SAN ANTONIO —  SAN ANTONIO –In a game decided by the slightest of margins, it was a  matter of inches that kept Port Neches-Groves from a season-opening victory.

  Trailing 30-29 in the game's final two minutes, the Indians found  themselves facing a fourth and inches from the Gregory-Portland 22-yard line.  A running attempt from a full house backfield by Chase Bertrand was halted for no gain by the Wildcats defense and Gregory-Portland escaped with a 30-29 victory over the Tribe at the Texas Football  Classic Saturday at the Alamodome.

 “We needed three inches,” said a disappointed head coach Brandon Faircloth, whose team tasted defeat for the first time in a regular-season game since 2008.

   “We always feel good about our chances to make three inches and set our kicker up for the game-winning field goal.  I felt good about the personnel we had in there but give Gregory-Portland credit. 

  They made a great play," said Faircloth.

  On the third play of the third quarter, Gregory-Portland quarterback Kyle

Fishbeck found Jimmy Salinas alone behind the Indians secondary for a 71-yard touchdown pass.  A failed two-point conversion still left GP with a 27-22 lead.

  A possession later, D.J. Schexnider sacked Fishbeck and forced a fumble that was recovered by Aaron Easley.  Two plays later, Brennan Doty connected with Jayce Nelson from 35 yards that put PN-G back on top, 29-27.

  Nelson was the Tribe’s leading receiver, finishing with eight catches for 114 yards and three touchdowns.

  Gregory-Portland consumed over seven minutes at the end of the third quarter and half of the fourth quarter, marching 67 yards to the PN-G 21 before being held.   Salinas atoned for an earlier miss by kicking a 38-yard field goal with 5:57 left to give the Wildcats a 30-29 lead.

  Doty, who finished with 24 completions in 40 attempts with  two interceptions for 232 yards and three touchdowns, was intercepted  by Salinas on the Tribe’s next drive.

  PN-G held Gregory-Portland and a 10-yard punt return by Nelson set the  Tribe up at the G-P 44 with 3:05 left.

  Doty completed an 8-yard pass to Amir Jalili and Bertrand ran for five  yards and a first down at the Wildcat 31.  A complete pass to Jalili lost a yard, an incomplete pass, and a ten-yard completion set up the fourth and one at the G-P 22.

  “We did some good things today,” Faircloth said.  “We just didn’t do  enough good things.  We’ll go back, look at film and we’ll all learn  from this and that will make us a better football team.”

  Doty had the Indians’ short passing game working early, connecting on 17 of his first 20 passes.  One was a drop by Jalali, who was five yards behind the nearest defender at the GP five.  But Doty failed to connect on his last four passes of the half, and his final first half pass was intercepted, setting up the Wildcats’ late first half score.

   “I thought we came out red-hot,” Faircloth said.  “But we have to sustain that.  There’s always ebb and flow in a game.  I thought Brennan played real well, but there were some mistakes made and we’re just  going to have to learn from those.”

  The Indians wasted little time marching 70 yards in 8 plays with Nelson gathering in a Doty pass and breaking away from cornerback Shelby Hahn for a 29-yard scoring play.  Dylan Browning added the PAT and PN-G grabbed a 7-0 lead with 8:54 left in the first.

  The Indians defense gave the ball back to the offense, and Doty drove the team into Wildcat territory.  But on fourth and 15 from the 27, Browning came in to attempt a 44-yard field goal.  The snap from center was errant and Collin Gizzi picked up the loose ball and found Nelson alone for a 27-yard touchdown pass that increased the Tribe’s lead to 14-0.

  But Gregory-Portland used a surprising air attack and answered quickly.

  Fishbeck found Justin McArthur  for a 45-yard pass to the Indians 18.  Four plays later, Fishbeck scored from the one on a sneak and GP had cut the lead to 14-7 with 11:18 left in the second.

  The PN-G defense had some success holding the Wildcats, who run with a  full-house backfield, to 60 yards rushing.

  “They threw it more than we expected they would,” Faircloth said. “They have a very good team and they’re well-coached but they’ve developed  some balance on offense.  We had some success stopping the run but they  showed that they can throw it and kudos to them.  When you have success  doing something offensively, you’re going to tend to keep doing it.”

  Doty ran the short passing game to near perfection, completing five of  six on the next drive, connecting with Gizzi on an 18-yard scoring pass  with 8:14 remaining in the half.  Bertrand ran in a 2-point conversion

that increased the Indians’ lead to 22-7.

  Fishbeck countered, connecting with Steven Roggeman on a 38-yard scoring  pass to cap a five play drive with 6:09 left, that pulled GP to within  22-14.

 Late in the half, a Doty pass sailed over the intended receiver and was  intercepted by Salinas, who returned the ball two yards to the 27.  On  the next play, Fishbeck found McArthur for a touchdown with 48 seconds left.  Salinas’ extra point pulled the Wildcats to within 22-21.

  The most surprising statistical number of the day was  what GP's Fishbeck accomplished through the air. Fishbeck, who threw for only 1,077 and six TDs in 13 games last year, completed 14 of 22 passes for 281 yards and two TDs.