"Here's the main thing for our seniors," he said. "It feels like you don't want to leave something behind worse than when you got there."

When his contribution to Nederland's tradition ends, Cardenas joins LU head coach Ray Woodard at re-starting a brand new Big Red gridiron grab at glory. And yes, Asa has noticed how big that Big Ray is. He might be big enough to play in Vidor's line.

"He's a big ol' fellow, isn't he?" Cardenas said. "I think we will get along fine. He's a nice man and he's always let me know what I've needed to know about Lamar's situation. Lamar is an exciting opportunity to get on track again and Lamar gave me an offer I can't refuse."

One of the biggest parts of that offer was that his grandmother was going to be able to continue to watch his athletic career. That would mean a special amount to a woman who has done so much for her grandson.

Bulldog Bites: Cardenas and Stefan Huber topped the homecoming night grade book at NHS with an 89, followed by Brent Salenga (87) and Jude Vidrine (86) among Nederland's regulars.... Dogs leading tacklers were Jordan Landry (9 and 6), Shelby Clark (8 and 4) and Grant Lovelady (6 and 5). Landry heads the season tackle numbers with 33 and 22 followed by Anthony Maddox (27 and 11) and Adrian Pina (26 and 18).... Defensive coordinator Delbert Spell has leaned toward returning to Nederland's secondary alignment prior to the Livingston game. Spell figured to go with Jimmy Swain and Cardenas at corners and Adrian Pina and Jake Kemp at safety.... Biggest surprise to Delbert about Asa on defense is "he plays the run very well and he's excellent tackler in the open field." . . . Nederland-Vidor is the Port Arthur News Friday Night Experience game of the week. It will air Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Cable 18.