Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
PORT NECHES — PORT NECHES -- How appropriate those crossbars looked side-by-side Monday on The Reservation.
Football and soccer, a couple of high-energy, team-first, plenty of contact sports just never seem to contain such tight parallels as they have this year at Port Neches-Groves.
The Indians' amazing final chapter in each regular-season district title would unfold with tense, double-overtime victories in each sport against Beaumont Central on the same Zaharias Stadium venue.
Soccer prosperity has not always been such an automatic development for fourth-year head coach Don Sandell. He's driven the team bus to games and seen the disappointing losses, too.
Fact is, Friday night could have fallen right into that category too. If PN-G and Central remained in a tie after their second overtime, Nederland would have been this week's No. 1 playoff seed coming from soccer's District 38-4A and PN-G would have been No. 2.
Even if the Indians had defeated Central in a subsequent 35-yard shootout, the Bulldogs would have compiled more points to become the league's top seed.
Two seniors -- Elver Uriostegui and Greg Flores -- kept battling even though Central was offering a fanatical upset effort. A Jaguars defender fouled PN-G's Angel Valencia around midfield with time dwindling in a 1-1 game. Uriostegui pounded a free kick high and hard with Flores in a position to field the soccer ball, some 8 yards in front of Central's goal.
Flores chested the ball and stayed under control while Central's goalkeeper overcommitted to a right angle. Flores only needed to pivot into the opposite direction and tap in a six-yard shot.
What frustration Flores unleashed with that shot.
"It was very frustrating before this year," Flores recalled. "I was the MVP of last year's team but, yeah, to tell you the truth, it got to me."
Sandell had to do what's best for PN-G's soccer team, not what's best for Greg. The Indians' chief came to realize his purple squad functioned much better overall with Flores in the midfield.
"He begged me to play forward," Sandell said. "And there were some games when it worked. But the last few weeks showed how versatile he is. Greg has been willing to do what it takes."
Sandell absorbed disappointing losses but maintained a team-first mentality. With the power in Uriostegui's shots, Valencia's ball-handling, and Peter Zimmerman's uncanny conversion of corner kicks, Flores just needed to be a smart, team-first senior leader who could help PN-G to own the stronger end of possession time.
An 18-year-old son of Carlos and Carolina Uriostegui, Elver played at least eight years of youth soccer in Georgia before his family moved to Port Neches after his sophomore year in high school. Certainly it's a fair comment to call 2008-09 a transition school year for Elver.
"I had to get used to it last summer," Uriostegui recalled. "I feel a lot more comfortable now by knowing everybody... I think my game has been there... It's just been hiding."
Sandell modestly accepted no credit whatsoever for Uriostegui's skills as a soccer player.
"The skills Elver has acquired, I can't take credit for any of that," Sandell said.
"Our team has just fed off those two guys all season. Elver is a complete player. He has all the tools. Greg is an emotional leader. He's such a stabilizing force for what we're trying to do."
The 5-8, 160-pound Uriostegui works like a hammer. The 5-11, 178-pound son of Greg and Maria holds this team's structure together like glue.
Three of the four Mid-County soccer playoff arrangements were firm by Monday. PN-G will play a girls-boys doubleheader at Lamar University Friday night. The 38-4A champion Lady Indians will play Vidor at 6 p.m. Sandell's Tribe will meet Liberty at 8 p.m.
Coach Jason Butler's Nederland boys squad will be the home team Friday night in a bi-district game at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs will face Livingston at Humble's Charles Street Stadium. Coach Julie Johnson's Lady Bulldogs will learn the identity of their bi-district foe after tonight's game at 5:30 between Jasper at Silsbee. Nederland will meet the loser of the Jasper-Silsbee game this weekend.
