By LARRY BODIN
Port Arthur News Special Correspondent
PORT NECHES – A brand new Indian scoreboard with all the bells and whistles was unveiled to a highly partisan Purple and White gathering here Friday at the Reservation.
And before the first quarter had concluded, Port Neches-Groves’ win-starved Indians provided their new toy a thorough test.
Scoring the first three times they touched the football in the initial stanza, the Indians evened their 2000 season mark at 2-2 with a business-like 38-7 victory over winless Kelly.
“We wanted to control the clock and establish some running game, and throw if we needed to,” said PN-G head coach Matt Burnett. “We won by a good margin and we needed that. We knew we had to control the game early, so we didn’t take a lot of chances. We just tried to play good old fashioned football.”
“Offensively we still need some improvement, no doubt about it. I wasn’t pleased that midway in the second and third quarters, we’d get some things going, then we’d do something to hurt ourselves. We still need some work offensively.”
Though Kelly quarterback Peter Maida completed 21-of-40 passes for 181 yards and no interceptions, the Indian defense totally throttled the Bulldog running game. The Indians had difficulty with standout Kelly receiver Tiger Redmon, who caught eight passes for 108 yards in the game.
Kelly, though, managed only 12 yards rushing on 18 carries.
PN-G, on the other hand, got great first half performances from junior halfback Brady Flores and senior defensive back Troy Cooley, both who set the tone early. It was a tone that saw Flores score a pair of touchdowns on runs of 17 and eight yards in the first period.
On the other side of the ball, the ball-hawking Cooley, a 5-9,160-pounder, intercepted an Andrew Burke halfback pass in the second period. Cooley then got into the scoring act himself a few minutes later when he roared in from the right side to block an Anthony Luparello 32-yard field goal attempt.
Amazingly, Cooley blocked the kick and caught it in one motion before it touched the ground, then it was all over but the shouting as the Indian senior raced 78 yards for a touchdown and a 31-0 Indian margin with still 4:40 left in the half.
Price’s 26-yard punt return also set up his own 22-yard field goal, making it a 24-0 Indian lead with nearly nine minutes left to play before intermission
Port Neches-Groves used three quarterbacks in this one and each athlete had success. Starter Kirk Hallmark threw for one score and completed 5-of-12 for 49 yards.
Making his 2000 debut was senior Cody Elkins, who had not played this year due to a broken hand. Elkins, though, displayed good running skills as he dashed for 49 yards on 10 carries.
Senior Tony Bowser also had a good night as he completed his only three attempts for 48 yards and the lone score of the second half, a 26-yard aerial to Price with 1:10 left in the game and a 38-7 Indian lead.
Kelly, which won the opening coin toss, and little thereafter, elected to play defense on the opening series and the decision backfired.
Burnett’s outfit proceeded to drive 69 yards in nine plays to break out on top at 7-0 with only 4:16 gone in the first period. Flores, a 5-9, 175-pound junior, scored the first of his two first quarter touchdowns when he dashed 17 yards at the 7:42 mark of the first. Flores had set up his own score by grabbing a Hallmark 22-yard strike just seconds earlier.
Flores would also do his magic on an eight-yard TD gallop a little later, culminating a four-play, 25-yard touchdown drive set up by an Indian fumble recovery at the Kelly 25. With 2:40 still remaining in the first quarter, PN-G faithful had already seen their favorite team on top by a 21-0 margin.
The Indian running game finished the night with 181 yards, while the air attack netted 109 for a total offense of 290 yards.
On Kelly’s opening series, a Jeff Leblanc sack of Bulldog quarterback Maida forced the visitors to punt from their own 15. Price gathered in the 31-yard punt and set sail for the goal, but was tripped up at the Bulldog 21 after a fine 26-yard return.
Two plays later, Hallmark found tight end Jared Gary all alone on the left side, hit him with a perfect pass, and the 220-pound senior rambled in for PN-G’s second score in as many series from 19 yards out. After Price’s second of five successful PATs, the hosts led 14-0.
Kelly’s top offensive scheme of the night came just before halftime when it drove 80 yards in 12 plays with the capper coming on a six-yard scoring strike from Maida to Ruparello with just 1:15 left in the half.
In this impressive drive, Maida displayed a brilliant right arm as he went to the airways on 11 of the series’ 12 plays, completing passes of 5, 5, 7, 17, 5, 15, 9, 24, and 6 yards. Redmon was the main cog in the drive as grabbed Maida aerials of 17, 15, and 24 yards in the scoring march.
