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By Tommy Mann Jr.

Special to The Orange Leader

 

The Vidor Pirates are headed back to the playoffs thanks to a four-game winning streak and will be the No. 4 seed from District 10-4A D1. The Pirates will travel to Kilgore to face the No. 6 state-ranked Kilgore Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 15.

Coach Dwayne Dubois made several key personnel changes in mid-season, which seems to have paid big dividends as the Pirates have rolled off four straight wins.

On the season, the Pirates have been averaging 34 points per game on offense, but in its past four game win streak, the Vidor offense has returned to form and is averaging 51 points per game in that span. The offense is spearheaded by quarterback Daigan Venable and a host of running backs, including Riley Marlow, Brody Bloss, Landon Jones and Skylar Stankovich.

The Vidor defense has allowed 30 points per game for the season, but the defense has tightened up during the four-game winning streak as well allowing just 20 points per game in the span, behind the efforts of Stankovich, Dallas Pachuca, Aiden Villafano and late addition, Bryce Collins, a freshman.

For the second consecutive year in a row and the third time in four years, the Kilgore Bulldogs are the champions of District 9-4A Division 1. This group of Bulldogs has also had a lot of success in the Class 4-A playoffs. In 2023, Kilgore lost to district rival Chapel Hill in the regional finals.

Kilgore is currently ranked No. 6 in Class 4-A Division 1 and the Bulldogs non-district schedule has prepared them for the post-season. Kilgore defeated No. 1 Carthage, 20-15, to open the season, along with other non-district wins against Whitehouse and No. 5 ranked Pleasant Grove. The Bulldogs only losses were to No. 7 ranked Gilmer, 24-22, and to district opponent, Henderson, 27-24.

The Kilgore Bulldogs have averaged 29 points per game on offense for the season and have been averaging 46 points per game in its past four wins, while allowing just 14 points per game defensively for the season.

The regular season of the 2024 high school football season has come to an end and now it is time for the playoffs. All five Orange County teams have qualified for the post-season and are set for the bi-district round.

An interesting note for this year’s playoff games featuring Bridge City, LC-M and Vidor is that its district, which is District 10-4A Division 1, made an agreement with District 9-4A D1 at the start of the season to allow first place and second place teams to host bi-district round playoff games, while the third and fourth place teams must travel. Class 6A and Class 5A teams already do this every year under UIL guidelines, but the majority of Class 4A and lower classifications play at neutral site locations.