The Enterprise
Updated 4:18 pm CST, Thursday, November 9, 2017
It’s renowned as the biggest football rivalry in Texas.
Whether the meeting takes place in either Mid-County city, capacity crowds fill Bulldog Stadium in Nederland or Indian Stadium in Port Neches to see their teams play.
In the days after Hurricane Rita damaged much of Southeast Texas’ sports facilities in 2005, the game was relocated to Pasadena Memorial Stadium — and a throng of fans still came to cheer the teams on.
The annual games have provided dramatic finishes the last few years, with Nederland’s six-game streak over PN-G finally giving way last season.
Here’s how the last five years have gone for Mid-County Madness.
2012 Mid-County Madness. Nederland 37, PN-G 12.
With ease, Nederland receiver Michael Shaw juked and made one Port Neches-Groves defender miss along the sideline before sprinting into the end zone. Shaw’s 20-yard reception from quarterback Carson Raines capped a 99-yard, 11-play drive by Nederland in the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 at a packed Indian Stadium.
As on that drive, the Bulldogs imposed their will during a 37-12 victory against Port Neches-Groves, their third in a row against their Mid-County rival.
Shaw’s touchdown gave Nederland a 21-point advantage. PN-G made it a 15-point game when quarterback A.J. Smith connected with Tim Clopton for a 21-yard touchdown with 2:26 left in the third quarter. But Nederland’s dominant defense forced PN-G to punt on one of its next two possessions. The other possession ended with an 85-yard interception returned for a touchdown by linebacker Jordan Wood.
Nederland improved to 6-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in District 20-4A with three games remaining. PN-G fell to 2-5 and 1-3.
— Jared Ainsworth
2013 Mid-County Madness. Nederland 21, PN-G 17.
The night Bum Phillips died, he lived on between the sidelines.
The one-time coach of Nederland, Port Neches-Groves and the Houston Oilers passed away at 90 on the night Mid-County Madness played its 90th meeting.
And Bum would have loved watching this one.
In a back-and-forth game, Nederland edged PN-G, 21-17 Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 at Bulldog Stadium.
Nederland defensive back and all-purpose offensive junior Sage Seay was one of the keys. Seay recorded two interceptions, including the game-ending pick in the end zone, in addition to an 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and 54 yards receiving on five catches.
Nederland senior running back Kendrick Hopkins added 103 yards rushing on 20 attempts, while the Nederland defense set the tone by putting pressure on PN-G quarterback Ky Walker most of the night.
The key mistake that cost the Indians came on Nederland’s second-to-last drive of the game.
Leading by three, PN-G (4-3, 2-2) forced Nederland (6-1, 4-0) into a 4th-and-2 deep in Nederland territory.
However, on the punt attempt, the Indians jumped offsides to give the Bulldogs a first down and new life. PN-G would add a pass interference and personal foul penalty to bring the penalty yardage to 35.
At the end of the third quarter, Nederland fumbled the kickoff following a PN-g touchdown and the Indians recovered.
Momentum was going the Indians’ way.
However, the Bulldogs defense came up big. PN-G was faced with a 4th-and-2 from the Nederland 5-yard, down 21-17 and did not make it.
When Nederland took possession back, PN-G was without a timeout and could not stop the clock.
— Avi Zaleon
2014 Mid-County Madness. Nederland 35, PN-G 28.
Nederland coach Larry Neumann reminded his team throughout the week that the game could come down to the last play.
That is exactly what happened in Mid-County Madness as the Bulldogs stopped a scrambling Adam Morse on the three-yard line to preserve host Nederland’s 35-28 win over Port Neches-Groves on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014.
The Indians took over at their own 20-yard line with only 53 seconds left. With a mixture of Morse scrambles and passes to his receivers, he got PN-G down to the 13-yard line with three seconds left.
“We called a timeout at the end and made a little adjustment defensively and reminded them that it was the last play,” Neumann said. “That’s what we train for. Great effort out of our defense. But give credit to Port Neches-Groves. It wouldn’t be this type of a game if there wasn’t a great team on the other sidelines.”
Nederland’s final score came on a third-and-long when Sage Seay found Conner Perkins running past two PN-G defensive backs into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Seay finished the game 11-of-14 for 197 yards, 17 carries for 111 yards and three total touchdowns (one rushing, two passing).
“We knew it was going to be a ballgame,” Seay said. “We came out a little slow but we knew if we stayed together we would come out on top.”
— David Berry
2015 Mid-County Madness. Nederland 30, PN-G 27.
As Nederland kicker James Brindza slept Thursday, he dreamed about kicking the game-winning field goal against Port Neches-Groves.
Less than 24 hours later, Brindza’s dream came true, nailing a 24-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs (5-2, 4-0) a 30-27 victory over the Indians (5-2, 3-1) on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 at Indian Stadium.
It was the Bulldogs’ sixth-straight Mid-County Madness victory overthe Indians and ninth in their last 11 meetings.
“This is such a surreal feeling,” Brindza said. “I’m speechless right now.”
For a while, it didn’t look like Brinzda’s heroics would be necessary. The Bulldogs led 24-6 entering the fourth quarter and had held the potent Indians offense, led by Lamar quarterback commit Adam Morse, at bay since their opening-drive that ended with a touchdown.
Morse led the Indians on three fourth-quarter touchdown drives, however, to even the score at
27 with 2:01 remaining. Following a personal foul penalty on the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs
and quarterback Mitchell LeBaron started at the 50-yard line, needing only 30 yards to get Brindza within field goal range.
Brindza’s field goal was made possible after a connection between LeBaron and receiver Dean Fisher, who caught a pivotal 25-yard pass on third down from the 33-yard line with 13 seconds remaining.
— Danny Shapiro
2016 Mid-County Madness. PN-G 41, Nederland 21.
The long wait was over for Port Neches-Groves and they had a sophomore to thank for it.
Quarterback Roschon Johnson became the fourth player in school history to rush for six
touchdowns as PN-G defeated Nederland 41-21 at Indian Stadium for the first time since 2009 on on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016.
The loss, plus Ozen’s 40-41 loss to Livingston knocked the Bulldogs out of the playoffs.
Johnson’s performance put him into an elite category with former PN-G players Jeff Bergeron, Ron McGill and Lyman Bernard in his first appearance at the annual Mid-County Madness rivalry
Johnson scored all of the Indians’ points, including 28 in the second half on runs 70, 2, 16 and 8 to turn a 21-20 third quarter deficit into a 20-point win.
Nederland only trailed 27-21 midway through the fourth quarter, but back-to-back interceptions
from junior defensive back Austin Bost set up Johnson’s final two touchdowns.
The win, paired with a Memorial loss to Vidor, gave the Indians a share of the District 22-5A title.
— David Thompson
