week.  He will be hosted by the Texans at a game this season.

-KPRC Channel 2 has declared Friday's game as their game of the week.  Randy McIlvoy will be at the game and they will have footage Friday morning from the campus as well as highlights after the game on Friday Football Frenzy on Channel 2.


If you haven't gotten your tickets and you want to go to the game, please get them ASAP!  You must go to the athletic office for purchase.  There is not many tickets remaining and the stadium is going to be rocking Friday!

La Porte vs Deer Park Ticket update

One day away!! Regarding tickets:

Deer Park side is almost sold out. La Porte side has some available, although limited.

No tickets can be bought on-line anymore, I guess they need to get rid of the ones they already had printed.

If you want tickets to the game you must go to the athletic office to get them. The La Porte athletic office is located right next to the theater on the football stadium side.

I may have an extra ticket come Friday.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Buy your tickets for Friday now! Only 2000 left!

http://www.dpisd.org/194910514124717847/site/default.asp

Go there and you can get printable tickets right away.  According to DPISD only about 2000 tickets are remaining for the ENTIRE stadium.

What an atmosphere this is going to be!

Wednesday La Porte - Deer Park Week!

I am having a hard time waiting for Friday.  I really want to see this game!

The all time series is 25-23-1 in favor of La Porte according to Jenny Dial of the Houston Chronicle.  If this is accurate this will be the 50th! year of the rivalry... wow!  She says she will have a full feature article on Friday about area rivalries and La Porte-Deer Park stories from the past.

I picked up this little nugget off the weekly Chron.com chat from Jenny:

Jenny Dial: 
Right now, my pick for the Region III D2 champ (if Katy is D1) is La Porte. I have seen Cy Creek and Clear Springs and I think La Porte could come out on top in a game against either of those (close game) but La Porte is just so complete this year.

A long way to go before the Bulldogs get to this level, but they are getting major respect in the area now.

Last season's rivalry game ended in favor of the Bulldogs by a score of 7-2.  It was a defensive struggle on both sides with the difference being a 53 yard TD pass near the end of the 1st Quarter.

If Deer Park's defense can lock down La Porte's offense this year we could see a similar type of game.

A little over 50 hours until game-time!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Week 4 La Porte vs Deer Park Preview

La Porte and Deer Park week is here! This is considered by a wide number of people as the biggest rivalry in all of Houston.

La Porte comes into this game 4-0 with three out of the four games against preseason projected playoff teams.  The Houston Chronicle has the Bulldogs rated #9 in Southeast Texas.  The AP state poll has La Porte rated #17 in the state.  5atexasfootball.com has La Porte rated #24 in the statewide rankings.  Texas is starting to take notice.  The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 155-26.

Deer Park comes into the big rivalry with a 3-1 record with wins over Dickinson (1-2), Aldine (1-3) and Houston Westside (0-3).  Their one defeat was at the hands of Clear Creek (3-0), which ended with a score of 40-7.

La Porte on offense features dual-threat Senior QB Jeremy McNeal, who has impressed with his passing accuracy and running ability.  He has thrown for 391 yards and 9 touchdowns and ran for 216 yards and 4 td's.  McNeal's favorite targets through the air are Senior WR Karl Terrebone and Junior WR Aaron Nance-Garrett.

The Bulldogs running attack is led by elusive UH Commit Senior RB Anthony Webb who has ran for 481 yards and 5 touchdowns through 4 games.  He splits carries with Sophomore RB Keith Whitely and Freshman RB Hoza Scott who have been impressive as well.  The La Porte offensive line is overall a young group, but have had plenty of preparation time and are improving weekly.  The Bulldogs have amassed 1,041 yards on the ground with a over 6 yard average per carry.


The Deer Park defense features a very experienced defensive line led by Seniors Taylor Freimuller and Brett Vaughn.  They are tough against the run and tough to move off the line.  The Deer feature a 3-4 setup on defense.

