Pirates off to a solid start; await St. Thomas

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Pirates off to a solid start; await St. Thomas

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

VIDOR — After making a nice statement to start their 2008 campaign, the Vidor Pirates hope to continue their winning ways Friday night when they welcome the Houston St. Thomas Eagles to Pirate Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. start.

The Pirates are fresh off a 15-7 victory against a solid Beaumont Kelly unit, racking up 238 yards on the ground and containing a tough Bulldog offense.

“For an opener, we saw a lot of positive things,†said Vidor head coach Jeff Mathews. “Our defense, for the most part, was tremendous. The kids bent a little but never broke. We played well when Kelly had the ball on our end, plus we were able to force a few turnovers.â€

Fullback Theron Reynolds led the Pirates on the ground with 112 yards on 19 carries. Running back Shane Pittman zipped for 89 yards on 11 totes and quarterback Chris Teinert had 26 yards and scored two touchdowns on 1-yard quarterback keepers.

“Offensively, I see a lot of areas that we can improve on,†said Mathews. “We kinda bogged our ourselves down a little bit on a few of our drives. We still need plenty of work in the passing game as well. Overall, it was a good win for us. In some games last year, we played hard and lost some close ones. We could’ve played better against Kelly and we still won the game. To me, that sounds really good because the kids no that they will only get better if they continue to work hard like they’ve been doing.â€

While Vidor was downing Kelly, St. Thomas, who is in the same TAPPS district with Kelly, took its lumps, falling to Houston Stark Jesuit 23-0. The Eagles are coached by former Rice standout quarterback Donald Hollas, who also spent time playing in the National Football League.

The Eagles return four starters on both sides of the ball from a unit that went 3-7 a season ago.

Running back Connor Mills leads the running game agter gaining 345 yards and four touchdowns on 54 carries in 2007.

The Eagles are guided on defense by the likes of linebackers Paul Rogers and Kyle Willard and defensive backs Colin Bassett and Jeff Kelly.

“St. Thomas is a team that likes to spread you out,†said Mathews. “They have a few breakaway threats that our kids will have to stay in front of. We’re looking for them to test us pretty well.â€

Mathews likes the way the Pirates are shaping up early on.

“I truly like the mind-set of this team,†Mathews said. “We had a handful of plays in the Kelly game that we didn’t execute well. The kids realized that and are gung-ho about getting them corrected. They’re really wanting to learn and their attitudes have been super. We’re really excited about the next nine weeks.â€

The Pirates will close their non-district schedule next week when they visit Sour Lake to take on Hardin-Jefferson. Vidor will be open Sept. 19 and will start District 20-4A play Sept. 26 on the road at Beaumont Central.