KFDM COOP Posted October 10, 2007 Report Posted October 10, 2007 PN-G vs. Nederland: A rivalry unlike any otherBy Tom Halliburton The Port Arthur News Call it the longest continuous high school football rivalry in Southeast Texas... or Mid-County Madness.... or Braggin' Rights... or the Mid-County football championship of the world. Nothing quite compares to the matchup of these friendly but highly competitive next-door neighbors -- Nederland and Port Neches-Groves.The 84th version arrives Friday night in Nederland's Bulldog Stadium at 7 o'clock with a share of the District 22-4A lead at stake, plus an enormous amount of pride.It's a matchup that enters the minds, hearts and tongues of refinery and factory workers year-round. It never truly vanishes the thought processes of an area football mind much the same way that Army-Navy, Texas-Texas A&M, USC-UCLA, and Harvard-Yale consumes the subconscious of college football followers."They've all been very important," said Matt Burnett, a former all-state defensive lineman at PN-G, a former assistant coach at Nederland and PN-G and an Indians' chief for the past 14 seasons. "Every one of them is very important."The 50-year-old Burnett earned all-state Class AAAA defensive end honors during the glory years of Indians' football under Doug Ethridge. Matt never played on a PN-G team that lost a varsity football game to Nederland. Nobody in history has compiled a greater Mid-County Madness coaching mark than Ethridge, whose 11 PN-G teams collected a perfect 11-0 record in the Mid-County series.By winning 15 consecutive games -- 1969 through 1983 -- the Indians established a stranglehold on the Mid-County series that they have enjoyed to this day. Counting a couple of ties before that 15-game win streak, the Indians actually went 19 straight years without tasting defeat against the Bulldogs.They enter the 83th bout with 46 wins, 30 losses and 7 ties in the previous 83.While Nederland finally halted that PN-G streak at 15 in 1984, the Bulldogs have struggled to produce a streak anywhere close in longevity to that stretch during Matt Burnett's playing days.Nederland's longest MCM win streak extended four straight years, with the last of those four occurring in the Bulldogs' memorable 1957 state AAA championship year under head coach Emmett McKenzie. That string of four straight Nederland wins can be duplicated this week if NHS head coach Larry Neumann's unbeaten squad can keep its unblemished record.Neumann enters this week with a three-game win streak over PN-G for the third time in his 15-year head coaching run at NHS. With more wins than any head coach in Nederland history, Neumann has presided over 10 wins and 4 losses in his 14 previous seasons.Neumann never has tried to disguise the fact that a different tempo, a more intense atmosphere has prevailed within his football program each year on the week of this game."It's just different from any other week," Neumann acknowledged after last year's game. "I know our coaches and players embrace it."Even more important than reversing a 4-9 career record against Nederland, PN-G's Burnett would like to see his son Clint be able to go out a winner in the Nederland series. Just like his father, the younger Burnett also is a standout defensive end for PN-G."Of course, I have more of a personal interest this year because my son is playing and I would like for him to win in his senior year against the Bulldogs," Burnett said Tuesday.
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