Daniel Maher | BeaumontEnterprise.com
Updated 1:52 am CDT, Saturday, October 5, 2019
VIDOR- The wee hours of Saturday morning were much kinder to Port Neches- Groves than the late hours of Friday night as the Indians scored two late touchdowns to come from behind for an 18-10 win over Vidor in a District 12-5A-II contest at Pirate Stadium that was significantly delayed twice by lightning.
PN-G (4-1 overall, 2-0 district) struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first half of the game, which was bookended by a 40-minute delay that postponed kickoff and a more than two-hour delay that interrupted the second quarter with just 31 seconds remaining.
But on its first possession of the final quarter, PN-G crisply executed a 66-yard march over 13 plays, using eight straight short completions by Blake Bost to carve up the Pirates defense and set them up for a 1-yard Bost keeper with 5:34 left.
A Vidor personal foul on the touchdown gave PN-G a good chance for a two-point conversion. Zane Hernandez added the conversion off a direct snap to the tailback, providing PN-G an 11-10 lead.
“We just knew we could get those short passes on them, and we really wanted to get to the end zone,” Bost said.
Vidor’s attempt to rally was ended by a botched desperation flea flicker on fourth down that resulted in a fumble recovered by Donald Kinnett at Vidor’s 23. Just two plays later, it was Bost who found the end zone again, keeping the ball on a read option and racing 19 yards around left end to extend PN-G’s lead to 18-10.
The Pirates (2-2, 1-1) fumbled again on their final possession losing the ball near midfield in the final minute, their third lost fumble of the half.
It was Vidor’s first lost fumble of the half, just two plays into the third quarter that turned the game around, enabling PN-G to score the game’s final 18 points.
Vidor lost the ball at its own 10 on that occasion, but made the Indians settle for a 29-yard field goal by Tate Sandell.
That score offset a Vidor field goal by Danny Lee on the final play of the first half.
There wasn’t a halftime period in the game due to the lengthy in-game lightning delay, so PN-G immediately kicked off to Vidor to start the second half.
Vidor took advantage of PN-G mistakes to build its 10-0 halftime advantage, being propelled toward their late first-half field goal by two PN-G personal fouls.
The Pirates scored the only first half touchdown on a 64-yard drive after a defensive stop on the first play of the second quarter gave them the ball on downs.
Up to that point, Vidor had only netted 21 total yards and one first down. But five different Pirates carried the ball on a solid drive that was highlighted by a 24-yard carry on third-and-4 by Zach Seigrist, who then scored a 6-yard touchdown two plays later to give Vidor a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
In the second half, though, it was Vidor that was more error prone, leaving coach Jeff Mathews to bemoan a lost chance to upset PN-G.
“We had back-to-back holding penalties deep in their territory that stopped a drive and then we committed a personal foul after their touchdown. Those were stupid mistakes and you can’t do that against a top ten team in the state,” he said. “They made the plays in the second half and we didn’t.”
Bost completed 17 of 29 passes for 135 yards with one interception. PN-G’s Brady Nail led all receivers with 55 yards on seven catches. Seigrist was the game’s leading rusher, amassing 61 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
“It was great the way our team came back after a rocky start,” said Bost. “We really wanted this win badly and we came together to get it.”
