Little Broussard makes big impact for Nederlanders

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Little Broussard makes big impact for Nederlanders

By Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News

NEDERLAND — Before any true blue Old Gold and Black fan discards his beloved Nederlanders from the 4A playoff picture, he figures to take a look at Adam Broussard.

Yep, that’s how small Nederland’s chances may appear right now as the Dogs prepare for arguably the greatest team in Lumberton football history.

It’s Nederland against Lumberton on Friday night in Raider Stadium and the burly Raiders (8-1 and 5-1) certainly should not lose any sleep this week watching video of a 5-7, 140-pound pass catcher.

That’s right. Broussard might even weigh 135 pounds by the time this important regular-season finale kicks off at 7 p.m. Surely Lumberton will ignore a guy with a such a diminutive stature.

Adam and Nederland’s head coach Larry Neumann would not mind if the Raiders would ignore Broussard from 7 to around 10 p.m. Just permit Adam to go where he wants to go and do what he wants to do.

When Neumann, offensive coordinator Monte Barrow and receivers coach Bryan Spell decided to devise an offense with a limited amount of proven powerful blockers, they reasoned that Broussard had plenty of reasons, ways and means by which he could latch onto a football.

Adam could catch passes. He could run the ball, and get lost beneath larger blockers. He could run back punts and kickoffs and probably pull a few surprises doing that. He might even be capable of delivering a trick play to catch the Raiders napping.

Never under-estimate the smallest dude in Nederland’s lineup. He’s got a mighty stout XXXL heart to be ranked among the top four pass receivers in District 22-4A.

Every year the 17-year-old son of Robert and Judy Broussard heard the same sorry noise from his large number of naysayers.

“In the beginning, every year, they were telling me that I was too small so I just came to expect it,†Broussard said.

Convinced that he was a bit too small for high school football, Adam was far more convinced of something else — that he liked football.

“I like to play football,†he said. “And so it just worked out... I don’t say it (that he’s too small) but I do notice that I’m way smaller than most of the guys.â€

Because of players such as Broussard, Nederland has compiled a 7-2 season record, a 4-2 district record and a belief that this football team can overcome the odds.

Broussard led Nederland’s receivers against Brenham with four receptions for 81 yards. Brenham doesn’t have to be convinced. Broussard dashed 59 yards with a touchdown reception at Beaumont Central. The Jaguars learned about him. When Little Cypress-Mauriceville visited Bulldog Stadium, Broussard led the receivers with five receptions for 81 yards. LC-M became all too acquainted with him, too.

No, Broussard will not go down as Nederland’s premier receiver in 2007. That honor definitely belongs to District 22-4A receiving leader Asa Cardenas. Yet the much smaller Broussard has ranked among the league’s top three receivers for most of the season.