The Deer also feature some good Linebackers with Blake Littlejohn leading the way.  Junior Casey Westmoreland and Sophomore Vincent Vega (awesome name) have also been standouts.  This group looks to cause turnovers and caused 5 fumbles during the Westside game from which they could not recover any.

Deer Park's secondary features Senior DB Chandler Myers who was an all-district selection last season.


Deer Park's offense features Junior QB Austin Rainer who has thrown for 371 yards and 3td's.  He is not much of a running threat so far this season, but showed big improvement last week against Westside with his arm.  His favorite targets are Senior TE Payden McVey (9 catches for 128 yards) and Senior WR Darian Banks who is 6'7".

The Deer run four different running backs and mix up the run and pass well.  Their leading runner is Junior RB Justin James (40 carries for 206 yards).  They have run for 602 yards on the season with a 4.78 yard average.

Defense is La Porte's bread and butter so far this season.  They have caused 15 turnovers in 4 games including 8 interceptions by a very good secondary.  Senior Cornerbacks Ben Flores and John Wesby are tall (6'1"-6'2") and have played very well with 2 interceptions each.

I always feel like I am leaving players out when I talk about the Bulldog's defense.  The truth is everyone has been playing great this season.  The linebackers have been outstanding and the defensive line has eaten up blockers to free up room for the linebackers to run around and make plays.

La Porte defense as a whole has held opposing teams to 2.3 yards per carry and have only given up 243 yards on the ground in 4 games.  This is really a unbelievable amount in High School football.  They all love to hit and they have at least one hit every week that makes all the highlight reels.

The keys to the game for a Bulldog victory:

-Shut down the Deer Park running game and force them to pass.  Rainer showed a little shakiness under pressure last week and if La Porte can force them to pass then they will be able to bring the heat on the pass rush.

-Do not turn the ball over.  Deer Park likes to strip it.  The Deer will have a good chance to win if La Porte turns the ball over.

-Do not take dumb person foul penalties.  It happens every year against Deer Park.  The emotions run very high between the two teams.  Earlier in the season La Porte showed a little immaturity with some dumb penalties.  Against Atascocita the Bulldogs showed great restraint as Atascocita was very frustrated and were letting La Porte know about it.  I saw a La Porte player who was being taunted point at the scoreboard on one occasion.  This is the right attitude to take.  Beat them during the run of play and on the scoreboard.


I have been very impressed with the student turnout the last couple of weeks and the noise the student section has been making.  This only gives La Porte more confidence and I hope they can keep this up.

You never know what's going to happen in a big rivalry game and anyone could win.  I'm very excited for this game and this will be La Porte's last chance to gear up for district play after the bye week next week.

My advice is to get their early because both communities will be there early.

I will be providing Twitter updates as usual at : http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog

The game will be on 1560 the Game AM Radio in Houston or at 1560thegame.com

Who is ready for this?

Monday, September 20, 2010

Monday of La Porte-Deer Park Week! Some thoughts on Deer Park's TV appearnce

I watched the Deer Park-Houston Westside game this past Thursday on TV and I have a couple of thoughts on what to expect from the Deer this week.  Deer Park won the game 35-28 after a flurry of action to end the game

-Deer Park jumped all over Westside in the opening minutes and lead 21-0 with 10:42 left in the 2nd quarter.

-Deer Park Junior Quarterback Austin Rainer looked very sharp and finished with 192 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air.  He may be starting to find his stride after a dismal start to the season.  He did however look shaky when he had any kind of pressure from Westside's line.  Westside did not blitz much if at all and Rainer had time to throw most of the game.  This will not be the case against La Porte as they will bring the house at him.

-Deer Park Senior Tight End Payden McVey is a beast.  He is a very strong blocker and receiver.  He had 7 catches for 114 yards. La Porte may need to put a bigger safety in if he gives them any problems.

-Deer Park Senior Receiver Darian Banks is listed at 6'7" and he did not make a catch in this game, but looked like he had lots of ability.

- The Deer rotated three running backs in this game. They had some good runs through a small Westside front 7.  They are going to have a tough time running on La Porte. None of them looked like true game-breaking players like Onyechi was last year.

