Posted: Wednesday, October 1, 2014 12:49 am
By Gabriel Pruett
The News Sports Writer
PORT NECHES — Kaleb Sparks is having a lot of fun these days.
His Port Neches-Groves Indians are 3-1 overall, 1-0 in District 22-5A and ranked No. 20 in the latest AP poll.
Not only are the Indians winning, PN-G is winning big. The Indians have scored over 50 points the last two games. PN-G beat Chapel Hill 53-20 two weeks ago before knocking off Baytown Lee 56-7 last week to open district play.
“Scoring 50 points is always fun,” Sparks said. “It really shows off the hard work we have done during the week. Every guy on this team works hard at practice and putting up those types of numbers proves we are putting in the time.”
Sparks is a major reason why the Indians are on such an offensive roll as of late. He leads all receivers in the district with 31 receptions. He has 420 yards and a team-high four touchdown receptions.
“Kaleb isn’t a big guy at 5’7 but he is a complete receiver,” Indians coach Brandon Faircloth said. “He can catch, he can stretch the field and he can block. He is a receiver you love to have on your team.”
Sparks, the son of Brent and Terri Sparks, can already be called one of the best receivers to ever lace up the cleats at PN-G. Last year, he tied Joey Price for fifth in the PN-G record books for catches in a season with 51 receptions. Now he is on the path to make even more catches in his senior year.
“It is crazy this is my senior year,” Sparks said. “You look forward to this season your whole life and here it is. They say don’t blink because you will miss it and now I know how true that is.”
Sparks was able to learn under some great players before being a senior, one Jeremiah Rose who graduated as one of the best, if not the best, receiver in PN-G history.
This year it is time for Sparks to be the leader.
“It is very important for us seniors to always do the right thing,” Sparks added. “You want to set a good example for the younger guys. I remember looking up to the older players when I was young and now I try to remember there are always guys looking up to me. They are going to try and follow in your footsteps so you don’t want to steer them in the wrong direction.”
Sparks, obviously, loves catching the ball and scoring touchdowns off passes from quarterback Adam Morse.
The last two weeks, though, have seen opponents decide to force the Indians into running the ball. No problem for Sparks because one of his best friends on the team is running back Brant Halfin.
If Halfin has a good game, Sparks will be one of the biggest cheerleaders for his buddy, as long as the Indians grab the win.
“I love it,” Sparks said. “If a team decides to try and make us run the ball, I am fully confident Brant is going to make them pay. If a team wants to try and take Brant and the rest of our runners out the game, then us receivers and Adam are going to try and have a big game. All that matters is we keep winning.”
Sparks said the best game of the year for him, up to this point, was the night Morse set the PN-G passing record in the season opener. Morse threw for an Indians record 383 yards against Clear Lake.
“You don’t get many nights in your career that were record setting,” Sparks said. “To be a part of that, that was special.”
For a player who has accomplished so much, there is one thing Sparks has not been a part of that he wants to reverse this decision.
Sparks wants to bring the Bum Phillips Bowl Trophy home to The Reservation. It would take defeating the rival Nederland Bulldogs as the culmination of Mid County Madness on Oct. 17. Sparks and his fellow seniors have never beat the Indians. The last time PN-G knocked off Nederland was in 2009.
“The ultimate goal is the go undefeated in district,” Sparks said. “If we do that, that would lead to winning against Nederland and us getting that district title. I have wanted that since we took off our helmets last year. Beating Nederland would be huge for me personally and for this team.”
It is one game at a time for Sparks and the Indians, yet, it is special to see how Mid County Madness and the Bum Phillips Bowl Trophy is already starting to be the talk of both communities.
INDIAN INKLINGS: The last time the Indians scored 50 or more points in a game twice in a season was back in the state championship run year of 1999. That year PN-G beat Thomas Jefferson 59-7 and defeated Waller 54-28 in the regional round at the Astrodome. The Indians last scored 50 or more in a game before this year in 2011 with a 50-10 win over Lumberton. There have only been two seasons in PN-G history when the Indians scored over 50 three times in a year, the last coming back in 1971. In 1971, PN-G also set its high mark for points in a game after a 67-0 win over Pasadena Rayburn…PN-G has at least six games left on the schedule and that does not include the playoffs to keep adding to the mark
http://www.panews.com/sports/providing-pn-g-plenty-of-sparks/article_9f77d920-492e-11e4-a48e-0bf2a9980823.html
