NEDERLAND — Port Arthur Memorial’s 13-7 win at Nederland on Monday night was a sign of how far the program has come in the past month.

“My hat goes off to our kids and the job they have done, the things we asked them to do coming back from Hurricane Harvey,” ninth-year Memorial coach Kenny Harrison said. “They did a tremendous job coming back from Harvey.”

It’s only been four weeks since the Titans (3-0, 3-0 in 22-5A) resumed practice after Harvey’s flooding in Port Arthur, but the revised district schedule gave them two whole weeks to gear up before starting the season on a Wednesday night at Beaumont Central.

Twelve days later, the Titans already have three victories under their belt. This one didn’t come easy, though.

“It just shows our toughness and our will to get through adversity,” quarterback Keitha Jones said. “The first half didn’t go how we wanted. The second half didn’t go how we wanted, but it’s about how we react and come out. We might not get a few calls, but we’ve got to stay strong and play the game.”

The Titans got the upper hand of a defensive battle by holding the Bulldogs (3-1, 2-1) scoreless in the second half. Yet, it was defense that ultimately gave Nederland a final crack at victory, forcing the Titans to punt twice in the final period when the Bulldogs had mustered only two second-half first downs.

“They studied hard,” Jones said. “They studied the film. I’ve got to give my hats off to them. They played a great defensive game. We moved the ball. They bent, but they didn’t break, and I give my hats off to them.

“Overall, I’m proud we got the win.”

Nederland gained three first downs and covered 63 yards on the final drive that started with 2:19 remaining. But the clock ran out after Landon Hiltz was stopped on a 4-yard catch-and-run to the Memorial 16.

Asked what his plan of attack on the final drive was, first-year Nederland coach Monte Barrow said: “Get in position to have a realistic chance of throwing the ball in the end zone and try to figure out a matchup. We got the ball down here to where we could do that. They did a great job dropping coverage, and we didn’t get a shot at it.”

Harrison and his staff, which held Nederland to 17 rushing yards on 20 carries, told the Titans to keep the Bulldogs in front of them and make the tackles, realizing Nederland had run out of timeouts.

This time, the Bulldogs were just 16 yards short of tying the game. Last year, they were 30 points shy against the eventual 22-5A tri-champions at Memorial Stadium.

“It’s hard for the kids to see the growth [from last year] in a loss, but we will and it may be hard to do that this week because we’ve got to turn around and get ready for Vidor, who we play Saturday,” Barrow said. “As coaches, we see where that is and we will build on that this coming week.”

Harrison and the Titans have their own quick turnaround to deal with. They practiced Tuesday in preparation for a 4 p.m. Saturday game against Lumberton, which won at Baytown Lee 28-7 Monday.

The Titans have hardly had time to celebrate a neighboring rivalry win — although this was the second all-time meeting between the programs.

“Two quality football teams,” Harrison said. “A lot of respect for my kids, the way they came out in the second half. We went in down at halftime (7-3). They came back and responded. We gave up no points in the second half. That’s huge.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews