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TEXAS CITY – On a chilly Friday night, the Stingarees delivered a team effort that warmed up playoff optimism.

Texas City subdued Nederland 29-7 at TCISD Stadium in their regular season finale, giving coach Shone Evans’ squad a 9-1 overall record and a 5-1 mark in District 9-5A-2, putting them in position to host a round playoff matchup.

“It was good for us to come out and excel in all three phases of the game,” said Evans. “We left some points on the board, but we took that next step toward getting better.”

The Stings came within 65 seconds of recording a shutout before Bulldogs quarterback Casen Reedy scored on a 32-yard run.

Nederland (4-6, 4-2) had managed only 83 yards and five first downs before cracking through against the Stings’ reserves.

“It would have been nice to have got the shutout, but it’s more important to have those kids out there get valuable playing time,” Evans said. “Those kids work hard all week and deserve the opportunity to play when the chance arrives.”

The Stings got all the offense they needed when Clyde Bruton opened the scoring by turning a jet sweep into an 80-yard touchdown run with 5:54 left in the first quarter.

Texas City added to the lead when Xavier Skrowton took a bubble screen from Joey Duran and reversed his field to find the end zone from 18 yards out to make it 14-0 with 5:05 before intermission.

The Stings could have turned the game into a rout but committed turnovers at the Nederland 49 and 4-yard lines to keep the Bulldogs within shouting distance.

Maurice Burton added insurance for the Stings with a 9-yard touchdown run with 5:40 left in the third quarter before finding the end zone again on a 4-yard scoring run with 11:40 remaining.

The Stings added a safety at the 7:20 mark to close out their scoring for the night.

— Written by Brandon C. Williams