PORT NECHES -- Jody McDonald did not appreciate Crosby's ploy one bit, yet it truly amounted to quite a compliment.

  Crosby's left tackle, left guard and center all tried to triple-team the senior right defensive tackle for Port Neches-Groves on some of the Cougars' snaps early in the season.

  Hey, the 6-0, 225-pound Big Mac isn't going to lie about it. Being triple-teamed was not any fun.

  "I didn't like it, but I push back," McDonald said. "No matter what, I try my best to stop them from backing me up."

  That's all Jody can do and that's why PN-G's coaches and fellow defenders shower Big Mac with a great deal of respect and appreciation. Besides that, when one defender ties up a bunch of offensive players' attention, it frees up the other defenders.

  So if the fans, media, cheerleaders, Indianettes, and other educated spectators fail to notice McDonald, just consider what the Indians think about Jody. They know. McDonald gets the job plenty well enough.

  Jody's hours in the trenches often winds up enabling Kaleb Walker, Austin Miller, Brett Doty, Clint Burnett or Zeke Schexnider to snatch the headlines and jump to the top of the tackle charts and player of the week lists.

  There is a great deal of self-satisfaction over the fact that each Port Neches-Groves varsity football player can call himself a part of a 22-4A district champion right now. Or at least a co-champion. And McDonald knows he's been a big part of the Indians' ability to attain records of 7-2 and 6-0.

  "The backs compliment me because I stop them from getting hit," McDonald said. "Those guys make quite a few tackles every game."

  Yet in the grand scheme of PN-G's fine season, few purple and white players have made as much steady improvement from Week Zero to Week Ten as this 18-year-old son of John McDonald and Lisa Anderson.

  There's a reason for all that steady improvement in Jody's game. It starts with his desire to improve and his application to practice with such diligence and intensity. It's been an obvious part of Jody's performance all season.

  "I believe if you're going to practice, that you practice with everything you have to make yourself better," he said.

  That's part of McDonald's strong work ethic which also has included running the stands in the summer, working on quickness and the concentrated effort in weight lifting.

  The total package begins, though, at practice. That's quite evident to one of the sharpest eyes at PN-G's practices, Indians' head coach Matt Burnett.

  "If Jody did not practice like that all the time, our whole staff would be in a panic," the Indians' chief noted. "He's consistent. He never misses. He's really one of the best practice players I've ever had. Sometimes we have to get him to back off in practice... He destroys the scout team."

  McDonald moved into the PNG school district prior to his sophomore season from Moss Bluff, Louisiana. He devoted his first year to playing on the junior varsity and earned a varsity first team position last year. Just because he became a starter, Jody never became content. He kept on improving.

  While he did not grow up with these fellow seniors in elementary or middle school, McDonald quickly seemed quite comfortable with this group.

  "They were real welcoming to me," he recalled. "About halfway into my sophomore year, I felt like I was at home."

  After he had the opportunity to start as a junior, Jody definitely raised the level of his game throughout this season. When he looked back to the opener against La Marque, McDonald realized he had improved quite a bit in the last three months.

  "I've definitely gotten quicker," he said. "I've started to hit a lot harder. I'm knowing where I'm at and where the ball is better than I did."

  When the Indians visit Dayton on Friday night, the Broncos know they have to keep McDonald well-contained. Who knows? They occasionally may assign three offensive linemen to accomplish it, too.

 

Indian Inklings

  Leading tacklers against Central were Clint Burnett with 10 first contacts, 5 assists and 2 sacks, followed by Zeke Schexnider (6 and 3), Kaleb Walker (6 and 0) and Brett Doty (5 and 1).... Walker leads the season tackle chart with 70 first contacts, 43 assists and six sacks, followed by Burnett (47 and  48) and Schexnider (46 and 35)... No injuries were expected to keep any Indians' regulars from answering the bell on Friday at 7 o'clock in Dayton.... PNGISD ticket manager Becky Romero revised some plans on Tuesday regarding sales for the Galena Park bidistrict game in Indian Stadium on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Stadium gates will open that night at 6 p.m. Season ticket holders only will be allowed to purchase their same number of tickets on Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 12 and 13) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Written permission will be required by a season-ticket holder to allow someone else to purchase a season-ticket holder's seat.... The remaining reserve and general admission tickets will be sold from 8 to 5 on Wednesday and Thursday and from 8 to noon on Friday.... Purple cards and employee passes are not honored at playoff games as verified by UIL officials... Ticket prices during the pre-sale will be $4 for students and $6 for adults. All tickets at the gate on game night will be sold for $7.