-Westside had lots of team speed on both sides of the ball.  They were able to break a couple of big runs, but they did most of their damage through the air.  Deer Park's secondary had lots of trouble covering in the second half especially.  Westside's QB Cade Laufer finished the game with 295 yards on 61% passing with one touchdown.

-Deer Park has a senior defensive line and they looked very strong, but they couldn't get pressure on the QB enough.  This was part of the problem for their secondary.  The Deer run a 3-4 defense.

-Their linebackers looked ok and they had two seniors, a junior and a sophomore as starters.  Once Westside started completing passes they struggled as they dropped back into coverage.

-Overall the Deer Park defense did not look good when Westside started spreading them out more.  La Porte may try a couple of 3 receiver sets if they are having any problems moving the ball on offense.

I will have a game preview tomorrow.  A review of last years game on Wednesday. If there is anything anyone wants me to post about on Thursday please let me know and I will do the research.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

La Porte vs Atascocita Highlight Video

http://www.youtube.com/user/DaParson#p/u/0/ZGy_2OPOg1Y Courtesy of Dr. Mark Redd



They made this one look easy.

The powerbomb tackle by Senior Cornerback John Wesby was pretty epic!

Deer Park week is here!!!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Final La Porte 35 Atascocita 0 Postgame Report

La Porte is now 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 1989.  They are traditionally a slow starting team, but not this year.

La Porte's defense is becoming a great defense and one of the best in the Houston area.  Atascocita managed only 23 total yards and 4 first downs.  This was a complete team effort, everyone was a standout on defense and everyone seemed to make a big hit or play.

La Porte's offense seemed to get back on track tonight after a tough week against Klein Forest.

La Porte Senior QB Jeremy McNeal was the man of the night throwing for 4 touchdowns on 11 for 18 passes and 152 passing yards.  His receivers showed sure hands with touchdowns from Senior Karl Terrebone, Junior Aaron Nance-Garrett (2 touchdowns) and Senior Justin Collins.

The Bulldogs three headed running back monster Senior Anthony Webb, Sophomore Keith Whitely and Freshman Joza Scott combined for 239 yards on 43 carries.

This was a complete effort for La Porte.

The real season starts this week with the Bulldogs traveling to Deer Park! Although not a district game, it will be treated as one.  La Porte was not looking ahead one bit against Atascocita and now have the Deer to prepare for.

A couple of links:
Jenny Dial of the Houston Chronicle said La Porte is definitely moving up in her rankings and her game story is here:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7206536.html

Box Score from Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?site=default&mkt=&Season=2010&tpl=Boxscore&Sport=1&ID=78303&TeamID=70&SearchType=Teams

Bayshore Sun arcticle: http://bayshoresun.com/articles/2010/09/18/sports/doc4c944cc2be4f8925184682.txt

I will prepare a Deer Park preview in the next couple of days.  What an exciting season for La Porte!

Thoughts and Prayers for the West Orange-Stark Community

Their Senior Quarterback Reggie Garrett collapsed and later passed away after throwing a touchdown pass Friday night.

Here is a link to this heartbreaking story: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/high-school/WO-S_quarterback_taken_off_of_field_by_stretcher.html

So very tragic

Friday, September 17, 2010

Week 3 Final La Porte 35 Atascocita 0

The La Porte Bulldogs are 4-0


La Porte dominated Atascocita Friday night in all facets of the game.  Jeremy McNeal threw 4 touchdown passes and the Bulldog defense held Atascocita under 50 yards of total offense. This game was never in  doubt as the Eagles only managed one or two 1st downs in the first half.


It was a great effort and this team looks ready for Deer Park next Friday.


I will post my final post-game thoughts when I get a hold of the boxscore.

Week 3 Gameday

Tonight! La Porte vs Atascocita at 7pm in La Porte!

Jenny Dial from the Houston Chronicle will be in attendance, so we should have a write up in the Chron tonight after the game.

