VIDOR — Well, its definitely “game time” for the teams in District 20-4A and no game will be bigger Friday night when the Vidor Pirates host the Nederland Bulldogs on Ivan Croak Field at Pirate Stadium.

These two teams were picked by many to be the top two teams in the district. After all, both squads went three rounds deep in the playoffs last season. The Bulldogs returned 16 starters to the mix, nine on offense, while the Pirates returned 14, nine on defense.

“We’ve had people calling about tickets for this game for weeks,” said Vidor coach Jeff Mathews. “Seriously, more people have been calling about these tickets more than they did for the playoffs last year. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, no doubt about it. This is what Texas high school football is all about.”

Coach Mathews’ Pirates (3-0) are chomping at the bit to get district play rolling. This year’s senior class has something to shoot for as well. If the Pirates make the playoffs, the class would be the first-ever to say they saw the program make the playoffs three out of the last four years.

However, it was the Bulldogs (2-1) and Coach Larry Neumann who captured the 20-4A crown last season. Nederland downed the Pirates 22-19 in a game that went down to the wire in Nederland last year.

“Coach Neumann and his staff, year-in and year-out, do a wonderful job,” said Mathews. “They have such a veteran staff that have been together for a bunch of years. They always get the best out of those kids.”

The Pirates would love to return the favor in front of what might be one of the largest crowds in Vidor history.

“It was a great game last year and I would expect nothing less this time around,” said Mathews. “Everybody keeps saying this is for the district championship. Well, it’s far from it. Both of us have six grueling games ahead of us after this one. Our district is competitive across the board. Which ever team wins or falls Friday night will still have plenty of season left ahead of them. You can’t base anything on just one game and we’re stressing that to the kids.”

The Pirates will check in with the district’s top-ranked offense and top-ranked defense after winning three non-district tilts by a combined score of 119-21.

Vidor is churning out 433.7 yards a game thanks to a “ground-and-pound” running attack that eats up 390.7 of it.

Quarterback Montana Quirante leads the assault with his 414 yards and eight touchdowns on 41 carries. He has also completed 6-of-7 passes for 129 yards.

Fullback Justin Moore has rumbled for 386 yards and six TDs on 43 carries while tailback Thomas Novak has 169 yards on 30 carries.

The Pirates will look to attack a huge Nederland defensive front.

“Nederland has one of the best and biggest defensive lines I’ve ever seen in high school football,” said Mathews. “They’re not only huge, they have speed and strength to go with that. They’ll line up those 280 and 285-pound guys and we have a couple on our offensive line that goes about 170 and 185. That’s why we run the offense that we do because we like to break out with some quick-hitting plays.”

The Pirate defense has allowed just 251 yards on the ground and 145 in the air through three contests.

The Bulldogs’ non-district schedule was a little tougher then the Pirates as they took down Crosby and Goose Creek Memorial before falling to Angleton, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A at the time, 39-31 in a thriller before their bye week. It was Angleton that gave Vidor its last loss, which came in the third round of the playoffs.

Nederland is putting up 321 yards a game on offense and is allowing just 244.3 on defense.

Quarterback Carson Raines has completed 30-of-55 passes for 403 yards with six TDs and four interceptions. His favorite two targets are Seth Barrow , who has 10 catches for 132 yards and three TDs, and Michael Shaw, who has seven grabs for 132 yards and two TDs.

“The Raines kid is excellent back there,” said Mathews. “He can throw the long ball but he’s just as impressive and accurate with those short outs. He’s also showed that he can run some this year, which gives them another dimension.”

Tailback Kendrick Hopkins gives the Bulldogs balance with 288 yards on 51 carries while Raines has 80 yards and four TDs on 30 carries.

The Pirates will make a trip to Beaumont Ozen next week while Nederland welcomes Livingston.