PORT ARTHUR — It was fun while it lasted. And it lasted almost forever.

Memorial defensive back Desmond Gardner picked off a Baytown Sterling pass at the Titan 7-yard line and the Titans ran out the clock Friday night for a wild 44-42 win over the Rangers in a game that took more than three and a half hours to play.

“Sure it’s fun,” said Ronnie Thompson, the winning coach. “Both teams were making big plays. We don’t like giving up big plays, but it’s one of those things that keep your blood running.”

Sterling, making a bid to win its first game this season, came from 15 points behind in the final five minutes to get within two points on quarterback Jerrod Doucet’s sixth scoring play of the game with 1:52, then recovered an onsides kickoff.

But Gardner, playing centerfield, was able to get in front of Doucet’s try for a third touchdown pass of the night to receiver Terell Zeno and save the night for Memorial.

“Turning that thing over on the interception was the play of the night,” Thompson declared.

With the win, the Titans improved to 4-5 on the season and, at 3-3 in District 21-5A, remained alive in the playoff chase. Sterling slipped to 0-9.

Doucet passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 133 yards and three more scores in a game that included a total of 128 scrimmage plays and 871 yards of total offense.

“Oh Lord, they got hot and they did a lot of things they hadn’t been able to do all season,” Thompson said.

The Ranger quarterback set up Sterling’s final touchdown, his own one-yard sneak, with an 80-yard run on fourth-and-16.

With 4:36 left to play, he had thrown his second TD pass of the night to Zeno, a 10-yarder to get the Rangers within nine at 44-35. Then Manasah Davis tried to score a two-point conversion on an end around, but was stopped short as he leaped for the goal line.

Sterling’s first onsides kickoff try then was unsuccessful, but the Rangers forced Memorial to punt for only the second time of the evening and got the ball back with 3:29 remaining.

The Titans were led by alternating quarterbacks Harry Brown and Jarael Alexander.

Brown completed 12 of 20 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns, while Alexander rushed 30 times for 199 yards and one score. He had 121 yards rushing just in the second quarter.

“We had been missing Alexander all year,” Thompson said of the junior who injured his ankle early this season. “Harry did a great job throwing it. He’s really been the glue back there.

“But when you’re in the shotgun, that threat that a healthy Alexander can give us is something. He and Harry really complement each other well.”

Receiver Freddie King and running back Patterson Clay each scored twice for Memorial, which finished with 303 yards rushing and 163 passing for 466.

Sterling had 405 total yards – 222 on the ground and 183 in the air.

Omar Zepeda’s 39-yard field goal as the clock showed all zeroes gave the Titans a 31-14 lead and their third score in the final 2:12 of the second quarter.

Actually, there were four scores in the final 2:12 as Sterling had a quick three-play 70-yard scoring drive to get within 28-14 with 1:22 left.

Davis scored from 45 yards out, catching a slant pass from Doucet 15 yards downfield, then making a quick left turn to outrun the defense to the pylon. Doucet, 4 for 9 for 115 yards in the first half, found a wide-open Andre Corley for the two-point play.

Memorial squeezed nine plays in the final 82 seconds of the first half with the big play a 20-yard shovel pass from Brown to Clay.

Sterling countered with two third-quarter scores to get within 37-28. Zeno, who caught six passes for 126 yards, scored on a 24-yard pass to end a 12-play, 67-yard drive, then Doucet sneaked across from the 1-yard line to cap a 15-yard drive set up by Justin Neal’s interception of Brown.

The Titans then authored the most time-consuming drive of the night, a 14-play, 69-yard push to go ahead 44-28 on Clay’s three-yard run with 7:09 left in the game.