I expect a fast moving game, both teams like to run the ball. A LOT.

http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog is where I will be live tweeting. Check it out.

The game will also be broadcast online at http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/.

It should be a good one! See you all out there.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Thursday night TV for that little team down the street

If you have Comcast you can see the Deer Park - Westside on Comcast channel 129 tonight at 7.

We can get a look at what Deer Park is like going into the grand daddy next Friday in Deer Park.  The Deer are coming off a 40-7 loss to Clear Creek.  Westside has not performed too well on defense in their first two games starting 0-2.

I will DVR and watch it when the wife is asleep if I have to.  I will give my recap of what I saw in the next few days.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

La Porte vs Klein Forest Highlight Video

http://www.youtube.com/user/DaParson#p/u/0/yQaVOoV_uC0 Courtesy of Dr Mark Redd



Strange scene on that first punt...

Week 3 La Porte vs Atascocita Preview

This week the La Porte Bulldogs (3-0) take on the Atascocita Eagles (2-1) at Bulldog Stadium in La Porte Friday at 7pm.

Atascocita is coming off a 34-0 loss to powerful Fort Bend Hightower after opening the season with wins over South Houston (38-18) and Galveston Ball (17-14).  This is the third varsity season for the Eagles and they have made the playoffs the last two years.

Atascocita returns their starting Quarterback from last season, Senior Earnest Carrington, but mostly focus on the run.  Their feature running back is Sophomore Elijah Merchant who has 315 yards on 44 carries through three games.

The Eagles top senior is Offensive Lineman Nathan Gutekunst (#78) who has committed to Texas A&M.

On defense they feature a good Cornerback in Senior Nick Brooks.  They have a inexperienced front 7 and La Porte will surely go after them with the running game.

La Porte will try to get the offense back on track in this one after dominating Clements (37-7) and Baytown Lee (57-6) in their first two games.  Klein Forest provided a better challenge in week 2 with the Bulldogs pulling out a 26-13 victory.  The offense however sputtered in the second half after scoring 3 times in the first.  Senior QB Jeremy McNeal has led the offense so far with 239yds and 5 tds through the air and 216yds and 4 tds on the ground. He also got into the game on defense vs Klein Forest and broke up a pass in the end-zone bringing flashbacks of his all-district performance on defense last season.

Senior RB Anthony Webb has started the season with 372yds and 5 tds on the ground.  The University of Houston commit limped through the game against Klein Forest and I have not heard anything this week regarding his injury.  He played through it last week and I expect more of the same this week.

La Porte's defense, led by Junior Linebacker Chad Sutherland and Seniors LB's Jamarcus Erskin and Cameron Whilley as well as CB's John Wesby and  Ben Flores, has shut down their first three opponents.  The defense as a whole has played as well as I've ever seen a La Porte defense.

Atascocita is going to have their hands full in this one trying to get points on the board.

Keys to the game:
-La Porte must get their offense back on track before they meet a good defense in Deer Park next week
-Force Atascocita to throw by stopping the running game on 1st and 2nd down.

La Porte is a big favorite this week and they have moved up to #11 in the Houston Chronicle top area teams. Link: http://blogs.chron.com/prepsports/2010/09/football_area_rankings_through.html

As long as I don't have any last minute work, I will be in the stadium for live updates at http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog.

The game will also be online at http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/

Next week's Deer Park game will be on 1560 The Game on the AM dial.

What do you hope to see this week from the Bulldogs?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Final La Porte 26 Klein Forest 13 Postgame Report

Oh, boy.  Where to start? This game wore me out, combined with my 60 hours I put in at work this week.  It was a very intense and hard-hitting game.

This Bulldog defense is the best I've ever seen in the 13 years I've lived in La Porte.  La Porte has had some great performances including the playoff game a couple years ago where they intercepted then Humble and now Texas A&M Quarterback Jerrod Johnson 5 times.  This one may be the best ever.  Despite only 131 total yards from the offense, the defense caused 7 turnovers (4int, 3 fumbles) in the game and created a short field for La Porte continuously on offense in the first half.  They knocked starting Klein Forest QB Lewis Williams out of the QB position with bone jarring hits including Sophomore defensive lineman Corey Lee popping his helmet off and dislodging the ball as well.  Senior Safety Ryan Moye picked it up and took it to the house.  Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OR6zjfI9eQ Courtesy of Dr Mark Redd.

