By TOM HALLIBURTON
Port Arthur News Sports Writer
BAYTOWN – Dustin Long certainly spoiled Port Neches-Groves for a quarterback but the Indians’ coaches never realized it would be to this extent.
Eighteen days into the preseason and exactly two weeks before their season opener, the Indians have lost their top two quarterbacks to injuries.
Having lost Cody Elkins to an ankle fracture on the first day of fall practice, PN-G learned Friday it would lose senior Tony Bowser for likely two to three weeks with torn cartilage in his left knee. That’s the bad news.
The good news is PN-G has two more capable quarterbacks waiting in the wings. Baytown Sterling learned of PN-G’s outstanding quarterback depth on Friday night when juniors Kirk Hallmark and John Frazier stepped up to direct two scoring drives apiece at sweltering Memorial Stadium.
PN-G outscored Sterling 3-1 in the controlled scrimmage and downed the Rangers 7-0 in the one half of simulated game conditions.
Indians’ head coach Matt Burnett could not have been happier with his quarterbacks’ performances, especially since Bowser is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery this morning.
“Offensively, we were lucky that we have some capable backups,” Burnett said. “I thought both quarterbacks did a good job. It’s a credit to coach (Mike) Long that they did so well, but we have a lot of good players around our quarterbacks.”
A freshman quarterback and a backup varsity receiver as a sophomore, the 6-1 Hallmark completed 4 of 11 passes for 80 yards during the simulated half. That included a 42-yard scoring toss to a wide-open Joey Price with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
He also directed the Tribe to a seven-play, 65-yard scoring march on the night’s first possession, capped by Jeff Bergeron’s three-yard touchdown run.
Much shorter but equally gritty, Frazier ascended from the junior varsity and fired scoring passes of 26 yards to Adam LeDoux and seven yards to Adam Guillory. Baytown Sterling’s players and fans might have thought they were looking at PN-G’s top two quarterbacks on this night.
Outstanding in last week’s scrimmage against West Brook, Bowser practiced all week but arrived at school Friday with a swollen knee. Offensive coordinator Long discovered around noon that Bowser needed a MRI. The Indians’ coaches learned Bowser sustained torn cartilage. They hope Bowser can return in time for PN-G’s second game against Jacksonville.
PN-G finished the night decisively ahead in rushing and total yardage and slightly ahead (19-17) in first downs. The Indians led in total yards 409-294 and a whopping 235 to 64 on the ground even though they devoted much of the night to working on the pass. A more pass-minded Sterling, under first-year coach Karl Terrebonne, led in passing yards, 230-174.
But Jeremy Davis, Michael Brignac, Jared Gary, and the Indians’ fierce pass rush often made Sterling QBs Joe Haney and Brian Woods pay dearly after their pass attempts. Haney completed a two-yard scoring pass to Chris Lamark at the end of a 10-play series against PN-G’s second-team defense.
“Defensively, this is exactly what we needed,” Burnett said of the apparently injury-free outing. “Sterling threw the ball and ran a lot of misdirection to try to outflank us. I felt we learned a lot.”
The Indians also worked extensively on the passing game without one of their starting wide receivers. Jonathan Lumbley did not suit because of a groin injury. PN-G will wrap up its three-scrimmage preseason Friday night at The Reservation against Humble, while Sterling will work on Thursday night at Nederland.
