Tom Halliburton | BeaumontEnterprise.com
NATCHITOCHES, LA. – Port Neches-Groves fought hard, but Texarkana’s senior crop of Texas High Tigers were too fast and athletic.
This 5A Division II regional semifinal playoff game turned into a 13-0 deficit for coach Brandon Faircloth’s squad in less than two minutes. The PN-G season ended at 8-5 after Texas High recorded a 44-21 victory on a chilly Friday night at Northwestern State’s Turpin Stadium.
Texas High (12-0) advanced to next weekend’s regional championship round against District 12 champion Crosby, a 53-50 winner over A&M Consolidated.
Texas High struck quickly on both sides of the ball. Senior running back Braylon Stewart ran 14 times for 190 yards in less than three quarters, scoring three touchdowns.
The 5-foot-9 Stewart, a 4.6 speedster, reached the end zone on Texas High’s first snap of each half. His scoring runs covered 54, 48 and 34 yards.
Senior Brayson McHenry completed 13 of 21 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. McHenry connected with six different receivers. It can be argued that the Tigers quarterback deserved better stats, but his receivers had not been in the habit of catching passes in 43-degree temperatures.
While none of the Tigers receivers grabbed more than three passes or 50 receiving yards, PN-G’s Chance Prosperie certainly did that and more. The junior wide receiver snagged nine receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including some acrobatic catches worthy of any highlight reel.
Prosperie lunged for a headfirst end zone dive to complete the night’s scoring on a 38-yard pass from Cole Crippen with 2:58 to play. That catch enabled Crippen to end with 16 of 39 passes for 225 yards.
A back-shoulder fade of 9 yards from Crippen to Prosperie cut the gap to 44-14 with 11:19 left in the game. Texas High wisely went to the ground game at that point, chewing up the next six minutes.
Texas High dominated the ground game, 245 rushing yards to 90. District 12-5A’s leading rusher, PN-G’s senior tailback Koby Trahan, carried 17 times for 86 yards, bravely rebounding from last week’s leg injury.
Trahan rambled for 22 and 11 yards on the buck sweep during PN-G’s only first-half scoring drive. But Texas High’s defensive superiority was obvious as the Tigers trapped PN-G for negative yardage on eight plays.
Crippen and his ball carriers had trouble, getting separation from junior tackle Brandon Childs, junior defensive end Ean Crite and senior end Derrick Brown.
When Crippen rolled to his left and tried to find Prosperie on a slant across the middle, Tigers linebacker Darrin Findley completely ruined PN-G’s second possession with a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown. That runback gave Texas High a 13-0 edge just 1:48 into the game.
PN-G threatened to get back into the game early in the second quarter before Texas High’s defense flashed its closing speed again at a critical moment. They called a misdirection draw play to sophomore running back Chase Johnson on fourth and 2 at the Tigers 43. Linebacker Ja Tyson sliced into the backfield and dropped Johnson for an 11-yard loss.
Texas High’s seasoned quarterback McHenry needed only four plays to fatten the lead to 27-0. Tigers top receiver T.J. Gray (3 for 41) got open on a double-move to burn PN-G for 30 yards. McHenry kept the ball on the next play for the score.