The defense gave up a couple of late touchdowns after Klein Forest made some nice adjustments on offense.  Klein Forest moved Lewis Williams to a hi-bred RB/WR position and brought in Senior QB/WR Germain Cornett to throw the ball.  While the defense still forced many 3 and outs, the Golden Eagles got the ball in the end zone twice in the second half.

The offense did their job in the first half scoring three touchdowns with the short field despite only 50 total yards in the half.  Sr RB Anthony Webb ran in 2 touchdowns and Sr QB Jeremy McNeal had the other just before the half.  McNeal and Webb gave valiant efforts in this game.  These young men set great examples as seniors on how to play football.  Webb was visibly limping from the middle of the 2nd quarter until the end of the game and did not want to sit out one series.  McNeal found some success running it himself in the second half.  He also threw some nice passes, some did not get caught. Overall the offense had a tough time matching up with the BIG and FAST front 7 of Klein Forest.

I have never seen a young player quite like Klein Forest Sophomore (huh?) Middle Linebacker Tyree Gray (#45).  This kid will be a major college recruit.  6'3" 245lbs and he could not be blocked.  He was there on every running play it seemed...  If he grows any more though, he will probably be a defensive end.

A couple of observations:
-La Porte brought in Jr. Wide Receiver Aaron Nance-Garrett on defense in the second half as a nickel back to cover a slot receiver.  This kid LOVES to hit.  He can really pop the pads.

-Senior Cornerbacks Ben Flores and Jon Wesby were glued to the Klein Forest receivers on deep balls every play.  Covering man to man on the outside gives the defense so much flexibility for blitzing and making disruptive plays.  These two have played great all year.

-The La Porte front 7 controlled the line of scrimmage.  The defensive line and linebackers were in the backfield every play.

Here is the box score on chron.com: http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?site=default&mkt=&Season=2010&tpl=Boxscore&Sport=1&ID=78302&TeamID=70&SearchType=Teams

and the game story: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7195627.html

La Porte won this game despite being out-gained 224-131 in total yards.  The Bulldogs had a huge problem with personal fouls and I'm sure the coaches will address that early this week.  10 penalties for 91 yards was a major problem.

This upcoming week La Porte is at home once again with another tough opponent Atascocita coming to La Porte Friday at 7.

I will have a preview out the middle of the week.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Gameday Week 2 Beat Klein Forest!

I love the Thursday-Monday football this weekend! My wife: not so much...

Tonight we have Klein Forest in a big tilt to see where La Porte stacks up this season.

The Houston Chronicle named Klein Forest QB Lewis Williams on the players to watch list and has La Porte-Klein Forest as one of the games of the week.  Here is the link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/7194143.html

Also a preview from the Klein Newspaper.  They don't seem to give the Golden Eagles much of a chance: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/09/10/klein_sun/sports/091510_football_previews.txt

I think we'll see a breakout performance from La Porte Senior RB Anthony Webb (UofH commit) seeing more action.

I really think the college scouts will be more and more plentiful as the season goes on with the defensive backs and linebacker corps getting lots of interest.

I also expect Senior QB Jeremy McNeal's star to rise even further as state football writers are starting to take notice.

Come on out and lets get loud tonight in La Porte!  The kids feed off the crowd and student's energy!

I will be on twitter all night giving live updates at http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlogI have an iPhone and the Twitter app is fantastic for following along.  Feel free to send me a message and come say hello.

