By Chris Moore
Special to The News

BEAUMONT — Bad snaps plagued Central’s offense as the Titans of Port Arthur Memorial rolled past the Jaguars 35-6 at the Thomas Center on Wednesday.

“We had a lot of mental mistakes,” Memorial head coach Kenny Harrison said. “It’s expected. We hadn’t played a game. We have a lot of things to correct, but I would rather correct them after a win than after a loss.”

The biggest story of the game was the fumbles that cost Central yards. The Jaguars ended the game with minus-48 yards rushing because of five botched snaps. The Jags turned the ball over four times (three fumbles lost and one interception).

The Titans capped off their first drive with a 36-yard run by Elijah Hines and didn’t look back. Central fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Memorial recovered on the Jags’ 19. A few plays later, Hines found the end zone again off a 9-yard run to make the score 14-0 with 8:02 left in the first quarter.

The Jaguars answered on the following drive that was completed with an 11-yard run by running back Theo Foster, bringing the score to 14-6 after the PAT was missed.

Memorial closed the quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Keitha Jones.

The ground game for the Titans picked up the slack for the air attack. The Titans amassed 169 yards on 35 carries, the bulk of which came form Jones, who had 81 yards on 17 carries.

“We’re a run-first team,” Jones said. “That’s our strong point, so we have to go back to practice and work on passing. We’ll get there.”

Harrison said he expected the offense to struggle a bit, being the first game of the season.

“Offense is always behind the defense in the beginning of the season,” he said. “We have a lot of jelling to do for the offense. Usually you get better in non-district (games). Unfortunately, we started off the season in district. You usually have an opportunity to jell. We have to improve through district.”

Neither team earned a first down in the second half until fourth quarter.

In the fourth, Memorial’s offense found some life again with a 7-yard run from Jones.

The Titans were able to cap off the game with a 36-yard passing touchdown form Jones to Tariq Malik with 7:37 left in the game.

Even with the sloppy play, the Titans are happy to start the season off with a win.

“It feels great,” Jones said. “After everything that happened, to comeback and win a game, it’s a blessing to still be playing and 1-0. We were so anxious to come out and play. Now (the season) is here and we’re going to run with it.”

Next on the Titans’ schedule is Ozen at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Stadium.