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November 21, 2009

Pain, tears fill proud Indians

By Tom Halliburton

HOUSTON -- If they had not invested so much, the pain of finally losing would not have hurt so much for these Indians after their 27-21 loss to Brenham.

But Port Neches-Groves had accomplished so much in 2009, rolling to a top 5 ranking, an undisputed District 20-4A championship and an 11-0 ledger for the first time since 1977. Coach Brandon Faircloth's Tribe restored lengthy playoff ticket lines to PN-G football.

When the 4A Division 2 area round ended in disappointment, the Indians hugged one another, shedding tears and unleashing their emotions.

Brenham's nine-in-the-box defensive style limited Caleb Harmon to a season-low night of 38 rushing yards, yet the senior running back was somewhat expecting his yards to be substantially reduced.

Harmon continued to wear his customary smile in the locker room, voicing no regrets about PN-G's plan to throw the ball.

"The game plan was to pass and I worked a lot on my pass blocking this week," Harmon said. "We knew coming in that I wasn't going to get as many carries.

"I didn't think they were more physical than Central. They had more people in the tackle box. But I knew how the game was going to go. I trusted whatever the coaches felt we needed to do."

PN-G found itself in a 20-0 halftime divot and some Indians believed it required some adaptation time to cope with Brenham's superior speed. It's hard for a slower team to simulate Brenham's speed during practice.

"I think it took our kids a few series to execute and adapt to Brenham's speed," PN-G defensive coordinator Duane Kroeker said. "I think that was the biggest thing in the first half. We were fighting a field-position battle after that.

"But I've never had a group of kids come together and buy into what we were showing them all year the way this group has done. I'm real proud of them."

One of Kroeker's finest players, outside linebacker Nathan Raggio, agreed about the adaptation time which left PN-G totally dominated in the opening 24 minutes.

"I don't think we were 100 percent in the first half," Raggio said. "But we got a lot of momentum in the second half. They're a good ballclub. They played with their hearts and they play clean. They deserve whatever they get."

Senior wide receiver Kyler Segura hoped Brenham captured four more wins and a 4A Division 2 state championship.

"They were fast and they were real good," Segura said. "Hopefully they will go all the way. We should have played the whole game like we played the second half."

A major factor in PN-G's difficult night was Brenham's outstanding athleticism. Junior Indians quarterback Brennan Doty said that made a huge difference in the outcome.

"Unfortunately they're a little more athletic than us but we did the best we could," Doty said. "It was our plan to come out and throw because they stack so many in the box. We definitely knew we weren't out of it though when we were down 20-0. We knew if they could score 20, we could too."

The Indians fought back valiantly... like champions. That's why the pain hurt so much to come up a bit short.





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