BEAUMONT — The best medicine for a heartbreaking defeat is for players and coaches to get back on the field as quick as possible.
The Port Neches-Groves officially put the loss to Nederland behind them with a convincing 36-13 win over Beaumont Ozen Friday at the Thomas Center.
PN-G (6-2, 4-1) put up 21 points in a game-changing second quarter to lead 28-13 at the half and the Indians never looked back.
Quarterback Adam Morse and receiver Caisen Sullivan hooked up three times for touchdowns, all in the first half. Sullivan had touchdown grabs of 12, 7 and 41 yards. The third was a thing of beauty as the senior Lamar commit went up and over the Ozen (3-5, 1-4) defender to grab the ball and then spun his way into the end zone.
Sullivan ended the night with 10 catches for 139 yards.
“It feels great,” Sullivan said. “Last week we couldn’t pull it through and we had a great week of practice. We were angry all week and it showed. We wanted to get back on the field last Saturday. We wanted to play again as quick as we could.”
The Indians were fast and furious in the first half. PN-G had 226 of its 444 yards in the first two quarters.
Morse was 14-of-19 passing in the first half alone with 226 yards and four touchdowns. The senior finished his night 15-of-21 passing for 237 yards with no interceptions.
“I put last Friday behind me last Friday,” Morse said. “Looking at the guys at practice this week, it was the best practices we have had all year. Everyone did their job.”
Morse was a perfect 6-of-6 throwing in the Indians’ opening drive that went 67 yards and ended with Sullivan in the end zone from 12 yards out with 8:45 left.
Ozen put its best drive of the night together right after the PN-G score, and it featured a heavy dose of running back Calvin Tyler.
Tyler had 22 yards on seven carries in the drive, but it was quarterback Josh Boyd who capped it with a 22-yard touchdown scamper to tie the game. Tyler later put the Panthers on top with a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:49 left in the first half.
From there it was all Indians. PN-G answered by scoring 29 unanswered points.
Indians running back Kody Cropper hauled in Morse’s fourth touchdown in the first half and scored from 31 yards out. He had dropped the ball on the same exact play earlier in the second and this time made up for it.
Cropper with 7:05 left in the game went 80 yards for the touchdown and outran several Panthers defenders for the last 50 yards of the play.
The final PN-G touchdown was set up by an interception by safety Bryce Meche.
Meche and the Indians defense did its job against Tyler, who could only muster up 88 yards on 25 carries. Boyd finished with 107 on 18.
“I knew we would respond,” PN-G coach Brandon Faircloth said. “That is the kind of kids we have at PN-G. You can’t worry about the past. They had a great week of practice. We don’t have to get them ready to play. Anytime they put on the purple and white, their effort is unmatched.
“Sometimes you end up on the short end of things and you have to pick yourselves back up. That is what life is about. Life is tough and you go through hard times. They came out and beat a really good Ozen team tonight.”
The Panthers had 350 total yards. Ozen had a drive to start the third quarter that chewed up more than 7 minutes in 14 plays. It ended when PN-G stopped Tyler on a fourth-and-goal.