This one did not start or finish well for the Bulldogs. I believe the middle two quarters provided some big time optimism for this team going into the last two games of the season and the playoffs. The Bulldogs actually won the 2nd and 3rd quarters 7-6.
La Porte had 4 turnovers on the night including the opening kickoff. The turnover battle was something the Bulldogs HAD to win and it just wasn't meant to be Friday Night. North Shore did have three fumbles, but La Porte could not recover a fumble all night.
On offense La Porte had a lot of success running to the outside. I knew Seniors QB Jeremy McNeal and RB Anthony Webb were fast, but being able to hit the corner on the North Shore defense impressed me. That being said, the Bulldogs had no success running up the middle. They became very predictable in my opinion on first down. I know they were trying to shorten the game by running and imposing their will, but they ran a few too many straight runs up the middle on first down... (did they run a play that wasn't up the middle on first down?) Also I believe the deep passing game could have worked with North Shore crowding the line of scrimmage. The Bulldogs stuck to what they do best and were beat at it by the Mustangs.
On defense it appeared Junior MLB Chad Sutherland got hurt on the second or third play of the game and missed a quarter and a half on the sideline. The D didn't really get going until he returned to the game and the Bulldogs stopped them on a few 4th down attempts. Overall the defense played well, but could not make up for the turnovers and a punt return. The North Shore miss-direction offense was very good. Their Seniors QB Keenon Gibson and RB Reggie Bryant ran it to perfection. Each time they would run a play Gibson would wait until the last possible second. The Bulldogs would hit either Gibson or Bryant in the backfield, but Gibson always kept it when they hit Bryant and handed it off when they hit him. This usually opened up the running game for the Mustangs. La Porte did a good job stopping Gibson through the air and had good coverage even on his few completions.
Overall this should cement North Shore as district champions as their third string could probably pull out wins over Sterling and Channelview.
Here are the stats: http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?site=default&mkt=&Season=2010&tpl=Boxscore&Sport=1&ID=75969&TeamID=70&SearchType=Teams
Also here is season highlight videos for Anthony Webb and Jeremy McNeal on the Chron.com blog http://blogs.chron.com/prepsports/2010/10/football_player_gamefilm_highl.html
This week will be a big one and determine playoff positioning with the other district 21-5a division 2 playoff representative Port Arthur Memorial. It is in Port Arthur, so it will be quite a trek for us here in La Porte. If I can make it (depending on how work schedule looks this weekend) we could make a car pool out of it if anyone is interested. I know my way around Port Arthur pretty well.
I will have a preview for Port Arthur Memorial tomorrow or Wednesday.
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