By Gabriel Pruett | PANews.com
LUFKIN — Well, so much for the highly contested game Brandon Faircloth and his Port Neches-Groves Indians expected out of Tyler Chapel Hill.
The most difficult part of the night was the news of an injury to junior receiver Jack Giblin. A text from Port Neches-Groves ISD superintendent Rodney Cavness circulated in the press box at Abe Martin Stadium that reported Giblin is lost for the season.
Faircloth confirmed the injury after PN-G’s 53-20 victory over the Bulldogs to move the Indians to 2-1 heading into next week’s Districrt 22-5A opener at home against Baytown Sterling. Giblin’s junior year was off to a great start. It ends with him catching 17 balls for 312 with three touchdowns.
The Indians put up 606 yards of offense with 341 coming on the ground and 265 off the arm of quarterback Adam Morse. Morse is now knocking on the 1,000-yard marker for the season, with 907 in the air with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Brant Halfin had his best outing of the season with a team-high 171 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Halfin entered the game with 128 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Even though he was able to get over the 150-yard mark, Halfin was also very excited to see a second PN-G running back go over century mark. Kody Cropper finished with 107 yards and a score.
“It is always fun going up against great competition from like a team Chapel Hill,” Halfin said. “The week of practice we had this week is the reason we won this game. Coach Faircloth had us prepared after the loss against West Orange two weeks ago and we were fired up for this one.”
Friday’s balanced offense is exactly what Faircloth has been waiting on out of Indians all season long.
Morse finished 16-for-26 passing but threw two interceptions. Morse made up for the mistakes with his help in the run game. He had three rushing touchdowns and 49 yards on 10 carries.
“When we are balanced that is when we are the most effective,” Faircloth said. “It was very important to have that type of game from Brant tonight. You want to go into the first district game with each phase clicking. Tonight we accomplished that goal and Kody did a great job as well. It is nice having both those guys at tailback.”
Halfin said one of the biggest reasons Cropper will continue to be an important piece of the PN-G success is the rest the two runners can get for each other.
“We will have fresh legs,” Halfin said. “He is just like Darren Sproles. Teams can’t find the guy. “Our offensive line played huge tonight. I wish people could have seen what I saw in the size of those holes. It makes Cody and my job so easy to run.”
Kaleb Sparks continued to be the lead receiver for the Indians with seven catches for 136 yards and a score. Caisen Sullivan grabbed four passes for 48 yards.
While the PN-G offense was rolling up over 600 yards of offense, the defense forced Chapel (1-3) into turning the ball over four times.
Ky Walker, Christian Langston and Luke Morris each had fumble recoveries while Bryce Meche picked off Chapel Hill quarterback Gabriel Robinson.
Robinson would finish the game 5-for-15 pssing for 56 yards. The Bulldogs gained 214 yards on 38 carries.
“Our defense was big tonight,” Faircloth said. “We take a lot of pride on defense and those guys are working to be the best they can be. Now the fun begins. But we can’t take this win and think things will come easy.”
Chapel Hill got a team-high 81 yards on nine carries from Ja’Braylon Franklin. Delaris Garrett only had 16 yards in the game but he scored all three Bulldogs touchdowns.
The first half belonged to the home team Indians.
PN-G rolled up 344 yards of offense, with 192 in the air and 152 on the ground.
Morse was all over the place in the game’s first 24 minutes. He rushed for two touchdowns and 31 yards on seven keepers and his first half passing continued his excellent start to 2014.
He was 17-for-21 passing for 192 yards and a score.
The touchdown was a beauty to Kaleb Sparks who had seven first half receptions for 111 yards.
Halfin also had two rushing touchdowns in the first two quarters to go with 45 yards on 12 carries.
Halfin scored on the game’s first drive and then scored again at the end of the Indians third possession to make it 12-0 after two failed PAT attempts.
Port Neches-Groves 53, Tyler Chapel Hill 20
1 2 3 4 T
TCH 0 6 7 7- 20
PNG 12 28 6 7- 53
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
PNG: Brant Halfin 3 run. Kick failed
PNG: Brant Halfin 5 run. Kick failed
Second Quarter
PNG: Kaleb Sparks 34 pass from Adam Morse. Brant Dykes kick.
PNG: Kody Cropper 1 run. Dykes kick.
TCH: Delaris Garrett 2 run. Kick failed
PNG: Adam Morse 3 run. Dykes kick.
PNG: Morse 2 run. Dykes kick.
Third Quarter
TCH: Garrett 3 run. Zack Walters kick.
Fourth Quarter
PNG: Morse 2 run. Kick failed
PNG: Halfin 17 run. Dykes kick.
TCH : Garrett 3 run. Walters kick
TEAM STATISTICS
CHILL PNG
First downs 17 25
Rushes-yards 38-214 47-341
Passing yards 56 265
Total yards 270 606
Comp-Att-Int 5-15-1 18-25-2
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 1-0
Penalties-yards 6-48 4-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: CH, Ja’Braylon Franklin 9-87, Wesley Thompson 4-66, Josh Booth 5-55,Delaris Garrett 5-16, Gabriel Robinson 6-5, Reggie King 2-(-5), Kenyottat Henderson 3-2, Jeffery Minor 2-(-1), Kevone Kennedy 1-(-30).; PN-G, Brant Halfin 23-171, Kody Cropper 12-107, Adam Morse 10-49, 3-14.
Passing: CH, Robinson 5-15-1 56. ; PN-G, Adam Morse 18-25-2-265.
Receiving: CH, Henderson 3-39, Mike McCollister 2-17 ; PN-G, Kaleb Sparks 7-136, Keynel McZeal 4-48, Caisen Sullivan 4-31, Jack Giblin 3-50.
