Published October 29, 2009 09:48 pm
By Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
BEAUMONT — When Jeff Nelson stepped into his own Associated Press Class 4A football voting booth Wednesday, the Beaumont Ozen coach had reached his conclusions about Port Neches-Groves.
“I certainly would vote them in the Top 10,” the Panthers’ first-year head coach said. “They’re as good as any team we have faced.”
The former Texas A&M football star and recent West Brook offensive coordinator, Nelson elaborated further on reasons for explaining that PN-G has compiled an 8-0 record and a state’s No. 8 ranking in the Class 4A AP poll.
“They have that tenacity that you love,” Nelson said. “The best way to describe that fine PN-G team is they’re going to test your preparedness.”
Nelson never gave the impression that his Panthers (3-5 and 2-3) want to merely make a nice showing tonight at 7:30 on The Reservation.
That would be a bit foreign to Ozen’s proud athletic heritage. Ozen started slowly and struggled badly against 5A powers West Brook and Memorial. An overtime win at Nederland started to help Nelson’s team to believe it could win.
“The playoff situation is complicated and we started slowly but what I do know is if we win Friday and against LC-M (next week), we’re in.”
Ozen’s coach listed as many as seven potential Super Team candidates when he examined his list of starters. That’s rather amazing for a team below .500. The Panthers are coming off a 50-23 setback with neighbor Beaumont Central, too.
“I think we can match up better as far as athlete to athlete against PN-G than we can against Central,” he said.
Unless the playoffs provide a Reservation curtain call, tonight likely will represent the last Indian Stadium football game for Indian chief Brandon Faircloth’s seniors.
Faircloth felt Nelson had done a great job with Ozen, despite its slow start.
“His situation is not much different than ours in some ways,” the Indians chief said. “They have been unlucky at times but their wins have been against some quality opponents.
“This will be a great test for our kids to see how we play against a team as fast as they are.”
Faircloth has listed a few changes in his starting lineup but the PN-G club has prepared this week with only one significant personnel change. A knee sprain in a non-contact situation is expected to sideline Indians’ junior left-footed kicker Dylan Browning.
Faircloth probably will be watching warmup kicks closely in pre-game to eyeball Zach Rhame and Kenric Martinez. Four other lineup changes will feature Kyler Nicotre at left tackle, Ben Parks at right guard, Hunter Denzlinger at corner and Christian Kerr at inside linebacker.
PN-G’s schedule certainly should enable the Indians to feel playoff-sharp when they enter their 4A Division II bidistrict week. The two Beaumont schools back-to-back assure the Tribe of getting up to speed.
Turnovers continue to top the charts of emphasis on defense. The Indians have soared to a plus 22 after welcoming early gifts last week at Lumberton.
“We did a good job of scoring off turnovers and making them pay for mistakes,” PN-G’s coach said.
While the rankings are nice, Faircloth and his coaches are trying to keep the focus on Ozen’s capability to ruin a perfect PN-G home season to date.
“We try not to look at it (the AP rating),” the team’s leading receiver Blake Reyenga said. “We just need to worry about Ozen.”
BMT OZEN AT PN-GROVES
When: Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Indian Stadium, Port Neches
Records: Bmt Ozen (3-5, 2-3); PN-G (8-0, 5-0)
Series: PN-G leads 6-2
Last year: Beaumont Ozen, 37-26
Internet videostream: Saturday at noon on panews.com, pngindians.com, SETXsports.com
TV: none
Radio: KCOL-FM 92.5
BMT OZEN OFFENSE
QB — Charles Durio (5)
FB — Leroy Jackson (14)
TB — Jarvis Fontenot (7)
WR — Jon Carl Trahan (3)
WR — Jacoby Anderson (13)
WR — Stanleigh Sullivan (15)
LT — Dewayne LeBlanc (52)
RT — Devante Shay (75)
LG — Jherick Campbell (55)
RG — Treyvon Walker (74)
C — Keyon Martin (50)
PN-G DEFENSE
SE — Taylor Thompson (42)
NT — Dallas Davis (90)
WE — D.J. Schexnider (33)
OLB — Nathan Raggio (17)
ILB — Christian Kerr (16)
ILB — Kane Benoit (12)
OLB — Blake Brooks (25)
LCB — Aaron Brandom (6)
RCB — Hunter Denzlinger (3)
SS — Kyler Cross (23)
FS — Dre’ Dunbar (8)
PN-G OFFENSE
LWR — Kyler Segura (5)
LT — Kyler Nicotre (70)
LG — Gabe Langlois (79)
C — Klete LeBlanc (56)
RG — Ben Parks (53)
RT — Greg Lunceford (77)
RWR — Spencer DeRon (19)
SLOT — Blake Reyenga (10)
WB — Ryan St. Clair (34)
QB — Brennan Doty (18)
RB — Caleb Harmon (7)
BMT OZEN DEFENSE
DE — Xzavian Jones (33)
DE — Tyrell Collins (56)
DT — Kenneth Clark (48)
DT — Terrell Raville (40)
LB — Ricky Francis (1)
LB — Pierre Harmon (4)
OLB — Tremaine Celestine (2)
CB — Brandon Ford (16)
CB — Xavier Zenn (10)
FS — Jacoby Anderson (13)
SS — Kameron Smith (6)
