By Chris Moore
Special to The News

VIDOR — The Vidor Pirates’ only two turnovers of the game proved to be costly as the Nederland Bulldogs escaped Pirate Stadium with a 28-21 win on Saturday.

The Bulldogs move to 4-1 and 3-1 in 22-5A on the season, while Vidor’s first loss brings theirs record to 2-1 overall and district.

The Vidor offense jumped on the board first with two scores in the first quarter with a 27-yard run by running back Hogan Stogner and a 32-yard run by William Fawcett.

Vidor seemed to be in control until Bulldog quarterback Blaysin Fernandez found Kevon Latulas on a 34-yard touchdown pass early in the second.

With 1:45 left in the half Fernandez and Latulas connected again, this time for an acrobatic 57-yard catch and run by Latulas, who finished the game with 127 yards receiving.

“We talked about having to make plays,” Nederland head coach Monte Barrow said. “We knew they were going to man up in a lot of different situations and number 22 (Latulas) made some plays for us today.”

The Pirates answered on the first drive of the second quarter with a 33-yard scoring pass from Fawcett to Stogner to take a seven-point lead with 9:55 left in the third quarter.

With a 21-14 lead and 1:13 left in the third quarter, Fawcett overthrew his intended receiver and was picked off by Bulldogs’ Landon Hiltz on the Pirates’ 43-yard line. Two plays later, running back, Devon Simmons ripped off a 43-yard run. Prior to that carry, Simmons had been held in check, amassing only 15 yards on eight carries.

“It’s so hard to stop (Vidor),” Barrow said. “They run, run, run. You’re keyed in on so many things and you’ve got to win individual battles. I’m super proud of our defense. They’ve showed up every week for us. We lean on them big time.”

That score tied the game with 0:50 left in the third. After a defensive stand by the Bulldogs, Simmons ended a two-play 79-yard drive with a 38-yard run to take a 28-21 lead with 8:31 left in the game. Simmons finished the game with 119 yards rushing on 15 carries.

“In the first half, I don’t know what was wrong with me,” Simmons said. “My coach talked to me and told me it will come to me, and I got right.”

Barrow said his team is at their best when they are able to be balanced.

“One has to open up the other,” he said. It may be one thing one week, and the other the next week.”

The Pirates got one more shot to answer following a Simmons fumble that allowed Vidor to have new life on the Nederland’s side of the field. With 0:29 left in the game and the ball on the Nederland 26-yard line, Fawcett threw the ball toward the end zone, only to be intercepted by Nederland’s Noah Lewis.

“[The win] means everything and it validates what we’re trying to do here,” he said. “We’ve had two of possibly the most physical football games we’ll have all year, in the same week. To just come in here and win on the back end of it — on the road — I was just super proud of them.”

Nederland’s next game is set for Friday, as they take on Beaumont Central.

The Pirates will face the Raiders in Lumberton. Both kickoffs are set for 7 p.m.