DAUCY CRIZER
PORT NECHES — Friday’s homecoming game between Port Neches-Groves and Lumberton at The Reservation was a battle between District 22-4A’s only two undefeated teams. A game of this magnitude sometimes fails to live up to the billing. That was definitely not the case before on this night.
The Indians defense held the district’s top runner, Cody Hussey, in check for much of the game. Harrison Tatum turned in a near flawless night running the PN-G offense and old reliable Jacob Hemmings wore down the Raiders defense to the tune of 99 second half yards.
In the end, PN-G needed one last defensive stand to hold off Lumberton and preserve a 31-24 win, which gave the Indians sole possession of first place in the district.
“It was a well played ball game all the way through,” said PN-G coach Matt Burnett. “They’re (Lumberton) very good and they found ways to move the ball on us throwing it. Thank goodness tonight our offense is what won the game with their ability to score points.
“It was a total team effort tonight. The offense made some big plays. Defensively, we did what we had to. I’m just happy to be 4-0.”
Lumberton (6-1, 3-1), which suffered its first loss of the season, took the opening kickoff and made the first big play of the game. Bryce DeJohn hooked up with Jonathan Bell on a 41-yard post route to set up first-and-goal at the PN-G 7.
On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Hussey barreled his way over the goal line to give the Raiders a quick 7-0 lead.
PN-G (5-2, 4-0) answered right back on its first drive. A steady diet of Hemmings and Joshua Wright took the ball inside the Lumberton 20. The drive stalled and Mason English put the Indians on the board with a 28-yard field goal.
The Raiders drove to the Indians 16 on their second drive of the game. That’s as far as they would get and Trace Freeman’s 33-yard field goal put Lumberton up 10-3.
In true heavyweight prize fight fashion, PN-G countered by scoring touchdowns on its next three possessions.
On first-and-10 from the Lumberton 30, Tatum hit Matt Johnson on a 30-yard scoring strike to tie the game at 10-10. Tatum froze the Raider defense back with a well executed pump fake, which left Johnson virtually uncovered heading down the sideline towards the goal line.
“Tatum is a big part of our offense because if he’s completing passes then the other team can’t load up to stop our running game,” said Burnett of his junior quarterback, who completed 13-of-15 passes for 185 yards. “He completed some passes early tonight and just kept going. That kept the secondary from stacking the line of scrimmage, which allowed us to run some dives and get our running game going.”
It took a big defensive effort by the Indians to stop Lumberton on its third possession. On fourth-and-goal from the PN-G 25, Hussey was hit at the line of scrimmage by Clint Burnett and Brett Doty for no gain.
The Indians used the momentum and mounted a scoring drive to close out the first half. Tatum and Johnson hooked up again for a 39-yard pass play to give the Indians a first down at the Raiders 17.
A 14-yard completion from Tatum to Doty made it first-and-goal at the 5. Faced with a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with just 13 seconds left in the half, Burnett and the Indians rolled the dice. The move paid off as Tatum scored on a quarterback sneak to give PN-G a 17-10 halftime lead.
PN-G took the second half kickoff and ran the ball right at the Lumberton defense. Hemmings carried the ball four times for 34 yards, including a 6-yard TD run to cap the drive. That put the Indians up 24-10.
Lumberton took advantage of the game’s only turnover to pull within a touchdown. B.J. Belt intercepted Tatum, which was his only blemish of the night.
DeJohn and Aaron Credeur connected on two big pass plays. The first went for 21 yards. The second covered 29 yards and resulted in a touchdown when Credeur broke a tackle, tight-roped the sideline and dove just inside the pylon to make the score 24-17.
Once again, PN-G rose to the occasion. Needing another scoring drive to create some breathing room, the Indians turned to Hemmings once again. He carried the ball three straight times for 30 yards. Wright capped the drive with a 12-yard scoring run to make the score 31-17.
Lumberton wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. Taking over with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter, DeJohn drove the Raiders into PN-G territory. Faced with a crucial fourth-and-2 at the 36, DeJohn handed the ball off to running back Jacob Hanna, who raced 36-yards for a TD and make the score 31-24.
The Raiders’ on-sides kick was unsuccessful, but their defense forced PN-G to punt with 1:44 remaining in the game. Taking over at his own 11, DeJohn threw four straight incompletions to end the game.
Hemmings, who had 15 yards on six carries in the first half, exploded for 99 yards on 13 totes in the second half and led all rushers with 114 yards. Wright added 50 yards on eight carries.
“I got together with the coaches at halftime and noticed they were giving us an off-tackle hole. We just gave it to Hemmings. He just runs over you and it’s intimidating,” Burnett said.
“We were still able to throw the ball, hitting some slants and hitches. My hat’s off to Lumberton. They did a great job. Tonight’s game could have gone either way.”
Hussey, who entered the game with 710 yards rushing, was limited to 57 yards on 16 carries. DeJohn completed 16-of-33 passes for 228 yards. Lumberton had the district’s top-rated offense and defense, but surrendered 367 yards of total offense to the Indians.
“The game was physical and I knew it would be,” said Lumberton coach Alvin Credeur. “Both teams played hard and played well. It could have gone either way. Our kids fought. We were down two touchdowns with less than four minutes left and they kept believing.
“Now we have to bounce back next week. In this district, you don’t have time to hang your head. You better get your head up and come back ready because the next team is waiting on you.”