Again the game will be broadcast online at http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/

Thursday, September 9, 2010

21-5A Standings/Analysis

STANDINGS
OverallDistrictHomeAway
WLPCTWLPCTWLPCTWLPCT
Port Arthur Memorial201.000000.000101.000101.000
Beaumont West Brook201.000000.000201.000000.000
La Porte201.000000.000101.000101.000
Galena Park North Shore110.500000.000010.000101.000
Baytown Sterling110.500000.000000.000110.500
Channelview020.000000.000010.000010.000


District 21-5A is turning into one of the top districts in the area.  The district has 4 very good teams with Baytown Sterling not too far behind.

Here are some notes for each team so far this season:

Channelview- They have struggled out of the gate and have gone down to two 4-A teams in Humble Kingwood Park and Humble.  They have been in both games into the second half.

Baytown Sterling- They have had no trouble scoring points and have a win over Inner-city rival Baytown Lee in week 0.  They lost a shootout last Friday to South Houston 51-50.  Senior QB Chance Nelson has dazzled through the air and on the ground.

North Shore- After being blown out week 0 by Katy, the Mustangs took it to a good Eisenhower team 68-20.  North Shore will be fighting for the district title again and are a great team as usual.

Beaumont Westbrook- Led by Senior QB Bruce Reyes the Bruins have ran out to a 2-0 start over fellow Beaumont schools Ozen and Central.  Reyes has completed 75% of his passes after two weeks.  They are the pre-season district favorite by many.

Port Arthur Memorial- Memorial has also started the season with Central and Ozen and have blown out both teams.  They did not get much run in the preseason predictions, but they are definitely a district title contender.

La Porte- They have blown out Clements and Baytown Lee, but the real test before district will be the next three weeks with Klein Forest, Atascocita and Deer Park.

I will revisit the standings and preview district play during the bye-week in 3 weeks.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

La Porte vs Baytown Lee Highlight Video



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geVg01iy9k8

Video courtesy of Dr. Mark Redd.



Also please go to the below website and vote for Junior WR Aaron Nance-Garrett's catch and truck over a Clements defender in the first game of the season.

Register and vote daily to help LPHS win $17,500.00

http://fridaynightfeats.com/fnf/?play=17073

Week 2 La Porte vs Klein Forest Preview

This Friday at 7pm in La Porte the Bulldogs take on the Klein Forest Golden Eagles.

Klein Forest comes into the game with a 1-1 record.  They were a state ranked team coming into the season and unfortunately they lost their all state Junior QB Matt Davis just before the end of the first half of their Week 0 game against top area team Cinco Ranch.  He tore his ACL and is out for the season.  We will see him next year though.

The Golden Eagles went into halftime of that game tied with Cinco Ranch 21-21 and ended up losing that game 42-21 after a tough second half without their signal caller.

Week 1 saw Klein Forest up against Fort Bend Marshall and the Golden Eagles rebounded with a 42-13 victory.  New starting QB and former starting receiver Senior Lewis Williams turned in an unbelievable performance with 274 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground and 160 yards and at TD through the air. Here is an article from The Sun newspaper on the game: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/09/08/klein_sun/sports/090810_kf-marshall.txt

Klein Forest features an offense that mixes up the run and pass.  QB Williams is inexperienced under center, but judging on his first game is a terrific athlete.  Their offensive line is very experienced and will give Williams running and passing lanes.  They will also be trying to open holes for Senior RB's Ruben Arnsworth and Randy Carter who have combined for 233 yards on 36 carries.

The Golden Eagles defense returned only one starter this season, but they now have 2 games of experience under their belt.

La Porte enters the game 2-0 after victories over Fort Bend Clements and Baytown Lee.  The Bulldogs have outscored their first two opponents by a combined 94-13.  Offensively and defensively they have been unstoppable the first two weeks.  Klein Forest will bring their biggest challenge yet.

La Porte has many standouts so far this season but Sr QB Jeremy McNeal has been great and has turned more than a few heads around the area with his first two performances.  On the season he has completed 81% of his passes for 215 yards and 5 touchdowns.  He has also rushed for 136 yards on 16 carries and 3 TDs.

All area Sr RB Anthony Webb has only seen a couple of carries beyond the first half of either game, yet he still has 318 yards on 30 carries and 3TD's.  This week may be his breakout game against better competition.

