Published 11:31 pm Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Port Neches — After a slew of running back injuries during his junior year, Port Neches-Groves’ Jose Ceja had to make the change from defensive back to lining up in the offensive backfield. This season, Ceja, again, made a position change to move out wide to become a reliable target for quarterback Roschon Johnson.
In his debut at receiver, Ceja tallied eight receptions for 90 yards in a 48-14 win over Silsbee Friday at The Reservation. The senior receiver had a connection early with his quarterback as Johnson threw his first six passes toward Ceja and connected on five of them.
“I came in here all summer,” Ceja said. “I got on the field with him and developed a chemistry with him with me and him throwing to each other.”
As the Indians prepare for their matchup against Huntsville, Ceja said moving to different positions has helped him become a better receiver.
“It definitely helps because I know the techniques the defenders are using,” Ceja said. “I know what I need to do to get open. I know that they’re looking at the quarterback’s drops and when they are going to start coming back for the ball.”
PNG head coach Brandon Faircloth said Ceja has worked hard to become a reliable target.
“He was a receiver growing up,” Faircloth said. “He did really well for us at running back last year after we had to move him from defensive back. He is a really good athlete. It’s nice to have guys like that, whoa re flexible and can do a lot of things really well. His hard work has paid off.”
Ceja said that he did not have any personal goals this season at receiver, but said that his only goal is to make the playoffs and play well.
The have the benefit of starting off the season with their second consecutive home came Friday.
“It’s familiar,” Faircloth said. “Our guys love playing at home. There’s no better home atmosphere in the state of Texas than playing here at The Reservation. For our guys to get to play two games here, they’re excited.”
Against Silsbee, Johnson accounted for 351 yards of offense and five touchdowns.
Faircloth said that his team is not going to get complacent after their big win against the Tigers.
“We had a great week of practice,” he said. “We’re still nowhere near where we want to be. We watched the film Monday and saw that we made quite a few mistakes last Friday night. We’re still a work in progress and we have a tough opponent this week. We’re going to have tot play a lot better this Friday night if we’re going to win.”
The Hornets (1-0) will travel to The Reservation after beating Willis 34-24 last week. Both teams will look to hand the other their first loss of the season.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 at The Reservation.
