NEDERLAND — The feeling hit Blaysin Fernandez when he woke up for Nederland football practice Monday.

“This is my last go-round,” he said. “This is my last trip up here. This is my last first day. I got real emotional thinking about it this morning. …”

Just like that, Fernandez was officially a senior quarterback starting his last high school preseason camp.

“It’s crazy that it’s here,” he said. “I never thought this day would come.”

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Fernandez is a key playmaker for the Bulldogs, who are entering Volume II of the Monte Barrow era. A former Bulldogs quarterback himself, Barrow helped Nederland reclaim the Bum Phillips Bowl trophy and win a UIL playoff game over Porter before running into eventual 5A Division I state runner-up Manvel at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

His focus this week in camp has been setting a tempo for the Bulldogs to follow.

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“How you start, how you finish, all those little things that are muscle-memory drills on things like that,” Barrow said. “If you make sure to not overlook things that may be a little off, address those as coaches, and that’s something we’ll have to do the entire season.”

To rebuild an arsenal of wide receivers, Barrow is asking his returning secondary players — including District 22-5A interception leaders Noah Lewis and Landon Hiltz — to split their time between offense and defense.

“That should be really fun this year,” said Lewis, a safety who had eight interceptions last season. “I haven’t really gotten my chance to play offense, but I think this year will be my time.”

Hiltz, a cornerback, picked off seven passes a year ago.

Two more seniors, Brycen Grusecki and Adam Roccaforte, are expected to split time at receiver and defensive back. But Barrow is looking for their classmates, Carsen Arline and Blayne Burnett, to step up as well among Fernandez’s targets.

“It’s amazing to be able to work with so many different types of athletes, especially defensive backs,” Fernandez said. “It’s a big help they can come over and play on the offensive side of the ball.”

For Lewis, it helps that he and Fernandez as best friends.

“So, we’ll have that chemistry we’ve always had, and it should be a good thing,” Lewis said.

Fernandez thrived as a full-time starter last season and helped Nederland go 8-3, a four-win improvement from the year before. Before the 51-26 loss to Manvel, the Bulldogs had lost to Memorial and Beaumont Central by a combined 10 points.

But the caught fire with four wins in a row, including a near-shutout of Porter in the bi-district round.

“It’s a lot of momentum, especially from the Bum Phillips Bowl,” Fernandez said. “It’s a lot we have to live up to this year coming off a victory from that. That’s our dream right now, coming off another victory in our last year of playing.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews