Monday, October 27, 2014

La Porte On Top Of District After Victory In Beaumont

The La Porte Bulldogs traveled to Beaumont last Thursday night looking for their first road win of the season against the West Brook Bruins. They did not dissapoint, dominating the game from beginning to end 42-13.  The win put the Bulldogs atop district 21-6A with two games remaining in the regular season.

The Bulldogs defense had to step up early.  La Porte had a turnover on their first possession with West Brook intercepting a pass and starting at the Bulldogs 39.  Three runs and a incomplete pass on 4th down turned the ball over on downs back to La Porte.  The Bulldogs would never look back.

La Porte would use eight consecutive runs to move the ball to the West Brook 18. The drive was led by Senior Britt Grant, who was returning from injury.  Grant had 11 carries for 104 yards mostly in the first half. The drive was capped by a 18 yard Austin Upshaw to David Terrebonne touchdown on a post that was wide open.  La Porte lead 7-0 with 4:41 in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs defense bottled up the Bruins running game all night, again getting a stop on West Brook's next possession.  La Porte would use a 10 play 66 yard drive this time, getting positive yards on every play, capped by Junior Running Back Nathan Redd running it in from 10 yards out on the first play of the second quarter.  Redd had a good night complimenting Grant, averaging over 8 yards per carry and scoring twice.  La Porte lead 14-0 with 11:55 left in the half.  

The La Porte offensive line lead by Tyler Boudreaux, Logan Jackson, Ryder Rae, Casey Motley and tight ends Jaron Dykstra and Eric Kendzior completely dominated the line of scrimmage enabling the Bulldogs offense to do what they pleased. The next La Porte drive went 80 yards, this time Britt Grant pulled a trick out of his bag.  Seemingly stopped along the sideline on a sweep, he popped back out of the pile and took the ball 38 yards into Bruins territory.  Austin Upshaw would cap the drive this time, faking the handoff and cutting through the defense for a 28 yard touchdown run.  La Porte lead 21-0 with 9:10 left in the 2nd quarter.

West Brook got on the board the next drive with their Quarterback Justin Essex heaving passes over the top to standout Junior wide receiver Keith Corbin.  A 30 yard pass would cut La Porte's lead to 21-7 with 7:51 left in the half.

The teams would trade punts and La Porte received the ball with 3:07 left in the half.  The Bulldog moved the ball down to the Beaumont 17 yard line with 40 seconds left when Upshaw found Kendzior with a pass and dive into the end zone.  La Porte lead going into the half 28-7.

West Brook threatened in the last 30 seconds of the half, but La Porte Senior Safety Kevin Busby got a interception to run the clock out and send the game to halftime.

The Bulldogs defense got another three and out to start the second half, including a combined sack by Seniors Chance Moreno and Josh Deleon.  Again La Porte moved the ball with ease, seven straight runs and a touchdown from Nathan Redd from 25 yards out would break the game open. The Bulldogs lead 35-7 with 7:04 left in the 3rd.

West Brook would get another Essex to Corbin touchdown at the end of the third quarter making it 35-13 La Porte going into the fourth.

La Porte's Kevin Busby had a big game, all over the field for the Bulldogs.  He jumped on a chance to intercept his second pass of the game early in the fourth quarter, returning it 38 yards for a touchdown and that lead the Bulldogs pulling their starters with a 42-13 lead.

The fourth quarter would also provide two interceptions for Senior Tyler Erskine as the Bulldogs defense had one of their better games of the season.  The final was 42-13, giving La Porte a inside track on one of the four playoff spots out of district 21-6A.

La Porte returns home for their final home game this Friday against the North Shore Mustangs.  The game is for the outright lead in 21-6a and possible district championship.  The Bulldogs seem to be hitting their stride at the right time and should be a great game this week.


Monday, October 20, 2014

Final La Porte 41 Port Arthur Memorial 35

The La Porte Bulldogs fought to remain undefeated at home, beating the Port Arthur Memorial Titans 41-35 in overtime last Friday at Bulldog Stadium.  It was homecoming for La Porte and you could tell both teams were fighting for a playoff spot in a back in forth game.

Regulation play ended with the score 35-35.  In overtime La Porte had the ball first and Sophomore Running Back Cobra Jones, fresh up off the JV, had a huge 19 yard run to get the Bulldogs inside the 5 yard line.  The Sophomore only saw action in the second half and lead the team with 108 rushing yards on 15 carries.  Two plays later Sophomore Terrel Bernard would dive in to the end zone from three yards out for the go ahead touchdown and put the pressure on the Titans to get into the end zone.

The Bulldog defense stood tall. Port Arthur had 3rd and 11 from the 16 yard line where the Bulldogs would knock down a pass in the corner of the end zone forcing 4th down and a last effort for Memorial.  The 4th down pass touched the hands of the receiver at the goaline, but was a little too high sealing the victory for La Porte.

Lets rewind to how these two teams made it to overtime.  The first half was a tale of two quarters.  In the first quarter La Porte stormed to a 14-0 lead on two Sophomore Quarterback Austin Upshaw touchdown runs.  He would have four running touchdowns on the night along with 103 rushing yards.  The Bulldog defense held strong in the first quarter as well, however things would change in the second.

The Bulldogs drove down the field at the start of the 2nd quarter using a 41 yard run from Senior David Terrebonne.  David was La Porte's 3rd 100 yard rusher of the night, running for 100 yards on 8 carries.  Austin Upshaw took the next play into the endzone, but it was called back by penalty. The drive stalled and the field goal attempt was no good and Memorial took over at their own 20.

