Indians own driver’s seat in potential three-way 20-4A logjam

By TOM HALLIBURTON

Port Arthur News Sports Writer

Nederland’s cheering section tripled to three District 20-4A schools after last Friday night’s results.

Add both Port Arthur 4A schools to the list of Nederland fans in this Friday night’s 77th renewal of Mid-County Madness at Port Neches-Groves.

Nederland and West Orange-Stark clinched Division I and II state playoff berths respectively on Friday night by virtue of their records and head-to-head scores against their district opponents.

That leaves one remaining 20-4A Division II spot up for grabs between PN-G (2-2) Thomas Jefferson (2-2) and Lincoln (1-3).

Why must the BumbleBees and Yellow Jackets cheer for Nederland this Friday? It’s complicated but, under the district’s 18-point tiebreaker policy for three-or-four-way ties, PN-G owns the edge over both TJ and Lincoln in any three-way deadlock at 3-2 involving Nederland.

A PN-G victory over Nederland automatically would send PN-G back to the 4A Division II bracket and it would make Friday’s Port Arthur Pride Bowl meaningless in regard to the playoffs.

A Nederland victory over PN-G , however, would make the TJ-at-Lincoln outcome very playoff-meaningful for both PAISD schools.

The league’s tiebreaker system is so complicated that officials studied the possibilities into the early Saturday morning hours before determining that Nederland clinched their 4A Division I playoff berth after defeating Lincoln, 24-21, Friday night.

Nederland (8-1 and 3-1) can afford a loss at PN-G and still reach the playoffs by virtue of its point-differential in wins over TJ and Lincoln.

“That’s a good feeling,” a relieved NHS mentor Larry Neumann said Saturday. “The PN-G game doesn’t have playoff implications for us. Obviously we want to play well but it’s a little different when you have to win for a playoff berth. There’s a different sense of urgency.”

Nederland was in the exact same playoff position last year. Neumann’s ’99 Bulldogs had clinched a Division I berth after nine games. Ranked 8th last year in 4A, the 9-0 Dogs played their last regular-season game at PN-G. Needing a win to clinch a playoff berth, PN-G won 31-8.

If history repeats itself at The Reservation, then the Port Arthurans are playing only for Port Arthur Pride. But a Nederland victory likely would allow the Port Arthur schools to fight for a playoff spot.

A TJ win over Lincoln and a Nederland victory at PN-G would send the Yellow Jackets to the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

Lincoln is still alive for a chance to make back-to-back playoff visits but the Bees’ road is a bit rougher than TJ’s. Lincoln needs for Nederland to win at PN-G, but Lincoln also has to beat TJ by at least eight points to own the edge in a tiebreaker involving the Bees, Jackets and Indians.