NEDERLAND — Needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, Nederland came out swinging Friday night and held off visiting Vidor for a 22-20 win at Bulldog Stadium.

Nederland improved to 4-5 overall and evened its record at 3-3 in the District 20-4A. The Bulldogs close out the regular season Friday at Lumberton, which is 2-4 in district play following its win over Little Cypress-Mauriceville.

The math is simple for the Bulldogs next week; win and you’re in. For as many injuries as Nederland has endured this season, that would be quite an accomplishment.

“We’ve had some great battles with Vidor over the years and tonight was no exception,” said Nederland coach Larry Neumann. “You’ve got to know what I know to really appreciate this victory. We may have lost another player tonight, although I hope Marcus Louviere’s injury is not too serious.

“Every coach in America talks about injuries. I’ve been in this for 35 years, and you always have some injuries. I have never seen a season with the epidemic of injuries to key players that we’ve had this season. We’ve never had our team together this entire year.

“But I’ll tell you what. Whoever was here has been battling their behinds off and that’s why we won tonight. The kids have kept playing hard and that’s what you have to do when you’re all beat up.”

Right from the opening kickoff, which Brent Salenga returned 30 yards to the Vidor 45, the Bulldogs played like a team on a mission. Junior quarterback Dionte Forney completed a screen pass to Grant Lovelady for 11 yards on Nederland’s first play from scrimmage.

Forney capped the six-play drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Brady to give the Bulldogs a quick 7-0 lead.

Nederland’s defense forced the Pirates in to a three-and-out and on fourth down the snap from center went through the punter’s leg and through the end zone for a safety. That increased the Bulldogs lead to 9-0.

Vidor (6-3, 3-3) used big plays in the running game to break through in the second quarter. Facing third-and-16 from its own 10, Kevin Tate escaped some would-be tackles and raced down the sideline 87 yards to the Nederland 3.

Nick Dozhier called his own number on a quarterback sneak from a yard out two plays later. Jacob Grant’s extra point was blocked following a low snap to make the halftime score 9-6.

Vidor scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to take its first lead of the game at 13-9. Dozhier hit Jake Travis on third-and-12 for 31 yards to the Nederland 35, which was his only completion of the game.

Shayne Pittman carried the ball four straight times to cap the 7-play drive, the last of which went for a 13-yard touchdown.

Nederland answered right back with a scoring drive of its own. Forney hit Stephen Schlett for a 12-yard pass and capped the drive with a 10-yard scoring stike to Brady on a perfectly executed slant route.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 22-13 on its next possession. Facing third-and-4, Forney flipped a shovel pass to Joey Ruzick just beyond the line of scrimmage. Ruzick turned up field and raced through the Pirate defense for a 44-yard touchdown.