Cody Pastorella
The Port Arthur News
PORT ARTHUR —
PORT ARTHUR -- Long road trips that require overnight hotel stays for high school football teams is a rarity, especially in Southeast Texas. The Port Neches-Groves Indians experienced that very thing this season when they opened the 2010 campaign with a shootout in San Antonio against Gregory Portland.
Back in 2002, the Memorial Titans made that same trip to the Alamodome. It was the program's inaugural game and it was a bad one, as the Titans suffered a 43-13 beat down from Smithson Valley.
Later that year, Memorial drove down to Corpus Christi where they thumped Ray High School 47-25.
The Titans also made a brutal, 9-hour trip to Midland Lee in 2005. They lost that game 32-7.
The road, then, has not been too kind to Memorial, at least roads that lead west of the greater Houston area.
Fortunately for the Titans, the long road trip scheduled this time around will bring them to Alice, a Class 4A school 25 miles west of Corpus Christi, which is well south of Houston and nowhere near Midland or San Antonio.
Before becoming the head coach of the Titans in 2009, Kenny Harrison was an assistant with Memorial since its inception. He has experienced this sort of distant road trip before.
Harrison said the trip to Alice should go rather smooth, however, because their will be little time for his players to lose focus once they reach their hotel in Corpus.
"The important thing, for long trips like this, is to keep the kids busy," said Harrison, whose squad claimed the school's first 2-0 start in program history with Saturday's 47-27 victory over the Ozen Panthers.
"I like that we are playing at 2 (o'clock) this week because the kids won't have much time to lose focus."
Harrison said the team will leave from campus 1 p.m. Friday. They will have movies to watch for part of the 5-hour bus ride but there is also time scheduled for game tape of Alice.
From their hotel in Corpus, the team will take the bus to Alice High School for a 1-hour walk through, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. They will return to the hotel for dinner, a meeting and then it is "lights out."
The Titans will meet again at 8:15 Saturday morning, then have breakfast at 9. Following breakfast, players will pack up and load the bus for Alice.
"They are kids but I think they will be fine," Harrison said. "They are excited about this trip. I think that excitement is keeping them focused. We are preaching focus. We always do."
So how did a trip to Alice find its way onto Memorial's 2010 schedule?
Well, to be honest, Harrison was desperate after Aldine Nimitz canceled a trip to Port Arthur and The Woodlands scratched the Titans because of scheduling complications.
It was Harrison's understanding that District 21-5A was going to inherit a seventh team, which would have changed what week he wanted to use for a bye, and the number of non-district games he could schedule. He wanted to have a game in the third week regardless but explained that the expected addition to the district kept him in limbo long enough that he lost The Woodlands.
Basically, he wanted to keep an open week before facing a 21-5A opponent such as North Shore.
Playing The Woodlands and North Shore in back-to-back weeks would be a rough go for anyone in the state. After Nimitiz canceled, The Woodlands bolted and, finding out there would only be six teams remaining in the district, Harrison was in a scramble to fill two games.
He spent weeks calling districts and schools across the state and into Louisiana. Only Alice called back for this week's date. Meanwhile, Pasadena South Houston was easily filled into the Sept. 24th slot.
Titan Tidbits: Harrison said his team suffered no injuries in its 47-27 victory over Ozen on Saturday. In fact, the only injured player on the roster is Shawndrick Overton who endured a broken leg in the season opener against Central . . . Although allowing 154 more yards to Ozen than they did to Central, the Titans received a great performance from linebacker Joshua Pickett who registered a pair of sacks and was named Memorial's defensive player of the week. Fisher Romar was awarded the offensive player of the week title. The senior tailback managed just 41 yards on seven carries but popped a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. Harrison said Romar's greatest contributions came in pass protection . . . Senior kicker Hulices Nunez also had a fine outing against Ozen, as he lined a 37-yard field goal just before the half, and maintained a 40.6 yard average over three punts, his first three punts of the season. Nunez made a 17-yard field goal against Central, giving him to makes for the season . . . Titans fans can listen to a live broadcast of Saturday’s game at www.panews.com. Dave Marks will be doing the play-by-play. The broadcast falls under the umbrella of the Port Arthur News Friday Night Experience. Marks will be mikeside for the remainder of the Titans games this season.
