WEST ORANGE – West Orange-Stark dug down and found some magic in the second half to down the Port Neches-Groves Indians 33-27 in overtime at Hooks Stadium.
Trailing 27-13 at the half and allowing the Indians (1-1) 291 yards, the Mustangs (2-0) rose up.
WO-S limited the Indians to just 57 yards in the second half and used the running of Grant LaPoint-Teate and quarterback Will Johnson to subdue PN-G.
LaPoint-Teate, who rushed for 167 yards on 25 carries, scored on a 13-yard run in overtime. The extra-point attempt was blocked as PN-G took over with a chance to tie it or win it.
However, WO-S defensive back Deionte Thompson picked off an Adam Morse pass in the end zone to seal it.
Johnson, a starting receiver, replaced starter Jack Dallas, who suffered a bruised knee on the first series of the game. Johnson rushed for 98 yards on 21 cqrries and passed for 98 more.
“Grant had a great game and the best thing about it is that he’s going to get better,” said WO-S coach Cornel Thompson. “Will stepped in and did an excellent job. He’s a superb athlete that does a little of it all for us. Our offensive line paved the way too.”
Morse completed 15-of-24 passes for 212 yards in the first half but was shut down in the second half, going just 1-for-6 for 14 yards and an interception.
Indian receiver Jack Giblin had eight catches for 127 yards and teammate Kaleb Sparks had six catches for 78 yards.
WO-S finished with 371 yards while the Indians had 348.
“We made some adjustments at the half and lined them up better in the second half,” said Thompson. “We put a little more pressure on Morse and the kids came up big. What can you say, it was just another great WO-S-PN-G game. We defeated a pretty good darn team tonight.”
WO-S had a chance to win it with 0:13 remaining but kicker Hector Vela was just wide-left on a 25-yard field goal attempt after the Mustangs drove from their own 44 to the Indian 9.
The Mustangs drove in for the tying score by going 48 yards in three plays. LaPoint-Teate ripped off a 27-yard run and Johnson followed with a 17-yard scamper to the four. Two plays later Johnson sneaked it in from the one and kicker Hector Vela booted the extra-point to make it 27-27 with 4:07 left.
The Mustangs answered in fine fashion to start the second half by zipping 59 yards in eight plays to pull to within 27-20.
Johnson found Thompson in the right flat and Thompson broke a PN-G tackle and took it 31 yards for the score with 8:36 in the third.
The Mustangs missed a golden opportunity in the middle of the third. Mustang Kalen Garrett picked off Morse at the PN-G 29 with 7:44 in the third.
The Mustangs marched all the way to the PN-G 2. However, PN-G linebackers Logan Lejeune and Ben Ramirez stuffed Johnson on fourth-and-2 with a little more than three minutes in the third.
PN-G engineered a six-play, 68-yard scoring drive in the first quarter due to Morse’s arm and his receivers.
Morse hit Giblin on a 31-yard strike down the right sideline to the Mustang 32. Two plays later, Morse found Sparks for a 21-yard gain to the Mustang 10.
On third-and-goal from the 17, Morse hit Sparks on a nice crossing pattern over the middle of the end zone for the touchdown.
Morse and Sparks connected on the two-point conversion kick as the Indians led 8-0 with 5:58 left in the first period.
On the ensuing drive, Mustang quarterback Jack Dallas got hurt after he was hit late by the Indians on a pass attempt. Receiver Will Johnson came in and led the Mustangs 40 yards in six plays to hit paydirt.
Johnson completed his first pass of the season, a 13-yarder to back Trey Baldwin.
Johnson followed that with a 14-yard keeper to the 1 and he capped it with a sneak on the next play for the score. Johnson added the extra point as WO-S trailed 8-7 with 4:08 in the first.
PN-G drove from its own nine all the way to the Mustang 8 in 11 plays but the Mustang defense held firm, forcing two Morse incompletions in the end zone and the Indians settled for a 27-yard field goal by Brant Dykes with 9:01 left in the half to make it 11-7.
The Indians marched 73 yards in seven plays to find the end zone late in the second quarter, getting it mostly done on the ground.
Morse had a beautiful 13-yard bootleg carry that got to the WO-S 24. On the next play, tailback Brant Halfin got looose, going 24 yards to the end zone off right tackle to push the Indian lead to 18-7 with 3:34 in the half.
WO-S battled right back, navigating 65 yards in seven plays to find the end zone.
LaPoint-Teate busted loose on a 24-yard scamper to the PN-G 41. After picking up a pair of first downs, WO-S faced a third-and-1 from the 20 and LaPoint-Teate got loose again, this time going over the right side for a 20-yard touchdown jaunt.
The Indians reatlaited by blocking the extra point and PN-G’s Anthony Anniboli brought it all the way back 90 yards for two points to make it 20-13.
The Indians closed the half by zipping 80 yards in eight plays with Morse showcasing Giblin. Giblin caught five passes for the entire 80 yards. He hauled in a big 33-yard gainer to the WO-S 23 and two plays later scored, when Morse threw him a dart over the middle of the end zone as PN-G puahed the lead 27-13 with 0:40 in the half.
The Mustangs saw a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown by Deionte Thompson with 8:55 in the first period get nullified by a block in the back.
The Indians piled up 291 yards in the half with Morse going 15-of-24 for 212 yards. Giblin hauled in eight catches for 127 yards while Sparks grabbed five catches for 64 yards.
WO-S gained 150 total yards. LaPoint-Teate had 59 yards on 10 carries while Johnson had eight totes for 48 yards.
The Mustangs will visit old rival Jasper next week. The Indians will have their bye week next week and will take on Tyler Chapel Hill Sept. 19 in Lufkin.
WO-S 7 6 7 13— 33
PN-G 8 19 0 0 — 27
Scoring summary
PN-G: Kaleb Sparks 17 pass from Adam Morse. Sparks pass from Morse.
WO-S: Will Johnson 1 run. Johnson kick.
PN-G: Brant Dykes 27 field goal.
PN-G: Brant Halfin 24 run. Dykes kick.
WO-S: Grant LaPoint-Teate 20 run. Kick blocked.
PN-G: Anthony Anniboli 90 return of blocked extra-point.
PN-G: Jack Giblin 13 pass from Morse. Dykes kick.
WO-S: Deionte Thompson 31 pass from Will Johnson. Hector Vela kick.
WO-S: Johnson 1 run. Vela kick.
———
WO-S PN-G
First downs 23 25
Rushes-yards 47-267 30-89
Passing 108 259
Comp-Att-Int 10-20-0 17-31-2
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 8-70 13-108
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: WO-S, Grant LaPoint-Teate 25-167, Will Johnson 21-98, Trey Baldwin 1-2,; PN-G, Brant Halfin 14-60, Adam Morse 16-29
Passing: WO-S, Jack Dallas1-1-0 10, Will Johnson 9-19-98; PN-G, Adam Morse 16-30-2 226, Jack Giblin 1-1-0 33
Receiving: WO-S, Deionte Thompson 4-65, Jeron Preston 2-12, Grant LaPoint-Teate 1-8, Trey Baldwin 1-13, Chris Brown 1-5, PN-G, Jack Giblin 8-127, Kaleb Sparks 6-78, Michael Hughes 1-33, Caisen Sulivan1-14, Blake Lane 1-7
http://www.orangeleader.com/sports/article_940aaff0-3587-11e4-9a63-001a4…
