By RYAN S. CLARK, Beaumont Enterprise
November 13, 2009
Posted: November 13, 2009, 11:42 PM CST
Whenever Caleb Harmon has the football, the Port Neches-Groves football team feels comfortable.
That’s evident by Harmon’s 41 carries for 195 yards. Then again, scoring three touchdowns doesnt hurt either.
Harmon’s performance helped PN-G fight off pesky Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill with a 21-7 victory Friday in the bidistrict round of the Class 4A playoffs at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown.
PN-G (11-0, 7-0) will play Brenham, a 49-14 winner over Manor. PN-G coach Brandon Faircloth said a venue for the game should be determined later today.
“You know, the team did great and the line blocked for me all night long,” said Harmon, whose 1,802 rushing yards on the year gives him the second-best rushing season in PN-G history.
“We just tried to prepare like the coaches showed this week and the thing about them is they played with a lot of heart. But we also played with a lot of heart.”
After taking a 7-0 lead in the second quarter off a Harmon score, PN-G’s offense sputtered until Harmon scored on a 10-yard run with 1:30 left in the third. A Zach Rhame extra point gave PN-G a 14-7 lead.
Barbers Hill (5-6, 4-3) had an effective offense in the first half as it was 5-of-7 on third down. But after PN-G tightened up, limiting Barbers Hill and its dual-threat quarterback Matthew Viverette. Viverette finished the game with only 26 rushing yards and 138 passing yards.
Viverette also had a fumble and two interceptions. PN-G’s David St. Clair picked off Viverette with 3:11 left in the fourth. That set up Harmon, who scored with 2:07 left giving PN-G a 21-7 lead after Rhame converted the extra point.
“I dont know if we made a whole lot of adjustments, but we are a second-half team,” said PN-G coach Brandon Faircloth. “We have smart football players and we played our best when we needed to.”
PN-G opened the second quarter by capping its 65-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run by Harmon. A Rhame extra point gave PN-G a 7-0 lead with 11:56.
Viverette retaliated by marching Barbers Hill down the field as he found Wade Duke on a six-yard pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:47 left following a Chris Frazier extra point.
With about nine minutes left in the half, Harmon had a three-yard run that moved him past Gordon LeBoeuf for the second-best single season rushing performance in school history.
LeBoeuf, who ran for 1,659 yards in 1954 as a junior, holds the school record by running for 2,150 yards in 1955.
Harmon’s three-yard run helped spur PN-G down the field but the offense stalled out with 6:10 left after Rhames 26-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/high-school/harmon_carries_pn-g…
