By Gabriel Pruett | PANews.com
Published 11:54 pm Thursday, October 22, 2015
PORT NECHES — There was only one way Brandon Faircloth and the Port Neches-Groves Indians knew how to get over the loss to Nederland — start preparing for the Beaumont Ozen Panthers.
Faircloth admitted it was a tough weekend after his Indians fell 30-27 to the Bulldogs in the Bum Phillips Bowl. When Monday came around, it was back to work.
“The way to get over it is watch the Ozen film,” Faircloth said. “They are really good and talented. It is not hard to move on when you see who you are playing this week.
“There was no hangover. We take one game at a time. We lost on a field goal with [two] seconds to go. It was a tough weekend but our kids understand there is a lot of season left.”
Faircloth said his team rallied behind the seniors on Monday to get past the latest loss to the Bulldogs.
“We have a mature team,” he said. “No doubt they were disappointed. We don’t have a choice but to move on. The players, the coaches and players’ parents, we don’t have a choice because we have to move on.
“We have a game this week. We have a tough game at The Butch against Ozen. That will get your attention pretty quickly. Nobody in our district has time to feel sorry for themselves. You look at your next opponent. We have to go back to having good practices and be ready to play on Friday night.”
Ozen was quick to grab Faircloth’s attention because the Panthers offense ranks second in District 22-5A. The Panthers average 441.2 yards per game.
Leading the way for Ozen is junior running back Calvin Tyler. He is the district’s top rusher with 1,197 yards on 145 carries with 16 touchdowns.
“He is a great player,” Faircloth said. “They have a really good offensive line in front of him. He is a complete player who can also catch the football out of the backfield.”
Josh Boyd is a three-year starter at quarterback for the Panthers. He has thrown for 1,242 yards on 70-of-121 passing with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Boyd has rushed for 363 yards on 76 carries with two scores.
“Josh is a true dual-threat quarterback,” Faircloth said. “We’ve had to play against him since his sophomore year. He is also on their basketball team. He is probably the greatest athlete in our district, in my opinion. He is very talented. He has a great arm and great legs. There is a reason he gets back up, no matter how many times you hit him. He is the biggest kid on the field. He is not getting hurt when he gets hit. You have to get two or three guys on him to take him down.”
PN-G—OZEN MATCHUP
Offense
• PN-G: 423.3 yards per game (173.7 rushing, 249.5 passing); leaders Adam Morse (senior QB, 1,727 yards on 119-of-183 passing with 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions) and Caisen Sullivan (senior WR, 520 yards on 38 receptions with 8 touchdowns)
• Ozen: 441.2 yards per game (256.8 rushing, 184.4 passing); leaders Calvin Tyler (junior RB, 1197 yards on 145 carries with 16 touchdowns) and Josh Boyd (senior QB, 1,242 yards on 70-of-121 passing with 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions)
Defense
• PN-G: 248.1 yards per game allowed (136 rushing, 112.1 passing)
• Ozen: 355 yards per game allowed (241.7 rushing, 113.2 passing)
Sound bytes
• PN-G coach Brandon Faircloth: “I consider Coach [David] Suggs a good friend. He has done a great job. He has them ready to play and he does it the right way. I have enjoyed getting to know him. He has a lot of wins. He is tough to coach against. The way we came back last week is a reflection of these kids and their parents. At PN-G, we are going to play for 48 minutes, no matter the situation. We came all the way back to tie it up. I was proud of our effort. We made a bunch of great plays and just came up short at the end. We are devastated by the score, but we are proud of our character and fight. PN-G has played that way since 1925 and we will continue to play that way. Sometimes you come up short and you have to rebound and go to the next game.”
• Ozen coach David Suggs: “We absolutely have to have this game. We are trying to iron out some of the mistakes we have made this year. We have been mistake-laden through a few games and had some injuries with not a lot of depth. Sometimes losing one player feels like you have lost three but that cannot be an excuse. You still have to go out and do your job. PN-G is a good football team. They always play well regardless of the opponent. They do a real good job in all phases of the game and are real sound in all the fundamentals. It is going to be a great atmosphere. That is what high school football is all about. Both sides are going to be ready to support their football team.”
Source: http://www.panews.com/2015/10/22/indians-quick-to-move-past-bum-bowl/#sthash.CsKngzGZ.dpuf