The Bulldogs defense has been very stingy against the run and pass so far this season.  They shut down Clements' good running game and also stopped Baytown Lee's spread passing game. Jr linebacker Chad Sutherland and Sr linebacker Jemarcus Erskin have led the charge against the run with Sr cornerbacks John Wesby and Ben Flores locking down the pass.  The defense has held the opposition to 395 yards through 2 games while the offense has racked up 910 yards.

The keys to the game this week for the Bulldogs:
-Force Klein Forest to throw by stopping their running game.
-Contain QB Williams, force them to give the ball to the other Klein Forest players.
-On offense control the clock on the ground and wear down the Golden Eagles defense

Klein Forest will give La Porte a better gauge as to where they stand heading into district play.

Come out to the stadium Friday and support the Bulldogs!

Once again the game will be broadcast online here: http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/

I will also be out at the stadium and on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog

Saturday, September 4, 2010

La Porte vs Baytown Lee Postgame Report

The Bulldogs turned in another exceptional performance taking this one 57-6. Some notes:

La Porte's Defense is dominant.  They are exceptional against the run and really shut down the Ganders passing attack.

Lee Junior WR Jaevon Richardson is a great football player, and he showed why in his limited chances scoring on a 53 yard TD on a crossing route.  He had a few nice catch and runs and was under constant pressure the whole game.  He finished the game with  6 catches for 104 yards.

The Bulldogs limited Lee to 73 yards on 21 carries and 38 of those yards were on a backwards pass from Lee Senior QB Malcolm Ruben to Richardson.  I think Lee had 2 or 3 first downs the whole first half.  They racked up most of their stats against the second team defense.

La Porte had 2 interceptions on the night one by Sophomore FS/RB Keith Whitely and one by Junior Safety Chris Hickey.  Hickey had a great game with the interception near the end of the game and he also picked up a errant punt by Lee and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.

On offense La Porte never punted.  The Bulldogs have really been saving back Sr all area RB Anthony Webb the first two games, although this really isn't affecting his stats at all.  He only had a handful of carries after the first quarter and still ended up with 164 yards on 13 carries with 2 TDs.  He had some dazzling moves on his limited carries.

The star of the game for La Porte was Sr QB Jeremy McNeal.  He filled up the stat sheet running and passing.  His final stats:

Passing: 7 of 8 for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns
Rushing: 10 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown

He had an exceptional performance.  We didn't really get to see his running ability against Clements, but he has some serious speed and moves.  He had a 50 yard TD run called back at the end of the first half for holding.  A dual threat between McNeal and Webb is really going to carry this team to great heights.

Overall the offensive line is really starting to gel.  The Bulldogs runners averaged 9 yards a carry and had no problem against the Ganders' defense.

It was good to see the 2nd and 3rd stringers getting playing time.  Jr. RB Tommy Banda showed some tough inside running and had 5 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown.


Next Friday in La Porte the Bulldogs take on the Klein Forest Golden Eagles.  Klein Forest is a very good team and I will have a preview this week.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Final La Porte 57 Baytown Lee 6

Wow!

La Porte Senior QB Jeremy McNeal with 3td's through the air and 1 on the ground, his second straight week with 4tds.  He had another 50 yard td called back just before the half on a holding call.  He was simply unstoppable.

La Porte Senior RB Anthony Webb went over 100yds for the second week in a row with 2tds.  He saw very limited action after the 1st quarter.

The defense shut down the Baytown Lee passing game and had two interceptions on the night.

La Porte avenges last years loss to Lee in a big way.

I will have a full recap on Saturday.  Impressive first two weeks for the Bulldogs.

Gameday Week 1

Tonight La Porte (1-0) takes on Baytown Lee (0-1) in Baytown!

You can listen to the game online once again at http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/.

If you're out and about and have a Twitter application on your mobile phone you can follow me at http://twitter.com/LPBulldogBlog for live updates from Stallworth Stadium.

Hope we have a nice crowd travel over the bridge!