By David Henry
Published 11:01 pm, Saturday, November 12, 2011
Throughout the game, Port Neches-Groves quarterback Travis Miller had no problem connecting with his favorite target, Jayce Nelson, for touchdowns – 3 to be exact.
But with the game on the line it was Dayton defensive back Gamal Fowler that made the play on the ball, picking off Miller in the end zone with 1:43 to play to secure a 36-31 victory for Dayton Saturday night at the BISD Thomas Center.
The Broncos (8-3) advance to the second round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs where they face Magnolia West, while PN-G is eliminated, finishing the season at 7-4.
Dayton trailed 31-27 at the end of the third quarter but took the lead behind three field goals from all-state kicker Juan Carranco, who had five on the night of 42, 48, 41, 33 and 39.
His last gave Dayton a five-point lead with 2:24 to play in the game.
PN-G quickly moved down the field to Dayton territory after two first down passes from Miller but his pass to the end zone was thrown just on the inside of Nelson and Fowler went up to make t he play. PN-G was out of timeouts and couldn’t stop the clock.
Dayton was determined not to let star PN-G running back Chase Bertrand beat them -and he didn’t finishing with 17 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Miller, the senior quarterback, almost made Dayton pay for that strategy. Miller completed 16 of 28 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
Nelson won a one-on-one battle and then ran into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown to give PN-G a 7-0 lead to open the game.
PN-G went into the half up 24-17 after it regained the lead on a 13-yard pass from Miller to Nelson in the corner of the end zone with 4:18 to play in the first half. Nelson finished the game with five catches for 210 yards and three touchdowns.
PN-G led 31-27 near the end of the third quarter and was headed down the field to go up by two scores but Dayton recovered a fumble on an option which led to a Carranco field goal, getting Dayton within one with 11:12 to play in the game.
Dayton quarterback Andres Herrera escaped pressure from PN-G throughout the game, finishing with 22 completions on 33 attempts for 323 yards passing with two touchdowns. Herrera led Dayton in rushing with 22 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown.