The next play would start a barrage of touchdowns to end the half for the Titans.  Port Arthur Junior Running Back and Baylor commitment Kameron Martin took the first handoff to the left, broke a couple tackles and took it 80 yards for the touchdown.  The score was 14-6 La Porte with 6:29 left in the first half.

A three and out for La Porte and the momentum was completely on the Titans side.  Port Arthur Senior Runningback and Texas Tech commitment Corey Dauphine took the handoff 41 yards up the middle with La Porte Senior Safety Kevin Busby making a shoestring tackle to save the touchdown.  A few plays later Memorial Sophomore Quarterback Kadon Harrison took the zone read 13 yards into the end zone and made it a one point game 14-13 La Porte with 2:11 left in the 2nd.

A botched kickoff return and Port Arthur recovered on the ensuing play.  Dauphine would make the Bulldogs pay again with a 8 yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the half and complete a big comeback.  Memorial lead 20-14 at halftime.

Things appeared to become dire for La Porte to start the second half.  Port Arthur received the kickoff and ran the ball eight consecutive times with Martin capping it with a eight yard run.  Port Arthur lead 27-14 with 8:18 left in the 3rd quarter.

La Porte was not done fighting in this one and they showed a bunch of heart on the legs of Upshaw and Jones, driving 63 yards.  Upshaw scored on a one yard run and the Bulldogs were down 27-21 with 4:53 left in the 3rd.

The Bulldogs would get a stop finally as the Titans went for it on 4th and 11 from the LP 29.  Upshaw, Terrebonne and Jones all came up with big runs on this drive going 13 plays 69 yards.  Upshaw would add his fourth touchdown with 6:32 left in the 4th.  This one gave La Porte the lead 28-27.

Back and forth we go, Memorial wasted little time.  Dauphine took the handoff on their first play of the next drive and broke loose for 56 yards and outran everyone for the touchdown.  The Titans went for two and got that as well.  Memorial retook the lead 35-28 with 6:19 left.

This time the Titans defense would force a three and out and give Port Arthur a chance to run out the clock with 5 minutes left.  Memorial would run the ball up the middle on the second play of their drive and La Porte Senior Linebacker Chance Moreno went straight for the strip, forcing a fumble in which Senior Safety Kevin Busby recovered putting the Bulldogs back in business.

Cobra Jones would pick a good time to get his first touchdown on the varsity squad, taking the sweep 8 yards and tying the game up 35-35 and forcing overtime.

La Porte is in good position, tied for the lead in 21-6a with a 2-1 record.  Port Arthur Memorial dropped to 1-3 in district and will have to win their two remaining games to have a chance at the playoffs.

The Bulldogs will travel to Beaumont on Thursday at 7pm to take on the West Brook Bruins in another very important game for playoff positioning.

Monday, October 6, 2014

La Porte Falls To Baytown Sterling

After a strong start to the game the La Porte Bulldogs could not hold on to the lead last Saturday, falling 27-16 to the Baytown Sterling Rangers.  The Bulldogs move to 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in district 21-6A.  Sterling moved to 5-0 and 1-0.

La Porte had many key injuries to Seniors Britt Grant, Clayton Calhoun, Tyler Boudreaux and Bryson Rogers coming into the game all of them occurring during the Deer Park game.

The Bulldogs would get on the board first.  After the teams traded punts to start the game La Porte would have great field position after a penalty on Sterling interfering with the punt catch.  Sophomore Terrel Bernard ran the ball in from three yards out to put LP ahead 7-0 with 6:03 remaining in the first.

The Bulldogs defense was smothering in the first quarter.  La Porte Senior Safety Kevin Busby came up with a interception on Sterling's next possession, again providing La Porte with great field position.  Three plays later Senior Kicker Cesar Silva connected on a 40 yard field goal to put La Porte ahead 10-0 with 2:47 left in the first.

The Bulldog defense continued to push the Rangers back forcing another punt.  This time the Bulldogs fortunes changed for the worse.  La Porte threw an interception on first down which Sterling returned to the LP 12 yard line.  The next play Sterling Running back Elijah Chenier scored his first of three touchdowns on the day.  It was La Porte 10 Baytown Sterling 7 at the end of the 1st quarter.  The Bulldogs momentum was gone in an instant.

A La Porte fumble gave the ball back to Sterling again.  The Rangers drove all the way down to the Bulldogs one yard line on a 14 play drive.  La Porte stopped Sterling on 4th and 1 to keep hope alive.

The Bulldogs were forced to punt again handing Sterling good field position at the LP 35.  The Rangers offense had found their footing at this point and had no trouble moving down the field for a touchdown, again from Chenier.  Sterling took a 14-10 lead with :42 left in the half and they would never look back.

After a blocked La Porte field goal attempt in the 3rd quarter Baytown would start to pull away.  Running back Dajuan Hill took the handoff and ran 84 yards for a touchdown pushing Sterling's lead to 21-10 with 4:48 left in the third.

La Porte would get a answer early in the 4th.  The Bulldogs moved down the field on the legs of Sophomore Quarterback Austin Upshaw, with him capping the drive with a four yard touchdown run to cut the Baytown lead to 21-16 with 9:15 left in the game.

Sterling would answer three plays later, Chenier scored his third, this one from 63 yards out to seal the game 27-16 with 7:55 left.

La Porte was in catch up mode and that is not their game.  The Bulldogs were forced into two interceptions late and a tough loss to a rejuvenated Baytown Sterling program.

La Porte has a bye this week and will have a huge game in two weeks at Bulldog Stadium against Port Arthur Memorial.  It will be a must win game for playoff positioning.