RYAN S. CLARK Published 12:00 am, Friday, November 6, 2009
As a guy that has gone defeated five times as an assistant coach, Port Neches-Groves coach Brandon Faircloth said luck plays a big part.
He wasn’t kidding.
After Central running back Nijel Daw scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 43 seconds left, PN-G could’ve folded.
But the Indians instead blocked the extra point, and returned it the length of the field to tie the game at 22-22 with 43 seconds left. Kicker Zach Rhame later hit a 23-yarder in double overtime, giving PN-G a 25-22 win on Friday at Zaharias Stadium. The win gives PN-G its first undefeated regular season since 1977 and it also gives PN-G the district title with a 7-0 record.
PN-G will enter the playoffs with a 10-0 record as it will face Mont Belvieu Barbers Hill.
As for Central, which finishes the regular season at 7-3, 5-2, it will take on Goose Creek Memorial to open the playoffs.
Central’s offense sputtered for most of the fourth quarter until it put together a late drive that was capped with Daw’s touchdown run.
Both teams then failed to score in the first overtime period. In the second overtime, Central came up short as Daw fell one yard short on fourth and one. That set up PN-G, which used a 16-yard Brennan Doty pass to Spencer DeRon to get in position for the game-winning field goal.
Following the field goal, PN-G’s players and coaches spilled onto the field in celebration as Central trudged off the field in its last regular season home game at Zaharias Stadium.
Central took a 16-7 lead at half, but PN-G came back in the third quarter by scoring 13 points off a 4-yard run from Caleb Harmon and a 10-yard pass from Doty to DeRon.
Harmon, who entered the game as the area’s leading rusher, finished with 140 yards on 29 carries while DeRon had 112 receiving yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
Central’s opening drive started off strong but sputtered towards the end, resulting in Cardenas knocking in a 31-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Even though Central’s offense picked up towards the end of the first half, the defense chipped in with a touchdown of its own. Harmon received a handoff and fumbled after he was smacked from behind by defensive back Byron Samuels at the Indians 25.
Linebacker and University of Utah commit Jacoby Hale recovered Harmon’s mishap and ran 75 yards to give Central a 9-0 lead with 11:33 left after Cardenas missed the extra point.
PN-G cut the lead to 9-7 on its next series as Doty found his favorite target, DeRon, on a post route for a 43-yard touchdown with 9:41 left following a Rhame extra point.
Central responded before the half ended. Even though PN-G had been able to sniff out the option, it wasn’t so lucky when Central quarterback Donte Wilkerson got rid of the ball just in time, and O’Neal slashed up field for a 30-yard touchdown run. A Cardenas extra point extended Central’s lead to 16-7 with 3:08 left.
