03/04/2008
By Travis Stewart, DCTF Staff Writer
Mid-County Madness: Nederland vs. Port Neches-Groves
Rivalries are kind of like food.
You have the sweet ones: matchups that are good-natured and can warm the heart and brighten the soul, things that the community looks forward to as a way to bring everyone together, kind of like a family reunion. Then there are the spicy ones: games that are fueled solely on bad blood and unbridled hatred, games that are likely to leave you breathless but sometimes less than full.
And then there are some like Nederland and Port Neches-Groves. Something hearty. Ya’ know, a game you can really sink your teeth into.
What’s now known as Mid-County Madness is rich with history, a series full of memorable names and incredible plays and did-you-see-that’s that has not only never wavered, but has stayed true to its roots despite the passing of 84 years. It’s not like there weren’t plenty of chances for this annual matchup to lose touch with where it came from, either, like when PNG went 17-0-2 over a 19-year span (’65-’83), or when a group of sponsors came-a-callin’ for the naming rights to an annually awarded trophy (a notion that was rejected). No, Nederland-PNG is much the same now as it’s always been — the biggest game in the smallest stretch of land you’ve ever seen.
“We’re living and breathing it every single day,” said PNG coach Matt Burnett. “It’s almost a Democratic/Republican divide — it’s just the way it is. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s not made up. It’s real — Mid-County Madness. I’m telling you, it’s what’s talked about on almost a daily basis.”
And it’s been talked about quite a bit over the past few years, because these games have been good. Since 2002, Nederland has won four times, and all of them were a one possession game — 22-19 in 2002, 19-13 in 2004, 35-28 in 2005 and 31-24 in 2006. The two years PNG has won, 2003 and last year in 2007, the Indians were able to stretch the margin a little bit, winning by 9 and 12 respectively, but even those are still nail-biters compared to the games Lufkin and Nacogdoches (No. 9 on our list) have been posting up for a decade or so. You might even be able to make the argument that the current version of Mid-County Madness is just a look into the future for that Lufkin-Nac. series — after all, saying that Nederland would one day be an equal to PNG during the Indians’ 15-game win streak in the ’70s would have been as laughable as now saying Nacogdoches will soon challenge mighty Lufkin.
“The rivalry has been really good lately,” Burnett said. “Because lately they’ve been getting much better. It’s a serious good time.”
And it’s a good time condensed into a tiny space, too. Obviously, most good matchups are proximity based — after all, it’d be hard to hate someone who practiced 200 miles away from you — but MCM is giving a new name to the term “local rivalry.” They’re not 20 miles apart, they’re not 8 miles apart … they’re a railroad track apart.
“The close proximity of our cities is the biggest thing,” Burnett said. “There’s just a railroad track separating us. Unless you’re from the area, you don’t know whether you’re in Nederland or in Port Neches. Everyone’s related … one of my ex-players will get married, and he’ll call and say, ‘Coach, I’m sorry, I married a Nederland girl.’ Everyone is intertwined.”
If you’re a Cowboys fan, you’re immediately invested in this game — you may not know it, but you are. One of MCM’s biggest fans — and most famous former participants — is none other than Boys’ head coach Wade Phillips, who played quarterback for PNG back in 1967 (his dad, Bum, has actually coached at both schools.) Part of the reason Phillips was hired by Dallas owner Jerry Jones was his well-documented history with the state, something that runs so deep in Phillips that he still calls or even visits Burnett on campus. The first thing out of his mouth? Mid-County Madness, more often than not.
And to delve into the realm of pure speculation, had Phillips not climbed the ladder into the NFL coaching ranks, who’s to say he wouldn’t still be back in that small Indians community that he thrilled 40 years ago? According to Burnett, the winningnest coach in PNG history, neither PNG nor Nederland is the kind of city you just move away from. Something about it grips you and holds you, and before you know it, you’re one of the old-timers that helps keep the annual tradition alive.
“A lot of the people (from here) stay here,” he said. “It’s not a big transient community. It’s pretty neat. The older people keep it going. It transcends (the Nederland-PNG border).”
Unlike the stories of socioeconomic differences that surround, for example, the Permian-Lee rivalry, both the Indians and the Bulldogs’ pools of talent are largely similar. Nederland did have a kid sign with UT this year, LB Dravannti Johnson, but that’s exceptionally rare, and PNG’s only 2007 signing went to Texas State. For the most part, these kids’ final game in a high school uniform is exactly that: their final game. But in a weird way, that looming finality is a perfect compliment to the working-class mentality of the sons and families that form the backbone of the whole ordeal.
“It’s very intense on the field,” Burnett said. “Our kids are a lot alike. They’re hardworking kids. We’ve both got hard-nosed, old-fashioned programs.”
Maybe it’s that aspect — or a mixture of the many other things that make this rivalry great — that simultaneously keeps this matchup famous for and rooted in it’s history. There’s nothing left to say or do … Mid-County Madness takes care of itself.
“We try to make sure not to build it up too much,” Burnett said. “If we build it up too much, that’s when you deal with the graffiti and the fist fights and stuff. We don’t need to build it up any more than it does itself. We don’t exchange trophies or diamonds or nothing – just bragging rights.”
